SEOUL (AFP) -
North Korea' on Thursday test-fired two short-range missiles, less than two weeks after its previous launch, the South Korean military said.
The communist state fired two missiles into the Yellow Sea, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.
They are believed to be ground-to-ship or ship-to-ship missiles with a range of some 100 kilometres (62.5 miles), he said. All landed in North Korean waters.
The spokesman said the launches were among the routine missile tests North Korea carries out every year. "We consider today's launch as part of routine military training, as was the May 25 launch."
Japan said the latest tests were unlikely to pose an immediate threat and it had no plans to heighten its alert against North Korea, Jiji Press quoted a defence ministry official as saying.
But the tests come at a sensitive time as US and other negotiators are struggling to settle a banking row which is blocking a start to the North's promised nuclear disarmament.
US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe criticised the launches, in a comment from a G-8 summit.
"The United States and our allies believe that North Korea should refrain from testing missiles," said Johndroe.
"North Korea should focus on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and fulfil its obligations under the February 13 agreement. This kind of activity is not constructive."
Under the six-nation February pact, the North agreed to disable its nuclear programmes in return for massive aid and diplomatic benefits.
But it refuses to make a start until it receives 25 million dollars which had been frozen in a Macau bank since 2005 at US instigation.
The US says the funds have been freed but the North has been unable to find a foreign bank willing to make the transfer.
The May 25 launch came on the same day South Korea launched its first Aegis destroyer, which is equipped with advanced defences against air and sea attack.
Analysts said at the time the launch may have been timed to coincide with that event, or might be an expression of frustration at the delay in solving the banking row.
The North's missile launches have heightened tensions in the region in the past decade. In 1998 it sparked alarm in Japan by test-firing a missile over that country.
In July last year it test-fired seven missiles, including its Taepodong-2 that in theory could reach the US west coast. Those launches brought UN condemnation and missile-related sanctions.
In October last year the North heightened alarm worldwide by carrying out its first nuclear test. Analysts say it is not yet thought to have the expertise to miniaturise a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Korean generals hold rare talks
May 8, 2007 - Senior army generals from North and South Korea have met for rare talks that could see the first border rail crossings in more than 50 years. More here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6623095.stm
Thousands of S.Korean POWs 'Disappeared in Russia'
April 13, 2007 - North Korea sent thousands of South Korean prisoners of war to the former Soviet Union during the Korean War, the U.S. edition of the Hankook Ilbo reported citing a newly declassified U.S. document on Wednesday. The South Korean POWs have never been repatriated.
Entitled “The Transfer of U.S. Korean War POWs to the Soviet Union,” the report was written in August 1993 based on testimony obtained by the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission Support Branch of the Research and Analysis Division under the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) after the Cold War ended.
South Korean prisoners of war step out of an ambulance in Munsan, South Korea after they were released following an April 26, 1953 agreement to exchange war prisoner during the Korean War.
According to the report, the former North Korean officer Kan San Kho stated in November 1992 that he assisted in the transfer of thousands of South Korean POWs into 300 to 400 camps in the Soviet Union, most in the taiga but some in Central Asia as well. Already in May 1953, Zygmunt Nagorski, a reporter with the magazine Esquire, covered the transfer of South Korean POWs and their life in the Soviet Union in an in-depth report based on testimony from two agents of the Russian Interior Ministry and an employee of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
The witnesses testified the transit point was through the North Korean-Soviet border at Pos'yet between November 1951 and April 1952 when ice closed the Pacific coast and the Tatar Straits. “These POWs were taken from Pos'yet through Chita by rail to Molotov” now Perm. According to the 1993 report, “The exploitation of POWs as Soviet state policy was blatantly contained in the minutes of a Sept. 19, 1952 meeting between Stalin and Chinese Foreign Minister Chou en-lai in which he recommended that the Communists keep back 20 percent of United Nations POWs as hostages.” The POWs sent to the Chukotsk Peninsula, apparently at least 12,000 of them, “were used to build roads, electric power plants, and airfields. There was a high mortality rate among all these prisoners.”
Entitled “The Transfer of U.S. Korean War POWs to the Soviet Union,” the report was written in August 1993 based on testimony obtained by the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission Support Branch of the Research and Analysis Division under the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) after the Cold War ended.
South Korean prisoners of war step out of an ambulance in Munsan, South Korea after they were released following an April 26, 1953 agreement to exchange war prisoner during the Korean War.
According to the report, the former North Korean officer Kan San Kho stated in November 1992 that he assisted in the transfer of thousands of South Korean POWs into 300 to 400 camps in the Soviet Union, most in the taiga but some in Central Asia as well. Already in May 1953, Zygmunt Nagorski, a reporter with the magazine Esquire, covered the transfer of South Korean POWs and their life in the Soviet Union in an in-depth report based on testimony from two agents of the Russian Interior Ministry and an employee of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.
The witnesses testified the transit point was through the North Korean-Soviet border at Pos'yet between November 1951 and April 1952 when ice closed the Pacific coast and the Tatar Straits. “These POWs were taken from Pos'yet through Chita by rail to Molotov” now Perm. According to the 1993 report, “The exploitation of POWs as Soviet state policy was blatantly contained in the minutes of a Sept. 19, 1952 meeting between Stalin and Chinese Foreign Minister Chou en-lai in which he recommended that the Communists keep back 20 percent of United Nations POWs as hostages.” The POWs sent to the Chukotsk Peninsula, apparently at least 12,000 of them, “were used to build roads, electric power plants, and airfields. There was a high mortality rate among all these prisoners.”
Koreas Debate Mineral Exploration Rights
North and South Korea opened working-level talks Thursday to work out a deal swapping raw materials for mineral exploration rights, the South's Unification Ministry said. The two-day meeting at the North's border city of Kaesong comes a month after Seoul agreed to give Pyongyang $80 million worth of raw materials for making clothes, shoes and soap in exchange for rights to develop mineral resources in the North. More here http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070607/ap_on_bi_ge/koreas_economic_talks_2;_ylt=AvglQ3W3yzBFXE7AHTxNU3Tjr4cA
Monday, June 4, 2007
What is Globalisation?
In economic terms, globalisation refers to the growing economic integration of the world, as trade, investment and money increasingly cross international borders (which may or may not have political or cultural implications).
Globalisation is not new, but is a product of the industrial revolution. Britain grew rich in the 19th century as the first global economic superpower, because of its superior manufacturing technology and improved global communications such as steamships and railroads.
But the pace, scope and scale of globalisation have accelerated dramatically since World War II, and especially in the last 25 years.
The rapid spread of information technology (IT) and the internet is changing the way companies organise production, and increasingly allowing services as well as manufacturing to be globalised.
Who leads in global IT outsourcing
Globalisation is also being driven by the decision by India and China to open their economies to the world, thus doubling the global labour force overnight.
The role of trade
Trade has been the engine of globalisation, with world trade in manufactured goods increasing more than 100 times (from $95bn to $12 trillion) in the 50 years since 1955, much faster than the overall growth of the world economy.
Since 1960, increased trade has been made easier by international agreements to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers on the export of manufactured goods, especially to rich countries.
Globalisation is not new, but is a product of the industrial revolution. Britain grew rich in the 19th century as the first global economic superpower, because of its superior manufacturing technology and improved global communications such as steamships and railroads.
But the pace, scope and scale of globalisation have accelerated dramatically since World War II, and especially in the last 25 years.
The rapid spread of information technology (IT) and the internet is changing the way companies organise production, and increasingly allowing services as well as manufacturing to be globalised.
Who leads in global IT outsourcing
Globalisation is also being driven by the decision by India and China to open their economies to the world, thus doubling the global labour force overnight.
The role of trade
Trade has been the engine of globalisation, with world trade in manufactured goods increasing more than 100 times (from $95bn to $12 trillion) in the 50 years since 1955, much faster than the overall growth of the world economy.
Since 1960, increased trade has been made easier by international agreements to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers on the export of manufactured goods, especially to rich countries.
Globalisation Good or Bad?
Globalisation is a word that is on everyone's lips these days, from politicians to businessmen. BBC News is launching a major examination of the subject.
Few places in the world have seen the dramatic effects of globalisation more than Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, which is experiencing an unprecedented IT boom that is transforming the prospects of the Indian economy.
For Santosh, a tour guide in Bangalore, life is good. As a result of the IT boom, he has launched his own web-based travel firm, getoffurass.com, and is doing a booming business selling weekend getaway holidays to stressed-out IT workers.
Globalisation: Key facts
Globalisation: Have Your Say
For Dean Braid, a skilled car engineer in Flint, Michigan, life is not so good. He - and 28,000 other workers - were laid off from Buick City when GM closed the complex in 1999, and hasn't worked since.
Globalisation is blamed for many of the ills of the modern world, but it is also praised for bringing unprecedented prosperity.
But what is globalisation, and what are the forces that are shaping it?
Globalisation - good or bad?
The accelerating pace of globalisation is having a profound effect on life in rich and poor countries alike, transforming regions such as Detroit or Bangalore from boom to bust - or vice versa - in a generation.
Many economists believe globalisation may be the explanation for key trends in the world economy such as:
Lower wages for workers, and higher profits, in Western economies
The flood of migrants to cities in poor countries
Low inflation and low interest rates despite strong growth
And globalisation has played a key role in the unprecedented increase in prosperity in the last 50 years, which is now spreading from the United States and Europe to include many formerly poor countries in Asia, including China and India.
Few places in the world have seen the dramatic effects of globalisation more than Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, which is experiencing an unprecedented IT boom that is transforming the prospects of the Indian economy.
For Santosh, a tour guide in Bangalore, life is good. As a result of the IT boom, he has launched his own web-based travel firm, getoffurass.com, and is doing a booming business selling weekend getaway holidays to stressed-out IT workers.
Globalisation: Key facts
Globalisation: Have Your Say
For Dean Braid, a skilled car engineer in Flint, Michigan, life is not so good. He - and 28,000 other workers - were laid off from Buick City when GM closed the complex in 1999, and hasn't worked since.
Globalisation is blamed for many of the ills of the modern world, but it is also praised for bringing unprecedented prosperity.
But what is globalisation, and what are the forces that are shaping it?
Globalisation - good or bad?
The accelerating pace of globalisation is having a profound effect on life in rich and poor countries alike, transforming regions such as Detroit or Bangalore from boom to bust - or vice versa - in a generation.
Many economists believe globalisation may be the explanation for key trends in the world economy such as:
Lower wages for workers, and higher profits, in Western economies
The flood of migrants to cities in poor countries
Low inflation and low interest rates despite strong growth
And globalisation has played a key role in the unprecedented increase in prosperity in the last 50 years, which is now spreading from the United States and Europe to include many formerly poor countries in Asia, including China and India.
China Starts A New Bankruptcy Law
China has introduced a new bankruptcy law that gives creditors precedence over workers when it comes to claiming the assets of failed companies.
The law also means that, for the first time, private Chinese firms that have failed will be allowed to collapse.
Previously they existed in a legal limbo - their assets could not be released and their debts could not be struck from their creditors' books.
The change is seen as another step in China's move to a capitalist economy.
The new law further means that failed state enterprises can also now be officially liquidated for the first time.
Until now, studies estimate that there are about 30 million Chinese people listed on the employment rolls of public companies that are no longer operational.
The law also means that, for the first time, private Chinese firms that have failed will be allowed to collapse.
Previously they existed in a legal limbo - their assets could not be released and their debts could not be struck from their creditors' books.
The change is seen as another step in China's move to a capitalist economy.
The new law further means that failed state enterprises can also now be officially liquidated for the first time.
Until now, studies estimate that there are about 30 million Chinese people listed on the employment rolls of public companies that are no longer operational.
UK Girl To Receive Stem Cell Treatment in China
Late on Saturday night, there are crowds at the arrival hall at Beijing airport.
The Tahiliani family walks past customs. Priti pushes her daughter Shonia in a small wheelchair.
Shonia's father Kishor has the luggage. They look around for a sign with their name on it. They have flown 5,000 miles from Bournemouth to be here.
"We're not nervous," says Kishor. "We're just trying something totally new. We actually hope something better will happen."
"Just keeping our fingers crossed," adds Priti. "We don't know what the future will hold, but we are just giving our best try as parents."
Their daughter Shonia has cerebral palsy. She is eight years old - but she cannot walk or talk. Her parents have raised £18,000 to bring her to China for stem cell treatment. It is something they cannot get back in the UK.
'The right thing'
A hospital minibus collects the family from the airport and takes them into Beijing. Shonia spends the journey quietly sitting on her mother's lap.
On Monday afternoon, the Tahilianis settle into their room on the ground floor of the Tiantan Puhua Neurological Hospital. Kishor leans over his daughter and gives her lunch.
In one corner, the family has set up a webcam. On the windowsill, they burn some incense. For the next three months this will be their home.
Soon, doctors will begin to remove stem cells from Shonia's bone marrow. And then they will inject the cells into her spine. The hospital hopes to give Shonia better mobility - but it doesn't promise a total cure. Her parents believe they have done the right thing by coming here.
"We are not hoping for drastic results like she will be totally normal," says Priti.
"I know what the reality is. No one has promised us anything. She's my only daughter and I wouldn't send her for a trial like a guinea pig... I wouldn't do that."
Doctors' concerns
Further along the corridor, in the hospital's exercise room, a physiotherapist throws a ball towards a patient.
Right now the hospital is giving stem cell treatment to seven foreigners.
One man has come from Hungary to try to recover from a stroke. One woman has come from London to get over a brain injury. She says her doctor back home doesn't know she is here.
But this hospital says that these patients - including Shonia - have every right to stem cell treatment.
"We give them a little hope," says Sherwood Young, the hospital's vice president.
"False hope?" I ask.
"No. We provide good hope."
"How do you know?"
"From the results."
"Documentation?"
"Yes, yes."
"Publications in medical journals?"
"Not really journals."
"Why not?"
"We haven't collected enough data and documentation yet."
This lack of publication concerns doctors in the UK. Many we have spoken to say they are worried that China is not following international procedure by skipping on proper peer review.
"As far as I know these treatments offered through this clinic in China have not been subject to those procedures," says Professor Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the Medical Research Council.
"Nothing would be accepted for treatment in the NHS - or indeed any other developed country in the world - without proper evidence they do work and are not dangerous. And I don't know evidence for these kind of treatments in China."
Doctors in the UK suggest that there will be huge advances in stem cell therapies in Britain in the next 10 to 12 years. But the Tahilianis say they cannot wait that long.
In the hospital lobby, another family stops to say hello to Shonia. A little boy goes up to her wheelchair and shows her his toy dinosaurs. But Shonia can't grab the toys, and she can't even say hello. Her parents hope that, one day, this will change.
The Tahiliani family walks past customs. Priti pushes her daughter Shonia in a small wheelchair.
Shonia's father Kishor has the luggage. They look around for a sign with their name on it. They have flown 5,000 miles from Bournemouth to be here.
"We're not nervous," says Kishor. "We're just trying something totally new. We actually hope something better will happen."
"Just keeping our fingers crossed," adds Priti. "We don't know what the future will hold, but we are just giving our best try as parents."
Their daughter Shonia has cerebral palsy. She is eight years old - but she cannot walk or talk. Her parents have raised £18,000 to bring her to China for stem cell treatment. It is something they cannot get back in the UK.
'The right thing'
A hospital minibus collects the family from the airport and takes them into Beijing. Shonia spends the journey quietly sitting on her mother's lap.
On Monday afternoon, the Tahilianis settle into their room on the ground floor of the Tiantan Puhua Neurological Hospital. Kishor leans over his daughter and gives her lunch.
In one corner, the family has set up a webcam. On the windowsill, they burn some incense. For the next three months this will be their home.
Soon, doctors will begin to remove stem cells from Shonia's bone marrow. And then they will inject the cells into her spine. The hospital hopes to give Shonia better mobility - but it doesn't promise a total cure. Her parents believe they have done the right thing by coming here.
"We are not hoping for drastic results like she will be totally normal," says Priti.
"I know what the reality is. No one has promised us anything. She's my only daughter and I wouldn't send her for a trial like a guinea pig... I wouldn't do that."
Doctors' concerns
Further along the corridor, in the hospital's exercise room, a physiotherapist throws a ball towards a patient.
Right now the hospital is giving stem cell treatment to seven foreigners.
One man has come from Hungary to try to recover from a stroke. One woman has come from London to get over a brain injury. She says her doctor back home doesn't know she is here.
But this hospital says that these patients - including Shonia - have every right to stem cell treatment.
"We give them a little hope," says Sherwood Young, the hospital's vice president.
"False hope?" I ask.
"No. We provide good hope."
"How do you know?"
"From the results."
"Documentation?"
"Yes, yes."
"Publications in medical journals?"
"Not really journals."
"Why not?"
"We haven't collected enough data and documentation yet."
This lack of publication concerns doctors in the UK. Many we have spoken to say they are worried that China is not following international procedure by skipping on proper peer review.
"As far as I know these treatments offered through this clinic in China have not been subject to those procedures," says Professor Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the Medical Research Council.
"Nothing would be accepted for treatment in the NHS - or indeed any other developed country in the world - without proper evidence they do work and are not dangerous. And I don't know evidence for these kind of treatments in China."
Doctors in the UK suggest that there will be huge advances in stem cell therapies in Britain in the next 10 to 12 years. But the Tahilianis say they cannot wait that long.
In the hospital lobby, another family stops to say hello to Shonia. A little boy goes up to her wheelchair and shows her his toy dinosaurs. But Shonia can't grab the toys, and she can't even say hello. Her parents hope that, one day, this will change.
China unveiled plans to help prepare for climate change
China has unveiled its first national plan for climate change, saying it is intent on tackling the problem but not at the expense of economic development.
The 62-page report reiterated China's aim to reduce energy use by a fifth before 2010 and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces.
But it also repeated Beijing's view that responsibility for climate change rests with rich westernised countries.
The report comes ahead of a G8 meeting that will focus on global warming.
Germany, which is hosting the meeting of industrialised nations, is calling for a new UN protocol on climate change to replace the Kyoto pact when it expires in 2012.
China's role in the debate is crucial, as many analysts believe it could overtake the US this year as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
'Trailblazer'
China's new national plan on climate change offered few new targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but outlined how it intended to meet the goals it has already set, analysts say.
This includes the use of more wind, nuclear and hydro power as well as making coal-fired plants more efficient, the document outlined.
But it also stressed that the country's first priority remained "sustainable development and poverty eradication".
"China is a developing country. Although we do not have the obligation to cut emissions, it does not mean we do not want to shoulder our share of responsibilities," Ma Kai, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said.
"We must reconcile the need for development with the need for environmental protection," he said, adding that China wanted to "blaze a new path to industrialisation".
He said rich countries were responsible for most of the greenhouse gases produced over the past century, and had an "unshirkable responsibility" to do more to tackle the problem.
"The international community should respect the developing countries' right to develop," he added.
The plan is a strong declaration of intentions, but so far China has missed almost every environmental target it has set itself, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Shanghai says.
The 62-page report reiterated China's aim to reduce energy use by a fifth before 2010 and increase the amount of renewable energy it produces.
But it also repeated Beijing's view that responsibility for climate change rests with rich westernised countries.
The report comes ahead of a G8 meeting that will focus on global warming.
Germany, which is hosting the meeting of industrialised nations, is calling for a new UN protocol on climate change to replace the Kyoto pact when it expires in 2012.
China's role in the debate is crucial, as many analysts believe it could overtake the US this year as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
'Trailblazer'
China's new national plan on climate change offered few new targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but outlined how it intended to meet the goals it has already set, analysts say.
This includes the use of more wind, nuclear and hydro power as well as making coal-fired plants more efficient, the document outlined.
But it also stressed that the country's first priority remained "sustainable development and poverty eradication".
"China is a developing country. Although we do not have the obligation to cut emissions, it does not mean we do not want to shoulder our share of responsibilities," Ma Kai, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said.
"We must reconcile the need for development with the need for environmental protection," he said, adding that China wanted to "blaze a new path to industrialisation".
He said rich countries were responsible for most of the greenhouse gases produced over the past century, and had an "unshirkable responsibility" to do more to tackle the problem.
"The international community should respect the developing countries' right to develop," he added.
The plan is a strong declaration of intentions, but so far China has missed almost every environmental target it has set itself, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Shanghai says.
April 2005-China Protested Against Japanese Text Book
Anti-Japanese protests have erupted in China for the second day running, spreading from Beijing to the southern province of Guangdong.
The rallies follow a 10,000-strong march in the Chinese capital - the city's biggest protest since 1999.
Protesters are angry at a new Japanese history textbook which they believe plays down Japan's wartime atrocities.
Japan has protested to China after stone-throwing protesters attacked Japan's embassy in Beijing on Saturday.
Japan's foreign minister is to visit China next week to discuss "a number of bilateral and international issues", a spokesman for Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
Security measures
At least 3,000 people demonstrated at the Japanese consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou on Sunday, shouting for a boycott of Japanese goods and burning Japanese flags.
A Japanese diplomat said some windows in the consulate were broken.
Hong Kong cable television showed protesters with Chinese flags and banners reading "down with Japanese militarism".
The rallies follow a 10,000-strong march in the Chinese capital - the city's biggest protest since 1999.
Protesters are angry at a new Japanese history textbook which they believe plays down Japan's wartime atrocities.
Japan has protested to China after stone-throwing protesters attacked Japan's embassy in Beijing on Saturday.
Japan's foreign minister is to visit China next week to discuss "a number of bilateral and international issues", a spokesman for Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
Security measures
At least 3,000 people demonstrated at the Japanese consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou on Sunday, shouting for a boycott of Japanese goods and burning Japanese flags.
A Japanese diplomat said some windows in the consulate were broken.
Hong Kong cable television showed protesters with Chinese flags and banners reading "down with Japanese militarism".
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Asia is bracing for a dramatic surge in cancer rates over the next decade as people in the developing world live longer and adopt bad Western habits that greatly increase the risk of the disease.
Smoking, drinking and eating unhealthy foods -- all linked to various cancers -- will combine with larger populations and fewer deaths from infectious diseases to drive Asian cancer rates up 60 percent by 2020, some experts predict.
But unlike in wealthy countries where the world's top medical care is found, there will likely be no prevention or treatment for many living in poor countries.
"What happened in the Western world in the '60s or '70s will happen here in the next 10 to 20 years as life expectancy gets longer and we get better control on more common causes of deaths," said Dr. Jatin P. Shah, a professor of surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who attended a cancer conference last month in Singapore.
"The habit of alcohol consumption, smoking and dietary changes will increase the risk of Western world cancers to the Eastern world," Shah said.
An estimated 40 percent of cancers worldwide can be prevented by exercise, eating healthy foods and not using tobacco, according to the World Health Organization.
But more people in Asia are moving into cities and becoming overweight and obese from inactivity. They are replacing fruits and vegetables with fatty meals full of meat and salt, which is leading to increases in stomach and colon cancers. Meanwhile, traditional diseases like malaria are killing fewer people -- building an aging population that's a prime target for cancer.
The effect is already startling, with the Asia-Pacific making up about half of the world's cancer deaths and logging 4.9 million new cases, or 45 percent, of the global toll in 2002.
That number is projected to leap to 7.8 million by 2020 if nothing changes, according to Dr. Donald Max Parkin, a research fellow at the University of Oxford who is a leading authority on global cancer patterns and trends.
China alone, with its booming economy and 1.3 billion people, is home to about one-fifth of the world's new cases, compared to about 13 percent in the U.S. and 26 percent in Europe, Parkin said. Heart disease remains the top killer in China, but cancer is a close second.
Cancer deaths are slowly dropping in the United States, with slight declines recorded in 2003 and 2004. A decrease in smoking, coupled with early detection and better treatment of tumors is credited with the positive results -- the first U.S. decline in cancer deaths since 1930.
Smoking on the rise
Smoking is on the rise in Asia, where it's common to see people lighting up in airports, restaurants and even hospitals. Lung cancer makes up the bulk of all cases regionwide, followed by stomach and liver cancers. It also remains the biggest cancer killer worldwide.
"Lung cancer is the big one because of cigarette smoking. There are many tobacco advertisements -- everywhere," said Dr. You-Lin Qiao from the Cancer Institute and Hospital in Beijing, who added that the odds are stacked against those diagnosed in China. "No matter if you're rich or poor, if you get lung cancer you die. There's no treatment at all."
While Americans and Europeans have been abandoning smoking, an estimated 300 million men are puffing away in China -- equal to the entire U.S. population. If nothing changes, a third of Chinese men under age 30 are predicted to die from tobacco, with lung cancer already the biggest cancer killer there.
Smokeless tobacco is also a big problem in Asia's other giant, India, where many men and women chew some form of tobacco. Mouth cancer makes up half of all new cases in parts of the country.
A lack of vaccines that prevent cancer-causing viruses is another obstacle for Asia, which is home to about three-quarters of the world's liver cancers, caused largely by Hepatitis B infections.
A vaccine guarding against the virus has been available since the early 1980s and is routinely given to children in Western countries, but it is still not reaching large swaths of the Asia-Pacific.
Some experts worry it could take years before the new vaccine for the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV, is available to women in developing countries. The three shots currently cost about $350 in the U.S. and are 70 percent effective against preventing HPV, the main cause of cervical cancer. It is already the No. 2 cause of cancer among women in Asia, after breast cancer.
"The problem is so huge that it's very difficult for us to know where to start," said Dr. Franco Cavalli, president of the nonprofit International Union Against Cancer. "All the new cancer treatments are so expensive, that already in the affluent countries we are not able to pay for them ... So imagine what that means for low-income countries where you have $20 a year per person for health expenditures."
Regular screening, such as pap smears and mammograms, is too costly for many poor countries. Treatment with radiation or chemotherapy is unfathomable for most. And in Asia, many patients seek help from hospitals in the late stages of disease after traditional medicine has failed to cure them.
Monika Bardhan of Malaysia's NCI Cancer Hospital has seen a dramatic increase in cancer patients over the past four years. "It's staggering. Every day I see a patient with breast cancer -- I just hold my own and say a prayer."
Source: CNN.Com International
Smoking, drinking and eating unhealthy foods -- all linked to various cancers -- will combine with larger populations and fewer deaths from infectious diseases to drive Asian cancer rates up 60 percent by 2020, some experts predict.
But unlike in wealthy countries where the world's top medical care is found, there will likely be no prevention or treatment for many living in poor countries.
"What happened in the Western world in the '60s or '70s will happen here in the next 10 to 20 years as life expectancy gets longer and we get better control on more common causes of deaths," said Dr. Jatin P. Shah, a professor of surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who attended a cancer conference last month in Singapore.
"The habit of alcohol consumption, smoking and dietary changes will increase the risk of Western world cancers to the Eastern world," Shah said.
An estimated 40 percent of cancers worldwide can be prevented by exercise, eating healthy foods and not using tobacco, according to the World Health Organization.
But more people in Asia are moving into cities and becoming overweight and obese from inactivity. They are replacing fruits and vegetables with fatty meals full of meat and salt, which is leading to increases in stomach and colon cancers. Meanwhile, traditional diseases like malaria are killing fewer people -- building an aging population that's a prime target for cancer.
The effect is already startling, with the Asia-Pacific making up about half of the world's cancer deaths and logging 4.9 million new cases, or 45 percent, of the global toll in 2002.
That number is projected to leap to 7.8 million by 2020 if nothing changes, according to Dr. Donald Max Parkin, a research fellow at the University of Oxford who is a leading authority on global cancer patterns and trends.
China alone, with its booming economy and 1.3 billion people, is home to about one-fifth of the world's new cases, compared to about 13 percent in the U.S. and 26 percent in Europe, Parkin said. Heart disease remains the top killer in China, but cancer is a close second.
Cancer deaths are slowly dropping in the United States, with slight declines recorded in 2003 and 2004. A decrease in smoking, coupled with early detection and better treatment of tumors is credited with the positive results -- the first U.S. decline in cancer deaths since 1930.
Smoking on the rise
Smoking is on the rise in Asia, where it's common to see people lighting up in airports, restaurants and even hospitals. Lung cancer makes up the bulk of all cases regionwide, followed by stomach and liver cancers. It also remains the biggest cancer killer worldwide.
"Lung cancer is the big one because of cigarette smoking. There are many tobacco advertisements -- everywhere," said Dr. You-Lin Qiao from the Cancer Institute and Hospital in Beijing, who added that the odds are stacked against those diagnosed in China. "No matter if you're rich or poor, if you get lung cancer you die. There's no treatment at all."
While Americans and Europeans have been abandoning smoking, an estimated 300 million men are puffing away in China -- equal to the entire U.S. population. If nothing changes, a third of Chinese men under age 30 are predicted to die from tobacco, with lung cancer already the biggest cancer killer there.
Smokeless tobacco is also a big problem in Asia's other giant, India, where many men and women chew some form of tobacco. Mouth cancer makes up half of all new cases in parts of the country.
A lack of vaccines that prevent cancer-causing viruses is another obstacle for Asia, which is home to about three-quarters of the world's liver cancers, caused largely by Hepatitis B infections.
A vaccine guarding against the virus has been available since the early 1980s and is routinely given to children in Western countries, but it is still not reaching large swaths of the Asia-Pacific.
Some experts worry it could take years before the new vaccine for the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV, is available to women in developing countries. The three shots currently cost about $350 in the U.S. and are 70 percent effective against preventing HPV, the main cause of cervical cancer. It is already the No. 2 cause of cancer among women in Asia, after breast cancer.
"The problem is so huge that it's very difficult for us to know where to start," said Dr. Franco Cavalli, president of the nonprofit International Union Against Cancer. "All the new cancer treatments are so expensive, that already in the affluent countries we are not able to pay for them ... So imagine what that means for low-income countries where you have $20 a year per person for health expenditures."
Regular screening, such as pap smears and mammograms, is too costly for many poor countries. Treatment with radiation or chemotherapy is unfathomable for most. And in Asia, many patients seek help from hospitals in the late stages of disease after traditional medicine has failed to cure them.
Monika Bardhan of Malaysia's NCI Cancer Hospital has seen a dramatic increase in cancer patients over the past four years. "It's staggering. Every day I see a patient with breast cancer -- I just hold my own and say a prayer."
Source: CNN.Com International
Pakistan Blocked Geo News Channel
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani government has blocked the transmission of the Geo News TV channel, a company official said Sunday.
GEO News Managing Director Nasir Baig Chugtai told CNN that viewers called the Geo office asking why the transmission of "Meray Mutabik," a popular prime-time show, was halted.
During the last few programs, the show's anchor, Shahid Masood, criticized the government for recent bans and threats to journalists.
None of several government officials contacted by CNN would discuss the issue.
Information Ministry sources said cable operators were told Sunday night to block GEO TV's transmission, based on high-level orders.
On Sunday morning in Lahore, cable operators had warned national and international broadcasters that their channels would be blocked if they aired anything critical of the the Pakistani government.
Political parties, civil societies and journalist organizations condemned the bans and demanded the government allow the country's news media to operate without restrictions.
The Pakistan Broadcasters Association reviewed the restrictions during a meeting Sunday, after which they called the curbs an attack on the fundamental, constitutional right of expression.
The meeting participants passed a resolution requesting the government to show respect for the freedom of expression as guaranteed in the Constitution.
On Sunday, government officials told CNN that journalist Noor Hakkem and four other people were killed Saturday in a roadside bomb blast in Bajaur agency, the Pakistani tribal area near the border with Pakistan.
Hakeem was a correspondent for Daily Pakistan and vice president of the Tribal Union of Journalists.
GEO News Managing Director Nasir Baig Chugtai told CNN that viewers called the Geo office asking why the transmission of "Meray Mutabik," a popular prime-time show, was halted.
During the last few programs, the show's anchor, Shahid Masood, criticized the government for recent bans and threats to journalists.
None of several government officials contacted by CNN would discuss the issue.
Information Ministry sources said cable operators were told Sunday night to block GEO TV's transmission, based on high-level orders.
On Sunday morning in Lahore, cable operators had warned national and international broadcasters that their channels would be blocked if they aired anything critical of the the Pakistani government.
Political parties, civil societies and journalist organizations condemned the bans and demanded the government allow the country's news media to operate without restrictions.
The Pakistan Broadcasters Association reviewed the restrictions during a meeting Sunday, after which they called the curbs an attack on the fundamental, constitutional right of expression.
The meeting participants passed a resolution requesting the government to show respect for the freedom of expression as guaranteed in the Constitution.
On Sunday, government officials told CNN that journalist Noor Hakkem and four other people were killed Saturday in a roadside bomb blast in Bajaur agency, the Pakistani tribal area near the border with Pakistan.
Hakeem was a correspondent for Daily Pakistan and vice president of the Tribal Union of Journalists.
China's Stock Took a Tumble
SHANGHAI, China (Reuters) -- China stocks tumbled 8.3 percent on Monday in their second biggest drop this decade, erasing $340 billion in market value and extending big losses from last week after the government hiked the share-trading tax to cool a feverish bull run.
In an apparent attempt by authorities to restore confidence, front-page editorials in official newspapers tried to reassure investors the market's medium- and long-term outlook was still positive, and that the tax hike was merely aimed at speculators.
But that failed to stop selling by many of the anxious and often inexperienced individual investors who had jumped into the market in recent months for what seemed like easy money.
"This is obviously panic selling, and the sentiment is quickly spreading across the market," said Wang Jing, deputy general manager at Everbright Securities.
"But the fall is normal today, given the fact that the market has gone up so much. It won't be surprising if the index falls to about 3,000 points -- which would mean a 30 percent correction from the top."
However, many analysts and fund managers said they did not believe the government, which has made a strong stock market central to its economic reforms, would permit an extended slide which could fuel social unrest or threaten China's rapid economic expansion.
The key index has now lost 15.3 percent from last Tuesday's record intra-day high. A fall of 10 percent is an internationally accepted definition of a bear market in stocks.
Global stock markets, which were roiled by a heavy Chinese market sell-off in late February, appeared to be taking the latest slump in stride, though many Asian markets came off the day's highs as the rout in Shanghai worsened.
"I knew the market would go down, but I did not expect it would be this fast. After a small plunge, it should go up, but it is not going up," said Madame Wang, a pensioner in her 50s, who put some of her savings into stocks during the bull run.
"Next time I will remember -- once the market falls, I will sell all my stocks."
Many fund managers and analysts in Asia said the index, which had risen 62 percent this year to last Tuesday's close after surging 130 percent in 2006, had room to fall much further in coming days as the excesses of the bull run were corrected.
But many also said they did not believe the market as a whole was going into freefall.
Most worrying to analysts were deep falls in some of the blue chips favored by institutional investors, since those stocks had stayed firm last week even as speculative shares tumbled.
Oil refiner Sinopec, which had risen 16 percent over the final three days of the week, sank its 10 percent daily limit to 13.65 yuan.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest bank, dropped 8.1 percent to 4.99 yuan.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended the day at 3,670.401 points, its lowest level since April 25. Losing stocks overwhelmed gainers by 846 to 17, with about 466 shares plunging their 10 percent daily limits.
Turnover in Shanghai A shares was active at 143.0 billion yuan ($18.7 billion), but down sharply from Friday's 224.7 billion yuan, suggesting many investors were pulling out of the market.
"Most new retail investors are too speculative to envision the mid- to long-term positive market trend. Their exit will cause a market landing, be it hard or soft," Morgan Stanley said in a report.
Traders see strong technical support for the index around 3,600, where it briefly peaked in mid-April. That level would still leave the market up 35 percent from the start of this year.
"Since the index has even fallen below 3,700 now, I believe the correction is about over," said Zheng Weigang at Shanghai Securities.
Another disillusioned investor at an Everbright Securities branch in Shanghai's financial district, a woman in her 30s surnamed Xu, said:
"I used to have confidence in the stock market. But how can I have confidence now that it has fallen so much. I have no more confidence. Even if the government wants to regulate the stock market, it should not be done like this."
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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In an apparent attempt by authorities to restore confidence, front-page editorials in official newspapers tried to reassure investors the market's medium- and long-term outlook was still positive, and that the tax hike was merely aimed at speculators.
But that failed to stop selling by many of the anxious and often inexperienced individual investors who had jumped into the market in recent months for what seemed like easy money.
"This is obviously panic selling, and the sentiment is quickly spreading across the market," said Wang Jing, deputy general manager at Everbright Securities.
"But the fall is normal today, given the fact that the market has gone up so much. It won't be surprising if the index falls to about 3,000 points -- which would mean a 30 percent correction from the top."
However, many analysts and fund managers said they did not believe the government, which has made a strong stock market central to its economic reforms, would permit an extended slide which could fuel social unrest or threaten China's rapid economic expansion.
The key index has now lost 15.3 percent from last Tuesday's record intra-day high. A fall of 10 percent is an internationally accepted definition of a bear market in stocks.
Global stock markets, which were roiled by a heavy Chinese market sell-off in late February, appeared to be taking the latest slump in stride, though many Asian markets came off the day's highs as the rout in Shanghai worsened.
"I knew the market would go down, but I did not expect it would be this fast. After a small plunge, it should go up, but it is not going up," said Madame Wang, a pensioner in her 50s, who put some of her savings into stocks during the bull run.
"Next time I will remember -- once the market falls, I will sell all my stocks."
Many fund managers and analysts in Asia said the index, which had risen 62 percent this year to last Tuesday's close after surging 130 percent in 2006, had room to fall much further in coming days as the excesses of the bull run were corrected.
But many also said they did not believe the market as a whole was going into freefall.
Most worrying to analysts were deep falls in some of the blue chips favored by institutional investors, since those stocks had stayed firm last week even as speculative shares tumbled.
Oil refiner Sinopec, which had risen 16 percent over the final three days of the week, sank its 10 percent daily limit to 13.65 yuan.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest bank, dropped 8.1 percent to 4.99 yuan.
The Shanghai Composite Index ended the day at 3,670.401 points, its lowest level since April 25. Losing stocks overwhelmed gainers by 846 to 17, with about 466 shares plunging their 10 percent daily limits.
Turnover in Shanghai A shares was active at 143.0 billion yuan ($18.7 billion), but down sharply from Friday's 224.7 billion yuan, suggesting many investors were pulling out of the market.
"Most new retail investors are too speculative to envision the mid- to long-term positive market trend. Their exit will cause a market landing, be it hard or soft," Morgan Stanley said in a report.
Traders see strong technical support for the index around 3,600, where it briefly peaked in mid-April. That level would still leave the market up 35 percent from the start of this year.
"Since the index has even fallen below 3,700 now, I believe the correction is about over," said Zheng Weigang at Shanghai Securities.
Another disillusioned investor at an Everbright Securities branch in Shanghai's financial district, a woman in her 30s surnamed Xu, said:
"I used to have confidence in the stock market. But how can I have confidence now that it has fallen so much. I have no more confidence. Even if the government wants to regulate the stock market, it should not be done like this."
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Follow Up China's Drug Administration Head Official
Disgraced official's name cannot be used to sell rat poison
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China's trademark administrator has rejected an application to register "Zheng Xiaoyu", the name of former head of drug watchdog, as a trademark for rat poisons.
"It is against China's trademark laws to use a name that has adverse effects on society as a trademark," said sources with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), was sacked for taking bribes and helping secure illegal profits for some drug companies.
On Feb. 28, Shenyang Feilong Pharmaceutical Company applied to use Zheng's name as a brand of rat poisons and pesticides.
Jiang Wei, the company chairman, admits he had a dispute with Zheng, when the SFDA labeled "Weigekaitai" produced by Jiang's company an inferior drug in 1999.
Although Zheng Xiaoyu remains under investigation, he still enjoys the right to protect the use of his name according to trademark laws, industry experts added.
Source: Xinhua
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China's trademark administrator has rejected an application to register "Zheng Xiaoyu", the name of former head of drug watchdog, as a trademark for rat poisons.
"It is against China's trademark laws to use a name that has adverse effects on society as a trademark," said sources with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), was sacked for taking bribes and helping secure illegal profits for some drug companies.
On Feb. 28, Shenyang Feilong Pharmaceutical Company applied to use Zheng's name as a brand of rat poisons and pesticides.
Jiang Wei, the company chairman, admits he had a dispute with Zheng, when the SFDA labeled "Weigekaitai" produced by Jiang's company an inferior drug in 1999.
Although Zheng Xiaoyu remains under investigation, he still enjoys the right to protect the use of his name according to trademark laws, industry experts added.
Source: Xinhua
China Is Cracking Down On Corrupt Officials
Zheng Xiaoyu, former director of China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), was sentenced to death by a Beijing court Tuesday morning.
Zheng, 63, was convicted of taking bribes and dereliction of duty, according to the first instance hearing of the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
He received the death penalty on the graft charge and 7 years in imprisonment for the charge of dereliction of duty. All Zheng's personal property was confiscated and he was deprived of his political rights for life.
The death sentence was appropriate, according to the court, given the "huge bribes involved and the great damage inflicted on the country and the public by Zheng's dereliction of duty".
The bribes taken by Zheng, including cash and gifts, were worth more than 6.49 million yuan (about 850,000 U.S. dollars), according to the court. The bribes were given either directly or through his wife and son.
The court said Zheng "sought benefits" for eight pharmaceutical companies by approving their drugs and medical devices during his tenure as China's chief drug and food official from June 1997 to December 2006.
"(Zheng's acts) greatly undermined the uprightness of an official post and the efficiency of China's drug monitoring and supervision, endangered public life and health and had a very negative social impact," the court said.
Zheng violated reporting rules and decision-making processes when approving medicines from 2001 to 2003. He failed to make careful arrangements for the supervision of medicine production, which is of critical importance to people's lives, said the court.
The consequences of Zheng's dereliction of duty have proved extremely serious. Six types of medicine approved by the administration during that period were fake medicines. Some pharmaceutical companies used false documents to apply for approvals, the court said.
It is not yet known whether Zheng will appeal.
A report in China Business News earlier this month said Zheng's wife, Liu Naixue, and his son, Zheng Hairong, had been arrested for involvement in the case, citing a "well-informed source".
Zheng, born in December 1944, joined the Communist Party of China in November 1979. He majored in biology at Fudan University in Shanghai.
He was the head of the State Pharmaceutical Administration from 1994 to 1998, and head of the State Drug Administration from 1998 to 2003. He was appointed director of the SFDA in May 2003 after it was formed.
Zheng retired in 2005. He first came under investigation by the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in December 2006 and was expelled from the Party in March 2007.
Earlier reports said that Zheng's subordinates had provided evidence against their former boss.
Hao Heping, former director of SFDA's Department of Medical Devices and one of Zheng's former secretaries, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery in November last year.
Cao Wenzhuang, former director of SFDA's Department of Drug Registration and also another former secretary of Zheng, has been under investigation since January of last year.
An official from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said: "Zheng's case highlights weaknesses and loopholes in the legal system, the abuse of administrative power, a lack of supervision, and weak anti-corruption attitudes among officials."
Leaders of key departments should rotate positions at fixed intervals to avoid corruption, the official added.
Shao Daosheng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China's pharmaceutical industry has become a focus of public dissatisfaction for producing fake and substandard medicines and widely using bribery to sell their drugs to hospitals.
"Commercial bribery is widespread in the pharmaceutical industry, as indecent manufacturers buy licenses from corrupt regulators," Shao said.
Source: Xinhua
Zheng, 63, was convicted of taking bribes and dereliction of duty, according to the first instance hearing of the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
He received the death penalty on the graft charge and 7 years in imprisonment for the charge of dereliction of duty. All Zheng's personal property was confiscated and he was deprived of his political rights for life.
The death sentence was appropriate, according to the court, given the "huge bribes involved and the great damage inflicted on the country and the public by Zheng's dereliction of duty".
The bribes taken by Zheng, including cash and gifts, were worth more than 6.49 million yuan (about 850,000 U.S. dollars), according to the court. The bribes were given either directly or through his wife and son.
The court said Zheng "sought benefits" for eight pharmaceutical companies by approving their drugs and medical devices during his tenure as China's chief drug and food official from June 1997 to December 2006.
"(Zheng's acts) greatly undermined the uprightness of an official post and the efficiency of China's drug monitoring and supervision, endangered public life and health and had a very negative social impact," the court said.
Zheng violated reporting rules and decision-making processes when approving medicines from 2001 to 2003. He failed to make careful arrangements for the supervision of medicine production, which is of critical importance to people's lives, said the court.
The consequences of Zheng's dereliction of duty have proved extremely serious. Six types of medicine approved by the administration during that period were fake medicines. Some pharmaceutical companies used false documents to apply for approvals, the court said.
It is not yet known whether Zheng will appeal.
A report in China Business News earlier this month said Zheng's wife, Liu Naixue, and his son, Zheng Hairong, had been arrested for involvement in the case, citing a "well-informed source".
Zheng, born in December 1944, joined the Communist Party of China in November 1979. He majored in biology at Fudan University in Shanghai.
He was the head of the State Pharmaceutical Administration from 1994 to 1998, and head of the State Drug Administration from 1998 to 2003. He was appointed director of the SFDA in May 2003 after it was formed.
Zheng retired in 2005. He first came under investigation by the Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in December 2006 and was expelled from the Party in March 2007.
Earlier reports said that Zheng's subordinates had provided evidence against their former boss.
Hao Heping, former director of SFDA's Department of Medical Devices and one of Zheng's former secretaries, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery in November last year.
Cao Wenzhuang, former director of SFDA's Department of Drug Registration and also another former secretary of Zheng, has been under investigation since January of last year.
An official from the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said: "Zheng's case highlights weaknesses and loopholes in the legal system, the abuse of administrative power, a lack of supervision, and weak anti-corruption attitudes among officials."
Leaders of key departments should rotate positions at fixed intervals to avoid corruption, the official added.
Shao Daosheng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China's pharmaceutical industry has become a focus of public dissatisfaction for producing fake and substandard medicines and widely using bribery to sell their drugs to hospitals.
"Commercial bribery is widespread in the pharmaceutical industry, as indecent manufacturers buy licenses from corrupt regulators," Shao said.
Source: Xinhua
Tens of thousands gather for Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil
HONG KONG : Tens of thousands gathered on Monday for Hong Kong's annual candlelight vigil to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the only such commemoration on Chinese soil. "We will seek justice for you. A democratic China must come true," Szeto Wah, one of the organisers, said in a speech to the crowd who raised their candles in a dark and packed Victoria Park to remember those who died. The Chinese government sent troops into Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 to quell six weeks of peaceful democracy protests, leading to the deaths of many students and civilians. The annual vigil in Hong Kong has taken on special resonance this year after a local pro-Beijing politician took exception to calling the Tiananmen crackdown, which saw hundreds if not thousands killed, a massacre. The remarks by Ma Lik, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), immediately drew fire from the families of victims, as well as activists and politicians here. Chants of "Down with Ma Lik" were heard occasionally among the crowd, which organisers estimated at 55,000, more than last year's 44,000. Police later said they estimated the crowd at 27,000. Dozens of flowers and wreaths were laid, and songs were sung to commemorate those who died. One of the student leaders of the 1989 protests, Wang Dan, sent a video taped message to the crowd. "It has been 18 years since we held memorials for the June 4 victims, we have to continue with this until the day we see justice," he said as the crowd chanted "Support June 4th. Support human rights." Lau Sze-chun, a 19-year-old student, said he was attending the vigil for the first time to learn more about the event which occurred when he was just one as school textbooks offered few details. "I now have enough knowledge about this and realised the students were only staging a peaceful demonstration. Why did the government use violence? It was not a very humane way to handle this," said Lau. For 83-year-old Pong Yuk-ying, the massacre was more than just books. She watched television and read newspaper reports about an unknown lone protester who faced down a Chinese tank, the iconic image which came to represent the event. She also heard witness accounts from a friend whose sons were studying in Beijing at the time and saw Chinese troops arrive in Tiananmen Square and open fire on students and civilians. "So many unarmed students were only holding a quiet sit-down protest but they were killed. They shouldn't have died like this," she said. "The Chinese government should admit their mistakes." China has never apologised for the incident and has said the military action was necessary to prevent a counter-revolutionary uprising. The bloody crackdown continues to be a taboo subject in the country. Hong Kong, which enjoys special status after Britain handed the territory back to China in 1997, is the only part of Chinese territory where the events of Tiananmen will be commemorated. Chen Huoyen, who recently moved to Hong Kong from southeast China to be with his family, said he felt lucky to have the freedom to attend such events which are banned on the mainland. "I was so moved by the vigil last time that I had to come back this year," said Chen, 58. "I sympathise with those students who were killed for no reason. The government should have had a dialogue with them but shouldn't have shot them." - AFP/so/de
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