AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Sunday 30th November

In this Bulletin…

- Chinese product safety a world concern;
- Political tensions rise in Mumbai; and
- Canada on the verge of snap election

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China

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Sources in mainland China have reported that over the last two years the shoddy pet food, toys and medicines being produced in China have brought disaster to American factories; so much so that “Made in China” has lost its lustre and appeal in the eyes of American companies.

Now more and more of these American companies who went to China for investment potential have been removing their factories one after another.

According to Business Weekly, the U.S. Research Institute found in its latest survey that American businesses have significantly changed their attitudes towards the products made in China.

The considerations for withdrawing their factories from China included intangible product costs and intellectual property rights, rather than the factors of direct cost alone.

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Sources in Beijing reported that at around 1:30pm on November 27th, just in front of the Tiananmen rostrum, Chen Jianchao threw up to one thousand leaflets into the air to protest and inform people of the massive corruption happening in the Shanhai judicial and tax offices.

These acts are becoming a constant phenomena in China as the widespread feeling of human rights cements itself in the Chinese society.

Chen was promptly arrested by the patrolling police vehicle and taken to a nearby police station. The Communist regime governing China has spent billions in reinforcing their already saturated police presence to no avail.

Everyday there are more citizens willing to speak about the injustices of their environment.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Tensions are now rising as accusations of a Pakistani link to the attacks on Mumbai threaten to damage attempts to improve ties between the two rivals.

Indian officials have said most, perhaps all, of the 10 attackers who held Mumbai hostage with frenzied attacks using assault rifles and grenades came from Pakistan, a Muslim nation carved out of Hindu-majority India in 1947.

An official in Islamabad said the next one to two days would be crucial for relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Pakistan has been quick to announce the condemnation of the assaults and denied any involvement by state agencies.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network

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Over 200 members of the European Parliament have signed a written declaration to help restore NTD’s broadcast into Mainland China. NTD is an independent Chinese media who were using the services of Eutelsat satellite provider to broadcast open and free media into a country that rarely receives untainted news.

One of the members of the EU, Derek Clark, said the fact that NTD was cut off by the interference from the Chinese Communist regime shows that they are doing a good job and reaching many Chinese citizens in China.

He said how surprised he was to learn of something like this happening in the first place, since what is being spoken about most clearly in Europe is freedom and human rights.

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Canada’s minority government teetered on the edge of collapse on Friday, less than two months after its re-election, as opposition parties talked of forming a coalition to replace the ruling Conservatives.

Both the Conservatives and the three opposition parties were engaged in high-stakes brinkmanship over the fiscal update that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presented on Thursday.

The opposition said the update did not contain needed stimulus for an economy increasingly squeezed by the global downturn, but they were most angered by a planned end to direct public financing of political parties.

If neither side blinks, the government will likely fall, perhaps as early as Monday, and Canada would either head into a snap election or into some sort of coalition led by the opposition Liberals.

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