After more than four years and hundreds of posts Asia Cast has currently been put on hold. During that time and the show has been through several major makeovers. We would just like to thank all our listeners who chose Asia Cast to keep them informed about events in the Asia-Pacific over the last few years.

We are planning to bring Asia Cast back into our line up as resources allow. Possibly this will be as a weekly headline round up feature for our Inside China Today program which we produce for our community and college radio partners.

Please listen out for updates.

A giant fish sculpture made from 2,360 traditional Chinese lanterns and over 2,000 bamboo sticks lights up Hong Kong's Victoria Park in celebration of Mid-Autumn Festival. (By Song Xianglong/The Epoch Times)

In this bulletin:

- Chinese human rights lawyer released,
- Greenpeace highlights China’s toxic produce,
- South Korea pressured over deportations, and
- Asia’s Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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ET-Chinese human rights lawyer Guo Feixiong was released from prison September 13. Although in poor health and weakened by the ordeal of five years imprisonment, he declared himself unchanged in his core.

Prior to his detention in September 2006, Guo was active in the ‘weiquan’ or rights defense movement. The weiquan is a loose collection of lawyers and intellectuals that sought to protect the rights of ordinary Chinese through litigation.

Guo defended poor peasants whose land had been stolen, Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, and others who have suffered under the Chinese regime. He was a close associate of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who advocated for Guo

Gatot Machali at the microphone at Radio Erabaru's small studio in Batam, Indonesia. (Courtesy of Radio Erabaru)

In this bulletin:

- Slave labour rescue highlights problem,
- Chinese environmental damage under investigation,
- Indonesian broadcaster targeted over Chinese broadcast, and
- Business success squeezes Hong Kong international schools.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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NTD-More slave labour has been discovered in China

Participants in a march in Washington, DC in July celebrate 100 million withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. (Edward Dai/The Epoch Times)

In this bulletin:

- Facing restrictions Chinese journalists blog news instead,
- Movement to quit CCP reaches 100 million participants,
- New Tibetan political head sworn in, and
- Taiwan’s population rapidly ageing.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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ET-Faced with restrictions on permissible reports, Chinese journalists have turned to Sina.com and other blogs to make important stories known.

In the wake of last month

Malaysian police use tear gas against protesters calling for electoral reform in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday July 9, 2011. (James Chow/The Epoch Times)

In this bulletin:

- Beijing’s glory projects turning sour,
- Grow-your-own taking off in Chinese cities,
- Tibetans jailed for celebrating Dalai Lama’s birthday, and
- Malaysia defends heavy handed reaction to protests.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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NTD-A new highway in China

Thousands of people clashed with security forces on the night of June 12, over the beating of a pregnant migrant worker by police outside of the southern China city of Guangzhou. (Weibo.com)

- Bombings stun Chinese officials,
- Southern China flooding hits millions,
- Taiwan’s main parties unite behind independent broadcaster, and
- Special Olympic athletes make history.

But first our SOH focus on China.

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ET-A string of recent bomb explosions targeting government buildings throughout China continue to stun officials. The bombings include five incidents in Fuzhou of Jiangxi Province and, most recently, one in the northern municipality of Tianjin.

While authorities attempt to block the news and divert attention, the spotlight of public opinion persists in illuminating the incidents.

The latest explosion on June 10, in front of the Tianjin Municipal Government, resulted in two minor injuries. A person with insider information told Sound of Hope Radio a petitioner had detonated two homemade bombs. Our source, who wished to remain anonymous said authorities responded by sending a large contingent of police for crowd control and to prevent the news from getting out.

The Epoch Times website looks at the significance of the explosions in terms of protest in China.

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ET/NTD-Security forces have broken up protests sparked by the beating of a pregnant migrant worker by police in southern China’s Zencheng City. A curfew was also in force.

Migrant workers from Sichuan Province, unhappy for a long list of reasons, plan to strike for a month.

According to report from the Hong Kong-based newspaper Apple Daily, Chinese authorities mobilized 2,700 soldiers on the night of June 12 and another five thousand police on June 13.

From late June 12 to early June 13, tens of thousands of Zencheng residents took to the streets in protest and clashed with police.

Zengcheng is around an hour’s drive from Guangzhou, the affluent capital of Guangdong Province, which produces about a third of the country’s exports.

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NTD-Millions have been affected by flooding in southern China after almost two weeks of heavy rain and storms. According to official reports, as of Friday June 17 up to one million people have been forced to leave their homes.

State-run media at the time stated at least 105 people were dead and another 65 were missing. A rescue worker from Wangmo County, Guizhou Province told SOH the actual death toll was much higher than the official figure and any missing persons had a slim chance of survival.

Torrential downpours have battered previously drought-stricken sections of China. Vast areas of crops have been ruined and hundreds of homes destroyed. Early estimates suggest the damages will tun into tens of millions of US dollars.

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

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ET/NTD-NTD AP, the SOH Network’s partner media in the Asia-Pacific region continues to get support from both main political parties in Taiwan over the future of its broadcast.

Taiwan

Scientists in Inner Mongolia recently unearthed the largest spider fossil ever found. Dating to 165 million years ago the find extends the fossil record back by another 130 million years than previously suspected.

In this bulletin:

- Hundreds brawl in Guangzhou over commercial property,
- Chinese comedians break new ground,
- China slammed by independent internet freedom report, and
- Inner Mongolia yields largest fossilised spider discovery.

But first our SOH focus on China.
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A well known dissident from Zhejiang Province has been charged with inciting subversion of state power despite being under house arrest since mid-February.

Zhu Yufu, was taken to the Shangcheng District Detention Center April 5, it was not until almost a week later he was formally arrested and his wife informed. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Zhu’s wife said he hadn’t done anything wrong, and moreover couldn’t have even if he’d wanted as he had been closely monitored by police around the clock.

Friends of Zhu from the Democratic Party he helped establish said Zhu occasionally wrote a few articles and spoke a few words in the media. Adding, if speaking a few words can subvert a state, then the state is too fragile.

Reported by Tian Xi for Sound of Hope Radio.

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A huge fight erupted between hundreds of security guards in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in a dispute over the ownership of a prime commercial property.

Trouble started when the new owners of the New China Building in Guangzhou tried to take possession of the building. The building’s previous owner claimed the lease was not due for renewal and paid their security guards to prevent the new owners from taking possession of the business.

Witnesses said fierce brawls broke out between both sides. At least 400 to 500 guards were involved. Some 50 to 60 were wounded, some seriously. Thousands of bystanders were also caught up in the incident when police sealed off the area.

Our SOH Chinese reporter was told the previous owner paid his security guards to injure or even kill the new owner’s men.

Reported by Tien Xi for Sound of Hope Radio.

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ET-Two Chinese comedians, in a recent performance lauded by audiences and immediately censored by communist authorities, have gone where others dared not tread.

The bitterly satirical hour-long performance takes on a variety of social and political issues deemed sensitive by the ruling Communist Party, including the Tiananmen Massacre and the lack of a social safety net in China.

In the videos posted online, live audience members can be heard laughing uproariously. Comments posted by netizens indicate that the performance broke new ground in making fun of the Chinese Communist Party in such a public setting.

As online commentators anticipated in their praise, soon after the video was posted it was scrubbed clean from popular video websites in China.

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

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According to a new study by Freedom House cyberattacks, politically motivated censorship, and government control over internet infrastructure are threatening internet freedom.

The Freedom on the Net 2011 report released April 18 assesses internet freedom in 37 countries. The study says bloggers, online journalists, and human rights activists increasingly face arrest and imprisonment for their online writings.

China was found to remain one of the world’s most restrictive countries with respect to internet freedom. It is also home to the most sophisticated control apparatus.

Internet users in Burma and Thailand were also among those found to lack freedom.

The report also said China’s indirect influence as a model of internet control was evident in the growing restrictions seen in other countries.

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NTD-Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Taiwan

Censoring China's internet can be a headache, as instant microblogs reach the masses before being censored. (timyang.net/Flickr)

In this Bulletin

Cyber-crimes are on the rise, costing Australian businesses hundreds of millions annually. (By Don Hankins/Flickr)

In this Bulletin

In this Bulletin