ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
March 2, 2015
Polina Edmunds rallies to win
Four Continents championship
By Foster Klug
The Associated Press
S
“Running police” keep the
peace at Tokyo Marathon
TOKYO (AP) — The running police made sure the
Tokyo Marathon went off without a hitch.
More than 60 of the officers were deployed during the
race in response to concerns about terrorism threats.
They wore white vests bearing the word “POLICE” and
each member ran about 10 kilometers while carrying
anti-terrorism gear in small backpacks.
Tokyo has been on edge following the slaying of two
Japanese hostages by the Islamic State group. Islamist
militants threatened Japanese people everywhere after
the slayings.
More than 36,000 runners took part in the race as
organizers were eager to show that Tokyo remains a safe
place to hold major sporting events.
The Boston Marathon in 2013 was the target of a
terrorist attack that killed three people.
Endeshaw Negesse won the Tokyo Marathon, leading
an Ethiopian sweep of the men’s and women’s titles.
The Tokyo race was the first event of the World
Marathon Majors series. Other races are held in Boston,
Chicago, London, Berlin, and New York.
q
Hong Kong leader calls on
residents to be like Sheep
By Kelvin Chan
The Associated Press
H
ONG KONG — Hong Kong’s unpopular Beijing-
backed leader last month called on residents of
the southern Chinese city, rocked last year by
months of pro-democracy protests, to be more like “mild
and gentle” Sheep.
Chief executive Leung Chun-ying made the appeal in
his Lunar New Year message to welcome in the Year of the
Sheep, which began February 19. The message reflects
how tensions continue to simmer after the protests ended
in December without Leung offering any concessions to
the student-led demonstrators.
“Sheep are widely seen to be mild and gentle animals
living peacefully in groups,” said Leung, who’s been
nicknamed the Wolf by critics who deride him as being
cunning and untrustworthy.
“Last year was no easy ride for Hong Kong. Our society
was rife with differences and conflicts. In the coming year,
I hope that all people in Hong Kong will take inspiration
from the Sheep’s character and pull together in an
accommodating manner to work for Hong Kong’s future,”
Leung said in a statement.
Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters
occupied streets across the Asian financial hub for 11
weeks this past fall in what came to be known as the
Umbrella Movement, punctuated by violent tear-gas- and
pepper-spray-fuelled scuffles with police.
The activists protested Beijing’s proposed curbs on
planned 2017 elections for Leung’s replacement.
Let me help you with your next home loan.
Nattaya Wells
Sr. Mortgage Advisor | MLO 484350
Licensed in Oregon & Washington
OR CELL: (503) 705-1886
WA CELL: (360) 836-7398
nwells@pcmloan.com
www.pcmloan.com/nattayawells
14945 S.W. Sequoia Parkway, Suite 150A, Portland, OR 97224
Equal Housing Lender | NMLS 81395 | WA CL-81395 | AZ BK-910890
Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act
Regulated by the Division of Real Estate Colorado
Death sentence
given to 1971
war collaborator
DHAKA,
Bangladesh
(AP) — A special tribunal
dealing with war crimes in-
volving Bangladesh’s 1971
independence war has
convicted and sentenced a
leading war collaborator to
death for crimes including
mass killing, arson, and
looting.
The head judge of a
three-member
panel,
Obaidul Hasan, delivered
the verdict in a packed
courtroom in the nation’s
capital, Dhaka, against
79-year-old Abdus Subhan
of the Jamaat-e-Islami
political party.
Subhan is the ninth
senior leader of the party
convicted of such crimes
after
Prime
Minister
Sheikh Hasina initiated
the long-stalled war crimes
trials in 2010.
Subhan
faced
nine
charges that included the
killing of 400 people in
several villages in northern
Bangladesh.
Bangladesh says Paki-
stani soldiers and their
collaborators
killed
3
million people and raped
200,000 women during the
nine-month war.
FOUR CONTINENTS FINISHERS. Satoko Miyahara (top photo)
and Rika Hongo (bottom photo) of Japan perform during the women’s
program at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in
Seoul, South Korea. American Polina Edmunds rallied to win the champi-
onship, finishing ahead of Miyahara and Hongo, despite a few stumbles.
(AP Photos/Lee Jin-man)
gold at Sochi in February 2014, in a victory that caused
heated debate over the judging.
Kim has retired, but reminders of still-fresh South
Korean outrage at her loss were everywhere in the arena.
“ISU out,” said one sign, a reference to the International
Skating Union that governs the sport. Another said
“Robbers Sochi,” and one, also directed at ISU, read: “I
know what you did last winter in Sochi.”
Other skating highlights at the championships at
Seoul’s Mokdong Ice Arena included Olympic bronze
medallist Denis Ten’s commanding win at the men’s
event. The Kazakh skater finished well ahead of Joshua
Farris of the United States, who finished in second place.
2014 Exemplary Community Volunteer Award Recipient:
Northwest China Council
AR Photo/Jan Landis
FIT TO SERVE. The “running police,” center and back left, of the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police follow marathon competitors during the Tokyo
Marathon in Tokyo. More than 60 of the officers were deployed during
the race in response to concerns about terrorism threats. The running po-
lice had wearable cameras attached to their heads, and each member ran
about 10 kilometers while carrying anti-terrorism gear in small backpacks.
(AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
EOUL, South Korea — American Polina Edmunds
rallied to win the Four Continents figure skating
championship, finishing ahead of two Japanese
skaters, despite a few stumbles.
Edmunds, who came into the free skate in fourth place,
hit the wrong edge on an early combination, a triple
flip-single loop-triple salchow, but landed most of her
other big jumps, including a late combination. Skating to
“Tinker Bell” by James Newton Howard, the 16-year-old
finished with 184.02 points.
The Four Continents provides an important gauge of
possible competition at this month’s world championships
in Shanghai, but it doesn’t include powerful European
skaters. The absent Russians who swept the medals at the
European championships, however, were on the minds of
many.
“I don’t think that the Russians are stronger than any
one of us,” Edmunds, the second youngest woman to ever
win the event, told reporters. “It’s going to come down to
the elements. It’s going to come down to how we perform.
But going into worlds I’m optimistic that, hopefully, it’s
not going to be all, ‘The Russians are coming!”’
Satoko Miyahara of Japan, who’d been first after the
short program, had an uneven free skate, including a fall
on a triple lutz, to win silver, with 181.59 points. The
16-year-old skated to “Miss Saigon” by Claude-Michel
Schoenberg.
“I know the Russian girls are so strong,” Miyahara said,
“but I don’t like to think about other people. I just want to
focus on myself.”
She blamed her shaky free skate on a lack of speed and
power on her jumps.
Rika Hongo, 18, of Japan received the bronze medal
with 177.44 points.
American Gracie Gold, the 2014 U.S. champion,
finished fourth, unable to recover after missing her first
two jumps. American champion Ashley Wagner, who was
originally scheduled to compete, decided to sit out the
event.
The Russians will be a focus of worlds. They include
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who won gold at the European
championships, and Elena Radionova and Anna
Pogorilaya, who were second and third, respectively.
Russian Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova, who has
had an ankle injury, hasn’t skated in international
competition since beating South Korea’s Yuna Kim for
The Northwest China Council (NWCC) was established by the Asia Society of New
York in 1980 as one of 12 Regional Councils to help educate the American public
about Chinese history, culture, politics, and U.S.-China relations. The organization,
which is made up of approximately 250 members of both Chinese and non-Chinese
ethnicities, is also a regional resource providing educational programs, information
services, and foreign trade expertise in Oregon and southwest Washington. In
2013-2014, NWCC held a two-part program addressing the U.S.-China relationship
and China’s food safety risks; a talk by Mel Gurtov, professor emeritus of Portland
State University, on the future of U.S.-China relations; monthly business
presentations and regular business networking mixers; and monthly movie nights
and book club meetings. The group also offers ongoing Mandarin language
instruction classes, cultural and educational presentations and activities, and
programs on current events in China. Additionally, the organization leads cultural
and business tours to China and sponsors various China-related events with other
organizations in the area. NWCC’s annual New Year Gala is scheduled for Satur-
day, March 7, 2015. To learn more, visit <www.nwchina.org>.
The Asian Reporter Foundation is accepting nominations
for its 2015 “Exemplary Community Volunteer” awards.
The recognition banquet will be held Thursday,
April 23, 2015 at northeast Portland’s TAO Event Center.
Nomination forms and award guidelines are available
for download at <www.ARFoundation.net>.
The nomination deadline is Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 5:00pm.