AsiaCast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 21st October

China has invested millions of dollars in the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in what critics say is a bid to bring its communist ideology to the international community.(By liscorner09/Flickr)

In this Bulletin…

- Chinese communist party invests US$7.4 million in German book fair;
- China relocates one-third of a million people for water project; and
- Kyrgyzstan’s government resigns.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invested over 7.4 million U.S. dollars as guests of honour in the Frankfurt International Book Fair in Germany last week.

An SOH reporter interviewed a former professor of journalism and communication at Peking University in China, and a former editor of the Chinese Hebei People’s Radio, regarding the CCP’s participation in the event.

They stated that it was simply another strategic tactic to repackage and glorify the Party’s image, and bring to the international community the communist regime’s ideology, a community that has no idea of the real China.

It was also said the regime’s grand spending and large delegation do not make the average Chinese citizen feel proud.

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One of China’s largest internet phone service providers suspended its services and apparently shut the website down after being accused of harbouring users who were spreading ‘Xinjiang independence’ messages through its network, reports The Epoch Times.

Reportedly, an official body had instructed the company to make changes to its service and that because of Xinjiang independence messages being spread through the service, authorities had ordered all voice over IP providers to rectify their businesses, creating difficulty for many users, like from Chinese VoIP provider MeeCall, to dial out.

Senior internet commentator Bei Feng said recently that Chinese authorities can monitor landline communications and mobile phones, but VoIP remains beyond reach.

Read more on this at The Epoch Times.

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China’s state-run media says it has begun to resettle 330,000 people from Hubei and Henan provinces, to make way for a project to divert water from the south of the country to the north.

The 62 billion U.S. dollar project which is already four years behind schedule, when completed, will have three routes that will carry water from southern, central and western China to the arid north.

There are many complaints that relocated farmers are being offered less than half the land they currently use and only $88 U.S. dollars in annual subsidies.

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

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China has pledged to make an all out effort to rescue the cargo ship De Xin Hai which was hijacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean early on Monday, about 1,100 kilometres east of the coast of Somalia.

Reportedly, an associate of the pirates has warned that a rescue attempt could put the crew’s lives at risk.

The European Union’s anti-piracy naval mission said the ship was being tracked and the crew appeared to be in good condition.

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Thousands of car workers are on strike for a day to protest against the death of a worker in Gurgaon, near the Indian capital of Delhi.