AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 20th January

In this bulletin …

-Brutalities of Yunnan number two labor camp exposed;
-China ‘wants strong links to US’; and
-Senator pressures Thailand to release jailed Australian author.

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Interest conflicts between struggling businesses and 700 million laborers have intensified more than ever, following the wave of global economic recession that is affecting China.

This is posing a crucial test for the communist officials as they try to implement a new labor contract law in January this year.

China’s purchasing manager’s index, the CLSA (Crédit Lyonnais Securities Asia) , clearly shows that China’s leading manufacturing sector has been declining for the past five consecutive months.

Executive director of the Shenzhen Institute of Contemporary Observation, Liu Kaiming, said that the pressure derived by the new labor law had led to the closure of the factories to escape labor obligations.

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Li Wen-Bo, aged 43, who resided in Gucheng Village of Kunming City in Yunnan Province, was illegally detained and sentenced to ‘reformation’ through hard labor for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to others in February 2005.

On 6th February 2005, Li was sent to Yunnan Number two Labor Camp for persecution, where he still remains.  He has been severely tortured by police and other thugs, leaving him with declining eyesight, six teeth lost and a 20 centimeter long scar on his left leg.

Also, police and other thugs in the labor camp have beaten him violently while assaulting him verbally. They then dragged him into a muddy pond, soaking his entire body in mud before taking him back to the cave to torture him with a grill.

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As US President-elect Barack Obama is about to be sworn in to office, Colonel Hu of China has called for a stronger military relationship with the US.

On Tuesday China released its annual defence survey which noted a general improvement in China’s security situation in 2008.

China’s military spending has been a concern to the US in the past, which, according to official figures, increased 18 per cent last year.

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Independent Senator Nick Xenophan is pressuring the Federal Government to bring an Australian man jailed in Thailand back home.

Harry Nicolaides, 41, from Melbourne, has been jailed for 3 years in Bangkok over a passage he wrote in a 2005 novel about the Thai Crown Prince.

Mr. Nicolaides has already served five months in jail, which has taken a heavy toll on his physical and mental health.

This week his legal team will apply for a royal pardon.

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In a sea battle off the country’s north-eastern coast, the Sri Lankan navy says that four Tamil Tiger military boats have been destroyed.

The navy has said that during the fighting one of its vessels was damaged in a blast.

A pro-rebel website says the Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan convoy and destroyed a navy attack craft.

As the army presses ahead with its offensive, fighting is continuing around the sole remaining rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu.

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And now for our Divine Performing Arts quote of the day
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Beck Strauss who is the Arts Commissioner in Milpitas City  had this to say, after recently attending the Divine Performing Arts show  at the Cupertino Flint Center, in California.

Recording …

Experience the magnificence of China’s five millennia old culture.

Visit www.divineperformingarts.org to find out when this divine show will be gracing your local city.

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“Asia Cast … Keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the world.”