Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 18th November

China’s massive Three Gorges Dam project is proving to be a potentially disastrous scheme, with looming threats of landslides and earthquakes. (By putneymark/Flickr)

In this Bulletin…

- Tibetan website founder sentenced to 15 years in closed-door trial;
- Men survive two months lost in Pacific Ocean; and
- Australia issues catastrophic fire alert.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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The founder of an influential Tibetan literary Web site has been charged by Chinese authorities of allegedly divulging state secrets and was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a closed-door trial on November 12th, according to The Epoch Times.

Kunchok Tsephel, 39, is accused of “divulging state secrets,” a vague charge used by the Chinese authorities to punish dissidents of all stripes.

Under such laws, the Chinese authorities are not required to explain which state secrets the defendant is alleged to have divulged.

The charges probably relate to content posted on his Web site, Chodme, which seeks to protect Tibetan culture.

Read more on this story at The Epoch Times.

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China’s massive Three Gorges Dam project has come to an unexpected halt because there are concerns about drought and landslides in the region along the Yangtze River in central Hubei Province, said NTDTV.

In September workers began raising the level of water in the Three Gorges Reservoir towards its 574-foot capacity.

However, the plan hit a snag on the second of November when water levels hit 564 feet and work was abruptly stopped.

Critics of the dam continue to highlight the dangers of the rising water levels, pointing to recent studies that say a sharp increase in landslides in the region is likely.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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In Andhra Pradesh, India, six infants who were born less than a week ago have died at a government general hospital due to alleged negligence of doctors, non-functioning incubators and lack of a sufficient number of ventilators.

Although the infants had died on Saturday, parents of the infants told reporters the issue came to the public’s attention on Monday night because doctors at the hospital made a point to keep the issue a secret.

One doctor at the hospital said though there were 20 babies needing provisions in the ward, there were only eight incubators and one ventilator available.

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A group of men from Papua, New Guinea have been rescued after more than two months adrift in the Pacific Ocean and appear to be stable yet in very serious stages of illness and malnutrition.

A helicopter belonging to a U.S.-flagged fishing vessel, the Ocean Encounter spotted the boat as it drifted off Nauru on Sunday.

Initially there were eight men on board but one died after jumping overboard. Of the other seven, two had died after being rescued.

The five survivors are now at a hospital in Majuro Island, thousands of kilometres from where they first set sail.

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

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After decades of campaigning for an apology from the Australian government, thousands of orphans who grew up in government institutions in Australia between the 1930s and 1970s received one from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently.

Around 7,000 children were sent from Britain to Australia, often without the consent of their parents.

With promises of a better life, they instead were dumped in institutions, abused and used as a cheap form of labour; their childhood taken away.

In front of an audience of 900, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized for the years of abuse and neglect.

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In Australia the new level of fire warning of “catastrophic” has been issued by officials for the first time, because of a severe heat-wave in the south of the country.

The new level of warning urges people to evacuate and was created after wildfires killed 173 people in Victoria State earlier this year in Australia’s worst natural disaster.

In the past, people had the option of staying behind to fight the flames.

South Australia’s fire service has warned people in two northern districts to leave before a fire starts, to avoid people dying from trying to defend their homes from fire.

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