Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 9th April

In this bulletin…

- Forced abortions and sterilization opperations still commonplace in China;
- Tibetans sentenced to death over last years riots in Lhasa; and
- Falun Gong flourishing in Vietnam.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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A 75 year-old retired professor from Shandong University, was brutally beaten by five men for honouring the memory of Zhao Ziyang, former Party General Secretary who was purged for supporting the 1989 Tiananmen protests.

Sun Wenguang said he had been trying to pay his respects to the late communist leader during the Qingming grave-sweeping festival.

But this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, a subject the regime treats as taboo.

Sun suffered three broken ribs and injuries to his hands and legs in the attack at the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery in Jinan on Saturday. “They wanted to punish me and let people know that Zhao Ziyang is not allowed to be memorialised,” he claimed.

The group, Human Rights in China, condemned the attack, calling it a ‘deplorable act’.
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A woman from a small town in Jianxi Province was recently taken into custody, blindfolded and then assaulted before being forced to undergo a sterilization operation by local officials, according to Radio Free Asia.

Gan Yulan told reporters that four officers took her into custody without showing any legal warrant. The Local People’s Congress deputy director, Wang Xuebing, hit her on the way to the hospital. When asked why he assaulted her, Wang said: “You are nobody. I can do whatever I want to you.”

A local official said that Gan had been notified six times during the past three years she needed to have the operation after she violated the single child policy.

Forced abortions and routine sterilization operations are commonplace in China though China’s family planning regulations prohibit forced sterilizations.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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Despite there still being considerable controversy over who started the violence during protests in Lhasa last March, a court in Tibet has sentenced two people to death for their part in the riots.

Two others were given suspended death sentences while another was sentenced to life imprisonment, said the report, which quoted a spokesman for the intermediate court in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

Chinese state-controlled media claimed the crimes committed by the five defendants, which included arson, resulted in seven deaths and the destruction of five shops in Lhasa.

A massive Chinese security crackdown across Tibet has remained in place since the violence, which erupted from what had been peaceful protests.

The Tibetan government in exile says more than 200 Tibetans were killed by Chinese security forces.

The regime has tried to deflect attention away from itself by drawing attention to those it says were killed by rioters, particularly the arson deaths.

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Although it is still banned in China, where it is heavily persecuted, the Falun Gong spiritual practice is flourishing in neighbouring Vietnam.

The number of Vietnamese practitioners is said to be growing fast and although the exact figure is unknown, some estimate it to be in the thousands.

Falun Gong is currently not officially allowed by the Vietnamese authorities, something that practitioners there hope will change.

But, the regime clearly does not want Falun Gong to be another potential point of conflict in the already tangled bilateral relationship with China. There are allegations that China is pressuring Vietnam as it seeks to export its persecution around the world.

Just last week, police in Ho Chi Minh City dispersed a gathering in a city centre park, questioned the participants and confiscated all their materials.

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You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network
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China’s unbridled industrial dumping efforts have harmed American industry, jobs and the US economy according to testimonies from a recent congressional hearing in Washington, reports The Epoch Times.

“The U.S. economy is in shambles not because we have been consuming too much, but because we have been producing too little,” said Congressman Walter B Jones, in a speech before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Hearing.

China does not produce products for domestic consumption, but dumps cheap government-subsidized manufactured goods onto foreign markets; distorting world trade and creating unprecedented trade imbalances.

During 2008, the US trade imbalance with China amounted to $266.3 billion, tripling since 2000, with $71.5 billion in exports and $337.8 billion in imports.

To make US industry competitive and provide a fair “playing field,” US trade policies must be revamped, Jones argued.

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And now for our Shen Yun Performing Arts quote of the day
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Mr. Miers, a company director and his wife, an administration manager attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour performance with their daughter, at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Australia, on Tuesday, April 7.

Formerly called Divine Performing Arts, Mr. Miers was seeing for the first time a Chinese cultural show and was thoroughly impressed.

“I think it’s brilliant,” he said. “I mean the costumes…everything about this is brilliant, it really is.”

“I think we’re very lucky, because Adelaide doesn’t always get such fantastic theatre,” Mrs Miers said. “Yes, we’re very lucky that it actually came to Adelaide, and as many people should try and come here, if they can – fantastic, definitely well worth seeing.”

SOH is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org.

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