AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Monday 1st June

In this bulletin …

- Thousands protest Tiananmen Square massacre;
- Sri Lankan Tamils facing misery; and
- Suu Kyi trial delayed.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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The Chinese version of former Chinese Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang’s explosive memoirs sold to great demand in Hong Kong bookstores last Friday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The memoirs, which detail Zhao’s years in power and his ousting by Party hardliners after the bloody 1989 crackdown when tanks and troops crushed the pro-democracy demonstration killing hundreds, have proven to be of great public interest in the city which holds a large candlelight vigil to mark June 4 each year.

Zhao, who secretly recorded his memories on audiotapes, denounced the killings as a tragedy and rejected the government claim that the protests were an anti-Communist conspiracy.

A first print run of 14,000 copies sold out within hours in several bookstore chains including Page One and Commercial Press. Even bookstores traditionally seen to have Communist-sympathies have been ordering the book in bulk to meet demand.

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Five thousand Hong Kong demonstrators are asking the Chinese Communist Party to readdress the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Twenty years ago, on June 4th, when the Chinese regime’s army marched through the square, although never officially confirmed, it is believed that thousands of demonstrators were killed.

The protesters are demanding democratic reform and an end to official corruption.

Former student leader Xiong Yan was on Beijing’s “most-wanted” list after the bloody crackdown. But today, Xiong is demonstrating peacefully in Hong Kong, after living seventeen years in exile in the United States.

Xiong thinks that because there is a dictatorial system in China and the regime is very corrupt, he believes the Communist regime is not brave enough to face the truth.

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The government is being urged by a senior Sri Lankan Tamil political leader to resettle civilians back to their homes as early as possible.

He described conditions in camps for civilians displaced by the country’s war as “horrible”.

The head of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) said hundreds of thousands faced misery and hardship.

He also said there were food, health and sanitation problems in camps set up for the Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka.

The United Nations says nearly 300,000 people have been displaced by recent fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.

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All new tobacco products manufactured in India will have to carry pictorial warnings to discourage their use.

Packets of cigarettes, bidis (small hand-rolled cigarettes common in India) and chewing tobacco will now have to display the scorpion and lung symbols.

Authorities have also launched a multimedia campaign urging people to quit tobacco consumption.

Tobacco smoking kills 900,000 people a year in India. The figure is expected to rise to a million by 2010.

A countrywide ban on smoking in public places came into effect last October.

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The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader, has been delayed until later this week.

Suu Kyi has pleaded not guilty to the charges that she violated the rules of the house detention, when John Yettaw – an American ex-serviceman – swam across a lake to her home in central Rangoon.

Yettaw had paid a similar visit late last year and he has given evidence that on both occasions he was seen by security guards.

The military junta has said Suu Kyi covered up the latest visit. She faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Suu Kyi has already spent more than 13 years in detention over the past two decades.

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With the number of swine flu cases in Australia climbing to 400, health authorities are preparing to increase the alert level beyond the current containment phase.

Australia’s chief medical officer is also warning that it is still not clear how the virus may change as it spreads through the community.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon today said the current national flu alert level, now at “contain”, would have to be increased.

Australia’s chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, has approved the release of 5,000 face masks from the national stockpile.

All will go to Victoria, which remains at the epicentre of the outbreak with more than 300 cases, a rise of nearly 100 in that state in just 24 hours.

Dr Bishop says there are still many unknowns about this flu and how it might evolve.

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