Asia

Peace March from Gujranwala in Pakistan,7th May 10 AM from Gujranwala Bar to terminate 8th May, 6PM at the Tomb of Allama Iqbal, in Lahore. People from different areas of life were called – including lawyers, figures from civil society, humanists, political activists, theatre players both male and female – to participate in the march, on foot, against all types of violence.

A recent Greenpeace initiative calling on the Hong Kong government Environmental Bureau to put a stop to ‘expansion’ of the present nuclear programme came under some criticism by supporting groups and politicians that called for a clearer anti-nuclear stand by Greenpeace but they were publicly reprimanded by the China-based organisation.(See Pressenza previous:Green Party…)

Green Party Hong Kong took the streets on Sunday 24 April 2011, allied by Humanist Association of Hong Kong, in support of a Greenpeace initiative calling on the Hong Kong government Environmental Bureau to put a stop to nuclear expansion.The Legislative Council is meeting on April 29 and the demonstration was to pressure the government to cease any expansion plans.

Our Humanist Association of Hong Kong Letter to the Editor appeared today in the South China Morning Post newspaper, April 18, 2011. Also appearing on Humanize Asia and Lantau Forum, eliciting comments from others. I replied to one critic that I quote the worst case scenario where nuclear fallout would poison the entire planet.

“Wake up all good hearted Indians. Respected Anna Hazare’s struggle and fasting is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Please support him wholeheartedly. My friends in Mumbai, please join me to start same here in Mumbai. If I get support of 1000 good hearted people(Without any political support and ambition), I will go on fasting in front of Mantralaya
Nilesh Joshi

Ai Weiwei was being monitored around the clock by the secret police when **Time Out Hong Kong** gained access to his Beijing studio to discuss the ‘Jasmine Revolution’. This must be the last interview before his disappearance. Although Mr Ai has had numerous run-ins with China’s state security apparatus he has never been formally detained or disappeared in this way before.

Below is a letter from Anne, an English teacher living in Japan for the last 10 years. Having survived the Earthquake she writes about the very human response to the tragedy that is afflicting the people in this part of Japan in stark contrast to the scenes of looting and violence that seem to accompany other natural disasters around the world.

Responding to the comment by Japanese nuclear safety agency spokesman Mr. Nishiyama that Greenpeace’s radiation data from Iidate village, 40km from the crisis-ridden Fukushima nuclear plant “could not be considered reliable” (1), and that most people have already voluntarily left the town of Iitate, Greenpeace radiation expert Jan van der Putte said:

In his early thirties, Kamakura-born Koichi Nakatani will never forget the day he stepped outside his isolated Hokkaido home and began as usual to breathe in the beautiful day when the thought struck him…. ‘oh, radiation is in the air, I shouldn’t really breathe deeply; oh my open sea and sky, will I ever be able to breathe deeply here again?’

The unceasing waves of protests and uprisings against Arab regimes have given rise to a tantalizing question: Why have the winds of change sweeping the Arab world not had any effect on the Chinese people and aroused them against their government?
There are many reasons for the absence of tumult in China. These reasons become clear if one takes an unbiased view of the country.