Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
January 7, 2019
Rover begins making tracks on “dark” side of the moon
BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese rover on the “dark” side of the moon is making
its tracks on the soft lunar surface. The Jade Rabbit 2 rover drove off its lander’s
ramp and onto the soft, snow-like surface about 12 hours after a Chinese
spacecraft made the first-ever landing on the moon’s far side. A photo posted
online by China’s space agency showed tracks the rover left as it headed away
from the spacecraft. Exploring the cosmos from the far side of the moon could
eventually help scientists learn more about the early days of the solar system
and even the birth of the universe’s first stars. The far side can’t be seen from
Earth and is popularly called the “dark side” because it is relatively unknown,
not because it lacks sunlight. Three nations — the United States, the former
Soviet Union, and more recently China — have sent spacecraft to the near side of
the moon, but the latest landing is the first on the far side. That side has been
observed many times from lunar orbit, but never up close. The mission
highlights China’s growing ambitions to rival the U.S., Russia, and Europe in
space, and more broadly, to cement its position as a regional and global power.
The Jade Rabbit 2 rover has six wheels that all have power, so it can continue to
operate even if one wheel fails. It can climb a 20º hill or an obstacle up to eight
inches tall. Its maximum speed is 220 yards per hour. “The surface is soft and it
is similar that you are walking on the snow,” Shen Zhenrong, the rover designer
from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said on CCTV.
Personal info of 997 North Korean defectors stolen
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says it is responding to a hacking
attack that stole the names and addresses of nearly 1,000 North Korean
defectors who resettled in the South. A regional office of the Hana resettlement
center said it has been notifying affected defectors after discovering one of its
computers was breached sometime around November. South Korea’s
Unification Ministry said the names, home addresses, and birthdays of 997
defectors living in the country’s southeast region were stolen. Police are
investigating the hacking attack but have yet to identify the source. The
ministry said it has found no further signs of hacking attacks or data breaches
after investigating Hana’s offices around the country. Hana runs 25 offices
nationwide to provide assistance to North Korean defectors who resettled in the
South. About 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea, mostly travelling
via China, since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War. South Korea in past years
has accused North Korea of cyberattacks on South Korean business and
government websites, but the North denies responsibility.
Small bombs hit popular Thai beach, damage statue
SONGKHLA, Thailand (AP) — Police in Thailand are investigating two small
bombs, one of which damaged an iconic statue on a popular beach in the
country’s south. Police in Songkhla province say they’re looking into whether
the bombs were related to a Muslim separatist insurgency that has wracked
nearby provinces since 2004, taking almost 7,000 lives. The Golden Mermaid
statue, which is an unofficial symbol of the province, was damaged by one bomb.
The other bomb was about 300 yards away, near the beach’s Cat and Mouse
sculpture. The insurgency has mostly affected the three southernmost provinces
of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, which have Muslim majorities in
predominantly Buddhist Thailand. Songkhla, with a substantial Muslim
population, has generally been spared the violence though the provincial capital
of Hat Yai has suffered several bombings.
South Korea fines BMW $9.9 million over engine fires
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea says it will fine BMW 11.2 billion
won ($9.9 million) and file a criminal complaint against the company with state
prosecutors over an allegedly botched response to dozens of engine fires reported
in the country. South Korea’s Transport Ministry said its investigation panel
after a five-month review concluded that the German automaker deliberately
tried to cover up technical problems and moved too slowly to recall vehicles
after about 40 of its cars caught fire last year. BMW recalled some 172,000
vehicles in July and October over the fires it has blamed on a faulty exhaust gas
component. The company said there had been no reports of injuries linked to the
fires.
Cambodia inaugurates biggest hydropower dam
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s largest hydropower project
officially began producing electricity as the country tries to increase its energy
capacity to reduce energy imports and help jump-start industrial expansion.
Prime Minister Hun Sen inaugurated the 400-megawatt Lower Sesan II hydro-
power dam in the northeastern province of Stung Treng. The project, con-
structed on a build-operate-transfer basis, will boost the country’s production of
electricity by 20 percent, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. It was
built over four years at a cost of nearly $800 million and is a joint venture of
China’s Hydrolancang International Energy, which has a 51-percent stake,
Cambodia’s Royal Group with 39 percent, and Vietnam’s EVN International
with 10 percent. The dam is expected to bring in almost $30 million in tax
revenue yearly. Ownership will be handed over to the government after 40
years. Opponents say the dam will damage the biodiversity of two tributaries of
the Mekong River and devastate the livelihoods and homes of thousands of
people. As many as 100,000 people could lose the ability to catch fish. The dam is
the seventh commercial-scale hydropower dam in Cambodia, bringing
hydropower production to 1,328 megawatts. Hydropower supplies 45 percent of
Cambodia’s electricity consumption.
ALBINO ORANG. Alba, an albino orangutan, is released by a conservationist of the Borneo Orangutan Survival
foundation inside Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The world’s only known albino
orangutan climbed trees, foraged for food, and began building a nest after being released into the remote Borneo jungle
more than a year after conservation officials found her starving and dehydrated in an Indonesian village. (AP Photo/Andi
Jatmiko)
Alba the albino orangutan
returned to jungle in Indonesia
By Andi Jatmiko
The Associated Press
UKIT BAKA BUKIT RAYA, Indonesia
— The world’s only known albino
orangutan climbed trees, foraged for
food, and began building a nest after being
released into a remote Borneo jungle more
than a year after conservation officials found
her starving and dehydrated in an Indonesian
village.
The Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation
says the great ape, called Alba after thousands
worldwide responded to an appeal for a name,
has tripled in weight since being rescued in
April last year. Her name means “white” in
Latin and “dawn” in Spanish.
Alba and another rehabilitated orangutan,
Kika, were released inside Bukit Baka Bukit
Raya National Park after a more than 24-hour
journey from their rehabilitation center by
vehicle, boat, and hiking.
The foundation originally planned to create
a 12-acre “forest island” for Alba rather than a
release into truly natural habitat because of
health issues related to her albinism including
poor sight and hearing and the possibility of
skin cancer.
But the government’s Natural Resources
Conservation Agency and other agencies
decided it was appropriate to release Alba into
the wild because of her strong physical
condition and intrinsically wild behavior.
She will be electronically tracked and
regularly monitored by a medical team.
“Alba has no inferiority complex as we
imagined before. She is very confident com-
pared to other orangutans,” said veterinarian
Agus Fathoni.
B
“I think the real threat actually comes from
humans. What we’re worried about is poach-
ing where this very special condition makes
her a target,” he told The Associated Press.
Patrols of Alba’s new home by national park
and conservation agency staff will aim to deter
poachers, though they admit the number of
personnel is limited.
“We don’t have enough to cover all the area
of the national park, but we’re confident of
covering all the patrol lines that we have set,”
said national park official Wirasadi Nursubhi
Orangutans,
reddish-brown
primates
known for their gentle temperament and
intelligence, are critically endangered and
only found in the wild on the Indonesian island
of Sumatra and on Borneo, which is divided
among Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
The International Union for Conservation of
Nature, which declared Borneo’s orangutans
critically endangered in 2016, says their
numbers have dropped by nearly two-thirds
since the early 1970s as plantation agriculture
destroyed and fragmented their forest habitat.
The Sumatran orangutan is a separate
species and has been critically endangered
since 2008.
Alba, approximately five years old, was
given final medical tests and anesthetized for
the journey to Bukit Baka Bukit Raya.
Workers shouted “Alba’s going home” as her
cage was lifted onto a truck at the Nyaru
Menteng Rehabilitation Center in Central
Kalimantan province on Borneo.
“It’s true this is a big gamble but we hope
that with our collaboration we will win the big
bet we have made today” said the orangutan
foundation’s chief executive, Jamartin Sihite,
after releasing Alba from her cage.
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
Units per U.S. dollar as of 01/04
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81.227
3987.7
6.8665
2.252
7.8341
69.63
14234
42023
108.32
8560.8
4.1104
111.83
138.71
3.3601
52.378
67.472
3.7398
1.3612
1118.3
182.75
30.684
32.051
23121