doris grande guitars. joined the record on her journey back to freedom. in our interactive documentary. to bring you tame returns home on the w. dot com good times. this is news asia coming up on the program to protest against a rigged 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 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 ruled 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 star it was renamed earlier this year as nor sultan in his honor by this man interim president cost some joe marte to kieth he is not tobias 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 against political repression slow look like poetry collective is rehearsing a new piece it's a statement against political apathy though the young performers insist this is just art. you know you're. you're costs have told us of a 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 to be any attempts to express your opinion over oppressed and stifled in kazakhstan through arrests and fines and many activists are being sent to serve in the army now this is all we have. we can only express ourselves through our. we know we have to do something 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 if stepped down as president in march he made close ally. interim president now 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 of service say only by a hand a successor really has a chance and those are by it 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 saw tom in his honor still there's a sense of excitement about the elections in the country it's just me gusta. i

think right now is the moment to show that people can change something that's so we . can use the force of it is 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 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 c.s.c. and you would i think i have good chances because people are dissatisfied with the status quo and they see in other countries you concluding inform soviet countries how new governments are electors and that there's nothing scary about his courtship 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 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. so i hope some day that the pressure from the people will force the government to acknowledge that we need to have real elections with intervention candidates. that is the best case scenario. some way. although us had to listen but 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 as a buyer of 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 be different the government has said that this is the country's most competitive election to date

and they point to attach an opposition candidate armories on because i know of who dave allowed to run this time around but his performance has been pretty heavily criticised 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 saying can whine because you know there is really reliable data or independent polling in the country that check track people's political b.s. or our feelings for that matter that matter but the election period and even the months before and after by resignation in march it's a lot of protests and different types of activism and kazakstan so there's

definitely anger in this country about what people see at state elections on sunday but over the last week you know i've also been able to travel around kind of extend quite a little quite a bit and it's different corners of the country and a lot of the conversation but i've had with ordinary people you know they're not very optimistic about the future is 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 different about this election is how loud people have been and showing those frustrations which doesn't always happen here we 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 a 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 all 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 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 prostitute 1st as little as $4.00 but the sheer scale of this means it's not on the tech to 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 a china response by comping down on the border this would result in a reduction in cross border trait 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 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 cetera and 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 interviewed have experienced 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 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 their 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 michael glengall 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. earth. home. of species. the words if you. give me those are big changes and most start with small steps. to tell stories of could induce people and innovative projects around the world.

music producers to stop good news for submissions for stiction. interactive content teaching the next generation. to touch it. using the channels available to people to show and more determined to build something here for the next generation. the environment series of global $3000.00 on t.w. and online. 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 always smartphones from its

operating system. which kazakhstan wants to wean itself off the sticky black stuff and become a key trade between china and europe. and the watch outstay coming robot baristas a coffee shop seen in south korea. and been fizzling lets through business financial markets continue to wait for that elusive global trade war breakthrough u.s. treasury secretary steven minutiae is 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 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.