Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 29th April

In this bulletin…

- CCP Replaces Satellite Dishes in Tibet;
- Report says Southeast Asia will fair badly in global warming crisis; and
- South Korea makes glow in the dark dogs.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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The Chinese communist regime has replaced 170 satellite dishes in a Tibetan region of southern Gansu Province, leaving residents without internet access and only being able to watch TV programming from the state-run China Central Television, reported Radio Free Asia.

The Communist authorities claim secret agents from the Tibetan independence movement installed the original satellite dishes, and therefore they had to confiscate all of them and reinstall so-called “official” ones.

A member of the Tibetan Congress in Dharamsala says authorities began in March to switch out the receivers installed by Tibetans in Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu Provinces, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Watching TV news from India, or even listening to overseas news such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, is no longer possible after authorities installed the new dishes.

Watch the news story on NTDTV.

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Hampered by censorship at home and ignorant of Chinese culture’s affect abroad, Chinese writers are still unsuccessful at making a major impact globally, 90 years after the literary revolution of
May 4, 1919, according to a Reuters report.

The literary movement had started out as a protest against a decision to award Japan control of German concessions in China’s Shandong Province, but turned to the subject of how China should modernize.

It incited many famous Chinese writers to write social commentary and satire, covering things they viewed needed changing such as what they thought was a corrupt, backward and foreign dominated China.

Yet, modern Chinese authors are struggling to make a worldwide dent in the market, with communist bans, language barriers, lack of interest and Chinese ignorance of the outside world due to censorship, being lauded as the leading barriers for their lack of success.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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The Asian Development Bank released a new study that warns Southeast Asia faces a poorer future unless global warming is controlled.

The new study titled, “The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review,” finds that the benefits to the region from taking early action against climate change far outweigh the costs.

Researches warn that climate change seriously threatens Southeast Asian families’ food supplies and financial prosperity, believing the worst is yet to come.

They say rice production will dramatically decline because of climate change, threatening food security and rising sea levels will force relocation of millions, while more people will die from thermal stress, malaria, dengue and other diseases.

They also advise that nations in the region should not put profit before people by pushing down policy agendas because of the current financial crisis. The study finds that only global action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions can effectively address the root causes of global warming.

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South Korean scientists have recently engineered four beagle dogs to glow red when a UV light is shined on them.

The four dogs, named Ruppy – a combination of Ruby and puppy – look like typically normal beagles in the daylight, but put them under ultraviolet light and the light coloured parts of their abdomens, and their nails glow red and even look red to the naked eye.

The head of the research team, Lee Byeong-chun, called them the world’s first transgenic dogs carrying fluorescent genes, an achievement believed to go beyond the novelty of glow-in-the-dark dogs.

Lee told the Associated Press that what was significant in the work was not the dogs expressing red colours but that they planted genes into them.

He said his team took skin cells from a beagle, inserted fluorescent genes into them and put them into eggs before implanting them into a surrogate mother.

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You are listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network

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Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is sending more than 400 troops to Afghanistan and more police and civilian advisers he says, quote, “To reduce the threat of terrorist attacks on Australian citizens in the future.”

The increase will raise the number of Australian troops from 1,100 to around 1,550.

He said there would be no additional combat units sent and he acknowledged that security in Afghanistan is deteriorating.

Rudd rationalized that Australia must not allow Afghanistan to once again become the unimpeded training ground and operating base for global terrorist activity.

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And now for our Shen Yun Performing Arts quote of the day

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Thousands of Sydneysiders witnessed the rebirth of ancient human values at Shen Yun. Even actors and dancers give high ovation. Here is what actress, Olivia Brown had to say:

“It’s a very interesting evening, and wonderful to have the chance to see so many specific skills and so much of the culture. I like the singing very much because they seem to have great heart, great feeling in the words and in the voices. I think it’s wonderful because there is so much variety and there is something different all the time – it’s full of energy and full of color and beautiful costumes, and yes it has a lot to offer the audiences.”

The final curtain fell in Sydney at a packed Parade Theatre in Kensington on Sunday, April 26. Sydney’s appreciative audience waved goodbye to New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts with three curtain calls, as if they wanted to say “Stay one more day, or come back soon, as there are still so many that did not have a chance to see this wonderful show.”

Upcoming performances will be held in California, Portland and Washington in the United States.

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

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