AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Saturday 29th November

Chinese human rights lawyer Zhen Engchong and European Parliament Member Helga Truepel who met in Shanghai on Thursday. (Courtesy of Epochtimes)

In this Bulletin…

- Bangkok airports remain closed by protesters;
- Melamine tainted soy-meal recalled in France; and
- Mumbai’s Taj Hotel siege ends, terrorists killed.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China

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European Parliament member Miss. Helga Truepel has met with renowned Chinese human rights lawyer Zheng Enchong on Thursday in Shanghai.

The pair exchanged their views on sensitive issues including China’s human rights, Tibet, Falun Gong, internet freedom and the withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party.

Zheng believes the success of Ms Truepel meeting with him is more of a reflection of the Chinese Communist regime’s fear of further commentary and pressure from the international community on its human rights record, rather than an act of kindness towards himself.

Zheng, who has been closely monitored by the regime since being released from prison in 2005, says he hopes the meeting could allow EU members to witness the actual situation of human rights in China.

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The number of people affected with HIV in mainland China has increased by 50,000, according to local authorities. This equates to an increase of 140 people per day.

During a conference in Beijing this week, the director of the Disease Control Commission of China’s Health Ministry Hao Yang said that at the end of September this year, there are a total of 244,302 HIV infected people, 77000 of which have AIDS. So far over 34,000 people have died, and up to 450,000 may not be aware that they are infected with the virus.

Head of China’s community organisation for AIDS support, the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education, Wang Yan-hai says that the real extent of the problem could be more severe than official figures represent.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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Wu Weihan, a Taiwan national accused by China of spying for the island has been executed by the Communist regime on Friday, the Epoch Times reported.

Wu, who ran a medical research company, was detained in 2005 after being found guilty of discussing the health of senior Chinese leaders. He confessed without access to a lawyer but later recanted that confession saying he was innocent.

Wu’s execution was condemned by the EU and the United State, which had sought a stay on his death penalty on grounds of lack of due process. His two daughters who are Austrian citizens said that “the entire process–from arrest to execution–was conducted in a way that was degrading [their] father and family,”.

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Thai anti-government protesters have refused police orders to disperse their blockade of Bangkok airports and the Army has indicated that it will not forcefully intervene.

Supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have been occupying Bangkok’s two main airports since the weekend, disrupting hundreds of flights and destroying the plans of thousands of travelers.

Yesterday, Thai PM Somchoi Wongsawat removed his national chief of police after his lack of action to quell the protests. Today, a new plan to cordon off the protesters from the airport failed.

Thai military leaders have dismissed speculation that the military is planning a coup.

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Today, the siege of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai has ended with all of the terrorists being killed. This brings to an end, the terror attacks on the city which started on Wednesday night. The attacks have left 195 dead and hundreds more injured. Rescuers are still searching several different sites for victims.

Terrorists have occupied the hotel and held hostages since the initial attacks on Mumbai on Wednesday night. Indian Black Cat commandos stormed the hotel just after dawn this morning and killed all of the remaining terrorists, freeing hostages as they went.

The military will be conducting controlled explosions in the 105-year-old landmark hotel to clear remaining bombs, booby traps and ordnance.

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A French import company has recalled melamine contaminated soy-meal made in China on Friday. Earlier batches of the soy-meal, which were not tested, have already been distributed to 127 organic poultry farms in western France.

The contamination was detected by broad new EU testing regime for contaminated foodstuffs from China, after a spate of recent food contamination scandals. Testing found melamine levels were more than 50 times the recommended maximum limit in French regulations.

After learning of the recall, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot has arranged special health security talks to be held on Wednesday which will target the quality of all food product imports to France, with a focus on those from China.

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