Asia Cast

Asia Cast for Wednesday 19th May

In this Bulletin…

- Credit card delinquency in China rises in first quarter;
- Thai army breaks through red-shirt barricade; and
- Japan’s mission to planet Venus postponed.

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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China’s Central Bank reports say credit card delinquencies have risen in the first quarter of this year. The amount of payments overdue by six months has risen by US$161 million dollars from the end of last quarter, totaling nearly US$1.3 billion dollars.

The People’s Bank of China reported that overdue payments at the end of March accounted for 3.5 percent of outstanding credit card balances.

The number of bank cards in issue, including debit and credit cards is 2.17 billion at the end of the first quarter. Nearly a 15 percent increase from the same time last year.

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China’s stock market has plummeted after a quick rise in 2009. Analysts say a growing concern over Europe’s debt crisis and expectations are to blame.

Worries abound that Beijing will take strong actions to slow the nation’s booming economy in aims to prevent overheating.

Share prices in Shanghai rose modestly on Tuesday, after falling 5 percent on Monday. Yet, the composite index remains near its lowest point last year, down nearly 21 percent this year.

Aggressive lending helped revive China’s building boom, sending Chinese stock prices soaring. But speculators are now more cautious, with many retreating from China stocks.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Foxconn, Taiwanese maker of the Apple iPhone, has hired counselors and brought in Buddhist monks for workers after seven of its employees committed suicide. Two others had tried.

The deaths at the manufacturing campus in Shenzhen have raised concerns about worker treatment. However, local government investigations had not blamed the deaths on working conditions.

A company spokesman told news media that some of the young workers had been having personal problems.

Foxconn is part of Hon Hai, the world’s largest maker of consumer electronics. It is also one of the biggest overseas employers in China.

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Five Hong Kong legislative candidates who had earlier resigned, claimed victory and having won back their seats. The two pro-democracy parties that pushed for the by-election as a de facto referendum said the election marked the beginning of a new democracy movement.

Close to 600,000 Hong Kong citizens turned out to vote despite boycotts by the Chinese regime and the Hong Kong government.

Although the 17 percent turnout rate was significantly low, the five candidates won with the majority support from voters.

Pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong have been pushing the Chinese regime to allow full democracy in Hong Kong.

More on this story at The Epoch Times.

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

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Thailand’s army broke through red-shirt protestor barricades in Bangkok on Wednesday. Troops fired tear gas and armoured vehicles moved towards an area where thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied.

According to Reuters, at least two people were shot in a gunfight where the military was coming in. Demonstrators responded by firing at soldiers.

The government crackdown came a day after the collapse of a proposal for talks aimed at ending five days of urban warfare, in which 39 people were killed and nearly 300 were wounded.

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Poor weather has prompted Japan to postpone launch of their space-probe Akatsuki to the planet Venus.

Mission controllers have a window that stretches into early June to get Akatsuki away and on to its six-month cruise to the inner world. They are now targeting a launch for Friday morning, May 21.

The probe’s rocket will also deploy a number of piggy-back experiments, including a small satellite to practice the technique of sailing on sunlight.

The plan is for Akatsuki to study Venus’ atmosphere and hunt for signs of lightning and active volcanoes.

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