Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
August 3, 2015
Malibu it’s not, but North Korea seen as possible surf spot
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Here’s a new take on gnarly. A pro surfer
who coaches the Chinese National Surf Team and a tourism agency based in
New Jersey plan a surfing expedition and training camp in North Korea, which
has pristine beaches, virgin waves, and, they say, the potential to become an
international wave-riding destination. Nik Zanella, a native of Italy who, along
with coaching Chinese surfers, is a representative of the International Surfing
Association, said the decision to hold the surfing camp for a small group of North
Koreans and foreign tourists along North Korea’s east coast follows a year of
studying the area to assess wave and weather conditions. “The DPRK will not
become the next Malibu, but it receives enough swells to sustain a vast surf
community,” he told AP in an e-mail, referring to North Korea’s official name,
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “Our goal is to evaluate the resources
and make them available to local surfers in a sustainable and safe way. We are
not there to simply go surf, brag about it, and then bail.” The expedition,
scheduled for September, has been approved by the North Korean government,
which is eager to boost its small but developing tourism sector. Andrea Lee, CEO
of Uri Tours, which is organizing the excursion, said it will be used to map the
coastline for prime surfing locations, take risk assessments, and develop
evacuation and safety plans. Though most North Koreans don’t have the means
or leisure time to devote themselves to recreational hobbies, she said the
government is keen on getting the mapping data and on drawing tourists. “We
want to open the DPRK as a surfing destination on a larger scale,” she said. “The
hope is to create a foundation and to pave the way for future surfers.”
Woman dies after trapped in escalator, but saves son
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese woman died after being trapped in a shopping
mall escalator, but not before pushing her two-year-old son to safety. The
horrific accident in the central city of Jingzhou was caught on surveillance
camera footage. The woman — identified in media reports as 30-year-old Xiang
Liujuan — had reached the top of the escalator when the section of landing
platform she had stepped onto suddenly collapsed, trapping her inside the
still-moving machinery. The footage shows that Xiang managed to push her son
into the arms of shop attendants near the top of the escalator. The attendants
tried to pull her to safety, but Xiang fell into the mechanism and was killed.
Media reports say her body was recovered four hours later, after crews
disassembled the escalator.
China lifting ban on sales of video game consoles
BEIJING (AP) — China is lifting its ban on the sale of video game consoles to
promote the industry and a new manufacturing zone in Shanghai. Consoles
produced in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone will automatically be approved for
sale in the rest of China, according to a Ministry of Culture notice. The
announcement eases a sales ban imposed in 2000 due to concern Chinese
children would waste time playing video games. Communist leaders are
promoting entertainment and technology development as part of a marathon
effort to shift the world’s second-largest economy to more sustainable growth
supported by domestic consumption and cleaner industries. The Shanghai trade
zone was created in 2013 and gives foreign companies wider access to a range of
industries, allowing bigger ownership stakes and activities that are prohibited
elsewhere in China. Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. both have announced plans
to manufacture game consoles in the Shanghai zone with Chinese partners. “We
welcome the move,” said a Sony spokesman, Sousuke Kamei, in an e-mail. “We
remain committed to deliver fun and exciting console gaming experiences to as
many Chinese users as possible.” Nintendo Co., another video game maker,
declined comment. The latest rules are intended to promote technology
development and a “healthy and progressive” entertainment environment, the
ministry notice said. Content of games will be subject to censorship, it said.
STARTING FROM SCRATCH. An artist’s rendering released by the Japan Sport Council shows an image of the
Olympic stadium planned for the 2020 Tokyo Games, which was also supposed to be used for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Japan has scrapped the design of the Olympic stadium for the Tokyo Games because of soaring costs and said it will re-
open bidding for a new plan, in a stunning reversal that leaves the Rugby World Cup without a main venue. (Japan Sport
Council via AP)
Japan to start from scratch on
Tokyo Olympic stadium plan
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — Japan has scrapped the
design of the Olympic stadium for the
2020 Tokyo Games because of soaring
costs and said it will reopen bidding for a new
plan, in a stunning reversal that leaves the
2019 Rugby World Cup without a main venue.
“We have decided to go back to the start on
the Tokyo Olympics-Paralympics stadium
plan, and start over from zero,” Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe told reporters after a meeting with
Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Tokyo 2020
organizing committee. “The cost has ballooned
just too much.”
The government has been under mounting
criticism as the estimated cost of the new
National Stadium rose to 252 billion yen ($2
billion), nearly twice as much as the initial
estimate of 130 billion yen.
Abe said he secured the consent of Mori, a
former prime minister, and instructed the
sports and Olympics ministers to immediately
prepare a process to choose a new stadium
plan.
“I have been listening to the voices of the
people and the athletes for about a month now,
thinking about the possibility of a review,” Abe
said. “We will minimize the cost as much as we
can and make one that is best and realistic.”
The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said
it respected Abe’s decision, but wants to
ensure the construction of the stadium is
completed in time for the games and will not
“adversely affect” the event.
The huge cost of the stadium went against
the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC)
“Olympic Agenda 2020” reform program,
which seeks to make the games less expensive
and ensure long-term use of venues.
John Coates, head of the IOC coordination
T
commission for the Tokyo Games, said the
Japanese government was in a position to
decide on the project.
“We take note of the decision by Prime
Minister Abe to review the design plan and to
look for a feasible solution that will offer a
state-of-the-art stadium with top level
conditions for athletes and spectators,” Coates
said in an IOC statement. “We understand
that the review of the stadium will not affect
its delivery for the Olympic and Paralympic
Games, and we will work with the Tokyo 2020
Organizing Committee to ensure that what is
needed for the games is delivered in the
revised plan.”
Abe said the stadium won’t be completed in
time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the first in
Asia.
The new 80,000-seat stadium had been
scheduled to serve as the showpiece venue for
the rugby tournament, hosting the opening
game, semifinals, and final.
World Rugby, the sport’s international
governing body, said it was “extremely
disappointed” because Japan has repeatedly
assured the stadium would be ready for 2019.
The organization said it is seeking clarification
from the Japanese organizing committee and
will consider the options of the impact of the
announcement.
The leading candidate for an alternate main
venue is the 72,000-seat International
Stadium in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo.
The stadium, which hosted the 2002 soccer
World Cup final, was one of 11 other venues
selected for the 2019 tournament.
For weeks, the public line of Abe and other
government officials has been that they would
stick with the stadium designed by award-
winning architect Zaha Hadid.
His abrupt decision was seen as damage
Continued on page 9
College librarian admits he replaced art with fakes
BEIJING (AP) — A former chief librarian at a Chinese university has
admitted in court to stealing more than 140 paintings by grandmasters in a
gallery under his watch and replacing them with fakes he painted himself. For
two years up until 2006, Xiao Yuan substituted famous works including
landscapes and calligraphies in a gallery within the library of the Guangzhou
Academy of Fine Arts. He told the court in his defense that the practice appeared
to be rampant and the handling of such paintings was not secure. He said he
noticed fakes already hanging in the gallery on his first day on the job. Later,
after he replaced some of the remaining masters with his own fakes, he was
surprised when he noticed his fake paintings were being substituted with even
more fakes. “I realized someone else had replaced my paintings with their own
because I could clearly discern that their works were terribly bad,” Xiao, 57, told
Guangzhou People’s Intermediate Court, which posted a video of the two-hour
hearing on its website. Xiao said he didn’t know who had replaced his fakes, but
that students and professors could take out paintings in the same way they
borrow library books. Xiao sold 125 of the paintings at auction between 2004 and
2011 for more than 34 million yuan ($6 million), and used the money to buy
apartments and other paintings. The 18 others he stole are estimated to be
worth more than 70 million yuan ($11 million), according to prosecutors. Xiao
pleaded guilty to a corruption charge for substituting the 143 paintings, and said
he deeply regretted his crime. He was the university’s chief librarian until 2010.
His crimes came to light when an employee discovered what had happened and
went to the police.
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29566
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