Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
June 2, 2014
China rules out Windows 8 for government computers
BEIJING (AP) — China’s government says it will avoid buying computer
equipment that runs on Windows 8 in a setback for Microsoft’s efforts to promote
the operating system. The announcement said desktop, laptop, and tablet
personal computers bought for government use must use a different operating
system. The brief statement gave no explanation. Microsoft wants customers to
switch to Windows 8 after support for its 13-year-old Windows XP operating
system ended in April. Some customers have avoided that, citing expense and
inconvenience. The government is the biggest buyer of computer software in
China, so its purchasing decisions can have a significant impact on sales.
Ferguson earns $4 million in wine auction
HONG KONG (AP) — Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson
has earned nearly $4 million by selling off part of his vintage wine collection at
an auction in Hong Kong. Auction house Christie’s said on its website that
British football’s most successful manager raised 29,316,087 Hong Kong dollars
($3.8 million) in 257 lots. The most expensive sale was a bottle of Domaine de la
Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti, which went for 1,225,000 HKD ($158,000).
Ferguson’s wine cellar spans every year of his managerial career at United from
1986 to 2013, during which time he won 38 major trophies. The rest of
Ferguson’s 5,000-bottle collection will be sold in two other auctions — in London
on June 5 and online from June 9 to 23.
Chinese woman scales Everest from Nepal side
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Chinese woman and five Sherpa guides have
scaled Mount Everest, becoming the first team to reach the peak from the Nepal
side after a deadly avalanche sent climbers home. A Nepalese Tourism Ministry
official, Dipendra Paudel, said 40-year-old Wang Zing reached the 8,850-meter
(29,035-foot) summit with her Nepalese guides. The April 18 avalanche that
swept the route near the base camp killed 16 Sherpa guides. After the disaster,
the guides refused to continue and teams cancelled their expeditions. Wang,
however, scaled the peak with her own guides. Her team was the only one to
scale Everest from the popular southern route from Nepal this season, which
ended last week.
Sri Lanka blocks two more independent news websites
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Media groups say Sri Lankan authorities have
blocked access to two independent news websites in the latest crackdown on the
media. Professional Web Journalists’ Association convener Freddy Gamage said
<www.srilankamirror.com> and <www.theindependent.lk> were blocked by
the authorities who have so far blocked eight news websites. He said it was done
“without any legal basis.” Kelum Shivantha, the editor of the Sri Lanka Mirror’s
website said he has been told by internet service providers that the blocking was
done on a directive by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC).
TRC director general Anusha Palpita declined to comment. In 2012, police
raided and sealed off the Sri Lanka Mirror’s office and arrested nine workers
and seized computers and documents.
Vietnamese woman self-immolates to protest China
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A 67-year-old woman died after setting herself on
fire in a protest against China, according to Vietnamese state media. The report
on a website of the Thanh Nien newspaper said the incident occurred in
downtown Ho Chin Minh City in front of the former presidential palace. It
quoted senior government official Le Truong Hai Hieu as saying the woman had
banners protesting China’s recent deployment of an oil rig off the Paracel
Islands in waters also claimed by Vietnam. The three-week standoff has raised
fears of confrontation after Vietnam deployed ships in an effort to stop China’s
drilling operations. Vietnam’s government has clamped down on street protests
after they morphed into anti-Chinese riots that that left two dead and damaged
factories.
HISTORIC VISIT. South Korean Roman Catholic Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung arrives from an inter-Korean joint
factory park in Kaesong, North Korea, at the Inter-Korean Transit Office near the border village of Panmunjom, which has
separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea. Yeom visited North Korea for the first
time despite rekindled animosity between the neighboring countries. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Im Byung-shik)
South Korean Catholic cardinal
makes first visit to North Korea
The Associated Press
S
EOUL, South Korea — A Roman
Catholic cardinal from South Korea
visited North Korea for the first time
last month, despite rekindled animosity
between the neighboring countries.
Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung and other
South Korean priests travelled to a joint
North-South industrial park in Kaesong,
North Korea, to tour the complex and meet
South Koreans working there.
Yeom told reporters after his return from
the one-day visit that seeing South and North
Koreans working in harmony gave him hope
that the two countries can “overcome their
pain and sorrow.”
The joint industrial park, located just north
of the heavily armed border, is the last re-
maining cross-border rapprochement project
between the rival Koreas. It combines South
Korean initiative, capital, and technology with
cheap North Korean labor. Operations at the
decade-old complex were suspended for
months last year when tensions sharply rose
over repeated North Korean threats of nuclear
war.
South Korean Catholic officials denied
media speculation that Yeom’s trip might be
q
Nepal rally marks anniversary of Everest conquest
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Hundreds of
people in Nepal’s capital held separate
rallies to mark the 61st anniversary of the
first conquest of Mount Everest and to
remember the 16 Sherpa guides who died in an
April avalanche on the world’s highest
mountain.
New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his
Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, became the
Gun goes off in Chinese school during safety talk
BEIJING (AP) — A handgun went off during a police safety talk at a kinder-
garten in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, injuring four adults and one
child, police said. The gun misfired during a demonstration and the bullet struck
the ground, sending up sparks and cement that hit the arms and legs of by-
standers, the city’s Zhengdong police post said on its microblog. The injuries
were minor, the statement said. It said two police officers involved were confined
as an internal punishment by the department, and that a deputy director, a
squad chief, and an instructor were suspended. Police extended “heartfelt
apologies,” it said. Until recently, few Chinese police carried guns, but the
government announced in April more will be issued firearms. It said they need to
respond faster to violent criminals and other emergencies.
first climbers to reach the top of Everest on
May 29, 1953. More than 500 people, including
mountaineers and trekking guides, marched
in Kathmandu May 29 to mark the day.
A separate rally was held the evening before
in memory of the 16 guides killed in an April 18
avalanche just above Everest’s base camp.
Participants held candles and pictures of the
guides who died in the disaster.
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Japan beats Hong Kong for spot in Rugby World Cup
TOKYO (AP) — Yoshikazu Fujita scored three tries as Japan beat Hong Kong
49-8 to qualify for next year’s Rugby World Cup. Fujita scored two of his three
tries in the first half at the National Stadium when Japan took a commanding
27-3 lead. Fujita ran in his third try in the second half to widen the advantage to
37-8. As the top team in Asia, Japan will compete in Pool B against South Africa,
Samoa, Scotland, and the United States at next year’s World Cup in England.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, enters the repechage qualifying stage. It plays Uruguay
on August 2, with the winner taking on either Russia or the runner-up of the
African qualifying tournament for a place in Pool A.
aimed at preparing for a possible visit by Pope
Francis to North Korea when he visits South
Korea in August. Father Hur Young-yup, who
went to Kaesong with the cardinal, said Yeom
didn’t meet any North Korean officials there.
The pope plans to visit South Korea August
14 through 18 to participate in a Catholic
youth festival, preside over a beatification
ceremony for 124 Korean martyrs, and bring a
message of peace to the war-divided peninsula.
His visit will be the first in 25 years by a pope
to the Korean Peninsula.
Yeom is the third South Korean national
who has become a Roman Catholic cardinal.
His trip was the first by a South Korean
cardinal to North Korea, according to Seoul’s
Unification Ministry.
North Korea’s constitution guarantees
freedom of religion, but in practice only
sanctioned religious services are tolerated by
the government. Defectors from the country
have said that distributing bibles and holding
secret prayer services can result in
banishment to a labor camp or execution.
Tensions between the two Koreas have risen
in recent months, with North Korea con-
ducting a series of missile and rocket launches
and resuming its use of harsh rhetoric against
South Korea and the U.S.
By Hyung-jin Kim
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 5/30
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Pakistani Rupee · ·
Papua N.G. Kina · ·
Philippine Peso· · ·
Russian Ruble · · ·
Saudi Riyal· · · · ·
Singapore Dollar · ·
South Korean Won ·
Sri Lankan Rupee ·
Taiwan Dollar · · ·
Thai Baht · · · · ·
Vietnam Dong · · ·
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77.425
4043.0
6.247
1.8433
7.7527
59.102
11676
25446
101.66
8072.9
3.213
94.803
98.704
2.7431
43.775
34.803
3.7506
1.2535
1020.2
130.4
30.018
32.847
21158