East Asia

More than 100 Chinese villagers protest man's death

pirate — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:13:33 -0400

July 18, 2008

BEIJING - More than a hundred Chinese villagers attacked a police station to protest the death of a man they say was beaten by local Communist Party security guards, police said Friday, the latest in a recent spate of violence triggered by discontent with authorities.

Relatives gathered Thursday after Ouyang Jiusheng, 40, died in a motorcycle accident near Shangnan village in the southern province of Guangdong, according to a police statement sent via e-mail. read more »

Japanese fishermen protest rising fuel costs

pirate — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:50:40 -0400

by Kyoko Hasegawa Tue July 15,

TOKYO (AFP) - Thousands of Japanese fishermen rallied in Tokyo on Tuesday to protest against soaring fuel costs as boats across the country sat idle for a one-day strike to draw attention to the industry's woes.

Warning that soaring oil prices could put them out of business, about 3,600 fishermen gathered in a park, demanding state subsidies and emergency help, organisers said. read more »

1,000 protest G-8 summit in Japan; police arrest 4

pirate — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:51:31 -0400

By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press Jul 5, 2008

SAPPORO, Japan - More than 1,000 people marched in northern Japan on Saturday to protest an upcoming summit of the top industrialized countries, and police arrested four protesters after a brief scuffle. No injuries were reported. read more »

US wavered over S. Korean executions

pirate — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:45:25 -0400

By CHARLES J. HANLEY and JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Jul 6, 2008

SEOUL, South Korea - The American colonel, troubled by what he was hearing, tried to stall at first. But the declassified record shows he finally told his South Korean counterpart it "would be permitted" to machine-gun 3,500 political prisoners, to keep them from joining approaching enemy forces. read more »

Beef Protest Turns Violent in South Korea

pirate — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:27:10 -0400

By CHOE SANG-HUN NY Times June 30, 2008

SEOUL, South Korea — The government of President Lee Myung-bak sealed off major rallying points in central Seoul on Sunday after hundreds of citizens and police officers were injured read more »

Vietnam: 330 illegal strikes in six months

pirate — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:04:23 -0400

June 20th, 2008 Libcom.org

A total of 330 strikes have been recorded so far this year and all of them were illegal because they were not led by the trade union and didn’t follow the law, reported the Vietnam National Confederation of Labour at a conference in Hanoi on June 16-17. read more »

Chinese police drag grieving parents from protest

pirate — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:29:37 -0400

June 2, 2008

DUJIANGYAN, China - Chinese police dragged away more than 100 parents Tuesday while they were protesting the deaths of their children in poorly constructed schools that collapsed in last month's earthquake.

The parents, many holding pictures of their dead children, were pulled down the street away from a courthouse in Dujiangyan, a resort city northeast of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu. read more »

Thai PM orders crackdown on anti-govt protest

pirate — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:29:48 -0400

by Thanaporn Promyamyai May 31, 2008

BANGKOK (AFP) - About 1,200 riot police assembled on Saturday in central Bangkok, waiting for an order from the Thai prime minister who has threatened to forcibly break up an extended anti-government protest.

At least 2,000 protesters defied the threat and continued to block a major avenue in the city's historic district, with some activists fashioning improvised shields and batons out of plywood boards and wooden rods. read more »

South Koreans protest against US beef deal

pirate — Tue, 27 May 2008 05:56:10 -0400

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press May 26,2008

SEOUL, South Korea - Thousands of protesters marched through Seoul against a U.S. beef import pact that has renewed fears of mad cow disease. Police said Tuesday that 30 demonstrators were arrested after scuffling erupted.

A crowd estimated by police at 3,000 held a candlelight vigil Monday night before embarking on the march. read more »

IMPACT: Thousands killed by US's Korean ally

pirate — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:47:48 -0400

By CHARLES J. HANLEY and JAE-SOON CHANG Associated Press May 18, 2008

DAEJEON, South Korea - Grave by mass grave, South Korea is unearthing the skeletons and buried truths of a cold-blooded slaughter from early in the Korean War, when this nation's U.S.-backed regime killed untold thousands of leftists and hapless peasants in a summer of terror in 1950. read more »