Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 14th July

In this Bulletin…

- China and Rio Tinto clash;
- Japan protests Uighur violence; and
- New EU-South Korea trade pact.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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In Guizhou Province, rescuers have located three miners that were trapped underground in the Xinqiao coal mine.

The three miners, all in their mid-30s, had survived for 25 days by licking water dripping down the tunnel walls.

They were lifted to safety on Sunday 12th and are in a stable condition.

The rescued men were given medical attention on site and were then sent to Guiyang hospital.

China is the number one country in the world for mining accidents and has shown a constant inability to upgrade this unfortunate ranking. In 2008 around 3,000 miners died on the job.

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Australian Officials have visited the Rio Tinto executive, Stern Hu, who has recently been detained by Shanghai police on suspicion of stealing state secrets.

It is believed that the detention may be a severe action taken by the communist regime to bring even more trouble in the latest process of pricing agreements with Rio Tinto.

According to Reuters, Australian Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen warned the Chinese regime that if foreign businesses feel that their degree of uncertainty is high, it will change the way that foreign businesses around the world approach business in China.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast
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In Japan over 700 people protested the recent violence against the Uighur people, in the Xinjiang riots in China. Japanese concerned about the recent violent conflicts involving Uighur Muslims gathered at Miyashta Park, in Tokyo, on Sunday.

Hundreds shared their concerns about the present state of China, with one protester saying that their Stalinist way of treating ethnic minorities is unacceptable.

Mr Wang, from the Chinese Democracy and cooperation association said that it was the violence in Tibet that first showed the world the true face of the Communist regime, and he feels that they have displayed it again with the Uighur people.

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The EU plans to finalise a US$100 billion trade pact with South Korea by the end of the year, the prime minister of EU said on Monday.

The agreement with Seoul to lower barriers to trade and investment would be the EU’s first such pact in Asia.

Brussels and Seoul began negotiations in 2007 to scrap import duties and other barriers in industries including pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics and cars.

Some countries though are concerned about the ailing car industry in Europe being brought down even further should the agreement be finalised.

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A London girl and a Bedfordshire Doctor are the latest victims of the Swine Flu in England, health officials said on Monday, days after the first British death from the infection in an otherwise healthy patient.

Now 17 people have died from H1N1 in Britain. The Department of Health said last week the rapid spread of infection in London and the West Midlands was close to epidemic level.

Dr Michael Day, from Bedfordshire, north of London, died on Saturday and Chloe Buckley, 6, from northwest London, died on July 9 at St Mary’s Hospital in London, NHS officials said.

Britain’s Health Minister Andy Burnham has said the government is projecting more than 100,000 new cases a day of the flu by the end of August.

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The World Health Organization has given drug makers the green light to start making vaccines against the pandemic influenza strain on Monday, after stating that the H1N1 virus is unstoppable.

WHO stated that healthcare workers should be the first to get one.

Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research said that every country should begin to administer vaccines to their citizens, and after people of the medical industry, it will be up to them to administer it in the manner they see fit.

WHO has stated that the H1N1 is now killing people who are shown to have no health problems prior to catching it, and that it is now critical for immunization to begin globally.

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