AsiaCast » organ harvesting

Asia Cast for the week ending Friday 15th April

Rich Crankshaw — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:36:52 +0000

Cinderella Castle at Tokyo Disneyland. The theme park re-opend this week due to popular request. (By vita/Flickr)

In this bulletin:

- China’s shady medical blackmarkets,
- Vietnamese still held over China shortwave broadcast,
- Petitioners rebut claims China improving human rights, and
- Australian children’s surprising second language.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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An SOH Chinese reporter recently looked into the shady world of China’s illegal trade in kidneys for transplant operations.

Following up on a story about a young man from Hunan Province selling a kidney to pay-off gambling debts the reporter found numerous websites offering transplant organs.

Organ dealers openly operate online sales and advertising and maintain good relationships with hospitals. Due to their cultural beliefs, few Chinese are willing to donate a kidney if a relative needs a transplant. But one dealer said since many people had financial difficulties there was an abundant supply of kidneys.

The organ dealers our reporter spoke to said a donor received around $6,000 US dollars while the recipient would have to pay ten times that amount.

Interviewed and reported by Tang Li with special correspondent Xiong Bin for Sound of Hope Radio.

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According to a survey by Chinese media the shortage of blood donors in China has created a black market in blood stocks ruled over by so called blood lords. Their rampant profiteering is spreading AIDS among China’s poorest.

The lack of blood supplies in Beijing and other populous cities has been a problem for some time. The introduction of reportedly arbitrary donation quotas on local authorities to meet the demand for blood was quickly exploited.

The blood lords took advantage of the fact some village committees were willing to buy blood to meet their donation quotas. They organised college students, migrant workers and even farmers in Hebei Province to sell blood, making a huge profit from it in the process.

One villager who spoke to SOH Chinese reporters said a lot of villagers from his home town had been infected with AIDS from selling their blood. But he said many were still doing it because the are so poor and in urgent need of money.

Reported by He Wen with special correspondent Xiong Bin for Sound of Hope Radio.

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China’s netizens have widely criticised the grand mausoleum built for the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee after photographs of it appeared online.

The tomb of Hua Guofeng has been likened to the royal mausoleums of China’s ancient emperors. It took 3 years and around fifteen of million US dollars to build.

Internet users from mainland, China said the tomb was another vanity project, and the officials involved would have been able to garner huge construction commission fees for awarding contracts.

Reported by Tang Li with special correspondent Xiong Bin for Sound of Hope Radio.

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

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ET-There is still no news on when or if the postponed trial of two Vietnamese arrested for broadcasting programmes from the Chinese version of the SOH Network into China.

Both men are Falun Gong practitioners and were broadcasting programming about Falun Gong and its persecution inside China. They were arrested in June 2010 for making their shortwave broadcast from outside Hanoi into China.

The official indictment, obtained by The Epoch Times newspaper, indicates that the two were arrested at the urging of the Chinese regime.

The plight of the men has been championed by media watchdog and human rights groups, with Reporters Without Borders and the Falun Dafa Information Center publishing articles about their case. In addition, media around the world have begun to cover the case, with stories by Associated Press, AFP, and Radio Australia.

Vietnam, in prosecuting the two of them, is caught between the conflicting demands of a Chinese regime that has sought to eradicate the practice of Falun Gong and an international community concerned about possible violations of freedom of the press and freedom of conscience.

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Coming up on Asia Cast:

- Australia creates artificial reef despite protests and inquisitive dolphins,
- Taiwan reviews nuclear reactor safety, and
- Tokyo Disneyland gives thousands a reason to smile..

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Asia Cast for the week ending Friday 7th January

Rich Crankshaw — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:50:34 +0000

The 26th international Festival of Snow and Ice in Harbin, China opened January 5. The event features huge ice sculptures and grand buildings carved from ice which are lit from within and pulls in thousands of visitors from across China and overseas. (By mickeyvdo/flickr)

In this bulletin:

- Shanghai petitioners panic Beijing,
- Earthquakes rattle southwest China,
- 2010, year of the large scale protest, and
- Taiwan doctor wants qigong popularised.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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A group of 1,200 petitioners from Shanghai caused panic in Beijing when they went there en mass. Authorities in Beijing carried out large scale arrests and quickly moved to prevent any more petitioners from reaching the capital.

The Hong Kong-based League of Chinese Victims told SOH Chinese reporters every time petitioners went to Beijing they were arrested or beaten. The organisation said two of its members had been illegally sent to a labour camp and was calling attention to the safety of all those arrested.

The League of Chinese Victims said unless local authorities properly resolved petitioners’ issues stability and harmony would only be empty promises

Interviewed and reported by Sound Of Hope International Broadcasting Company correspondent Liang Zhen from Hong Kong.

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NTD-Media reports said Wednesday January 5 around 90 tremors rattled Yingjiang County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province over the course of several days.

Around 142,000 people were said to have been affected, with more than 8,000 houses damaged by the morning of Tuesday January 4.

Primary and middle schools in the county were all closed and were due to reopen on Thursday January 6.

Yingjiang is located along a seismic belt, and was hit hard by the devastating earthquake in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people.

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ET-According to NGO Chinese Human Rights Defenders, the founding editor of the popular Zhejiang News, Li Hong died December 31. Li was also former chief-editor of the Chinese literary and news website Aegean Sea.

Li was convicted of ‘inciting subversion’ for publishing articles related to reports about live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, and his support for human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng

Asia Cast for the week ending Friday 3rd September

Rich Crankshaw — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:51:21 +0000

The character Shan cannot be displayed or printed by computers, and those who keep it as a last name are slowly swapping it for alternatives. (Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

In this bulletin:

- China’s earthquake disaster relief inadequate,
- Modern technology eroding traditional culture,
- Children suffer as Pakistan faces flooding triple threat, and
- Indonesian volcano’s third eruption biggest yet.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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ICT-According to an expert at China

Asia Cast for Sunday 7th March

Rich Crankshaw — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:46:07 +0000

"For a prosperous, powerful nation and a happy family, please use birth planning"; Sign posted by authorities in Nanchang. (By Planet Love/Flickr)

In this Bulletin

Asia Cast for Sunday 21st February

Rich Crankshaw — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:15:00 +0000

Human rights lawyer David Matas; In 2006 Matas called on Japan's government to prevent the Japanese from seeking organ transplants in China because of harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners.

In this Bulletin

Asia Cast for Thursday 4th February

chris — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:45:21 +0000

[caption id="attachment_2835" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Beijing has announced they are recruiting five thousand heavily-armed police

Asia Cast for Monday 11th January

daniel — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:03:52 +0000

In this Bulletin…

- First eyewitness account of organ harvesting in China ;
- Hong Kong police recover millions in stolen goods and cash; and
- India calls for media restraint over attacks in Australia.

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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Journalist groups are among those condemning the six year prison sentence handed down to a Tibetan film maker. Dhondup Wangchen has been held by the Chinese authorities since March 2009. He was charged on December 28. Allegedly for inciting separatist activities.

Before his arrest he had been working on a documentary about what life is like for Tibetans under the Chinese regime.

Reporters Without Borders said the sentencing of someone who did nothing but film interviews with Tibetans was a disgrace for China.

The Association of Tibetan Journalists said if China was true to its words and claims of stability and prosperity in Tibet, it should allow them access to see it for themselves.

See NTDTV for a more in depth report.

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An international coalition has called upon world governments to help stop organ harvesting in China. The appeal follows an eyewitness account from a Chinese public security officer.

The policeman from Liaoning Province saw the vivisection and harvesting of organs from a live female Falun Gong practitioner in 2002.

The man spoke investigators from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong on condition of anonymity. He said he thought he would be murdered if his identity were discovered.

The Asian branch of the coalition said economic concerns should not stop nations from speaking out to end the brutal practice.

Read The Epoch Times to see its related investigations and for a more in depth look at this story.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Police in Hong Kong have recovered millions of dollars worth of stolen cash and luxury accessories. They were following up on intelligence they received about burglaries committed in Japan.

Six suspects were arrested at three locations in Hong Kong on between Thursday and Friday.

During the arrests, the police recovered 181 watches, about 100 items of jewellery and some cash from the deposit boxes of the suspects’ homes, estimated at 3.2 million US dollars.

The police said they believed the burglaries were committed in Tokyo over the New Year. And the stolen goods air mailed back to Hong Kong. Some, they say, may already have been sold or transported to mainland China.

Watch NTDTV for more details on this story.

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In Hong Kong a man has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out an acid attack that injured 30 people.

The Hong Kong police said a man was detained after being spotted on a rooftop near the scene of Saturday’s attack.

Nine tourists and a seven-year-old were among those treated in hospital.

Police said the man they arrested was found hiding on a roof near a night market in the Kowloon area. The police found lids on him that fitted the bottles thrown into the market.

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Asia Cast for Tuesday 15th December

vanessa.rios — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:39:54 +0000

A Taiwan legislator has proposed four new provisions on human rights. Seated are legislator Tien Chiu-chin, former Taiwan Human Rights Committee Chair Chiu Huang-chuan, Judicial Reform Foundation Executive Director Lin Feng-jeng, and Legislator Gao Jyh-peng. (By Song Bilong/The Epoch Times)

In this Bulletin…

- Eyewitness recounts organ harvesting in China;
- China officials would face arrest in Taiwan with proposed law; and
- Cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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An eyewitness has recounted in vivid detail the story of a female Falun Gong practitioner in China-a high school teacher in her 30s-who was detained, tortured, raped, and finally operated on to extract her organs while she was still alive.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a policeman who worked for the public security system of Liaoning Province in 2002 said he himself had participated in torturing and interrogating Falun Gong practitioners many times.

It is the first time investigators have spoken to an eyewitness in a case of harvesting organs from a living practitioner.

A 30-minute interview, in two separate conversations, was carried out by an investigator from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong and a recording is available on its Web site.

Read the entire story at The Epoch Times.

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According to the Center for Global Development, China is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and emissions have jumped 120 percent since the start of this decade, causing devastating effects on the environment and human health.

Thick air pollution, coal dust and contaminating factory run-off, have become part of daily life for many Chinese people.

Those who live and work near factories are suffering from a range of health problems, like lung cancer or birth defects.

For decades, the Chinese regime has placed little or no restrictions on waste from factories, plants, and power stations.

See more on this story at NTDTV.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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A Taiwan legislator and a group of human rights attorneys have proposed laws to ban serious human rights violators from visiting Taiwan, reports The Epoch Times.

The announcement came at a press conference on International Human Rights Day.

Five high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials who have recently been indicted by a Spanish court for their role in the torture and genocide of Falun Gong practitioners would be impacted by the proposed legislation.

They could face arrest if they came to Taiwan.

The Taiwanese legislator said that Taiwan is facing a moral crisis in choosing wealth or freedom.

Asia Cast for Tuesday 17th November

bensmith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:07:19 +0000

The expanded 'Bloody Harvest' report into the killing of Chinese prisoners of consience for their bodily organs is now available in book form. (Courtesy of Seraphim Editions)

In this Bulletin…

- Rights commission slams China’s one child policy;
- Japan’s economic recovery continues to grow; and
- Asia gets best view of Leonid meteor shower.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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While Chinese activists and dissidents have seen US President Obama’s visit to China as an opportunity to highlight their causes the authorities have tried to make this as hard as possible.

NTDTV said that several activists were already arrested last week before Barack Obama arrived in Shanghai on Sunday.

Qi Zhiyong is one of those who was arrested. On November 9 he was charged with unlawful assembly and disturbing the social order after trying to organise a human rights seminar at a Beijing park.

Qi is being held in the Beijing suburbs. He told AFP he knows of at least 30 other activists who were detained ahead of Obama’s visit.

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The chairman of a US human rights commission has slammed China’s population control measures employed under the one-child policy, reports The Epoch Times.

Congressman Chris Smith chaired the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on China’s one-child policy in Washington last week. Smith said China’s population control policy was the worse violation of women’s rights in human history.

The way the policy is enforced is believed to contribute to the suicide rate among women in China being five times higher than the world average.

The system involves mandatory contraception, mandatory birth permits, exorbitant fines for noncompliance, physical beatings of relatives, and often forced sterilisation and abortion.

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And now for the rest of today’s Asia Cast

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Sunday saw the release of a book investigating the Chinese regime’s alleged practice of harvesting organs from prisoners of conscience.

Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for Their Organs is the culmination of years of research by the book’s authors.

Author and retired Canadian MP David Kilgour, said their investigation uncovered 52 kinds of evidence or proof that this crime against humanity was indeed taking place. He added that most people who read it are overwhelmingly convinced that it’s happening.

Kilgour and his co-author David Matas are donating all the book’s profits to the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong.

The Epoch Times and NTDTV both have more on this story.

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A collision between a ferry collided and an oil barge in Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta has left at least eight people dead. Dozens more are still missing after the ferry sank.

Burmese officials said the crash happened in the Ngawun River, 134 kilometres west of Rangoon, soon after the ferry left the town of Pathein.

Most of the 176 passengers on the ferry were farmers. Rescue teams are still looking for survivors.

Many areas in the delta region are inaccessible by road and ferries are the main form of transportation. But poor safety standards mean accidents are common.

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

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Official figures show that Japan’s economy has grown for a second successive quarter.

The world’s second biggest economy grew by 1.2 per cent in the three months from July to September.

Although this was faster than economists had predicted, analysts say overall growth is likely to be sluggish for years.

The global downturn had plunged Japan into its worst recession since World War II.

Most economists say there is little chance of Japan’s economy returning to recession, given the latest figures.

Stimulus measures were credited with lifting consumer spending and capital spending rose, but analysts say growth will slow as wages stay low.

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Tuesday sees the peak of this year’s Leonid meteor shower. The most intense outburst will be visible over Asia.

The Leonid shower is made of bits of debris from the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which streaks through Earth’s inner solar system every 33 years.

Bill Cooke, of NASA’s meteoroid environment office said they were predicting as many as 200 to 300 meteors per hour over Asia. He said the forecast agreed with the work of other astronomers.

Mars happens to be passing nearby at the time of the showers. Cooke said that this means the Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet.

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

Asia Cast for Wednesday 4th October

vanessa.rios — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:17:41 +0000

In this Bulletin…

- Landslide dangers from filling of Three Gorges Dam;
- Floods in Vietnam leave dozens dead; and
- Burmese leaders meet U.S. delegates.

But first, here’s our SOH focus on China
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China’s state council has given the green light to fill the Three Gorges Dam, situated along the Yangtze River in central Hubei Province, over one hundred feet higher, something experts warn is known for triggering landslides.

As 17 years of work on the dam comes to completion, in the city of Chongqing, the influx of water into the dam has caused mountainous areas to become unstable.

Water expert Professor Wang Weiluo told SOH Radio that according to research done by the U.N., a major cause of dam-triggered earthquakes is increased water pressure pushing onto the rocks when the water levels of dams is increased.

See more on this at NTDTV.

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Chinese scientists tinkering with the weather caused millions of tons of snow to fall on Beijing over the weekend, delaying 523 flights from the capital and infuriating passengers, reported The Epoch Times.

The Beijing Weather Modification Office induced the first snow of the season, a month earlier than usual, after firing 186 silver iodide capsules into the clouds, according to Weather China.

The snowfall inconvenienced more than 10,000 airline passengers and delayed 523 flights at the Beijing Capital International Airport.