Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
May 18, 2015
China to lift price controls on most drugs starting June 1
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese regulators will lift price controls on most
pharmaceutical drugs starting June 1 in hopes the market-driven pricing
system will keep medical costs in check, the National Development and Reform
Commission announced recently. Beijing vowed to ease government controls in
favor of market competition in as many areas as possible to improve efficiency,
and experts say the upper-limit drug prices set by the government have become
irrelevant because market prices are typically much lower. “The new policy is
merely a symbolic move,” said Shi Lichen, a Beijing-based medical services
consultant. The country’s most powerful regulating agency said on its official
website that it would abandon the decades-long practice of price controls, except
for narcotics and some psychiatric drugs, as part of drug-price reform. Chinese
consumers have long complained of high drug costs. Authorities have in the last
couple of years cracked down on rampant bribery by pharmaceutical companies
which had inflated drug prices.
Filipinos urged to turn off appliances during Pacquiao fight
MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — An officer at a Philippine electric company
urged customers to turn off major appliances to help prevent outages plaguing
his province so people could watch the fight between Filipino boxer Manny
Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. earlier this month. Palawan Electric
Cooperative secretary Rante Ramos said shutting down refrigerators in 15,000
households alone reduced the demand for electricity in the province enough to
compensate for the power deficit of about 2 megawatts when the fight was aired
in the Philippines. He said air conditioners, washing machines, and electric pots
also consume a lot of electricity. He was quoted as saying, “If it is just for the
Pacquiao fight, let us just leave electric fans and TVs on.” Unfortunately,
sadness and disappointment gripped Filipinos after Pacquiao’s defeat in the
much-anticipated fight. Some fans believe Pacquiao should retire from boxing
while others have demanded a rematch.
Indonesian police arrest seven in seafood slavery case
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Lt. Col. Arie Dharmanto, Indonesia’s National
Police anti-trafficking unit chief, said two Indonesians and five Thai nationals
have been arrested and accused of human trafficking connected with slavery in
the seafood industry. Dharmanto said the arrests were made in the remote
island village of Benjina. Five Thai boat captains and two Indonesian employees
at Pusaska Benjina Resources, one of the largest fishing firms in eastern
Indonesia, were taken into custody. The arrests came after The Associated Press
earlier this year reported on slave-caught seafood shipped from Benjina to
Thailand, where it can be exported and enter the supply chains of some of
America’s biggest food retailers. If prosecuted, the men face jail sentences of up
to 15 years and fines as high as $46,000.
Thailand vows crackdown on human traffickers
HAT YAI, Thailand (AP) — Thai authorities have arrested three local officials
they allege were involved in trafficking and holding Rohingya Muslims for ran-
som at a jungle camp where 26 bodies were found in the mountains of southern
Thailand. National police chief Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung said the suspects
— two deputy village chiefs and a municipal councillor — were believed to be
part of a “transnational crime network” that included people from Thailand,
Myanmar, and Malaysia and in operation for three or four years. The Rohingya
Muslims are a long-persecuted religious minority in neighboring Myanmar.
Retiring Hong Kong police chief takes pot shot at protesters
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s outgoing police chief took a parting shot at
pro-democracy protesters who occupied busy streets in parts of the southern
Chinese financial center for nearly three months last year. Retiring police
commissioner Tsang Wai-hung did not refer directly to the pro-democracy
activists, or to other groups that have led unruly demonstrations since then over
grievances such as the growing influx of mainland Chinese shoppers, though
there was little doubt whom he was talking about. “Now, because of increasing
radicalization of protests, we have seen an increasing sense of lawlessness with
protesters blatantly disregarding the law,” Tsang told reporters. “This is not
going to be good for Hong Kong. This is not going to be good for law and order,” he
said, urging people to adhere to the law if they want to “fight for their political
beliefs.” Tsang, known for taking a tough stance, has been criticized over the
police force’s handling of the “Occupy Central” protests. The protests spiralled
into chaos during the last weekend in September, when officers arrested student
leaders and later fired dozens of rounds of tear gas at the demonstrators. The
former British colony’s police force was known as one of the best in Asia, but its
reputation took a battering over heavy-handed tactics.
Man in China stands trial for opening door of taxiing plane
BEIJING (AP) — Authorities say passengers in China have opened airplane
emergency doors without authorization 12 times this year during taxiing or
while at a standstill, and one of the passengers has been put on trial in the
country’s first such legal case. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said
the man, identified only by his family name of Piao, is standing trial on a charge
of endangering public safety. The agency says he opened an emergency door on
an Asiana Airlines flight without authorization on February 12 when the plane
was taxiing, prompting the flight crew to take emergency measures to halt the
flight. With its growing middle class, China is seeing record numbers of air
travellers, many of them flying for the first time.
SEISMIC SUFFERING. USAID rescue workers inspect the site of collapsed buildings after an earthquake in Kathman-
du, Nepal. A new earthquake that hit May 12 spread more fear and misery in Nepal, which is still struggling to recover from
the devastating April 25 quake that left thousands dead. (AP Photo/Bikram Rai)
Another deadly earthquake
spreads fear and misery in Nepal
By Binaj Gurubacharya and Katy Daigle
The Associated Press
ATHMANDU, Nepal — A new
earthquake killed dozens of people
May 12 and spread more fear and
misery in Nepal, which is still struggling to
recover from a devastating quake on April 25
that left more than 8,000 dead.
The magnitude-7.3 quake, centered midway
between Kathmandu and Mount Everest,
struck hardest in the foothills of the
Himalayas, triggering some landslides, but it
also shook the capital badly, sending
thousands of terrified people into the streets.
Nepal’s parliament was in session when the
quake hit, and frightened lawmakers ran for
the exits as the building shook and the lights
flickered out.
At least 110 people were killed in the quake
and more than 2,300 were injured, according
to the Home Ministry. The death toll rose
when people in isolated Himalayan towns and
villages were found buried under rubble,
according to the U.N.’s Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Tremors radiated across parts of Asia. In
neighboring India, at least 16 people were
confirmed dead after rooftops or walls
collapsed onto them, according to India’s
Home Ministry. Chinese media reported at
least one death in Tibet.
The magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit
April 25 killed more than 8,150 and flattened
entire villages, leaving hundreds of thousands
homeless in the country’s worst-recorded
quake since 1934. The U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) said the new earthquake was the
largest aftershock to date of that destructive
quake.
The temblor was deeper, however, coming
K
from a depth of 11.5 miles versus the earlier
one at 9.3 miles. Shallow earthquakes tend to
cause more damage.
Rescue helicopters were sent to mountain
districts where landslides and collapsed
buildings buried people, the government said.
Home Ministry official Laxmi Dhakal said the
Sindhupalchowk and Dolkha districts were
the worst hit.
Search parties fanned out to look for
survivors in the wreckage of collapsed
buildings in Sindhupalchowk’s town of
Chautara, which had become a hub for
humanitarian aid after last month’s quake.
Impoverished Nepal appealed for billions of
dollars in aid from foreign nations, as well as
medical experts to treat the wounded and
helicopters to ferry food and temporary
shelters to hundreds of thousands left
homeless amid unseasonal rains.
The May 12 quake was followed closely by at
least 10 strong aftershocks, according to the
USGS.
Early reports indicated at least two
buildings had collapsed in Kathmandu,
though at least one had been unoccupied due to
damage it sustained on April 25. Experts say
the earlier quake caused extensive structural
damage even in buildings that did not topple,
and that many were in danger of collapsing.
Frightened residents in the capital, who had
returned to their homes only a few days
earlier, once again set up tents and planned to
sleep in empty fields, parking lots, and on
sidewalks.
“Everyone was saying the earthquakes are
over. ... Now I don’t want to believe anyone,”
said 40-year-old produce vendor Ram Hari Sah
as he searched for a spot to pitch the orange
tarpaulin to shelter his family. “We are all
Continued on page 4
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
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Indonesian Rupiah ·
Iranian Rial · · · ·
Japanese Yen · · ·
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77.81
4040.1
6.2065
2.0072
7.7509
63.516
13084
27993
119.86
8078.3
3.5645
101.76
102.63
2.6914
44.465
50.038
3.7502
1.3265
1085.7
133.6
30.449
33.6
21765