Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for Thursday 24th June

In this Bulletin…

- China’s difficulty censoring microblogs;
- Whaling negotiations break down; and
- Australia’s new prime minister.

But first we have our SOH focus on China.

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Monitoring and censoring content on China’s internet can be a real headache, reports The Epoch Times.

Chief Editor of Chinese online media giant Sina says that posts on their website can reach tens or hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of minutes. The microblog is a Twitter-like service launched by Sina.

Censors and editors work together to triple-check posts.

That helps some 300,000 paid commentators a little, who work for the communist party. Dubbed the “50 Cent Party”, they are said to be paid 50 Chinese cents per online post they write favouring the Chinese Communist Party.

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The Deputy Director of China’s State Food and Drug Administration is suspected of alleged bribery involving the U.S. company Johnson & Johnson.

According to an NTDTV report, he was apparently dismissed when authorities started investigating possible bribery by drug firms.

According to the state media report, six other officials of the State Food and Drug Administration are also under investigation.

In 2007, the previous head of the China’s food and drug agency was executed for taking bribes to approve unsafe medicine.

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Now for the rest of today’s news.

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Negotiations on a deal to suspend a 24-year whaling moratorium have been put on hold for now. Members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) have called for a year-long cooling-off period.

An IWC commissioner from Germany said the proposal on the table is a dead letter. They’ve agreed they need a period off, to see if there is real readiness to look for compromise.

Anti-whaling activists are outraged. Iceland, Norway and Japan have continued to use legal loopholes to sidestep the 1986 whaling ban, harvesting more than 1,500 whales in the 2008-2009 season alone.

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Countries Jordan and Israel are planning to divert water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in hopes of reviving it.

The Dead Sea, aptly named, has no fish, no seaweed or life forms, just some resilient bacteria. Water flows into it but none flows out, evaporating and leaving behind even more mineral salts.

But public hearings are being held to discuss the building of a pipeline that would pump Red Sea water into the Dead Sea.

One salt-mining company has been mixing the two seas’ waters in pools and warns, it doesn’t like what it has seen.

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

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A source in Pakistan’s interior ministry says the latest intelligence report names at least 17 banned organizations that are raising funds in Punjab, says the BBC.

They are said to be raising donations through religious gatherings, certificate award ceremonies and meetings held in the name of social welfare.

The report identifies the most active among these groups as the Ghazi Force.

It says the group has close working relations with Tehrik Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group of anti-Pakistan militants based in the North Waziristan tribal region.

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Julia Gillard has taken seat as Australia’s new Prime Minister on Thursday when Kevin Rudd stepped down. The Australian Labor Party is said to have changed leaders to avoid election defeat later this year.

However, analysts say Gillard will only bring change of leadership style and not substance.

Yet, investors hope she will soften the government’s controversial “super profits” mining tax which has rattled voters.

Government lawmakers believe Gillard has a better chance than Rudd of winning back voters because she is a warmer personality who can sell policies more effectively.

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

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Asia Cast will be changing to a weekly roundup of events around the Asia-Pacific region. We’re keeping our focus on China and will continue to cover topics avoided by other media. The SOH Radio Network thanks you; we value your listenership and your feedback.

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