Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
February 7, 2022
“West coast sports” added to 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
BEIJING (AP) — Skateboarding, surfing, and sports climbing have officially
been added to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The decision by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) was expected after its executive board agreed to an
initial list of 28 sports in December. Los Angeles organizers have welcomed the
“three iconic west coast sports” that made their debuts at last year’s Tokyo
Olympics. The IOC is promoting urban sports to attract younger viewers.
Boxing, modern pentathlon, and weightlifting have not yet been included. They
can be added next year by meeting targets set by the IOC board. Space can also
be made for sports suggested by Los Angeles organizers. Those could include
breakdancing or baseball and softball. Breakdancing will debut at the 2024
Olympics at the request of the Paris organizers.
Election fraud trial of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi set for Feb. 14
BANGKOK (AP) — The trial of Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San
Suu Kyi for election fraud will begin on February 14, a legal official said, one
among a raft of charges the former politician is facing under the country’s
military rulers. Suu Kyi was arrested by Myanmar’s army when it seized power
in February of 2021, alleging widespread voter fraud in the country’s last
election — an allegation that independent election observers have said they’ve
seen no serious evidence for. The former civilian leader has already been
sentenced to six years in prison on separate charges. The legal official — who is
acquainted with the charges facing Suu Kyi but spoke on condition of anonymity
because he is not authorized to release information — said the former leader was
accused of influencing the Union Election Commission in connection with the
November 2020 election, which her National League for Democracy won by a
landslide.
WHO says it’s probing alleged racism, abuse by top official
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says an
investigation is underway into alleged reports that the U.N. health agency’s top
official in the Western Pacific engaged in racist, unethical, and abusive
behavior, following a report by The Associated Press. At a meeting of WHO’s
executive board, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency was first made
aware of staff complaints about the reported misconduct of Dr. Takeshi Kasai in
late 2021. “We take these allegations seriously and we have acted with urgency,”
said Tedros. He said WHO headquarters was told of the claims in late 2021 and
was now “following due process with the cooperation of the staff member,”
without specifying Kasai.
Japanese snowboarder Yoshika injured in crash
BEIJING (AP) — Japanese snowboarder Rina Yoshika injured her back in a
training crash and will not be able to compete in the Olympic slopestyle contest.
Yoshika, ranked 12th in the world, fell hard on a jump during a practice session
last week. Medical staff rushed to help her, and took about 20 minutes to
stabilize her and put her in a sled to take her down the hill. Japanese Olympic
officials said the 22-year-old suffered a spinal injury but was not paralyzed.
They said she will return home after receiving treatment for her injuries.
Honduras will maintain its relations with Taiwan
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras will continue strengthening
ties with Taiwan and establishing a diplomatic relationship with China is not a
priority for Honduran President Xiomara Castro, the country’s new foreign
affairs minister said. Eduardo Enrique Reina said maintaining relationships
with Honduras’ historical partners is important. The message from Reina at a
news conference runs counter to some comments by Castro, who has spoken of
establishing a relationship with mainland China. Honduras is one of the few
remaining Central American allies of Taiwan. China has moved to isolate
Taiwan and most recently Nicaragua swapped Taiwan for China, even turning
over Taiwan’s embassy.
Cambodia launches 4th round of COVID-19 vaccinations
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia last month began a fourth
round of vaccinations against the coronavirus in response to the omicron
variant, with high-risk groups among the first to receive the additional boosters.
Frontline medical staff and members of the armed forces were among those
lining up at hospitals and clinics. Government ministers, including Prime
Minister Hun Sen, also received booster doses. Hun Sen has appealed to all
Cambodian people to get fully vaccinated, including a booster, saying on his
Facebook page that it is the only way to keep their families and communities
safe from COVID-19. A campaign to have people get their third jabs is still
ongoing. Almost 90% of Cambodia’s 16 million people have had at least one dose,
over 85% have had a second shot, and more than 27% have had a third, according
to the government. Thanks largely to donations from close ally China, Cambodia
has had enough vaccine supplies to send on to other Asian nations in need. But
the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines have been found to have less
efficacy than others against the highly transmissible omicron variant,
especially with the passage of time, so the fourth round of high-priority
vaccinations is using Cambodia’s more limited supply of Pfizer vaccines.
Neighboring Thailand, which like Cambodia was largely reliant on the Chinese
vaccines during the early stages of its inoculation program last year, has
announced that fourth doses will be given to medical personnel whose third shot
was at least three months ago.
IDENTITY MAP. Li Jingwei points to details on a map he drew from memory of his childhood village, while sitting in
Lankao in central China’s Henan province on January 5, 2022. Abducted by child traffickers when he was 4 years old, Li
was able to find his mother decades later after a meticulous drawing of his village landscape helped police locate his fam-
ily. (Li Jingwei via AP)
Map helps Chinese man reunite
with his family after decades
By Emily Wang Fujiyama
The Associated Press
EIJING — Since he was a child, Li
Jingwei did not know his real name.
He did not know where he was born, or
for certain how old he was — until he found his
biological family in December with the help of
a long-remembered map.
Li was a victim of child trafficking. In 1989,
when he was 4 years old, a bald neighbor lured
him away by saying they would go look at cars,
which were rare in rural villages.
That was the last time he saw his home, Li
said. The neighbor took him behind a hill to a
road where three bicycles and four other
kidnappers were waiting. He cried, but they
put him on a bike and rode away.
“I wanted to go home but they didn’t allow
that,” Li said in an interview with The
Associated Press. “Two hours later, I knew I
wouldn’t be going back home and I must have
met bad people.”
He remembers being taken on a train.
Eventually he was sold to a family in another
province, Henan.
“Because I was too young, only 4, and I
hadn’t gone to school yet, I couldn’t remember
anything, including the names” of his parents
and hometown, he said.
Etched in his memory, however, was the
landscape of his village in the southwestern
city of Zhaotong, Yunnan province. He
remembered the mountains, bamboo forest, a
pond next to his home — all the places he used
to play.
After his abduction, Li said he drew maps of
his village every day until he was 13 so he
wouldn’t forget. Before he reached school age,
B
he would draw them on the ground, and after
entering school he drew them in notebooks. It
became an obsession, he said. More than 30
years after his abduction, a meticulous
drawing of his village landscape helped police
locate it and track down his biological mother
and siblings.
He was inspired to look for his biological
family after two reunions made headlines last
year. In July, a Chinese father, Guo Gangtang,
was united with his son after searching for 24
years, and in December, Sun Haiyang was
reunited with his kidnapped son after 14
years.
Reports of child abductions occur regularly
in China, though how often they happen is
unclear. The problem is aggravated by
restrictions that until 2015 allowed most
urban couples only one child.
Li decided to speak with his adoptive
parents for clues and consulted DNA
databases, but nothing turned up. Then he
found volunteers who suggested he post a
video of himself on Douyin, a social-media
platform, along with the map he drew from
memory.
It took him only 10 minutes to redraw what
he had drawn hundreds, perhaps thousands of
times as a child, he said.
That post received tens of thousands of
views. By then, Li said police had already
narrowed down locations based on his DNA
sample, and his hand-drawn map helped
villagers identify a family.
Li finally connected with his mother over the
telephone. She asked about a scar on his chin
which she said was caused by a fall from a
ladder.
Continued on page 4
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Asian Currency
Exchange Rates
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85.79
4066.1
6.3605
2.1022
7.7893
74.645
14345
42188
115.22
11333
4.178
119.46
174.3
3.49
51.264
76.141
3.7516
1.3452
1200.0
202.5
27.814
33.03
22579