East Asia

To young people and prisoners Francis repeats that "God never gets tired of forgiving." A statue of St. John the Evangelist that the diocese has gifted for the reopening of the Cathedral of Izmir. At Isernia, birthplace St Celestine V, the Celestine Jubilee Year is launched.

The Chinese leader today concluded a two-day visit to the South Korean capital , the first time a Beijing leader has chosen to visit the south of the peninsula before the north. Major trade agreements signed with President Park Geun-hye and a common key to stop Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions found. Xi proposes to celebrate Liberation Day August 15, when Pope Francis will be in South Korea

Shaojie Zhang was arrested along with 20 other members of the official Christian church in Nanle in November 2013. Nothing had been known about his whereabouts until his trial. Officially, the court convicted him for "fraud" and "gathering crowds". His lawyer slams the "fabricated charges".

This is confirmed by local sources in the province of Xinjiang and the Uyghur World Congress: police officers go to homes of local Muslims to monitor compliance with the ban. The head of the (state controlled) Council for Islamic-Chinese relations denies central government involvement: "I know nothing of this ban, but even if it were in force, it is a local authority initiative". The province is at the center of a violent ethnic conflict.

The national television network, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, has sent a crew to Rome to prepare a two-hour documentary on the figure of the Pope and the places of the Korean Martyrs. During recording, the crew drew closer and closer to the Church: "When I got home - says one of the journalists - I wanted to go back to the parish that I abandoned years ago."

For the first time ever, the exiled Tibetan prime minister Lobsang Sangay takes part in the installation of the new Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. RSS paramilitary leader visits the Dharamsala executive: "In some ways, it means that Delhi recognizes Tibet as a nation".

An idea of the Narendra Modi government to halt the incursions of Beijing. The project involves the creation of paramilitary forces to be attached to the regular security troops "in case of emergency."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lauds the decree approved yesterday which effectively abolishes Art. 9 of the Charter, that set limits on the national army. Protests from China, South Korea and Japanese civil society: more than 10 thousand people take to the streets in Tokyo and compare the prime minister to Hitler.

Yesterday more than 500 thousand people lined the streets of the Territory in protest against the government headed by CY Leung, considered too close to Beijing, and to demand mainland China "respect its promises" and grant universal suffrage for the General election in 2017. Police respond by arresting over 500 people including three members of the legislative Council. Anson Chan, former Secretary General of Hong Kong states: "Britain has sold us out for money".

In an interview with AsiaNews, the Bishop of Cheju and President of the Korean Bishops Conference, Msgr. Peter Kang U-il, analyzes the problems and hopes related to the Pope’s upcoming visit to the peninsula: "We have made great achievements, but we have yet to transform mechanical development into a more integral human development: political, economic and even missionary". Francis can "help the region to find peace after more than 60 years of conflict, Korea is the last victim of the Cold War."

The bishop took part in a meeting devoted to reconstruction and support for the survivors of the Great Earthquake of 2011, which devastated the Sendai region. "People have been deprived of the ordinary life, and for many of them it will be impossible to go it back. Most people do not care for the daily struggles of the people of Fukushima, but even if we are not directly responsible for the disaster, we have the responsibility to make new choices on the subject."

The traditional 1 July march, which has taken place every year since 1997 to mark the return of the territory to Chinese control, brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets to challenge the local government to implement a real democratic system by the elections of 2017. By police account, 92,000 people took part in the event monitored by 4,000 agents in riot gear. Chief Executive Leung appealed for stability as the only guarantee for economic success.