Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Saturday 20th February

In this Bulletin …

- Lawyer Gao Zhisheng may be alive in Xinjiang;
- China upset over Dalai Lama meeting with US; and
- Indian state confiscates offensive Jesus textbooks.

But first we have our Shen Yun quote of the day

[audio]

For more information please visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org.

Our SOH focus on China is next

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Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng is claimed to be in Urumqi, Chinese authorities have told the US-based human rights group, Dui Hua Foundation.

Mr Gao has been missing since February 4, 2009. No one, including his wife, has had news about his whereabouts or condition.

In a brief statement released on February 12, the Dui Hua Foundation said the Chinese embassy in Washington told them that Gao is working in Urumqi.

However Gao Zhiyi says he still does not know his brothers whereabouts. He has been calling the Beijing police repeatedly, but his phone calls are not answered.

For more on this story read The Epoch Times.

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A survey by H1N1China.org indicates that the Chinese Communist Party is covering-up the outbreak.

The Web site conducted the survey from December 2009 to the end of January 2010.
The estimated H1N1 deaths throughout China based on the survey was 124,000 by the end of January 2010.

The estimated death toll is more than 160 times higher than the official death toll of 775 by the end of January 2010.

Currently, China’s state-run media seldom cover any news about the H1N1 pandemic. Experts have called on the Chinese to not let down their guard and take active measures to avoid getting or spreading the flu.

For more on this story read The Epoch Times.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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A meeting with the Dalai Lama and US President Barack Obama has seriously damaged relations between the US and China, Beijing says.

Beijing released a strongly worded statement opposing the meeting between US President Barack Obama and Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Weeks before the meeting China showed strong dissatisfaction to the meeting with a man they see as a separatist.

Beijing said the US should work to fix the hurtful effects of the meeting.

The Dalai Lama’s meeting was kept low-key to show it was private rather than political.

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North Korea swore it would not dismantle its nuclear program, not even in exchange for economic aid.

North Korea says the US pushed it to attaining nuclear deterrence and it is wholly to blame for the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula

The United States says North Korea has enough weapons-grade plutonium to build half a dozen nuclear bombs.

In anger over international criticism of its nuclear and missile tests last year, North Korea cut off the six-party talks involving the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia,

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

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Textbooks used for primary classes showing pictures of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette and a can of beer have been confiscated by the government in the Indian state of Meghalaya.

The book has caused uproar in the north-eastern state, where more than 70 per cent of the population is Christian.

The State Education Minister has said legal action against the publishers was being considered.

He said that although private schools were not obliged to use textbooks arranged by the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education, his government has taken quick action by confiscating all the copies of the textbook from schools and bookshops.

So far the company, which is based in Delhi, has not responded to the complaints.

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A UN envoy has said he is disappointed that Myanmar’s ruling military had refused to let him meet detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tomas Ojea Quintana spoke out after meeting government officials.

Mr Quintana’s trip was focused on inspecting the human rights situation in Myanmar ahead of the first polls in twenty years.

Myanmar’s ruling generals have promised elections later this year but have not yet set a date or issued any election laws.

There are claims that the vote is a con aimed at legitimizing the military’s grip on power.

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“Asia Cast … Keeping you across the top headlines from Asia and the world.”