Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 23rd December

In this Bulletin…

- US$4 billion Indo-China trade deals signed;
- Brother of former Korean president indicted for bribery; and
- Iraqi shoe thrower to be tried on New Year’s Eve

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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A number of retired teachers from Yenchen City, Jiangsu Province, were beaten by officials in the provincial capital Nanjing after going there to petition. Some of them are still being held in the local watch house.

Chinese rights organization, Civic Rights and Livelihood Watch, said it was contacted by a retired teacher, from neighbouring Shandong Province. They were told a group of around 100 teachers from Yenchen went to Nanjing on December 10, Human Rights Day, but were intercepted by provincial officials and beaten by a group of thugs.

The teachers are thought to have been made to retire during the1980s and have been appealing over their poor situation after being forced out of good jobs they had held for decades.

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China’s employment problems continue to grow under additional pressure from the global financial slowdown. The latest figures from Jiangxi Province show the number of unemployed farm and factory workers there has increased by over 130,000 to 470,000 in less than a month.

Jiangxi’s provincial Party Secretary has expressed concerns over incomes for this sector of the labour force. Farmers typically earn between 40 percent and 60 percent of their total income from doing work outside of farming.

Jiangxi is China’s major supplier of labour. In this year alone 6.8 million of its residents travelled around the country for work.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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An explosion in a plastics factory in Harbin City in China’s northwest has left thee people dead and two more injured.

The explosion occurred on Monday around lunchtime local time.

Five or six people were in the factory at the time of the explosion, but only thee were able to escape. Two of the workers were taken to hospital for treatment. Doctors said that one of the victims suffered burns to 50 per cent of his body and remains in a critical condition, according to local media.

The owner of the factory has not been seen since the incident. Police are currently investigating the cause of the explosion.

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Indonesia and China have signed energy and trade deals worth US$4 billion in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta today. The deals were signed during a visit to Indonesia by the Chinese Communist Party’s First Vice-Premier, Li Keqiang.

Key in the deal, are loans for the construction of three coal-fired power plants across Indonesia, with the largest project to be run by China National Technical Import and Export Corporation.

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla also announced that China Export Bank has given a separate US$1 billion loan to Indonesia for it to purchase Chinese produced machinery and metals.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
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The elder brother of former Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun has been arrested and charged with receiving over US$2 million in bribes. Roh Gun-Pyeong allegedly took the bribes from lobbyists during his brother’s presidential term.

The lobbyists were arranging the purchase of brokerage firm Sejong Securities by National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. Former and current executives of both companies have also been charged over the scandal.

Roh is also under investigation for tax evasion and embezzlement related to a civil engineering firm that he owns.

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The Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at US President George W. Bush, Mr. Muntazer al-Zaidi will be tried on New Year’s Eve.

Al-Zaidi has been charged, under Iraqi law, with ‘aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit’ which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail.

Lawyers for the shoe thrower have stated that the security guards who beat him while in custody will be sued.

In related news, a special session of the Iraqi Parliament has been held to remove the speaker after his recent parliamentary tirade over the shoe thrower’s charge and treatment while in custody.

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And now for our Divine Performing Arts quote of the day

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At last night’s Divine Performing Arts show in Sarasota, Florida, we spoke to Laureen Mantel, who expressed her surprise and privilege to be able to attend a Chinese performance featuring religious and cultural issues that hasn’t been suppressed by the communist regime.

“At first I was quite shocked, because I was reading the script and it talked a lot about religion and spirituality, and I thought, ‘well this can’t be from china ‘cause they don’t allow that to be discussed’.

“So, that was really surprising to me and then when they announced it was out of New York, I said, ‘Oh! Okay, that makes sense.’

“So, it’s really wonderful to have an opportunity to see through dance a lot of the cultural, kind of spirit of china that we really don’t get to see, you know, ‘cause I think it’s stifled and so it’s really a privilege.”

Divine Performing Arts returns to the stage in Cincinnati and San Diego on December 26 after a short break.

Experience true Chinese culture like never before as Divine Performing Arts presents classical Chinese dance and music in gloriously colourful and exhilarating shows.

The Divine Performing Arts world tour is coming to a city near you soon. Don’t miss out, visit www.divineperformingarts.org today.

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