Asia Blog: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam

All in the news, Zhao’s funeral is causing more stir in China. Some mourners have been arrested and beaten for wearing white commemorative flowers. Meanwhile, Chinese officials have set a final date for the funeral: Saturday, January 29th 2005. Foreign media is barred from the event, inspiring bloggers to write about the lack of media freedom in China. Apparently, the only reason for the quick end of deliberations about the funeral date is the direct intervention of the Chinese government, who took responsibility for the ceremony.

Former Communist party leader Zhao Ziyang’s funeral plans have been indefinitely postponed, reports BBC International news. According to sources near his family, there is still disagreement about what his oration should say, even though it has been a week since his death in Beijing. The public oration is a particularly difficult problem in light of Zhao’s disagreement with the Tiananmen suppression. To both preserve Zhao’s moral perspective as well as satisfy the Party requires a suble balance from the family…

You can read more about Zhao Ziyang at the following sites:

1. Chinese reformer Zhao Ziyang dies
2. Zhao Ziyang, a biography
3. On the Legacies of Zhao Ziyang
4. The Ghost of Tiananmen Continues to Haunt China’s Rulers

China is worried that Mount Everest might be shrinking. According to CBC Canadian News, state officials believe the mountain has declined at least 1.3m to 8,848 meters due to global warming. A team of scientists has been dispatched to the summit.

For more images, please see:

• http://datawhat.blogspot.com/2004/12/waterworld_28.html
• http://www.waveofdestruction.org/

(more…)

(21:58:58) KelLy: i was eating egg rolls then i saw the inside was all black
(21:59:20) KelLy: i thought it has gone bad until i read the printed words: “black sesame egg rolls”