Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Tuesday 22nd June

In this Bulletin…

- Newest deadly mine explosion in China;
- Japan sets new fiscal goals; and
- The UN appeals for Kyrgyzstani displaced.

But first we have our SOH focus on China.

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At least 47 miners were killed in a coal mine explosion in Henan Province, China on Monday. According to state-run media, there were 26 survivors, of which six suffered extensive burns.

The explosion occurred when an underground explosives storage area had suddenly detonated.

The mine’s license had expired weeks before the explosion. However the owner of the mine had resumed production illegally.

China is notorious for its frequent and deadly mine accidents. Last year, another mine explosion in the in the same city, killed 76 miners.

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Businessman Michael Hull is warning investors to be aware of risks when investing in China.

While travelling to Shanghai with a group of former foreign investors to the World Expo, he says he was manhandled, taken to an unknown location and interrogated by police. He was then deported.

Hull said it was all because he and his companions had petitioned Beijing after being cheated in China and losing all their money.

When he asked police to investigate, they said they couldn’t because the manager was a member of the communist party.

Visit NTDTV for the full story.

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Please listen out at the end of this bulletin for news on changes coming soon to Asia Cast. Now here’s the rest of today’s bulletin.

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Japan’s new prime minister has set targets to rein in the country’s national debt, the biggest in the industrialized world. He said without fiscal reform, the country could face the risk of a Greece-style crisis.

Japan estimates the budget would be brought back into surplus by the end of the decade. A cap is planned for what Japan fiscally spends and borrows.

But some economists believe its financial situation is not as bad as it seems.

Japan has a trade surplus, and is still able to borrow money at some of the lowest interest rates in the world.

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South Korean officials say radioactive xenon eight times the normal level was detected near the border with North Korea just days after Pyongyang said it had created nuclear fusion in May.

The North had said it had made a breakthrough for creating limitless generation of energy.

However, some nuclear scientists suspect a conventional fission reaction releasing xenon took place rather than nuclear fusion.

Xenon, which is colourless and odourless, occurs naturally in very tiny levels in the atmosphere. But it is also along with krypton, an atmospheric signature of a nuclear test.

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Seventeen mostly pro-whaling nations have had their voting rights suspended at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco. Analysts speculate it may serve a blow to Japan’s hopes of resuming commercial whaling.

Currently delegates are engaged in talks over proposals to allow Japan to resume a limited commercial whale hunt. In exchange, Japan would reduce its so-called scientific whaling program.

Many of the nations banned from voting are from the pro-whaling bloc which were expected to back Japan.

Under the draft proposal, Japan would be allowed to catch 120 whales a year in its coastal waters.

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The UN has launched an appeal to help the estimated 400,000 people in Kyrgyzstan displaced by inter-ethnic fighting.

The flash appeal is aiming to raise $71 million US dollars and hopes to be able to provide enough food and shelter for six months.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has accepted tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the violence. The Uzbek government has asked the UN to launch a similar appeal for its own camps next week.

The UN Human Rights Council is calling on the Kyrgyz government to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and Uzbek minority.

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Here’s more on the changes coming soon to Asia Cast. We’re planning on moving to a weekly round-up of events around the Asia-Pacific region. We’re keeping our China focus and will continue to report on topics avoided by other media. We hope you’ll stick with us during the transition, and as always we welcome your feedback.

And we now bring you the Shen Yun quote of the day

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