Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 25th November

In this Bulletin…

- South Korean farmers protest against FTA with the US;
- Israel allows small aid convoy into Gaza Strip; and
- Venezuelan opposition gains ground in elections

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China

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On Sunday November 23 Wang Jing-Mei, a critical witness in her son, Yang Jia’s, trial for murder, was released from a psychiatric ward to meet with him. Wang’s whereabouts was only recently discovered since disappearing in July after being called in for questioning by the police.

Lawyers following the case says, optimistically speaking, it is likely that the High Court and Shanghai’s High Court have differing opinions on the case, and it may be sent back for a retrial.

Yang Jia has been sentenced to death following his slaying of 6 Shanghai policemen in July. His actions however have gained widespread support, with many bloggers hailing him as a modern day hero against a corrupt and violent police force.

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The Chinese Communist regime has denied allegations by an UN report that widespread torture exists in the country, saying that it has always opposed torture.

However, Lu De-Chen, who was imprisoned for 10 years after the 1989 democratic movement says that he has many examples of torture by the communist regime, showing scars of his own and describing the experience of his friend who was left disabled after over a decade in prison.

Many petitioners have also given accounts of the corporal punishment they received from public security officers and say that torture is still common place in China.

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On Monday, taxi drivers of Suizhou city, in Hubei province, have begun a strike to protest the introduction of a new licensing fee and said that there will be no taxis operating in the city until the fee is removed.

The Suizhou local government has imposed a 4,000 yuan (US$585) license fee to be paid by the end of the year. Non-payment will result in licenses being confiscated.

Another fee was also recently imposed on new business licenses, and the latest fee is an apparent attempt to stop the hard-to-obtain business licenses being sold to cabbies on the black market for sums of up to 260,000 yuan ($US38,100).

This is the latest strike from Chinese taxi drivers, who have been protesting against various new regulations in cities around the country.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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Over ten thousand farmers haven taken to the streets, in South Korea On Tuesday to protest against a free trade agreement with the United States which will slash tariffs and other trade barriers on agricultural products, cars, computers and mobile phones.

The agreement, which still needs ratification by lawmakers in both countries are being opposed in both countries, with Eui-gyu Park, chairman of the Korean Advanced Farmers Federations warning that its ratification would result in an agrarian uprising.

While the deal would be the largest for the US since the North American Free Trade Agreement, President-elect Barack Obama has strongly criticised the deal saying it does not adequately address an imbalance in the auto trade.

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A small aid convoy carrying food and fuel has been allowed to pass into the Gaza Strip on Monday.

It is only the second aid shipment allowed by Israel since it blockaded the border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip three weeks ago. Israel allowed the shipment as the number of cross border rocket attacks from Gaza Strip militants has decreased.

The UN is warning of a possible humanitarian crisis and is urging Israel to resume normal operations of the border crossing. Stores of food have almost completely run out and the Gaza Strip has been without electricity for the majority of the time since the blockade began.

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Weekend mayoral elections have seen Venezuelan opposition parties gain ground on the ruling left-wing coalition government of President Hugo Chavez.

While the opposition still lost the election in a landslide to the government, it took a much larger percentage of the vote and six seats in important major urban areas from the government. Voter turnout was above 65 percent, with angry citizens voting against the government for its inability to control inflation and bring down the murder rate.

President Chavez is looking to carry out his election promises of seizing private assets from landowners and companies to place them in state control. However, political commentators cite the election result as a rebuke of President Chavez’s drive to implement socialism in Venezuela.

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“Asia Cast… keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the World.”