News from Asia 11/13/2005

Former Chinese Aide Calls on Regime To Self-Criticize Ahead of Hu Memorial
HONG KONG—A former top Chinese Communist Party aide has called on the regime to face up to its mistakes ahead of a memorial event for ousted late leader Hu Yaobang.

“I am in favor of commemorating Hu Yaobang. But it should be done with the right intent,” Bao Tong, who has lived under virtual house arrest in Beijing since his fall from grace after the 1989 student-led protests, wrote in a commentary aired Tuesday on RFA’s Mandarin service.

UN Labor Official to Stay in Burma Despite Death Threats
BANGKOK—The director of the United Nations’ labor watchdog has indicated that he has no plans to leave Burma despite numerous death threats against International Labour Organization (ILO) staff, ahead of a key meeting on the issue in Geneva.

South Korea, China in a Ferment Over Kimchi
This is so cute. It may even help fight bird flu?!

Disgraced Leader's Ex-Aide Says Hong Kong Reporters Dragged Away
HONG KONG—Chinese public security officers dragged away two Hong Kong journalists as they tried to interview a former aide to disgraced Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, the ex-aide has told RFA’s Mandarin service.

Chinese Court Jails Uyghur Editor for Publishing Veiled Dissent
WASHINGTON—Chinese authorities have jailed the chief editor of the Kashgar Literature Journal for publishing a fable they regard as a veiled indictment of China’s heavy-handed rule in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has learned. The author of the story is already serving a 10-year jail term for inciting separatism.

Korash Huseyin, 35, is chief editor at Kashgar Literature Journal, according to several sources inside Xinjiang who spoke to RFA’s Uyghur service on condition of anonymity. He and his wife have three children.

Liaoning Quarantine Measures Aren’t Containing Bird Flu
HONG KONG—While China’s official media broadcast round-the-clock footage of white-clad health officials handling dead and burning chickens, farmers on the ground in the hard-hit northwest of the country have cast doubts on the ability of official teams to contain the outbreak.

China Blacklists Tibetan Lamas Recognized by Dalai Lama
WASHINGTON—Chinese authorities in Tibet have begun a campaign to blacklist key religious figures close to the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The campaign began Oct. 26 in Tibet’s Chamdo prefecture and focused heavily on the banning of the prominent Oser Lama from returning to his homeland.

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