Covering The Multicultural Asian American Community in Georgia
www.gasiantimes.com September 15-30, 2013 Vol 10 No 18
CDC warns of microbes resistant to antibiotics
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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GAT Calendar of Events (For latest & updated events, visit www.gasiantimes.com)
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GAT welcome submission of announcement pertaining to community related events. Please email event, date, venue, and time to gat@gasiantimes.com. GAT does not guarantee insertion of event announcement and has the right to deny any posting. All Rights Reserved: including those to reproduce this printing or parts thereof in any form without permission in writing from Georgia Asian Times. Established in 2004, the Georgia Asian Times is published by Asiamax Inc. All facts, opinions, and statements appearing within this publication are those of writers and editors themseleves, and are in no way to be construed as statements, positions, endorsements by Georgia Asian Times or its officers. Georgia Asian Times assumes no responsibility for damages from the use of information contained in this publication or the reply to any advertisement. The Publisher will not be liable for any error in advertising to greater extent than the cost of space occupied by the error and will only be made for a single publication date. The Publisher reserves the right to reject any ad or articles submitted for publication that may not be in good taste for a free publication.
Rakugo - Japanese Comic Story telling in English Date: Monday, September 16, 2013 Time: 12:30 pm Venue: Kennesaw State University Date: Monday Sept 16, 2013 Time: 7:00 pm Venue: Hill Auditorium, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE For more info: Melissa Takeuchi 404926-3020 AAPOG APA Heroes & Advocates Awards Banquet Date: Thursday Sept 19, 2013 Time: 6:30 pm Venue: Oriental Pearl Seafood Restaurant, Chamblee For more info: http://aapg.eventbrite. com Tasting the Flavors of Taiwan Date: Saturday, September 21, 2013 Time: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Venue: Atlanta Community Center, 5377 New Peactree Road, Chamblee, GA 30041 Admission: $5 adult; Child free For more info: Jackie Chen, jchen@ southernco.com JapanFest 2013 Date: Sept 21-22, 2013 Time: 10:00 am Venue: Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway Peachtree City Dragon Boat Festival Date: Sept 28, 2013 Time: 8:00 am Venue: Peachtree City For more info: ptcdragonboats@gmail. com Vietnamese American Community (VAC GA) Community Health Fair Date: Sunday, Sept 29, 2013 Time: 11:00 am-3:00 pm Venue: 2nd Floor Hong Kong Supermarket For more info: Trish Nguyen email: trishtdng@yahoo.com
Indonesian Fall Festival Organized by Indonesian Community Heritage Foundation Date: Sunday Sept 29, 2013 Time: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Venue: OLA-KKI, 1350 Hearst Drive, NE, Atlanta GA 30319 For more info: Rima McGraw 770-6173505 HH Dalai Lama: The Visit 2013 Date: October 8, 2013 Venue: The Arena, Gwinnett Center For more info: gwinnettcenter.com 9th AAFF Premiere Night Gala Date: Friday Oct 11, 2013 Venue: Plaza Theatre, Ponce De Leon Avenue, Atlanta For more info: www.atlaff.org 9th Atlanta Asian Film Festival (AAFF) Date: Oct 12-25, 2013 Venues: Cinefest-GSU, GPC Dunwoody, University of West Georgia Atlanta Asian American College Fair Date: Saturday, October 19, 2013 Time: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm Venue: Korean Church of Atlanta 3205 Pleasant Hill Rd. For more info: HB Cho 770-242-0099 NAAAP Atlanta - Chopstix For Charity Date: Sunday October 27, 2013 Time: 3:00 pm - 8:00 pm Venue: Callonwolde Fine Arts Center 980 Briarcliff Road NE, Atlanta GA 30306 For more info: www.naap-atlanta.org
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
METRO ASIAN NEWS Award winning films screen at 9th Atlanta Asian Film Festival Suwanee, September 13, 2013 - Award winning feature films, documentaries, and short film are part of this year’s Atlanta Asian Film Festival. The festival is scheduled to kickoff with a reception at Plaza Theatre on Ponce De Leon Avenue on October 11, 2013. Guests will be treated with an opening night screening of ILO ILO, a Singapore film that received much accolades at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
L-R: He Beom Kim, Consul General of South Korea, Dr. Dan Kauffman, CEO of Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Nick Masimo, Vice President of Gwinnett Chamber of ComemrceEcon Development.
Korean Consulate Celebrates Reciprocal Driver Licenses Law Duluth, September 10, 2013 – The Korean Consulate General and members of the Korean business community celebrated the bill passing of a reciprocal driver’s license for legal international citizens at a reception at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. Invited guests included Brian Kemp, Secretary of State, Dr. Dan Kaufman, President of Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Senator Curt Thompson, Senator Renne S. Unterman, Suwanee Mayor Jimmy Burnette, Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris, Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson, and Rep. BJ Pak attended the reception hosted by Consulate General of South Korea. “We are pleased to be a part of a vibrant and strong community bond. Korea enjoys a positive bilateral relationship with the state of Georgia,” said He Beom Kim, Consul General of South Korea. “In order for the relationship to be sustainable, we have to deepen cultural and grass root ties among the people,” adds Consul General Kim in his remark to the audience.
Since the passing of the passing of HB 475 also known as “Reciprocal Driver’s Licenses” law in March 2013, over 400 applicants from overseas have benefited from the program. The bill was sponsored by State Rep. BJ Pak (Lilburn), Consul General of South Korea, and the Governor’s Office. “The bill is intended as a way to better support international companies and their investments in Georgia,” said Rep. BJ Pak in his remark. Individuals could only qualify for the reciprocal license program if their home country offers similar opportunities for Georgians, and in order for a program to be established, a country must have similar driving rules and regulations as the U.S. and Georgia.
“Don’t Stop Believin” is a documentary on Arnel Pieneda, the obscured Filipino singer who was discovered to be the new lead singer of the famous rock group Journey. “Crocodile in the Yangtze” is a insightful documentary on China’s internet giant Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma.
This year’s festival also feature several film debut including Laotian Director Mattie Do’s spooky film “Chanthaly”. “In addition we are screening films from Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan,” said Li Wong, organizer of the film festival. Screening venues are spread across the metro Atlanta including Cinefest-Georgia State University, Georgia Perimeter College-Dunwoody, University of West Georgia-Carollton, , and Mercer University Atlanta. Ticket prices are $8.00 adult and $5.00 for students. All Access Pass are available for $25.00. Tickets are available for sale online at www.atlaff.org.
Hong Kong Promotes Art, Food, and Wine Atlanta, September 13, 2013 -- Exports from Georgia to Hong Kong had grown over 227% from 1999 to 2012. Georgia leads in exports of poultry, kaolin clay, textile flooring, aircraft parts, iron and steel to Hong Kong, according to Ms. Anita Chan, Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York. Ms. Chan was speaking at a luncheon hosted by HKETO New York at Capitol City Club in downtown Atlanta. Hong Kong is pursuing a unique strategy in its investment drive to the cosmopolitan city. It has positioned itself to be Asia’s leading wine, art, and food center for enthusiast and novices. Hong Kong has achieved surprising result when it abolished its tax on wine importation. Consumption per individual in Hong Kong have increased to about 5 liters per year. From 2008 to 2012, Hong Kong has quadrupled its wine importation from the U.S. It is also the third largest market for U.S. wine export.
The city is currently ranked as third largest art auction market behind New York and London. Hong Kong has invested heavily in art infrastructure including the new Western Kowloon Cultural District. The $2.4 billion project is the largest arts and cultural project in Hong Kong to date. It covers an area of 99 acres, the district will feature 17 core arts and cultural venues. Hong Kong is increasingly becoming a hub for famous chefs to open their restaurants. World reputable chefs such as Pino Lavarra and Mario Batalli have recently establish restaurants in the city. With an increasing number of visitors landing in Hong Kong, the city is positioned to attract more visitors with food, wine, and arts program. The city recorded over 48 million visitors in 2012. For more information on Hong Kong, visit www.hketousa.gov.hk
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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FEATURE
CDC warns of microbes resistant to antibiotics WASHINGTON, September 17, 2013 - At least two million people per year in the United States get infections that are resistant to antibiotics and 23,000 die from those infections, a new study says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said these numbers are only a conservative estimate. Among other reasons, they come only from infections reported in hospitals and do not address ones that occur in nursing homes and other health care facilities. The numbers underline the importance of not overusing antibiotics. In as many as half of the cases studied, antibiotic use was not necessary or was even inappropriate, such as in viral infections, for instance, the researchers said. The report also warns against the danger of running short on effective treatments against infection while the number of new antibiotics being developed fails to meet short-term needs. “If we’re not careful, we will soon be in a post antibiotic era,” CDC director Tom Frieden said. “And, in fact, for some patients and some microbes, we are already there. Losing effective treatment will not only undermine our ability to fight routine infections, but
also have serious complications, serious implications, for people who have other medical problems,” he said. Most of the 18 microbes included in the study are common, and were divided into three categories depending on their degree of risk: urgent, concerning and important. Within the urgent group, there are three of particular interest: they are called carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, C. difficile, and drug-resistant gonorrhea, he said. The first of those is a “nightmare bacteria” that can essentially resist all antibiotics and kill people who get it in their blood. C. difficile is a life-threatening infection associated with 14,000 deaths and a quarter of a million hospitalizations per year. As for gonorrhea, there are more than 800,000 infections in the United States each year, with a growing proportion resistant to all available medication. The way to fight all this is to prevent infection and the spread of resistance, through immunization, safe food preparation and hand washing, the CDC said.
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
BUSINESS Inter-Korean industrial zone reopens as tensions ease PAJU, September 16, 2013 - Hundreds of South Korean factory owners and supervisors crossed into North Korea Monday to restart production lines at a joint industrial park closed five months ago by threats of war. Trucks and cars started rolling across the border shortly after 8:30am -- the result of weeks of often spiky negotiations aimed at easing tensions and reopening the Kaesong complex. “I hope we can work well together again, just like before,” said the 50year-old head of a Seoul textile company who declined to be named. The optimistic mood at the border checkpoint contrasted sharply with the sense of impending disaster that had loomed over the closure of Kaesong back in April. Months of heightened military tensions, with Pyongyang issuing apocalyptic threats of nuclear strikes, saw North Korea withdraw its 53,000strong workforce from the joint industrial zone. The situation has eased significantly since then, although underlying historical tensions and concerns about the North’s nuclear ambitions remain. Analysis of recent satellite images suggests the North has restarted the plutonium reactor that provided the fissile material for at least two of its three nuclear tests. And in a highly unusual incident Monday not far from the Kaesong border crossing, South Korean troops shot dead a man trying to swim across a border river to the North. The most immediate task for the South Korean managers was to inspect the state of production lines out of
operation for nearly five months. “Not all the North Korean workers showed up, partly because the plants aren’t going to be back at full capacity for a while,” said the supervisor of one textile plant when he crossed back into South Korea later in the day. “But at some companies more than 90 percent of the workers turned out. “The overall mood was upbeat. There was no fuss, no animosity,” he said, adding that most of the day was taken up with cleaning, maintenance and repair. Kaesong, born out of the “sunshine” reconciliation policy initiated in the late 1990s by then-South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung, was established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. It provided an important hard currency source for the impoverished North through taxes, other revenues and its cut of workers’ wages.
The South Korean co-chairman Kim Ki-Woong said future talks would focus on ensuring that Kaesong becomes internationally competitive. “To reach this goal, there are still quite a few problems to resolve, even though the factory park itself has reopened,” Kim said.
“What foreign firm in their right mind would consider investing in Kaesong?” asked Aidan Foster-Carter, a Korea expert at Leeds University in Britain. “There are a myriad separate reasons to steer well clear,” he wrote in a commentary for the Wall Street Journal.
During the talks on reopening Kaesong, the North accepted the South’s demand that efforts be made to encourage foreign investment.
Monday’s re-opening of Kaesong is still officially on a “trial basis” as both sides continue to discuss operational issues.
“I’m glad things have returned to normal finally,” said Shin Han-Yong, the chief executive of the Shinhan Trading company.
Seoul believes having vested interests outside the Korean peninsula will make it harder for Pyongyang to shut down the complex the next time NorthSouth relations go into freefall.
An association representing the South Korean businesses in Kaesong welcomed the restart but urged the new joint committee to approve “firm measures” to prevent another closure.
“I never believed the complex would be permanently closed. I think things will be all right from now on,” Shin said.
Kaesong, on paper at least, has always been open to foreign investors although none have taken the plunge.
The companies say the suspension of operations cost them a collective one trillion won ($920 million) in lost production.
The South’s Unification Ministry said 820 South Korean managers and workers had planned to cross the border into Kaesong on Monday.
In an effort to prevent any future closures, the North and South have created a joint committee to oversee Kaesong and deal with any problems related to its operations.
A road show is scheduled to be held in Kaesong in October, but many experts question who would be attracted by a project jointly run by two countries that are still technically at war.
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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BUSINESS
Indonesian cat poo coffee producers deny mislabeling JAKARTA, September 13, 2013 - Indonesian producers of gourmet coffee made from beans excreted by civet cats denied Friday they were routinely misleading consumers after a report said coffee from caged animals had been labelled “wild”. The Indonesian Kopi Luwak Association also defended the practice of keeping the weasel-like creatures in cages to make the coffee, saying it was fine as long as the end product was clearly labelled. “Kopi Luwak” has found its way to cafes around the world in recent years, and is one of the world’s most expensive coffees. The Asian palm civets sniff out and eat top-quality coffee berries and then defecate the fruit, giving it a rich creamy flavor. But the BBC said it found in an investigation that some of the coffee that appeared to be ending up on the British market labelled “wild” was in reality produced from animals in battery-cage conditions. The broadcaster said reporters witnessed civet cats in cramped cages during an undercover investigation on Indonesia’s Sumatra -- a far cry from the image of the animals roaming free in the jungle. However Teguh Pribadi, founder of the Indonesian Kopi Luwak Association, insisted mislabeling was not widespread.
“Perhaps that has happened in this case, but we don’t believe it’s common and we haven’t heard of other instances where the coffee has been mislabeled,” he said. He also insisted the practice of using cages was acceptable. “It’s legitimate to produce Kopi Luwak in cages, as long as producers comply with minimum standards and label the product as cage coffee, not wild coffee,” he said, adding the animals’ cages should be a minimum of one metre by two metres (three by seven feet). The BBC talked to farmers who produced coffee from caged animals and said they were supplying exporters whose produce ends up in Europe and Asia. The British broadcaster said the farmers told them they were supplying a major export company that sold coffee in Britain. And the report said the company admitted there was no way of checking whether the coffee they bought from outside their own estate was truly wild. The coffee is among the world’s most expensive and can sell for around $800 per kilogramme (two pounds) in countries including Britain, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Nissan to begin production in Myanmar: report TOKYO, September 16, 2013 - Japanese automaker Nissan plans to begin producing small cars and trucks in Myanmar with its Malaysian partner as early as this year, the Nikkei business daily reported Monday. Nissan Motor and Malaysia’s Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd will jointly produce several thousand small passenger cars and pickup trucks a year in the Southeast Asian country, the newspaper said without citing sources. Myanmar has been experiencing sharp growth in demand for cars since it began taking steps toward democracy in 2011, and used Japanese models are especially popular there. In a bid to tap the market, automakers have begun moving in, with Japan’s Suzuki announcing the restart of production there earlier in the year and Ford saying it would open a showroom. But Nissan would be the biggest carmaker so far to start production in the country, the Nikkei said, where huge import taxes and a US investment ban aimed at the previous regime had meant vehicles were too expensive for most people.
Car ownership was only around 2.36 million units as of last year in a country with a population of 63 million, meaning the market had much room to grow, the Nikkei said. A Tan Chong affiliate will likely construct an assembly plant that will finish cars using parts shipped from Nissan factories in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Nissan was not immediately available to confirm the report in Japan, where it was a public holiday. Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in Asia after decades of economic mismanagement and isolation under army rule. But it has undertaken big economic and social reforms, sparking renewed interest in the country from business abroad.
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
LIFESTYLE Bubble trouble hits Hong Kong jade sales HONG KONG, September 15, 2013 - Prized as a magical imperial stone, jade is a status symbol of the super rich in Asia, but rocketing prices in the top-end of the market have left traders in Hong Kong struggling to find buyers. With the cost of high-quality raw jade and jade products surging repeatedly in the past eight years, prices tags are now becoming prohibitive and experts predict the bubble must soon burst as buyers are stepping back. Driven up by the appetite of wealthy Chinese, the rising cost of jade is also being fueled by fears of a shortage in supply from Myanmar, the key source. “Consumers cannot accept the current high prices, therefore, no deal is reached,” said Hong Kong jade dealer Li Kwong-kei at the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair Friday. Li, who has participated in the fair for more than 10 years, said it was quieter than in 2011 and 2012. “We are forced to raise prices -- it is increasingly hard to get high-quality raw jade from Myanmar. If you do not pay more, the good raw materials will be owned by the others,” Li added, holding a green jadeite bangle with a price of HK$2 million (US$260,000). “I have decided to wait for the prices of high- and mid-end jade to drop,” said Judy Chen, a Taiwanese buyer at the fair. “It appears to me that their prices are kind of at the peak.” Small businesses have also been affected -- stallholders at Hong Kong’s famous outdoor jade market while away hours chatting with their neighbors, as customers remain sparse.
“I have seen some of my peers quit their businesses,” said 54-year-old stall owner Wong Fung-ying. “The prices are high while the market is quiet.” Jade holds mythical properties in China, where it is believed to ward off evil spirits and bring better health. With no international pricing system, values have been increasing since 2005 as the newly-rich in China have bought up jade products. Seen as a classier option than gold, it has become a status symbol. Dealers are now worried that quality raw jade from Myanmar is dwindling as the country plans to process and sell its own jade products. Myanmar keeps its cards close to its chest in a famously murky trade, and rumors are rife among dealers about its plans as the country opens up economically. Jade dealer Liang Jianhui, based in southern China’s Guangdong province and one of 7,000 buyers at the gem auction in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw in June, said that he could no longer afford to buy high-quality jade. One bidder said that the auction had been less busy in the past two years than previously, with high prices putting dealers off. “I set aside more than two million euros for the auction, only to find that I am too poor to win a bid for one single piece of top-end jade,” said Liang. “If a piece of raw jade sold for 100,000 euros in the past, people would make an offer of 500,000 euros for the same one this year.”
One dealer said Chinese buyers had backed out of collecting their jade after having second thoughts about the high prices, while another said Chinese bidders had gone in high purposely to put the raw jade out of reach of their rivals. Up to 90 percent of the world’s jadeite -- the most sought-after type of jade -- is mined in the northern Myanmar town of Hpakant and hundreds of tons are transported to state gem auctions, which have until now been held at least twice a year. But in 2013 there was only one major auction, which saw the number of jade lots down by 38 percent compared with the previous auction in March 2012, according to local media quoting official figures, although it was still reported to have reaped $2.4 billion in sales. “What they want now is not only to export raw materials, but also to process jade domestically and sell it to China,” said Li Lianju, a deputy director of Yunnan Land and Resource Department, who oversees the jade trade between Myanmar and China’s Yunnan province, a major commercial hub for the gemstone. “The value of raw jade rises more than twentyfold after being carved and turned into rings, bangles or
necklaces,” said Zu Engdong, head of Gemology at Kunming University of Science and Technology in Yunnan. “So it makes full sense for the Myanmarese to process jade themselves.” Some fear Myanmar will close the jade mines altogether or slow down production to protect jade sources. Fighting in Kachin state may also have affected jade mining. What is certain is that prices for those buying raw high-grade jade are astronomical, trickling down to merchants who are upping prices to maintain their profit margin. Yunnan’s Li says prices of lowergrade jade are already dipping. “The bubble of low to middle end jade has burst first given the little fear of raw material shortage,” he said. While prices of high-end jade are likely to jump after the raw material from the June auction is processed, Li predicts such surges cannot continue in the face of lack of trade. “By the end of the year, the prices will start to drop from the sky,” Li said.
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
EVENTS Hong Kong Dragon Boat -Atlanta Festival Saturday, Sept 14, 2013 Lake Lanier
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
EVENTS Hong Kong Luncheon: Art, Food, & Wine Sept 13, 2013 Capitol City Club
Korean Consulate Reception Sept 10, 2013 Club 1818
L-R: He Beom Kim, CG South korea, Dr. Dan Kauffman, CEO Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Nick Masimo, Senior VP, Gwinnett Econ development.
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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FOCUS
and targeted Confucian chefs for abuse. With trained chefs having fled mainland China or passed away, piecing together exactly what Confucius cuisine entailed has proved difficult.
Confucius makes comeback at Chinese tables QUFU, September 11, 2013 - Revered for centuries but reviled in recent decades, Confucius is making a comeback in China -- and on its dinner plates. “Confucius cuisine” is a fine-dining trend that reflects how the ruling Communist party -- which long saw the sage as a reactionary force -- has drafted him into its modern campaign to boost what President Xi Jinping has called China’s “cultural soft power”. One of the few ancient Chinese names to have global recognition, the philosopher highlights bonds with overseas Chinese and other Asian nations, and his moniker has been adopted for more than 300 languageteaching “Confucius Institutes” in 90 countries. The authorities are “going back and finding certain elements that existed before the 20th century” and “exploiting Confucius as a brand”, says Thomas Wilson, a professor at Hamilton College in New York. Among restaurants in Qufu in the eastern province of Shandong -- where the philosopher known in Chinese as Kong Zi lived from 551 BC to 479 BC -- the cuisine is an edible symbol of the way the writer has been reworked. “Book of Odes and Book of Rites Ginkos”, a dense, mildly sweet dessert named after two Confucius classics, is
a yellow pea flour “book” topped with nuts and drizzled with honey. In another dish, radishes carved into exquisite trees reflect his saying that “food can never be too fine and cooking never too delicate”.
“The Cultural Revolution cut off nearly four generations,” laments Wang Xinglan, who was commissioned by the commerce ministry to rediscover Confucius cuisine in the 1980s and now heads the Shandong Cuisine Research Association. Today’s dishes supposedly draw from those developed over the centuries at the residence in Qufu, but that leaves plenty of room for interpretation among enterprising restaurateurs.
The philosopher’s teachings of hierarchy, order and deference had deep resonance in the feudal societies of China and the region.
On the wall hangs a C rating from the sanitation bureau. Meanwhile down the street the luxury Shangri-La hotel -- where dishes run as high as 680 yuan -- boasts an artistic Confucius feast re-imagining “Book of Odes and Book of Rites Ginkgos” as a snow pear carved with the word “poetry”. The dessert is topped with a slowly stewed date, lotus seed and ginkgo nut and drizzled with caramel sauce and osmanthus honey. The hotel’s Confucius Mansion’s Eight Treasures soup includes sea cucumber, abalone, fish maw and other delicacies.
Tens of generations of his descendants lived at the sprawling Confucius Residence complex in Qufu, enjoying close ties with a succession of emperors, along with ever bigger land grants and hereditary titles.
In another dish prawns are cocooned in hand-pulled fried vermicelli and plated like a modern sculpture. Professor Wilson points out that “the first motive for reviving any of these things is to make money.
They regularly feted all manner of dignitaries with elaborate banquets, over time developing an exquisite cuisine, say the chefs promoting it today. But that privileged world disappeared in the 20th century, as Japan invaded the country and the Communists won the civil war.
Their version of “Book of Odes and Book of Rites Ginkgos” amounts to a pile of the yellow nuts ringed by tomato slices, which the husband takes just a few minutes to whip up before sitting back down to stuff chopsticks into plastic sleeves.
“The so-called Confucius cuisine is part of the opening up of the tourist industry in China,” he says.
Many Confucius descendants -- then in the 77th generation -- abandoned Qufu and fled to Taiwan.
“Some people want to use the label, but they simply don’t understand the dishes, the culture, the history -- so they can’t make the food,” says Wang.
After taking power the Communists savaged Confucianism, and during the tumultuous 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, Red Guard youths incited by Mao Zedong destroyed Confucian temples along with other symbols of the past,
A couple running Confucian HomeCooking -- one of many hole-in-thewalls in Qufu advertising authentic traditional dishes -- serves Confucius Residence Tofu for 30 yuan ($4.60) and egg soup for five yuan.
A Qufu resident surnamed Li, 45, passing by the lush hotel grounds, dismisses what she considers a ploy for free-spending tourists. “They take a carrot and carve it into something pretty. But it doesn’t taste good, it only looks good,” she says. “It’s for people with money.”
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
TECH
Americans’ phones grow as Internet connection: survey WASHINGTON, September 16, 2013 - A majority of Americans use their mobile phones to access the Internet, and a growing number use their handsets as their primary online device, a survey showed Monday. The Pew Research Center survey found 63 percent of mobile phone owners now use their phone to go online. And because 91 percent of Americans now own a cell phone, this means that 57 percent are “cell Internet users.” The proportion of cell owners who use their phone to go online has doubled since 2009, Pew found. The survey also found 34 percent of these mobile Internet users use their phones as their primary Internet device, instead of a desktop, laptop or tablet computer. These “cell-mostly Internet users,” account for 21 percent of the total mobile phone owner population, and are most likely to be young adults, non-whites, and those with relatively low income and education levels, the survey found. Prior Pew studies have found some 56 percent of US adults own a smart-
phone, which offers easy Internet access. The latest report found 85 percent of mobile phone owners in the 18-29 age ground use their handset to go online. That compared with 73 percent in the 30-49 age group and 51 percent in the 50-64 age category. And in the 18-29 age group, nearly half of those with mobile phones say that is their primary device for the Internet. Some 74 percent of African-American mobile phone owners are cell Internet users, as are 68 percent of Hispanics with mobile phones, the survey found. Those with lower incomes were far more likely to use their phone as their primary Internet device: this was the case for 45 percent of those with an annual income of less than $30,000, compared with 27 percent of those with $75,000 or more. The report was based on a survey of 2,252 adults from April 17 to May 19, with a margin of error estimated at 2.3 percentage points for the full group and 2.5 percent for the group using their phones to go online.
New iPhone app in US targets child predators WASHINGTON, September 12, 2013 - The US Department of Homeland Security enlisted smartphone users in its fight against child pornography Thursday with an iPhone app intended to make it easier to report suspected child predators. The “Operation Predator” app lets informants submit information via email or a telephone tip line, and also includes a run-down of the nation’s most-wanted alleged child sex offenders. It is free to download via iTunes, albeit with a warning that it is not for persons under the age of 17, presumably the group most vulnerable to child sex crimes. “When children are being sexually abused and exploited, it’s a race against the clock to rescue the child and bring the predator to justice,” said John Sandweg, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Homeland Security unit behind the app. “These investigations are one of our highest priorities and, in today’s world, we need to be technologically savvy and innovative in our approach,” he said. Topping the app’s list of nine fugitive suspects was one “John Doe,”
an unnamed white male aged 45 to 55, “wanted for production of child pornography,” who could be living “anywhere in the world.” ICE said the unidentified man appears in glasses and a beard in video files seen by ICE agents in Los Angeles earlier this year sexually abusing a girl aged between 10 and 12 in a wood-paneled room. Other suspects -- all wanted for making, distributing or owning child pornography -- include a 35-year-old Indian national who allegedly helped run an Internet bulletin board for child-porn purveyors. ICE said its app would be available for non-Apple devices “in the near future.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offers a Child ID app for iPhone and Android devices that enables parents to report missing youngsters. There is no official app with the FBI’s well-known lists of most-wanted criminals and terrorists, but private app developers have come out with their own versions, including one that also includes a catalog of missing children.
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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SPORTS
Formula One: Raikkonen joins Ferrari for 2014 PARIS, 11 septembre 2013 - Finnish Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen will rejoin the Ferrari stable from the 2014 season, the team announced on Wednesday. Raikkonen, 33, the 2007 world champion, will drive alongside Spain’s Fernando Alonso, the man who replaced him at the Italian stable in 2009.
a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves.” Raikkonen’s success in 2007 was the last time Ferrari won a world title, after which British duo Jenson Button, in a Brawn, and Lewis Hamilton, in a McLaren, claimed the championship before Red Bull’s Sebatian Vettel began his three-year reign.
“Welcome back, Kimi! read a headline on the team website.
Raikkonen left Formula One in 2009 and spent two seasons driving in the World Rally Championship.
“Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn will join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons,” continued the statement.
The flying Finn won nine Grands Prix with Ferrari, having also won nine during a five-year spell at McLaren, where he twice finished runnerup, in 2003 behind Michael Schumacher and then in 2005 to Alonso.
He will take over from Brazilian Felipe Massa to form an experienced partnership who can boast more than 50 Grands Prix wins -- 32 for Alonso and 20 for Raikkonen -- and three world titles between them.
After a stint in NASCAR he returned to F1 in 2012 with Lotus, where he has won two Grands Prix.
“I am really happy to be returning to Maranello where I previously spent three fantastic and very successful years,” Raikkonen said on the team website. “I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the World Championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable. “I can’t wait to be driving a Prancing Horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando, whom I consider
The departing Massa said he wanted to remain in F1 but has yet to find a drive for 2014. “For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the Championship which remains my greatest objective!” he said. Massa will have spent eight years with Ferrari after joining from Sauber in 2006. In 2008 he came within a couple of bends of winning the world title, only for Lewis Hamilton to snatch it by overtaking Timo Glock two corners from the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Yachting: Kiwis move closer to capturing America’s Cup SAN FRANCISCO, September 15, 2013 - Emirates Team New Zealand grabbed back momentum in the 34th America’s Cup on Sunday, inching closer to prying the prized yachting trophy from the hands of Oracle Team USA.
Oracle closed the gap and the teams got into a game of leapfrog in what has proven to be a pivotal upwind third leg of the race course. Oracle surrendered the lead for good when it dipped behind New Zealand, slowed and let the Kiwis dart ahead.
The pivotal victory in the 10th race of the series came after the event’s fiercest on-water duel, with the rivals swapping leads repeatedly in a race that wasn’t decided until the Kiwis rounded the final gate.
“The boys dug deep and got us back into the position where we are fighting for the lead,” said Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill.
New Zealand kept control over the rest of the battle on San Francisco Bay, crossing the finish 17 seconds ahead of Oracle. “If you didn’t enjoy today’s racing out there, you should probably watch another sport,” New Zealand skipper Dean Barker quipped after the hardfought match on San Francisco Bay. The Kiwis crossed the start only a heartbeat ahead of the Americans but managed to fend them off in a dash to the first marker, rounding just a second ahead.
The win broke a nascent rally by Oracle, which had triumped in the prior two races in the best-of-17 series. Oracle, which was penalized two points for infractions before the start of the races, is fighting for an unprecedented victory comeback but still needs eight more wins to retain the trophy. New Zealand has notched seven victories and needs just two more to wrest the Cup from holders Oracle. They could seize the Cup as early as Tuesday, when the next two races are scheduled. “It was very important to bounce
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
SPORTS Continue from Page 13
Badminton: China clinch four of five titles at Masters BEIJING, September 15, 2013 (AFP) - China’s badminton stars Sunday celebrated victory on home soil, claiming all but one of the five titles up for grabs on the final day of the China Masters tournament.
In the mixed doubles final, second seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China claimed a 21-18, 21-12 victory against South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-Seong and Eom Hye-Won, who were runners up for the second year in succession.
Seventh seed Wang Zhengming took the men’s singles title after a marathon one hour and 15 minute game against South Korea’s Son Wan-Ho, which he eventually won 11-21, 21-14, 24-22.
The Chinese pair, who are also Olympic Champions, took just 36 minutes to beat their opponents.
In the women’s final Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk failed to clinch a fairytale title after she was overcome by China’s Liu Xin 21-4, 1321, 21-12. Buranaprasertsuk staged the upset of the tournament when the unseeded 21year-old defeated world number one Li Xuerui in their semi-final on Saturday. Top seeds Ko Sung-Hyun and Lee Yong-Dae of South Korea beat second seeds Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan 25-23, 21-19 in the men’s doubles, the only final to witness a non-Chinese winner.
In the women’s doubles, top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang beat second seeds Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua 21-17, 21-16 in an all-China final. The winning pair also took gold at the World Championships in Guangzhou last month. The China Masters, staged in Changzhou in the eastern province of Jiangsu, is part of a 12-tournament Superseries organised by the Badminton World Federation.
Baseball: Japan’s new home-run hero breaks barriers
TOKYO, September 16, 2013 - In the traditional world of Japanese baseball, breaking with the past is not easy but a beefy Caribbean slugger has shattered one of its most historic records in a season marked by controversy over a bouncy new ball.
The Yakult Swallows outfielder’s exploits finally toppled the Japanese record of 55 homers in a season set by Sadaharu Oh, a legend of domestic baseball whose mark set in 1964 had withstood earlier challenges by foreign players -- and not always fairly.
When Wladimir Balentien, a 29-yearold former major-leaguer from Curacao, smacked his 56th and 57th home runs of the season on Sunday against the Hanshin Tigers, it ended a stubbornly defended mark which had stood for nearly 50 years.
In 1985, American Randy Bass reached 54 home runs with two games to play against the mighty Yomiuri Giants, Japan’s fabled team then managed by Oh.
It came just a few months after Japanese baseball chiefs were forced to admit to secretly introducing a new ball designed to bounce further off the bat, a move that has been credited with a surge in home runs.
But every time Bass, of the Hanshin Tigers, stepped up to the plate at Tokyo’s Korakuen Stadium, the Giants pitchers intentionally ‘walked’ him by throwing unhittable pitches, in an unsporting bid to preserve Oh’s record. “I was thinking I had two games left to break it. But we were playing the Giants
back after race one,” Barker said. “The Oracle guys had a great first race; there were no opportunities for us.” Oracle won the ninth race earlier Sunday. The US crew beat the Kiwis across the start line and jetted to the first marker, rounding it with a lead of a few seconds. The Americans had extended their lead by the time the catamaran rounded the second marker and into the upwind third leg, which had been the team’s undoing in prior losses. In race nine, Oracle tacked and jibed with precision and built on its lead to reach the finish line 47 seconds ahead of the Kiwis. Billionaire yachtsman Larry Ellison gave his team a double thumbs-up from a chase boat after they crossed the finish line. “Larry is really excited about the racing; today he was pumped up,” Spithill said. “What you are seeing is the vision he had.” The America’s Cup, first contested in 1851, has been held since 2010 by Ellison, the owner of Oracle Team
and Sadaharu Oh was their manager,” said Bass in a telephone interview from his home in Oklahoma. “I had no idea they were going to walk me. I thought that I would have an opportunity to break or tie the record. First time up, the catcher said ‘gomennasai’ (sorry) and I walked four pitches in a row.” The iconic Oh, Japan’s answer to Babe Ruth, denied ordering his pitchers to walk Bass. But Keith Comstock, an American pitcher for the Giants, later revealed that one of the team’s coaches had imposed a $1,000 fine for every strike thrown to Bass. It was a similar story in 2001 when America’s Tuffy Rhodes of the Kintetsu Buffaloes faced the Daiei Hawks, again managed by Oh, having reached 55 home
USA, which sails in the colors of the Golden Gate Yacht Club The technology industry titan, whose personal fortune is estimated at some $40 billion (30.6 billion euros, 26.3 billion pounds) beat the giant Swiss catamaran Alinghi 2-0 in Valencia, Spain, with a 98-feet rigid wing trimaran. Ellison brought the regatta to San Francisco, setting the scene for highspeed AC72 catamarans to race this year. Only two challengers, from Italy and Sweden, competed with the Kiwis in the challenger series, in part because of the high cost of setting up an America’s Cup contender. If the Kiwis win, they will take command of where the next regatta takes place and what type of boats are used. “Whoever is successful in this has a duty to get more teams back involved,” Barker said. “One thing for sure, it has to get less expensive. There are going to be some cost-saving measures.”
runs to tie the record. Again the pitchers refused to throw strikes, and again Oh denied any collusion as Rhodes went homerless for the rest of the season.
However, Hawks battery coach Yoshiharu Wakana gave a revealing insight after the game, telling reporters: “It would be distasteful to see a foreign player break Oh’s record.” Venezuela’s Alex Cabrera also tied the record in 2002, and also saw good pitches dry up. Balentien, with some 18 games still to play this season, now has the opportunity to put distance between his record and the mark set by Oh, who was quick to offer his congratulations.
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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HEALTH
Genetic test could identify aggressive prostate cancers
WASHINGTON, September 11, 2013 - A new test -- looking at three genes -- could predict which prostate cancers will turn aggressive, helping avoid invasive treatments for those that will grow more slowly, a study out Wednesday said. Used alongside existing tests, the analysis will help doctors determine whether treatment is needed or if “active surveillance” would suffice, Columbia University researchers said in the study in “Science Translational Medicine.” “Most of the 200,000 prostate cancers diagnosed each year in the US are slow growing and will remain so, but the threegene biomarker could take much of the guesswork out of the diagnostic process and ensure that patients are neither over treated nor under treated,” said study leader Cory Abate-Shen. “The problem with existing tests is that we cannot identify the small percentage of slow-growing tumors that will eventually become aggressive and spread beyond the prostate,” said coauthor Mitchell C. Benson. The three genes -- FGFR1, PMP22 and CDKN1A -- are particularly affected by cellular senescence, a process known for playing an essential role in tumor suppression and linked to benign prostate legions in mice and humans. When these three genes are present, the researchers found, the prostate tumors are low risk. Prostate cancers that test negative for these genetic biomarkers are thus deemed potentially aggressive. The researchers tested the accuracy of their diagnoses against biopsy specimens from 43 patients who were actively monitored over at least ten years.
Each had initially been diagnosed with a low-risk prostate cancer. Fourteen of them later developed advanced prostate cancer. The genetic biomarker test accurately identified each of them. “The bottom line is that, at least in our preliminary trial, we were able to accurately predict which patients with low-risk prostate cancer would develop advanced prostate cancer and which ones would
not,” said Abate-Shen.
Michelle Obama urges Americans to ‘Drink Up’ WASHINGTON, September 12, 2013 - US first lady Michelle Obama, who has for years been suggesting “Let’s Move,” Thursday added a new directive in her campaign against obesity: “Drink up.”
“That’s it - it’s really that simple. Drink just one more glass of water a day and you can make a real difference for your health, your energy, and the way you feel. So Drink Up and see for yourself,” she said.
The president’s wife called on Americans to drink at least one extra glass of water daily.
The first lady cheekily planned to launch her new initiative in Watertown, in the midwestern US state of Wisconsin, alongside actress Eva Longoria.
“I’ve come to realize that if we were going to take just one step to make ourselves and our families healthier, probably the single best thing we could do is to simply drink more water,” Obama said in a statement.
As part of its efforts to encourage hydration, a special logo will be printed on hundreds of millions of water bottles as well as on some 10,000 public water fountains.
The public relations campaign will also encourage people to upload photos of themselves imbibing on the website www.youarewhatyoudrink.org and on social media photo-sharing site Instagram, tagged “drinkH20.” Obesity is a major health issue in the United States, where one in three adults and nearly one in five children are obese. The campaign does not specifically urge Americans to replace drinks of soda with water, although the sugary drinks are often considered partly to blame for expanding waistlines.
New meningitis vaccine slashes cases by 94 percent PARIS, September 11, 2013 - A new vaccine being rolled out in the “meningitis belt” that stretches across north-central Africa has reduced cases of the potentially fatal disease by 94 percent, doctors reported on Thursday in The Lancet. Researchers monitored the spread of type A meningococcal disease in Chad after the new vaccine, MenAfriVac, had been approved by world health watchdogs in 2010. Three regions of Chad where around 1.8 million people had been vaccinated by December 2011 were compared with the rest of the country where the vaccine had yet to be introduced. In the vaccinated regions, around 2.5 cases of meningitis of any kind, and none of meningitis A, were recorded per 100,000 people, compared to more than 43 cases per 100,000 in the unvaccinated areas, a fall in incidence of 94 percent.
The risk of transmitting the germ was reduced by 98 percent among those who had been vaccinated, according to throat swabs and other evidence. “This is an extremely encouraging signal for those countries that have yet to introduce the vaccine,” said Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, director of the Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals at the World Health Organisation (WHO). “We are not even halfway done with introducing this revolutionary new vaccine across the meningitis belt of Africa, yet we already have extraordinary results.” Meningitis causes an inflammation of the membranes that protect the spine and brain. It can cause deafness or paralysis and can be life-threatening. Several species of bacteria can cause
the disease, but the most prevalent strain is called serogroup A. Around 450 million people are at risk from meningitis A in a band of 21 countries stretching from Senegal to Ethiopia. MenAfriVac, developed under a public-private partnership, is being rolled out across the “belt” to people aged one to 29. So far more than 100 million people have been vaccinated. An outbreak in 14 African countries in 2009 caused more than 88,000 suspected cases and at least 5,000 suspected deaths.
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September 15-30, 2013 Georgia Asian Times
Misc Asia Chinese hospital seeks virgins’ blood BEIJING, September 16, 2013 - A Chinese hospital’s request for blood from healthy female virgins for use in medical research has been condemned as insulting to women, state-run media reported Monday.
Netherlands apologizes for Indonesian colonial killings JAKARTA, September 12, 2013 (AFP) - The Netherlands sought to “close a difficult chapter” with its former colony Indonesia Thursday by publicly apologizing for mass killings carried out by the Dutch army in the 1940s war of independence. As children of some of the men who were massacred in summary executions looked on, Dutch ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan offered a state apology during a ceremony at the country’s embassy in Jakarta. “On behalf of the Dutch government, I apologize for these excesses,” said the ambassador. “The Dutch government hopes that this apology will help close a difficult chapter for those whose lives were impacted so directly by the violent excesses that took place between 1945 and 1949.” He was referring to the years of the Indonesian war of independence, when the sprawling archipelago nation sought to shake off Dutch colonial rule. The Hague had previously said sorry to the relatives of those in particular cases but it has never before offered a general apology for all summary executions. Last month the Dutch government also announced that it would pay 20,000 euros ($26,600) to the widows of those killed.
However, 81-year-old Shafiah, whose father and brother were killed in an attack by Dutch soldiers on her village in Bulukumba district on Sulawesi island, said the Netherlands had not gone far enough. “The Dutch government must not only compensate the widows but the children as they also suffered from the loss of their fathers,” said Shafiah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name and was speaking from her home village. She added that her mother died nine years ago. Her relatives were killed in a brutal military campaign in 1946 and 1947 on Sulawesi, in central Indonesia, and special attention was given to the atrocity on Thursday. The Dutch government in August compensated 10 women whose husbands were executed by its army in the campaign, and their children were those present at the Jakarta ceremony. The women themselves were too old and frail to travel to the capital but the ambassador said he planned to fly next week to Sulawesi to meet them. In one of the worst atrocities committed by the Netherlands in Indonesia, Dutch troops carried out summary executions in a series of villages over three months in a bid to wipe out resistance to colonization.
The Peking University Cancer Hospital said it needed the blood of 100 female virgins aged from 18 to 24 years old for studies on the human papilloma virus (HPV), which is usually transmitted through sexual contact, the China Daily reported. Some internet users condemned the request as promoting virginity worship and demeaning to women. “Male virgins are not needed, just females, how is this science?” wrote one user of Sina Weibo, a social media service similar to Twitter and a lively forum for popular opinion. The hospital defended the call for donors, saying that virgins’ blood was less likely to be infected with HPV. “It’s in line with international practice to collect female virgins’ blood samples, which serve as negative control substances in HPV research, given that the risk of contracting HPV is low
Some in Indonesia have claimed the death toll was as high as 40,000 but historical studies have put it at several thousand. Shafiah said she remembered vividly troops entering her village and setting fire to houses before dragging off men and boys to be killed. “I still remember how villagers were screaming and crying as they watched their houses being burnt down. We were all helpless,” she said. In 2011 the Dutch government also offered a public apology and compensation for victims of summary executions which took place at Rawagede, on
among women who have never had sex,” the China Daily quoted spokeswoman Guan Jiuping as saying. Hospital officials would take the donors’ word for their sexual status, she added. Some internet users defended the hospital, with one saying on Sina Weibo: “People who curse are basically those who haven’t understood the whole story. Learn some science and rationality, rather than criticizing others.” Female virginity was traditionally seen as a prerequisite for marriage in China, and today many Chinese men still prefer their wives to be virgins. The continued importance attributed to virginity, combined with relaxed sexual mores in recent decades, has led to growth in the market for artificial hymens and restorative surgery which allows women to appear to be virgins. But some commentators in China have said the pressure placed on women to remain virgins is demeaning and evidence of a double standard.
the main island of Java. The Netherlands colonized the archipelago that is modern-day Indonesia in the 19th century, and named it the Dutch East Indies. Japan occupied the archipelago during World War II and took apart much of the Dutch colonial state, but left when Tokyo surrendered at the end of the war in 1945. Indonesia then declared independence but the Netherlands attempted to reassert control, sparking the war of independence. The Netherlands finally recognized Indonesia’s independence in 1949.
Georgia Asian Times September 15-30, 2013
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Misc Asia Pakistan nominates first film for Oscar in 50 years ISLAMABAD, September 16, 2013 - Pakistan has put forward a film for the Oscars for the first time in nearly 50 years as its struggling film industry shows signs of revival, officials said Monday. “The Pakistani Academy Selection Committee has selected “Zinda Bhaag”as the first Pakistani film in over fifty years to be submitted for Oscar consideration in the ‘Foreign Language Film Award’ category at the 86th Academy Awards,” a statement issued by the selectors said. In addition to Zinda Bhaag (Flee Alive), a further three films were submitted to the committee for consideration: Chambeli, Josh and Lamha. The selection was made last week through secret ballot and Zinda Bhaag was the “overwhelming film of choice of the Committee members”. The film is a comedy-thriller about three young men trying to escape the drudgery of their everyday lives through the use of unconventional methods available to them. The movie hits the cinemas on September 20. The film’s narrative is familiar to everyday Pakistanis. The protagonists have unfulfilled desires to achieve feats that are out of their reach and a yearning to prove themselves despite the hurdles places before them. Yet an inescapable sense of melancholy sets in when they discover their opportunities are dictated by forces outside of their control. The film is directed and written by Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, and is produced by Mazhar Zaidi. It features Indian born Bollywood stalwart Naseeruddin Shah, as well as Amna Ilyas and Khurram Patras in leading roles. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, chairwoman of the selection committee, hailed the nomination.
“Pakistan will finally have a film in contention this year at the Academy Awards and I feel proud that today we are taking a small step towards recognizing our own film makers,” the statement quoted Chinoy as saying. In 2012, Chinnoy herself became the first Pakistani to claim Hollywood’s most coveted gong for co-directing a documentary about victims of acid attacks. “Zinda Bhaag is proof of the fact that sheer will, passion and talent can achieve incredible feats, and I would like to congratulate the team behind the film on a compelling and cinematic film,” she said. Zaidi, the film’s producer, added: “For the Zinda Bhaag cast and crew that comprised mostly of first-timers to film making, this is a superlative achievement. This will be a great boost for the newly regenerating Pakistani film industry.”
Suu Kyi meets Dalai Lama, risking China’s ire
PRAGUE, September 16, 2013 Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has risked prompting Chinese anger after it was confirmed she had a private meeting with the Dalai Lama on the sidelines of a Prague rights conference, its spokesman said Monday. Beijing has for decades opposed foreign dignitaries meeting Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, who fled his homeland for India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Himself an ardent advocate for human rights during the communist era, Havel spearheaded the conference in 1997. Suu Kyi, who never met Havel in person, recalled the former dissident playwright-turned-president -- who had spent five years in Communist prisons -- as a man who gave her hope while she was held.
“They met on Sunday at the Dalai Lama’s lecture,” said Filip Sebek, spokesman for the Forum 2000 foundation that organises the conference, specifying that the two Nobel Peace laureates met in private.
“When I was under house arrest for many years in Burma, I knew that somewhere in the world there was a man who was speaking out for me and because of whom my freedom remained intact in spite of physical detention,” she said Sunday.
Beijing, a powerful Myanmar ally and major investor in the resource-rich nation, has branded the Dalai Lama an anti-China “separatist” who encourages violence.
The 68-year-old herself spent 15 years under house arrest under military rule in Myanmar, before she was freed after controversial elections in 2010.
A record number of 71 films were submitted for Oscar consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 85th Academy Awards held in 2012.
But the 78-year-old Buddhist leader insists he is peacefully seeking rights and autonomy for Tibetans. He signaled Friday in Vilnius that he thought China was being “more realistic” about Tibet after decades of hardline policy.
The Dalai Lama, one of the last people to speak to Havel before his death in 2011, said Monday that during his current visit to Prague, he “had an opportunity to visit his small office, quite untidy.”
The number of internationally submitted films for this category is expected to be even greater this year, according to the the Pakistani committee.
Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama, who met previously in London last year, both spoke at this year’s three-day forum, which began Sunday.
Only five films from across the world can make the final nominations.
Each paid homage to the late Vaclav Havel, a hero of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled totalitarian Communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia.
“I put my head on his chair and (it) reflected his spirit. Perhaps from his chair I may carry some of his blessing out here,” he said, adding that it was “our responsibility to carry his wish, his dream, his vision, and his spirit”.
Pakistan has previously submitted just two motion pictures for Oscar consideration. In 1959, “Jago Hua Savera” was submitted by Director A.J. Kardar and in 1963, the film “Ghunghat” was submitted by Director Khawaja Khurshid Anwar. But neither film secured an Oscar nomination.