Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Sunday 27th December

In this Bulletin…

- China jails prominent dissident for 11 years;
- Asia marks Indian Ocean tsunami anniversary; and
- Thailand pressured over refugees.

But first we have our Shen Yun quote of the day

[audio]

Our SOH focus on China is next
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A prominent Chinese dissident was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday. Liu Xiaobo was charged with incitement to subvert state power. This charge is often used by the Chinese regime prosecute dissidents.

Liu is a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests. And recently he was a main author of the Charter 08 manifesto, which called for sweeping political reforms.

Foreign diplomats were barred from last week’s court proceedings in Beijing. But this did not prevent many from gathering outside the courthouse to condemn the regime’s actions.

Watch NTDTV for more on this story.

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Analysts are keeping a close eye on the real estate market in China. There are worries that this rapidly expanding segment of the country’s economy could be heading for a crash.

One observer told The Epoch Times that the bubble may burst imminently.

Shi believes China’s economy is in a similar state to that of Japan before the crash of the Japanese economy in the early 1990′s.

A Chinese economist recently told NTDTV that if there as a run on the property market the regime would close the banks by force in order to stop a massive cash withdrawal. He said this would paralyze the economy and leave foreign businesses trapped.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Thousands of people gathered across Asia on Saturday for ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The towering waves killed more than 200,000 people and left many more displaced. Indonesia was hit the hardest, where 170,000 died in Aceh Province.

Reconstruction efforts over the last few years have given people new homes. But international aid is drying up. Some in the region are worried they will not get the help they need to pull through.

In Thailand, many survivors returned to the island to join locals and at memorial services in Phuket. A minute’s silence was observed before monks offered prayers for the victims.

NTDTV has more.

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The UN has said that Thailand would be endangering thousands of Hmong refugees if it goes ahead with plans to deport them to Laos.

The Thai government has a deal with Laos to send the refugees back by December 31.

The Hmong say they face persecution in Laos because they fought on the side of the Americans during the Vietnam War.

Thailand has said it will act according to the law. But the head of the United Nations refugee agency said under international law, refugees could not be forcibly returned to countries that might persecute them.

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

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A collision between a ferry and another boat in the Philippines on Thursday left at least four people dead. Another 23 were missing after the accident.

As yet there have been no further reports from the authorities.

The vessels were carrying at least 73 people between them. The coastguard told local media 46 people had been rescued.

A coastguard statement said an air and sea search was continuing, but there were fears that those missing were trapped in the passenger ferry as they slept.

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Officials in India said forty-five people were believed to have died after a bridge collapsed in the northern industrial hub of Kota.

A senior official from Kota said rescuers struggled to retrieve all the bodies of victims who fell into the Chambal River on Thursday after the bridge collapsed. So far, rescuers have pulled out 11 bodies, he said.

The bridge has been under construction since 2007. It is a joint venture between Gammon India and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday that Hyundai Engineering plans to file a damage suit against Gammon India over the collapse.

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