Asia Cast for Thursday 15th January
Uma Singh, 20, the Nepalese journalist and activist killed by a gang of attackers. (Courtesy of myrepublica.com)
In this Bulletin…
- Chinese child-smuggling ring broken;
- Indonesian president orders investigation into ferry disaster; and
- Four people arrested over Nepalese journalists’s murder.
But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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Twenty-two Chinese scholars published an open letter this week announcing their intention to boycott China Central Television (CCTV), China’s largest official television broadcaster, in protest of its brainwashing propaganda.
The open letter was initiated by Beijing writer and media professional Ling Cangzhou, scholar and critique Wen Kejian and Beijing attorney Tang Jitian.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Ling Cangzhou said he could not tolerate the CCTV’s monopoly of media resources and its disregard for public welfare. A recent example, Ling said, was the CCTV’s endorsement for melamine contaminated Sanlu Milk Powder in its news programs.
The group said they hope their action raises public awareness of the necessity to see through and refuse the lies filling CCTV’s programs.
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A gang in southern China that abducted the children of migrant workers to sell in distant provinces has been broken up by police, according to state controlled media.
The children, mostly toddlers aged two or three years old, were snatched in Yueyang City, Hunan Province while they were sleeping or playing. Some were snatched in broad daylight by gang members on motorbikes.
They were sold for between 860 yuan (US$125) and 26,000 yuan (US$3,800).
Five children had been rescued and 13 suspects arrested, Xinhua said. Police said they did not know how many children had been abducted altogether since the abductions began last September.
There is little official help for Chinese families whose children disappear.
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The area of southwest China still struggling to recover from last year’s Sichuan disaster has been struck by yet another earthquake.
The epicentre of the magnitude 5.0 quake was 90 kilometres northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, said the US Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The 8.0-magnitude Sichuan earthquake on May 12 last year was the worst in a generation in China, flattening entire towns and resulting in more than 87,000 people dead or missing.
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In Nepal, four people have reportedly been arrested for killing outspoken journalist and women’s rights activist Uma Singh, who was murdered in the southeastern lowland city of Janakpur over the weekend.
Thousands of people joined the funeral procession for the young reporter, who also broadcast and wrote against gender and caste discrimination, held earlier this week.
She had spoken about the difficulties of working in southeast Nepal, where armed groups have recently mushroomed.
It has meanwhile emerged that death threats were made against another woman journalist in the southern Terai lowlands on the same day that Singh was killed, says Reporters Without Borders.
The journalist rights group also called for Nepal’s newly elected communist led government to take firm action.
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29972
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The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has this week ordered a tough investigation into the ferry disaster that left 230 people missing and feared dead, as the government’s search efforts were condemned by angry relatives.
Only 35 survivors and two bodies have been found in the treacherous Makassar Strait off western Sulawesi since the ferry went down in a storm on Sunday.
Authorities have said there is little chance of finding the missing alive, but relatives are complaining that the government is not doing enough to find their loved ones.
About 50 people protested at the crisis centre in Majene, one of the closest towns to the spot where the 700-tonne Teratai Prima capsized and sank with 267 people on board.
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And now for our Divine Performing Arts quote of the day
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On the 14th of January 2009, at the war memorial opera house in San Francisco, CA. The Divine Performing Arts displayed another magnificent show. One audience member Becky Strauss, the Art commissioner at the Flint Centre, Cupertino, CA, had a few words to say about the show…
Experience true Chinese culture like never before as Divine Performing Arts presents classical Chinese dance and music in gloriously colorful 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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