Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Monday 24th May

In this Bulletin…

- Landslide derails Chinese tourist train;
- Black box found at Indian air crash; and
- Asian success at Cannes Film Festival.

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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A landslide in China’s Jiangxi Province derailed a train Sunday. At least 19 people were killed and over 70 injured. It is not known how many passengers on board the train at the time of the accident.

The train was making its daily trip from Shanghai to Guilin City in southern China’s Guangxi Province. Guilin City’s unique scenery makes it popular with tourists.

A series of storms and heavy rainfall in Jiangxi Province over the past few weeks triggered the landslide on a mountainous section of the railway.

The Epoch Times website has more of the details on this story.

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A rare Siberian tiger cub has made medical history in China. State media said the five-month old cub became the youngest animal in China to undergo a surgical operation.

Cataracts from both of the cub’s eyes at a hospital in eastern China. Zoo keepers knew there was a problem as the tiger only used his sense of smell to find food.

The most advanced medical procedures possible were used because the tiger can’t have another laser operation in the future. To minimize cutting, ultrasonic waves were used for over an hour to break up the cataracts.

In 2005, there were fewer than 400 Siberian tigers left in the wild. Almost all of them live in Siberia itself.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Taiwan’s annual cyber war games were this year for the first time not directed at defending against an invasion by China. Instead the presumed enemy was a super typhoon.

During training exercises between May 13 and May 21 the nation’s emergency response and humanitarian assistance capabilities were tested.

The warming in relations between China and Taiwan, at least on the surface, as well as the devastation wrought by Typhoon Morakot in August 2009 are both likely to have influenced the decision.

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Japan’s prime minister has said a US military air base will remain in Okinawa. The announcement broke one of the campaign promises he made in securing his election victory last year.

The prime minister had promised to move the US Marine Corps Futenma base completely off of Okinawa. US military instillations currently occupy 10 to 20 per cent of the island.

But instead the base is going to be moved to a less densely populated area of Okinawa.

The announcement will likely have cost the president the support of many Okinawan’s. A recent poll by the Nikkei newspaper said 59 per cent of Japanese believe the prime minister should resign if he can’t resolve the Futenma issue.

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

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Air crash investigators in southern India have found the cockpit voice recorder of the Air India Express passenger jet that crashed Saturday.

The discovery may help reveal what caused the Boeing 727 to overshoot its landing at Mangalore. The plane crashed into a valley beyond the end of the runway and burst into flames. Only eight out of the 166 passengers and crew on board survived.

Investigators are still searching for the other black box, the flight data recorder.

Funerals for some of the victims have already been held. Twelve bodies are still unidentified. They may remain so until DNA tests have been carried out.

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Asian films have fared well at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. A film from Thailand won the coveted Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize.

The film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives was directed by directed by independent Thai director, producer and screenwriter Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is about a dying man who is visited by his late wife and his missing son, who has become an ape.

Award winning South Korean director, Lee Chang-Dong’s received the best screenplay prize for his film Poetry.

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