18 October 9, 2009handptupcircle6box3leocancercircle6 thumbuprhombus6boxshadowupboxshadowupscorpiosquare6lozenge6lozenge4
ASIA
COMPILED BY
JANE DANN
Briefs
President Barack Obama will make his first Asian tour next month – to Japan,
Singapore, China and South Korea. He is expected to focus on economic issues, trade and
global security. The president will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)
summit in Singapore, which may include talks with Burma's military leaders. “The president
will be travelling to Asia next month to strengthen our cooperation with this vital part of the
world on a range of issues of mutual interest,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told
BBC News. At Apec, Obama will hold what the White House billed as the first formal talks
between a U.S. leader and all 10 Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders
– which could include a rare encounter with Burma's military rulers. In China, he will touch
down in Shanghai as well as Beijing.
SCRIPT REACHES SEMI-FINALS
The Princess Concubine” by
Vietnamese-American
scriptwriter Quan Lelan has beaten 4000 other scripts to reach the semi-finals of an interna-
tional contest in Los Angeles. Two years ago, he became the first Vietnamese-American
scriptwriter to win first prize at PAGE, a Los Angeles competition, for a script entitled
“Curse of the Precious Consort.” This year, Quan Lelan’s “The Princess Concubine” has
been selected as one of the top 250 scripts at PAGE in the category of historic films. The
competition attracted 4394 scripts from 59 countries and territories in 2009, the highest num-
ber ever submitted to PAGE. This script is about a brave girl who wants to change her des-
tiny. When her country faces destruction, she uses her beauty and ingenuity in hopes of end-
ing the bloody war. The writer is the first Vietnamese student to obtain a master’s degree in
film from the University of Southern California. In 2007, he won first prize at another
Hollywood’s screenwriting contest, Cynosure, which honors work featuring female and
minority protagonists in bold and non-stereotypical roles.
TAIWAN REJECTS SCULPTURES FROM CHINA
Taiwan's main museum has
refused to exhibit two
Chinese sculptures owned by late French designer Yves St Laurent. Beijing has demanded
the return of the sculptures, and the director of the Taipei National Palace Museum said she
could not display looted objects. Chinese officials tell BBC News that the two Qing dynasty
bronzes were seized illegally in 1860 by invading French and British forces. The two
bronzes were allegedly stolen from Beijing's Summer Palace at the end of the Second Opium
War. The sculptures have already been in the news this year, when they were put up for auc-
tion in February, despite protests from Beijing. The decision comes on the week Taiwan and
China hold their first joint exhibition in six decades. The venture is one of several signs of
improving relations between the two neighbors since President Ma Ying-jeou took office in
Taiwan last year.
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