Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 11th November

In this Bulletin…

- A gold-mining firm damages Great Wall of China;
- Japan wants Okinawa Marine base closed; and
- Throughout Asia, Veteran’s Remembrance Day observed.

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

A gold mining firm is being investigated after part of one of the oldest sections of the Great Wall of China was damaged during exploration.

About 100 metres of the wall was irreparably damaged, and investigators from the Chinese regime and regional police now plan to bring charges.

The damage was originally discovered in September and work halted, but officials later found it had restarted.

The broken section, in Inner Mongolia, dates from the Qin Dynasty BC 221. Hohhot Kekao Mining Company is alleged to have knocked two holes, covering a total area of 300 square metres, through the Wall.

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

A 23-year-old male employee of a major manufacturer of Apple computer products in China, Foxconn, has allegedly committed suicide after being verbally taunted by his supervisor, reported The Epoch Times.

The news appeared on a blog post on the community portal of the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper and was followed up by a report in the Daily, in print and online. If true, it would be the second suicide by a Foxconn employee in southern China’s city of Shenzhen since last July.

The Daily’s report said that a representative of the unnamed company visited the newspaper’s office on November 5th and confirmed that a worker surnamed Tan had jumped off a building due to stress.

For more on this story visit The Epoch Times.

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

And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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

The relocation of a US Marine base on Okinawa is expected to be on the top of the agenda when President Barack Obama visits Tokyo this week, a relocation that was agreed upon three years ago.

In 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to close Futenma and move its facilities to another Marine base with a heliport built on reclaimed land offshore.

The plan came after 15 years of negotiations but Japan’s new government now wants to reconsider it.

Denny Tamaki, one of Okinawa’s parliament ministers wants Futenma’s marines and training facilities off the island altogether; a sentiment that polls say is shared by nearly 70 percent of Okinawans.

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

Troubled national airline carrier Air India has reported a net loss of 1.2 billion US dollars for the full-year to the end of March.

The loss was due largely to a 12 per cent drop in revenue, from 3.3 billion to 2.9 billion US dollars as a result of the falling numbers of passengers.

Last month, the Indian government agreed to inject 1.1 billion US dollars into the carrier to help keep it in business.

The International Air Transport Association has forecast losses of 11 billion US dollars across the whole industry for 2009.

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

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

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

An Uzbek rights activist has said he was beaten up after helping the BBC investigate the use of child labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry.

Bakhtiyar Hamrayev said he was attacked in the town of Jizzakh within hours of the story appearing on the internet and radio.

The report found that children as young as 11 were being taken out of school to help pick the cotton harvest.

The government pledged to stop using child labour last year after some Western companies boycotted Uzbek cotton but government had failed to meet that promise according to reports.

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

Throughout Asia, thousands attended services honouring fallen soldiers on Remembrance Day this November 11th.

Members of the public and officials came together at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

A sombre silence fell over the crowd as they observed a minute’s silence for the more than 100,000 Australian soldiers who lost their lives in the course of war.

In the Philippines capital city of Manila, United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney and former Philippine President Fidel Ramos led rites honouring Filipino and American World War II veterans.

Remembrance Day is observed in many Commonwealth and European countries on the 11th of November.

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

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