Asia-Cast

Asia Cast for the week ending Friday 23rd July

In this bulletin:

- Online television to let Chinese see beyond Great Fire Wall,
- Ancient drainage system saves Chinese city as flooding continues,
- Tensions on Korean peninsula dominate ASEAN talks, and
- India and Japan announce new hand-held devices .

But first our SOH focus on China.

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ET-Weather conditions could worsen the impact of a major oil slick off China’s northeast coast.

A pipeline exploded last Friday night as an oil tanker was being unloaded in Dalian resulting in a huge fire. About 1500 tones of crude oil spilled into the ocean.

Heavy winds Monday broke the slick up and and dispersed the oil. Official reports said over 400 square kilometres of ocean were now polluted.

But a change in the wind during the week could push oil back onto the coast. Worsening the environmental impact.

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ET-A new online television network is helping Chinese netizens to break through Beijing’s information blockade.

The peer-to-peer transmission technology used by iPPOTV combined with the unique design of the software behind the service makes it impossible to block or trace.

What’s more the software is free. Star P2P, the company behind the TV network said they were giving viewers in China back the right to knowledge stripped from them by the authoritarian political system.

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Expert commentators have branded the new 24-hour English language news channel launched by China’s state-run news agency a propaganda tool.

International Journal Modern China Studies told SOH Xinhua News Agency’s CNC World channel is aimed at pushing and extending the reach of Chinese media into Western countries.

Listen to our Inside China Today podcast for an interview with the journal’s chief editor.

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ET-A centuries old drainage system saved a city in south China from severe floods. This summer torrential rain and flash floods have caused damage estimated to be in the billions of dollars. And Friday there were new warnings for downstream of the Three Gorges Dam.

But the 100,000 residents of Ganzhou, an ancient city in southern China’s Jiangxi Province, are safe and dry, thanks to two drains built during the Song dynasty.

built more than 900 years ago, the system follows a natural cycle with the environment. It also handles sewage and helps control humidity.

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SOH takes a look across the wider Asia-Pacific region.

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NTDTV-Tensions on the Korean peninsula were raised this week with the arrival of a US Navy aircraft carrier as part of joint naval exercises between the US and South Korea.

Around 8,000 military personnel from the US and South Korea will be involved in the training. The exercises will be held in the seas east of the Korean peninsula from July 25 to 28.

North Korea threatened a ‘physical response’ to the US military presence. The warning was issued Friday as Pyongyang sat down at an Asia-Pacific security meeting in Vietnam.

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NTDTV-Representatives from 27 countries came together in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi Friday for the last day of the Association of South East Asian Nations meeting.

Foreign ministers from member countries as well as those from Japan, South Korea, China and North Korea gathered to discuss regional security issues.

The meeting in Vietnam comes just days after Washington imposed more sanctions on North Korea. US officials are expected to seek regional support for Seoul, which has sought repercussions for the sinking of a South Korean warship.

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Coming up on Asia Cast:

- Australian general election announced,
- Report highlights Malaysia’s human rights issues, and
- Animal thought extinct re-discovered in Sri Lanka.

But first

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

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Back with the rest of today’s Asia Cast I’m Rich Crankshaw

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NTDTV-Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Sharp this week announced plans to enter the electronic reader and book markets. Shares in the company rose on the news.

Sharp plans to offer e-book distribution and compatible reader devices later this year, joining a crowded sector that includes Apple, Amazon and Sony.

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Australia’s prime minister has called a snap election for August 21.

Julia Gillard, the country’s first female prime minister, said the general election would be a tough and close affair.

The election is likely to focus on the key issues of the economy, health, climate change and immigration.

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NTDTV-Human rights activists have accused Malaysia’s government of heightened intolerance. This is despite the release of most detainees held under an act allowing detention without trial.

Independent group Voice of the Malaysian People said 2009 saw increasingly serious and repeated human rights violations and a heightened intolerance towards dissent. All amid a culture of impunity.

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On a lighter note.

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A rare primate thought to be extinct has been found in Sri Lanka.

Researchers managed to track down, photograph and examine the Horton Plains slender loris in highland forest.

The elusive primate was last glimpsed in 2002. Prior to that sighting it had not been seen since 1939.

Habitat loss and its use in traditional medicine still present a real treat to the slender loris.

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India is seeking a manufacturer for a budget iPad-like tablet it hopes to release next year.

The device, which has a price tag of only $35 US dollars was unveiled by the government Thursday.

According to reports the device uses a memory card instead of a hard disk, runs on the Linux operating system and can run off solar power. Developed by India’s top IT colleges, the tablet supports word processing, web browsing and video conferencing.

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