Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 24th January

In this Bulletin…

- Buddhist monks kill each other in dispute over missing receipts;
- India bans import of Chinese toys; and
- Japanese space mission to advance study of climate change.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China

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It has emerged that two senior Buddhist monks recently killed each other at Taiwan’s ancient Ling Monastery in a dispute over 10,000 yuan (US$ 1,400) worth of fruit bought to mark the appointment of a new abbot.

Their ashes were returned to Nanjing in China’s Jiangsu Province late this week. All media were prevented from entering a ceremony for one of the dead monks, Abbot Jingran, which was conducted under tight security.

One monk said that an abbot lost trust in after it emerged there were no receipts for the fruit Master Chunru bought at markets to mark Jingran’s appointment as an abbot. The resulting grudge between the two is said to have planted the seeds of murder.

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A Beijing petitioner has spoke to reporters about the inhumane means the communist authorities use in forced labour camps to make Falun Gong practitioners renounce their spiritual practice and belief.

Wang Ling spoke about seeing two or three illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners who were repeatedly taken away in the middle of the night by unknown personnel dressed all in white.

What she has seen was practitioners being taken for blood and tissue matching so that their bodily organs might be harvested at a later date and sold to those seeking an organ transplant without having to go on a waiting list.

An independent Canadian report into the harvesting of organs from live Falun Gong practitioners can be found at organharvestinvestigation.net.

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Many Chinese toys have been banned from being imported into India for six months, according to The Epoch Times. The move has pleased local manufacturers but shocked importers.

No reason has yet been given for the ban, which a government statement said had been taken in the public interest.

A government statement issued late on Friday did not give details but industry officials said the order would ban imports of almost all toys from China.

The Toy Association of India’s president, Raj Kumar, said, “You see Chinese toys everywhere. The good, upper-end toys are made in India, but the cheap toys in the street and small shops were being dominated by them. They are bringing in toys without safety norms.”

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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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Around red-shirted 100 anti-government demonstrators in Thailand are calling for a boycott of next month’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit their country is due to host, say New Tang Dynasty TV.

They assert that Thailand’s government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva came to power undemocratically and should not be supported by neighbouring countries.

The leader of the protest, Jakrapob Penkhair, said, “The red-shirt people of Thailand who support democracy have been in full support of the ASEAN’s framework, but we cannot find ourselves to be supportive of the Thai government who came to power undemocratically. So the message is: support ASEAN and do not support the Abhisit government.”

Next week they plan to march on the embassies of other ASEAN nations in the same cause.

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Japan’s Space Agency Jaxa has launched a satellite intended to help scientists understand and monitor how the Earth’s climate is changing.

Japan’s Space Agency Jaxa says Gosat (Global Greenhouse Observation by Satellite) will “contribute to the international effort toward prevention of (global) warming”.

The two-tonne Gosat satellite will map the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and where they are, as it it orbits the Earth.

The probe was blasted into space from the Tanegashima launch site in southern Japan on Friday.

It will orbit the planet at an altitude of 666km during its five-year mission.

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And now for our Divine Performing Arts quote of the day

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Renowned conductor, clarinettist and educator, Mr. Dworkin, saw the Chinese New Year Splendor on January 23 at the Purchase College’s Performing Arts Center in New York state. Here’s what he had to say…

“Very very impressed, so is my wife, very impressed,” adding that he found the performances “world class”.

Mr. Dworkin was particularly impressed with the conductor, Ying Chen, noting the skill she needed to coordinate the orchestra with the dancers.

The SOH radio network is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. Please see divineperformingarts.org for more information.

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