Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 30th July

In this Bulletin…

- Deadly landslide strikes struggling Sichuan Province;
- Beijing complains as Uighur leader visits Japan; and
- Human Rights Watch condemns Sri Lankan government.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
**********************

Heavy rains triggered a deadly landslide that killed at least six people in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, reports The Epoch Times.

At least 12 others were injured when huge rocks destroyed a road bridge sending vehicles plunging into the rain-swollen Minjiang River. So far the wreckage of six trucks and a minibus has been found.

A 100 metre section of the 300 metre long Chediguan Bridge buckled and collapsed after boulders swept down by the landslide smashed one of the bridge’s supporting piers.

The bridge is part of the number 213 National Highway which has been a lifeline for the reconstruction of Wenchuan after the devastating May 2008 earthquake. More than 10,000 vehicles pass over the bridge every day.

**********************

Ecologists have warned that a combination of climate change and man-made factors pose a major threat to an important wetland habitat in northern Shaanxi Province.

Hongjiannao Lake is China’s biggest desert lake, but has shrunk by at least 30 per cent in the past two decades. Its water level is dropping by about 20 centimetres per year. The lake is one of the few breeding grounds of the endangered relict gull.

Yang Fengming, deputy director of a wetland committee in Shaanxi Province, said that the building of dams on the major rivers feeding the lake, threatened the habitats of more than 20 species of rare birds.

Chen Kelin, China Director of Wetlands International, warned that the lake could disappear if adequate measures were not taken, according to state media.

**********************

And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

**********************

The Chinese regime is angry with Tokyo for granting Rebiya Kadeer, President of the World Uighur Congress, entry into Japan. Beijing labelled her five-day visit as anti-China and separatist activity.

Beijing accuses Kadeer of being the mastermind behind the uprisings in Xinjiang earlier this month.

According to a Central News Agency report, Kadeer said she would use the trip to gain more support for the Muslim minorities in Xinjiang when welcomed by a group at Tokyo airport.

Staff from the Japan branch of the World Uighur Congress said she met with lawmakers from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Professor Xie Tian from Philladelphia’s Drexel University in the U.S. believes the Chinese regime’s economic policy, particularly the exploitation of Xinjiang’s natural resources, is an underlying factor in the recent unrest.

**********************

After holding the final hearing in the trial of former President Chen Shui-bian on charges of corruption and money-laundering, the Taipei District Court has announced it will deliver a verdict on September 11.

Judge Tsai Shou-shun said the court will also announce whether Chen, who was indicted on charges of engaging in embezzlement, bribery, money laundering and forgery during his term as president from 2000 to 2008, will be released or not.

The former president has been detained since December 30, 2008.

In his closing argument, Chen, who was defending himself, apologised to the country’s citizens on behalf of him and his family for behaviour that did not meet the highest possible moral standards.

**********************

You’re listening to Asia Cast on the SOH Radio Network

**********************

India’s health minister has revealed that the expansion of testing for HIV in the past three years has led to a 20-fold jump in the number of cases among children.

In November 2006, health authorities counted 2,253 children in India with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) Ghulam Nabi Azad told parliament. The number went up to a cumulative total of 52,973 in May this year, he said.

The huge increase in the number of confirmed cases may be due to the expanded testing for the virus. India, home to more than a billion people, currently has 217 facilities for HIV/AIDS treatment and 5,155 counselling and testing centres.

The minister insisted that overall, HIV prevalence had decreased in India from 0.45 per cent in 2002 to 0.34 per cent in 2007.

**********************

A leading human rights group has called on the Sri Lankan government to immediately release the more than 280,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians held in detention camps in the north of the country.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the government’s actions violated international law. Inside the camps, humanitarian workers are prohibited, on threat of being barred from the camps, from discussing with residents the fighting in the final months of the conflict or possible human rights abuses.

Brad Adams, the organisation’s Asia director said keeping several hundred thousand civilians who had been caught in the middle of a war penned in these camps was outrageous. Adding that these Tamils deserved their freedom, like all other Sri Lankans.

**********************

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