UPDATED:  December 1, 2006 8:44 PM
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AsiaNews

By: Peter Hickman

Dalai Lama: Democracy Would Make China ‘Predictable’

TOKYO—The Dalai Lama thinks a democratic China would be a more “predictable” ChinaJapan’s Kyodo news agency said the Tibetan spiritual leader, ending a 14-day visit to Japan, told Yukio Edano, a member of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, that China’s neighbors have difficulties knowing what actions “the big dragon” will take.  According to Mr. Edano, the Dalai Lama said Beijing would become predictable if it embraced democracy and “the dragon will become calm.”  The Buddhist leader has long been prevented from returning to his homeland by China, which occupies it.  He was visiting Japan at the invitation of a religious group in western Hiroshima state to give a series of lectures.

Indonesia Thinks it Can Boost Exports to $100 Billion in 2006

JAKARTAIndonesia’s Central Board of Statistics (BPS) thinks the country has the potential to increase its exports to US$100 billion by the end of 2006.  Exports through September of this year reached US$73.467 billion, according to Indonesia in brief, the newsletter of the Indonesian embassy in Washington.  BPS head Rusman Heriawan said the country’s imports for September 2006 were US$8.78 billion and that exports reached US$5.66 billion.  The main support to meet the projected exports of US$100 billion by the end of this year is expected to come from resource-based sectors.

Air India Gets U.S. Loan for Planes, Engines

NEW DELHI—The U.S. Export-Import Bank (USEXIMBANK) has cleared a loan of U.S. $1.3 billion for Air India (AI) to buy 17 aircraft and engines the airline and its subsidiary, Air India Express, are to receive up to December 2007.  India Review, the newsletter of the Indian embassy in Washington, said the financing is the largest transaction in Indian aviation supported by the American bank.   Air India Express was expected to get the first plane, a Boeing 737-800, in November.  Air India said the USEXIMBANK also provided a preliminary loan commitment of $4.9 billion for another 51 aircraft Air India will receive between January 2008 and February 2012. 

U.S., Asian Journalists Look at Islamic, American Stereotypes

HONOLULU—Seven journalists from Asian countries with large Muslim populations and six American journalists took part in a recent  Senior Journalists Seminar at the U.S.-funded East West Center here, addressing misconceptions and stereotypes between Asia’s Islamic societies and Americans which are perpetuated by the media, the center reports.  The seminar series, begun after 9/11, is a “dialogue, travel and exchange program for journalists from the U.S. Asian nations with substantial Muslim populations,” especially Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Pakistan.  During the travel segments of this summer’s seminar, the journalists were exposed to individuals and communities where they engaged in conversations and learned how “complicated and different” perspectives are in the countries they visited.  Part of the Asian journalists’ trip was a visit to a synagogue in San Jose, California.  For most of them, this was the first time in a Jewish house of worship and the first discussion with Jewish on interfaith issues.  They also stayed in the homes of American families.  Among the journalists were Imtiaz Ali, a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Pashto Service in Pakistan; and David Haage, an editorial writer for the Minneapolis StarTribune. 

Report Hits UN Judiciary Efforts in East Timor

DILI—The United Nations’ efforts to seek justice for the 1999 atrocities in East Timor were “plagued by mistakes and mishaps, abandoned prematurely and have contributed to the fragile state of (this) tiny country’s fledgling judiciary, according to a report mentioned by Financial Times reporter Shawn Donnan.  The 140-page study was written for the Hawaii-based East West Center by David Cohen, head of the War Crimes Studies Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and considered a leading expert on international war crimes tribunals.  It comes as the UN faces criticism over its nation-building efforts in this country, Donnan reports, and at a time when the international body is taking a leading role in a fresh investigation into recent atrocities in East Timor.

Asian Mission Congress Discusses ‘Jesus in Asia

CHIANG MAI—The recent Asian Mission Congress (AMC) in this northern Thai city “tackled” the theme of “The Story of Jesus in Asian Cultures,” according to the AsiaNews agency.  However, “anyone expecting an approach that showed how the cultures of the continent have been transformed by the impact of the Christian faith would have been disappointed,” the agency reported.  Instead, it said, what was offered were only “minor proposals and examples, emphasizing…social areas in which the Christian mentality is played out in Asia: the economy, migrations, among youth and mixed couples (those with a non-Catholic spouse).  The “faltering way” in which this theme was handled, AsiaNews said, “reveals that an inferiority complex lingers among Catholics,” often indicated as “followers of a Western religion.”  In the AMC, the report said, “one can still hear…criticism of foreign missionaries who arrived with the colonizers, although there is also gratitude expressed that they brought the faith.”  On the other hand, said the agency, “the cultures of Asia are no longer foreign to Christianity.  The example of love for the poor and lepers by missionaries and sisters led Hindus and Buddhists—centuries ago—to start being concerned about the social problems of their people, winning over their approach of detachment from earthly matters and problems.”

WHO Urged to Admit Taiwan or Drop Word ‘World’

ROSEMEAD, CA—The president of the Friends of Taiwan (FOT) says the Geneva-based United Nations’ World Health Organization should either admit the Republic of China to the WHO or “drop the word ‘World’ from its title.   In a letter to WHO Director General Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, FOT President Ted R. Anderson said, “Taiwan has one of the most sophisticated health systems” in the world, and that “to deny the country observer status in the WHO is unconscionable and unacceptable.”  Anderson called “disturbing” that the people of Taiwan are “deprived of their basic rights for health information from the WHO and barred from linking with WHO’s Global Alert and Response Network (GOARN).”   The People’s Republic of China claims Taiwan is one of its provinces and depicts the country’s participation in the WHO as a “threat to its territorial integrity.”  However, Taiwan points out that “since the PRC has never exercised any form of jurisdiction over Taiwan at any time, such claims are simply fallacious.”  The FOT’s Anderson’s letter to WHO head Lee said, “World health is not a political issue and you as a world leader must not be put into the ‘political issue box’, but…move into the humanitarian issue box.  Failing this, I…strongly recommend that you put forth a motion before the World Health Assembly (WHA) to drop the word ‘World’ from World Health Organization.  Without Taiwan as an observer in WHO, it cannot be called a World Health Assembly or a World Health Organization.”

Central Asian ‘Stans’ Sign Nuclear Weapons Ban

SEMIPALATINSK, Kazakhstan—The five Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have signed a treaty creating a nuclear weapons free zone within their borders.  The agreement was signed in this former Soviet nuclear test site in eastern Kazakhstan, according to the KAZAKHSTAN News Bulletin of the country’s Washington embassy.  The treaty commits the five nations to ban “the production, acquisition and deployment of nuclear weapons and their components.”  It does not prohibit the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.  Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev said of the treaty, “This is our contribution to global security.  It will become an impetus for the coordinated efforts of the world community in nonproliferation and prevention of the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists.  It will undoubtedly become an important step in the development of peaceful nuclear energy.”  Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov said, “While the creation of a nuclear weapons free zone in Central Asia is undoubtedly important, it is only the first stage in this initiative.”  What is needed, he added, is the “firm observance on behalf of the signatories of the fundamental principle, the complete absence of nuclear weapons in that zone.”  Also signing the treat were Kyrgyzstan Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov, Turkmenistan First Deputy Foreign Minister Saimumin Yatimov and Turkmenistan’s ambassador to Kazakhstan Muhamed Abalakov. 

Inner Mongolian Driving Dog Hits Car

HOHOT—A woman in this capital of North China’s Inner Mongolia region crashed her car into another one while—well, while giving her dog a driving lesson, according to the official Xinhua news agency.  No injuries were reported, although both vehicles were slightly damaged.  The woman, identified only by her surname Li, said the pooch was “fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive.”  She said she thought she would let fido “have a try” while she operated the accelerator and brake,” the report said, adding that, “They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car.”  Xinhua did not report the kind of dog or cars involved, but did say that Li paid for the repairs.

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