Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Sunday 28th June

In this Bulletin …

- Hong Kong youths plan hunger strike to fight for democracy;
- UN envoy in Burma for talks; and
- Five killed in Karachi shoot-out.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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On July the , several young Hong Kong citizens will begin a hunger strike to fight for democracy, as reported by The Epoch Times.

Jaco Chau, 25 years old, called on Hong Kong Internet users to fight for democracy together.

Chau appealed to the Hong Kong people to take responsibility of their own society, saying there was no need to wait for the leadership of other people or groups.

He believes that the development of the Internet has already created a new civil action mode, where the nationwide support of bloggers has helped people fight for their civil rights.

Currently, six young people have signed up for the campaign. It will take place at Times Square in Causeway Bay from June 29 to July 2.

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Around 100 million ex-servicemen and their families have been asked to expose the widespread corruption in both the government and the military in China.

A recent posting at Tiexue Forum (a Chinese military affairs website) revealed that 200 veterans from the Fourth Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were called upon to launch a protest at Mao Zedong Memorial Hall on Tiananmen Square.

The posting indicated that there are 60 million veterans including their families and 40 million retired military staff including their families in China. The vast majority of these 100 million people are living in poverty. A few million of them are better off, but are also being oppressed.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Addressing a large crowd of supporters in Bangkok by telephone was Thailand’s ousted former leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, who urged them to continue protesting.

The crowd cheered as Mr. Thaksin, who lives in exile in Dubai, criticised the policies of the current government.

He complained of being lonely and told the crowd not to leave him dying in the desert, promising to work for the people if he could return.

Police estimated more than 25,000 were at the rally – the largest since April.

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UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari has arrived in Burma in hopes of a possible visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Mr Gambari is expected to meet Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win, but it was not clear if he would meet jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

She is on trial accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest by letting an uninvited US man stay in her home.

M. Ban has said he hopes to press Burma’s military rulers to release her and other political prisoners.

After arriving in Rangoon on Friday, Mr Gambari travelled to Burma’s capital, Naypyidaw, where he is expected to hold talks with Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

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The United States will change the way it deals with the massive poppy growing industry in Afghanistan.

Instead of destroying the crops, the US will spend money to try and encourage the Afghan farmers to grow different ones.

US special envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, at a G8 meeting in Italy, said current measures against poppy growers had been a failure.

The conference of foreign ministers in Trieste also called for credible elections in Afghanistan in August.

Mr Holbrooke said that existing programmes of eradication had not reduced the amount of money the Taliban earned from production.

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Five militants linked to a Taliban leader in the city of Karachi have been killed by the Pakistani police.

The police chief said the shoot-out took place after officers raided an apartment in the west of the city.

He also said that the militants were loyal to Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and were planning attacks.

The raid comes as the military prepares to launch an assault against Mehsud’s group in the South Waziristan region, on the Afghan border.

The military is also battling militants in the Swat valley to the northwest.

But there are fears the militants could be leaving these areas to launch attacks in Pakistan’s cities.

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