every journey begins with the first step at a different language the first word goes into the coaxing germany. why not be with. us in simple audio on your mobile and free. to double using the learning course because german. this is d w news asia coming up on the program the saudi crown prince bearing gifts in pakistan amid criticism from the west mohamed bin so many gets a royal welcome in islamabad is this a new pivot to asia for the kingdom. allegations of censorship at the berlin film festival chinese director john hume opals his film and in a d w exclusive i way way says his work was blocked from selection are they being

targeted by beijing censors. and a year after hosting the winter olympics in china is practically a ghost town what happens to all the empty venues when the games move on. i'm melissa chan thank you for joining the program it's good to have you with us saudi arabia has pledged to invest twenty billion dollars in cash hungry pakistan it's a boost for islam a body which faces a mounting debt crisis and tensions with neighboring india and it's a p.r. boon for saudi arabia as well after international criticism over the killing of u.s. a saudi journalist jamal khashoggi last year. pakistan needs

money and saudi arabia needs friends to that end saudi crown prince mohammed bin solomon began his trip to asia on sunday night touching down to a red carpet welcome from pakistan's prime minister imran khan. the saudi royal reviewed a military on a go before moving on to cannes residents to confirm the final details of seven separate agreements and memorandums of understanding worth twenty billion dollars. but also because. of friends. we did for. a friend in need which is why. the two day visit to pakistan comes amid high tensions in the region india and saudi arabia's arch rival iran both bordering pakistan have accused islamabad of

backing militant groups which have carried out bloody suicide attacks on their soil in recent days. mohammed bin solomons next stop is pakistan's neighbor india his visit comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries over the disputed region of kashmir so how fine a diplomatic line is it for the prince to walk i put that question to assad has seen a journalist based in islamabad. i think that's a particularly good question and right now it's unclear as to how this is going to play out given the timing of the visit and how it's happened right literally a day after the pull warm attack which has led to obviously an increased heightening of tensions between india and pakistan currently tensions in the middle c. are extremely high and there is discussion on the indian side if even some sort of military action against pakistan who they blame for allowing such an attack to happen now obviously the crown prince has spent the last two days or is currently still in islamabad and we have heard from pakistani authorities as well their

version of events and i'm sure that they will be pushing him to try and convey that to the indian side there is obviously very limited contact right now between bugs and in india diplomatically india has called off talks since twenty twelve and has stuck to the line that it will not allow any kind of dialogue to take place so i think pakistan will be hoping that the crown prince will act perhaps as a go between giving pakistan's version of events but as you say it's a fine line because in india as well he'll be hoping to garner a great deal of goodwill and to sign some deals there as well and as well as to to really diversify saudi arabia's in egypt in that country and so gay won't be able to publish the message that he can't really sell that message if he's seen as a pakistani messenger. so really it is a fine line absolutely. the berlin international film festival wrapped up this weekend but not without some controversy chinese filmmaker john moe you may know him from films such as hero and he also produced the opening and closing ceremonies

at the two thousand and eight beijing olympics well he withdrew his film one seconds from the event and according to reports it had to do with chinese censors the film is set during china's brutal cultural revolution period back in two thousand and seventeen beijing passed new laws regulating its film industry stating that movies must quote serve the people and socialism it also said that any film submitted to an overseas film festival would require official approval. chinese artist ai wei wei also says he's been targeted by beijing's film censors in relates to the cities of love film anthology he was invited to direct one of the episodes in the new berlin i love you but he found out that his contribution was cut this is part of his statement quote it was infuriating to find our involvement had been raised the reason we were given for the episodes removal was that my political status had made it difficult for the production team to secure further funding i will wait spoke to t w about these allegations and in exclusive also told us about

why the film was not considered for the berlin film festival he hardly needs an introduction i way way is one of china's most well known contemporary artists i want to start straight away by asking you about censorship in china for creatives has the situation gotten worse it sounds like you've got recent news. i think of the situation getting worse but has the policies not always the same that proposes to censor every art or literature or film to make sure that we're not. goal different from part is slowing. and in terms of your own situation berlin i love you is a film that you have been involved with it sounds like you've hit some problems there tell me more yes i mean really recently i learned there's this film boiling i love you has vitro my opposite i'm the first one directory

involved and they're being reminded that to do this film i directed the film when i was seen china. under a soft detention i did through facebook actually face time with my facebook but my son also played a role in the field so that film has been used in. promoting for the film bowling i love you but there recently i found out. my name was not on the list so i asked the producer and director they gave me the answers question surprise and they told me this i made this film twirling through him first of all the first so tell me if i will win scenes here as a film cannot merit being accepted also they told me because you know you malva to make. shanghai i love you under the producer you in there also sent to

put my absolutely in their film want to damage their possibilities can we talk a little bit about china's impact on artists because this is happening in berlin right it's not happening domestically in china anymore i think is very important point and i have been has become much more powerful on a global you play so a major role in politics and economics but at same time trying to start pro promoting its so-called soft power means china has being very effective really. use the our own ideology to to. to to apply west university's scientific law lap terry under now you know you can clearly see in the. entertainment. in this kind.

of street so what happens in the industry of festivals i think of they are under trial use an inference under censorship. and i think the west call ops is trying the censorship in the sense ok last question which is what is the way forward in terms of your role that was cut in your film that was cut in berlin i love you and then on a grander scale what is the way forward for chinese creators who want to be free who want to freely express themselves i think is send a very strong message under by the very. dark one because young people will never even imagine the compasses come the hard sell to ship you for you are a filmmaker it's very hard for you to get permission to film in china and your film if someone like drawing you more confidence is planned problem or someone like me can be. in this kind of dramatic situation so some come other young artist.

so trying would not just lost their ability for free for expression but the law is whole generations imagination courage and passion for art way way it's very good to see you after all these years thank you. g.w. has reviewed a document which appears to support i story in addition we reached out to the berlin film festival and the producers of berlin i love you the festival told us it has no comment on movies that do not make it selection to be do stars have confirmed eyes version of events saying they are heartbroken and had no choice. turning to south korea now and is this a surprise it seems as if it happens every time just one year after the winter olympics and kyung chang many of the venue stand empty the hope was to turn the resort into a major skiing destination instead it's become a winter of discontent. super wrong and bad to be the cute mascots are still here

so to the scenic mountain side in artificial snow everything's the same in pyongyang what's new are the disappointments concerns with tourism infrastructure and finance for real estate agent show chilled business has plummeted he's lost three million euros. who. are expectations were high there were a lot of positive developments for the olympic games but in the end best is nothing here that attracts tourism but it will to whom the signal the winter olympics were a flash in the pan shoal thought the market would be booming after the event so he bought some land but then no one came the result too many hotels falling prices in fire sales the property is now barren again south korea's government gambled on the

future to spending eight hundred million dollars on facilities the bobsled in lieu drugs aren't being used nor the downhill skiing slope well the high speed rail way station attracts hardly any passengers local governor choice moonstone blames the government in seoul but he also blames himself. really for the olympic games you need a concrete plan about what will happen to the facilities after the games it didn't work out for us we focus too much on the implementation is beyond chang applied for the games three times so they had enough time but there's no plan for the speed skating rink or the hockey center south korea doesn't even have a pro hockey league in taxpayers are paying eighty thousand euros a month for the electricity bills to. the hope all the sports facilities will continue to operate and that many people can use them if that happens then i'd be

happy as the person then shot shia to. but even keeping the lights on proved difficult. claims that all the apartments have been sold in pyongyang flatter to deceive there's not a single light in sight only darkness. there's more online on our website dot com ford slash asia and don't forget to check out the daily news on facebook too that's it for now for you next time to get back. here what's coming up on the going to sleep you have plenty to talk about a few more details. on this league every weekend here.

hey listen. that's what video game music sounded like thirty years ago. today's tracks take the experience to another level a sense to him composer no group going out soon. featured in. his music it's better to give you. sounds good. video game music starts feb twenty fifth on g.w. . is there a light at the end of the tunnel of tariffs negotiators from china and the us described last week's talks in beijing as constructive markets across asia boy and even another slump in china car sales i'm not spoil that part of. germany's skilled workers are getting older is a very german solution to that problem just give them some robot muscles to assist

say. this is t w business. alpha's in berlin welcome and apparent thought the trade dispute between the u.s. and china has lifted the mood across asia with optimistic comments from both sides after talks in beijing last week and another round scheduled this week stock markets across the region have risen on hopes of a timely end to the long running trade disputes the effect was felt across the region but china itself enjoyed the biggest benefit. they've been taking place at the highest level but even president she's involvement wasn't enough to finalize trade talks between the u.s. and china on friday however u.s. treasury secretary steven chu chin and trade representative robert like tai's his trip to beijing ended with a sense of real optimism with unanimity around the table that progress on key issues was made. good feeling on wall street on friday translated to the asian markets on my.