definitely around 20000000000 more. how do germany's wealthiest people. why do they keep searching for. snoop around to catch a glimpse of. her talking. to super rich starts to tell. god. this is news asia coming up on the program to protest against the rail system e.w. meets with activists in kazakhstan as they voice their dissent to the country's upcoming presidential election plus. north korean women trapped in sex slavery a recent report uncovers more information about those being sold across the border into china some as young as 12 years old.

i'm melissa chan this is news asia it's good to have you with us we begin today in kazakhstan central asia's largest country the oil rich nation sandwiched between russia and china is set to hold its presidential election on sunday and for the 1st time since the end of communism nursultan nazarbayev will not be on the ballot he will the country for 3 decades as an autocrat his supporters credit him with modernizing parts of the country and building its futuristic capital once known as a stana it was renamed earlier this year as nor sultan in his honor by this man interim president joe marte to kieth he is not to biased. handpick choice for the

job but activists are risking arrest to voice their dissent to a system they see as rigged and corrupt and we share when reports from kazakhstan's commercial capital. poetry and music begins to political repression sloc poetry collective is rehearsing a new piece it's a statement against political apathy though the young performers insist this is just art you're not you're. you're. is here to support the group the community activist was recently released from prison she was behind bars for 15 days for holding up a banner calling for free elections. any attempts to express your opinion are oppressed and stifled in kazakhstan through arrests and finds and many activists are being sent to serve in the army now this is all we have. we can only express

ourselves through our. what we know we have to do something rash that there is a demand for change among people a people's movement for change. fishing as. the presidential campaign is in full swing in kazakhstan there are 7 candidates on the ballot one more sort on the other by a step down as president in march he made close ally. interim president. is running on a platform of stability and continuity. by if was president here in kazakhstan for nearly 30 years and these are the 1st presidential elections without him the government is promising a free and fair ballot but observers say only by a hand picked successor really has a chance and that's our bias himself is still everywhere even in the street names despite stepping down as president he still has the title of leader of the nation the capital was recently. renamed nor sold tom in his honor still there's

a sense of excitement about the elections in the country it's just me i think right now is the moment to show that people can change something that's so we. can use the force of course we want to be optimistic and believe that things will get better now. the democratic democracy is an illusion yes some people are always in charge and we're just sure to go where we're told he. is hoping to attract the protest vote he's the 1st critical candidate to be registered in a cause like election for more than a decade from seriously when i think i have good chances because people are dissatisfied with the status quo and they see in other countries including informal soviet countries how new governments are electors and that there's nothing scary about it but many opposition activists say all the candidates are cooperating with

a corrupt system controlled by the ruling party some are even calling for a boycott on election day 2 lists of up plans to monitor the ballot with observers from the youth information service of kazakhstan so far not a single election in the country has been recognized as free and fair by the international community. i hope some day that the pressure from the people will force the government to acknowledge that we need to have real elections with independent candidates. that is the best case scenario. although doesn't believe these elections can be free and fair she is convinced her country is at a crossroads she hopes more young activists and artists will dare to speak out and unite to shape kazakhstan's future. joining us now is reed standish from your

sultan in kazakhstan he is foreign policy correspondent there read on the sliding scale of sham elections we see around the world help us contextualize where kazakhstan stands well nursultan nazarbayev has been in charge since 1909 when this was still part of the soviet union and in that span this country's never held an election that's been deemed free and fair by the o.s.c. or any other type of western organization in the past as are but as one of the actions by i'm real margins and he's faced off against no name candidates without any type of real competition. and the last 30 years he's also eliminated all organized opposition and has dismantled independent media in the country so now survived isn't only the head of the political system in this country he effectively is the political system in this country and that he's been the only real politician in the country at the same time so we're looking ahead at sunday's vote there's

very little reason to expect that things are going to end different the government has said that this is the country's most competitive election to date and they point to a judge an opposition candidate armories on because i know of who dave allowed to run this time around but his performance has been pretty heavily criticized a lot of activists here they see him as having pulled over the prime chairs during the campaign and that he's lent legitimacy to what they see as i'm fair vote if the outcome of the election is pre-determined there's going to be more of the same tell us what do people in kazakhstan want is there anything that they're unhappy with in the system. yeah i mean it's kind of a difficult thing to say exactly what kazik people think and want because you know there is really reliable data or independent polling in the country that should track people's political views or feelings for that model for that matter but the

election period and even the months before not surprised resignation in march it's a lot of protest and different types of of activism and classics that i so there's definitely anger in this country about what people see as states elections on sunday but over the last weeks you know i've also been able to travel around kazakstan quite a lip quite a bit and use different corners of the country and a lot of the conversations that i've had with ordinary people you know they're not very optimistic about the future they're very angry about corruption a lack of public services that are available to them there's been a lot of inflation that have hurt people's bank accounts and just in general a slowing economy so but of course i think it's important to note that one thing that's been different about this election is how loud people have been in showing those frustrations which doesn't always happen here read standish thank you moving on to north korea today we're turning our focus on the thousands of north

korean women trapped in a world of sex slavery prostitution and human trafficking a recent report by london based nonprofit estimates that the exploitation of north korean women in china generates profits of about $105000000.00 u.s. dollars a year for criminal networks these traffickers target women aged between 12 and 29 years old in china they're forced into marriage cybersex or prostitution chances of escape are slim china repatriates north koreans as a matter of policy and any return could mean imprisonment or execution even if the women were unwilling participants. for more we have michael glendening with us chief executive of the korea future initiative which produced to that report michael this has been going on for years now your team has a dollar figure on the size of this industry how is this happening undetected.

there is a complex an interconnected network of criminality in china resulting in the sale of north korean women and girls victims of prostitutes 1st as little as $4.00 but the sheer scale of this means it's not on the tech did every year thousands of north koreans leave the country the majority are women and many of those are trafficked but it's very very hard for them to be public about their experiences in china because china will arrest detain and you patry them. there's limits its international advocacy on the issue because one possible result of any kind of advocacy could be that there is that china response by clamping down on the border this would result in. a reduction in cross border treat and so many north korean families in the country are reliant on that trade for survival now help us clarify a little bit about something you said you said that the women come from north korea

and go to china are there's also a korean diaspora in china there are north koreans already in china where these women coming from from both groups. they're coming from north koreans are coming into china then they're mostly being targeted when they arrive in china and the human traffickers prey on these women and girls they approach them in the korean language with offers of food clothing it's cetera because these women can't tell the difference between friend and for for many are deceived by this and we're seeing. about 18 percent of those who'd be interviewed had experience being abducted or attempted abduction what help is available to these women unfortunately there's very little help for north korean women and girls who are stuck in china it is against the law to help the north koreans in china punishment

includes fines on imprisonment not cited the poor north koreans to north korea in violation of the refugee convention the danger of anyone stepping in to press the chinese government as i said before is the response might be to either to clamp down on. internet border trade or increase security to stop north koreans leaving there are small organizations including our own that help extract north koreans from china using safe houses and safe routes to bring them to a safe country but at the moment unfortunately still little very little is being done to to help them very interesting like a glendale thank you. thanks for watching there will actually be more on kazakhstan coming up on the asia business show be sure to check out our other stories on the dot com ford slash asia and on facebook or twitter we'll leave you on a lighter note since it's friday with pictures from china hong kong and taiwan it's

the dragon boat festival a 2000 year old holiday thanks for watching we'll see you next time goodbye. what secrets lie behind the smallest. find most of experience and exploring fascinating cultural heritage and science. d.w. world heritage 360 get down.

to the news. channel. goodbye no stood. with exclusive. must see concerning sharks closer to your a. place to be curious minds. do it yourself networkers. subscribers don't miss out on. the. globe's trade dispute will dominate this weekend's g 20 meeting of finance ministers in japan. the question is will the u.s. or china in a war they've both pledged to wager to them. this could be a win for beijing and consumers reports google may not cut off on the way smartphones from its operating system. kazakhstan wants to wean itself off

a sticky black stuff and become a key trading hub between china and europe. and the watch out state coming. conquering the coffee shop scene in south korea. and in physical and let's do business financial markets continue to wait for that elusive global trade war breakthrough u.s. treasury secretary steven minutiae to meet with people's bank of china governor. this weekend finance leaders from the world's industrialized nations a gathering in japan to be the 1st face to face discussions between key american and chinese trade negotiators in almost a month talks aimed at ending the tariff dispute broke down in early may since then acrimonious rhetoric and trade threats between beijing and washington have only increased u.s. president donald trump raising the stakes this week one small.

under a hang is our asia correspondent she's in singapore for us andrea.