Last Updated: November 15, 2009 14:00 EST
Commentary by William Pesek
Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Heard about the next cold war?
It doesn’t involve Russia, China or even the forces of communism, but Japan. The nation’s new government is pulling away from the U.S. and telling officials in Washington what they can do with their policy ideas. At least that’s the impression one gets reading the media these days.
Don’t believe the hype. The theory that Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan is blowing off the U.S. is as fanciful as it is wrong. Those losing sleep over the state of this vital economic and security relationship aren’t thinking through how much Hatoyama needs Barack Obama, and vice versa.
The U.S.-Japan dynamic is indeed changing. Yet think of it more as evolution than confrontation. This story is about more than Tokyo and Washington. It’s about the rise of China and a vibrant region amid deepening U.S. troubles.
Look no further than Obama assuring Asia-Pacific leaders yesterday in Singapore that he’ll take “serious steps” to reduce a $1.42 trillion budget deficit that’s spooking world markets. Japan holds $731 billion of Treasuries, and the rest of Asia holds trillions more. The days of the U.S. lecturing Asia to emulate its policies are over. It’s now about reassuring creditors that the largest economy won’t let them down.
Neither, in the post-Lehman Brothers, post-Guantanamo Bay world, is the U.S.’s political clout what it once was. Ten years ago, a presidential visit to Asia was a show-stopper. Today, it often gets no more attention than Chinese leaders jetting in.
Dollar Concerns
Obama wants to rebuild influence after eight years of neglect under George W. Bush. As he swings through Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul, Obama is promising broader engagement in a region where countries have been forging partnerships that don’t include the U.S.
Many in Asia still want strong U.S. involvement as a counterweight to China, which next year may surpass Japan’s economy. They just don’t want the U.S. lecturing them.
“The size of China makes it impossible for the rest of Asia, including Japan and India, to match it in weight and capacity in about 20 to 30 years,” Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said in Washington last month. “So we need America to strike a balance.”
Those comments crystallized the thinking in many Asian capitals. China isn’t just attracting much of the world’s investment, but also getting much of the attention. Many observers have dropped the word “nascent” from descriptions of China as an economic superpower.
Long Way to Go
China still has a long way to go. It’s a developing nation that must continue raising living standards even as it maintains a weak currency, censors Google and limits human rights. The undervalued yuan is running afoul of the U.S. and Asian neighbors. Also, today’s stimulus efforts could be setting China up for a bad-loan crisis a few years from now.
Yet the drift of the Bush years was good to China. It allowed the third-biggest economy to go on a commodity-buying binge and score big points with developing nations with trade agreements and financial aid. Japan lost traction in Asia, too, as China’s growth trumped its return to deflation.
Japan was all but ignored during a recent panel discussion I chaired at Insead Business School in Singapore. When I mentioned Japan, the audience seemed decidedly uninterested. It seemed like a cue to pull out the Blackberrys or take a bathroom break. That’s become a common experience in this region.
Tuning Out Japan
It’s not clear Japan’s new leaders understand the extent to which investors are tuning out their economy. Here, increased focus on the region will help. It’s a logical and healthy shift, considering China is now Japan’s biggest trading partner.
The shift in Japan’s stance should come as no surprise and doesn’t necessarily bode poorly for the U.S. Japan is a stable democracy and the second-biggest economy -- why shouldn’t it seek a more equal relationship with the U.S.? A major failure of the Liberal Democratic Party, which until September ruled Japan almost uninterrupted for 54 years, was leaving the nation subservient to the will of Washington.
The LDP thought it could flex its muscles by being in lockstep with the U.S. and visiting Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which critics say glorifies Japan’s wartime militarism. Hatoyama is less interested in hollow gestures than real global clout and independence from the West.
Hatoyama’s campaign rhetoric raised expectations at home. That was amply on display last week in Okinawa, where 20,000 people took to the streets to protest America’s massive military presence as the U.S. and Japan reassess a half-century old security alliance.
That doesn’t mean Hatoyama’s DPJ can afford to lose Japan’s U.S. alliance. It would be a grave mistake in a region colored by North Korea’s nuclear weapons, China’s military ambitions and the continued importance of the U.S. consumer. You can already see signs Hatoyama and Obama are working to reduce temperature levels.
The relationship will change, as it should. Fears of a worsening rift between the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies just don’t stand up to realities on the ground.
(William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the writer of this column: William Pesek in Tokyo at wpesek@bloomberg.net
Monday, November 16, 2009
Gunman opens fire on 3 people in Yokohama, commits suicide
(Mainichi Japan) November 6, 2009
YOKOHAMA -- A gunman opened fire on three people on a street here on Friday afternoon, seriously injuring one of them, before barricading himself in an office and committing suicide, police said.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police said that the gunman, who identified himself as a gang member, suddenly fired at the three in front of a real estate company's office in Yokohama's Minami Ward at around 2:30 p.m. on Friday. All three were injured, one of them seriously.
The man was about 60 years old, and identified himself as Kenji Hayashi, a member of a gang affiliated with the Inagawa-kai yakuza group. He barricaded himself inside the office and later committed suicide.
The four were reportedly talking about the collection of a loan when the gunman shot the other three. The area where the shooting occurred is a residential district near Yoshinocho Station on the Yokohama Municipal Subway.
YOKOHAMA -- A gunman opened fire on three people on a street here on Friday afternoon, seriously injuring one of them, before barricading himself in an office and committing suicide, police said.
Kanagawa Prefectural Police said that the gunman, who identified himself as a gang member, suddenly fired at the three in front of a real estate company's office in Yokohama's Minami Ward at around 2:30 p.m. on Friday. All three were injured, one of them seriously.
The man was about 60 years old, and identified himself as Kenji Hayashi, a member of a gang affiliated with the Inagawa-kai yakuza group. He barricaded himself inside the office and later committed suicide.
The four were reportedly talking about the collection of a loan when the gunman shot the other three. The area where the shooting occurred is a residential district near Yoshinocho Station on the Yokohama Municipal Subway.
Gunman injures 3 near Tokyo, hides in building
(AP) – Nov 5, 2009
TOKYO — A fire department official says a gunman has shot and wounded three men before taking refuge in a building in Yokohama, south of the Japanese capital.
Media reports say one of the injured is in critical condition.
Ken Koide, a city fire department official in Yokohama, said Friday that the shooting took place in a residential area. He said authorities are investigating.
Guns are strictly controlled in Japan and shootings are rare.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
TOKYO — A fire department official says a gunman has shot and wounded three men before taking refuge in a building in Yokohama, south of the Japanese capital.
Media reports say one of the injured is in critical condition.
Ken Koide, a city fire department official in Yokohama, said Friday that the shooting took place in a residential area. He said authorities are investigating.
Guns are strictly controlled in Japan and shootings are rare.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
APEC urges new growth model, climate pact progress
APEC urges new growth model, climate pact progress
By ELAINE KURTENBACH (AP) – 1 day ago
SINGAPORE — Open trade and people-centered strategies are key for sustained, stable growth, President Barack Obama and Asia-Pacific leaders said Sunday, pledging to persist with stimulus spending until a global recovery is assured.
The leaders wrapped up the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum with a joint pledge to resist protectionism. They also endorsed policies to encourage more environmentally friendly growth that is "balanced, inclusive and sustainable, to ensure a durable recovery that will create jobs and benefit our people."
Growth led mainly by American consumption and borrowing and Chinese exports is not sustainable in the long term, Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, told reporters. Neither is relying on debt-backed stimulus spending to spur demand.
"We know that the old formulas are not going to work as well in the future because it's a different world," he said. "You have to find another balance."
But despite calls for faster progress in world trade talks and efforts to craft a worldwide global warming treaty, the leaders offered no specific, new initiatives for either one — typical of the forum's nonbinding nature.
The World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Initiative expressed disappointment that an earlier push for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 was omitted from the leaders' final statement.
"Leaders have to take the bull by the horns, and finally tackle the difficult questions, instead of constantly avoiding them," spokeswoman Diane McFadzien said in a statement.
The leaders, who met over breakfast to discuss global warming, committed only to working toward "an ambitious outcome" at climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month.
But Lee said he believed some countries were holding their cards for later. "This is not an occasion for negotiating climate change," he said.
The annual meeting of APEC, which was founded 20 years ago to promote closer economic ties in the diverse, wide-flung region, focused mainly on ways to ensure the recovery from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s takes hold and endures.
The overriding concern is to end imbalances in trade, investment and growth that are viewed as the underlying causes of the global financial meltdown.
"The intrinsic problems of the world economic system are yet to be solved at the source, and the effort to fully restore world economic growth is beset by uncertainties and destabilizing factors," Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a speech to fellow leaders Sunday.
"We should use the financial crisis as an opportunity to take a serious look at its root causes," said Hu, whose country expects growth of at least 8 percent this year and was widely credited by other APEC leaders with spearheading the global recovery.
Leaders pledged to pursue reforms that will "gradually unwind global imbalances," and also to put in place regulatory policies that will prevent credit and asset markets from becoming "forces of destabilization."
As it assessed progress on dismantling regional barriers to trade and investment, the group won backing for its long-term goal of creating a free-trade area covering all 21 APEC economies.
Underscoring the American commitment to a region increasingly dominated by China, now the world's third-largest economy and a growing political and military player, Obama announced Washington's interest in joining the Trans-Pacific free-trade partnership.
For now, the gesture is largely symbolic: the grouping now includes only four countries, and Obama's administration has put off work on free-trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama while it deals with domestic economic troubles and the war in Afghanistan, among other issues.
Washington is embroiled in disputes with China over trade in tires, steel and autos, among other products, and is pushing Beijing to loosen controls that it says keep the Chinese currency, the yuan, undervalued.
The yuan's weakness is unwelcome for many countries in the region that compete with Chinese export manufacturers. But the APEC leaders did not mention currency rates in their final statement, despite an earlier call by finance ministers for maintaining "market-oriented exchange rates."
Later Sunday, Obama headed to China, with a first stop in Shanghai, the mainland's commercial and financial capital.
Earlier, he joined a summit with all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including military-ruled Myanmar. In the unusual face-to-face encounter, Obama told Myanmar's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
A joint statement issued after the summit — the first ever between a U.S. president and ASEAN — devoted an entire paragraph to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.
It urged Myanmar to ensure that 2010 elections are "free, fair, inclusive and transparent," but did not call for the release of political prisoners.
Obama also announced that after next year's APEC forum in Yokohama, Japan, he will host the 2011 gathering in his native Hawaii.
"I look forward to seeing you all decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts," he told the leaders Sunday.
Associated Press writers Mark S. Smith, Vijay Joshi, Jim Gomez and Alex Kennedy contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
By ELAINE KURTENBACH (AP) – 1 day ago
SINGAPORE — Open trade and people-centered strategies are key for sustained, stable growth, President Barack Obama and Asia-Pacific leaders said Sunday, pledging to persist with stimulus spending until a global recovery is assured.
The leaders wrapped up the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum with a joint pledge to resist protectionism. They also endorsed policies to encourage more environmentally friendly growth that is "balanced, inclusive and sustainable, to ensure a durable recovery that will create jobs and benefit our people."
Growth led mainly by American consumption and borrowing and Chinese exports is not sustainable in the long term, Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, told reporters. Neither is relying on debt-backed stimulus spending to spur demand.
"We know that the old formulas are not going to work as well in the future because it's a different world," he said. "You have to find another balance."
But despite calls for faster progress in world trade talks and efforts to craft a worldwide global warming treaty, the leaders offered no specific, new initiatives for either one — typical of the forum's nonbinding nature.
The World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Initiative expressed disappointment that an earlier push for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 was omitted from the leaders' final statement.
"Leaders have to take the bull by the horns, and finally tackle the difficult questions, instead of constantly avoiding them," spokeswoman Diane McFadzien said in a statement.
The leaders, who met over breakfast to discuss global warming, committed only to working toward "an ambitious outcome" at climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month.
But Lee said he believed some countries were holding their cards for later. "This is not an occasion for negotiating climate change," he said.
The annual meeting of APEC, which was founded 20 years ago to promote closer economic ties in the diverse, wide-flung region, focused mainly on ways to ensure the recovery from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s takes hold and endures.
The overriding concern is to end imbalances in trade, investment and growth that are viewed as the underlying causes of the global financial meltdown.
"The intrinsic problems of the world economic system are yet to be solved at the source, and the effort to fully restore world economic growth is beset by uncertainties and destabilizing factors," Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a speech to fellow leaders Sunday.
"We should use the financial crisis as an opportunity to take a serious look at its root causes," said Hu, whose country expects growth of at least 8 percent this year and was widely credited by other APEC leaders with spearheading the global recovery.
Leaders pledged to pursue reforms that will "gradually unwind global imbalances," and also to put in place regulatory policies that will prevent credit and asset markets from becoming "forces of destabilization."
As it assessed progress on dismantling regional barriers to trade and investment, the group won backing for its long-term goal of creating a free-trade area covering all 21 APEC economies.
Underscoring the American commitment to a region increasingly dominated by China, now the world's third-largest economy and a growing political and military player, Obama announced Washington's interest in joining the Trans-Pacific free-trade partnership.
For now, the gesture is largely symbolic: the grouping now includes only four countries, and Obama's administration has put off work on free-trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama while it deals with domestic economic troubles and the war in Afghanistan, among other issues.
Washington is embroiled in disputes with China over trade in tires, steel and autos, among other products, and is pushing Beijing to loosen controls that it says keep the Chinese currency, the yuan, undervalued.
The yuan's weakness is unwelcome for many countries in the region that compete with Chinese export manufacturers. But the APEC leaders did not mention currency rates in their final statement, despite an earlier call by finance ministers for maintaining "market-oriented exchange rates."
Later Sunday, Obama headed to China, with a first stop in Shanghai, the mainland's commercial and financial capital.
Earlier, he joined a summit with all 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including military-ruled Myanmar. In the unusual face-to-face encounter, Obama told Myanmar's Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
A joint statement issued after the summit — the first ever between a U.S. president and ASEAN — devoted an entire paragraph to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.
It urged Myanmar to ensure that 2010 elections are "free, fair, inclusive and transparent," but did not call for the release of political prisoners.
Obama also announced that after next year's APEC forum in Yokohama, Japan, he will host the 2011 gathering in his native Hawaii.
"I look forward to seeing you all decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts," he told the leaders Sunday.
Associated Press writers Mark S. Smith, Vijay Joshi, Jim Gomez and Alex Kennedy contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Shades of Greece on the Inland Sea
By MANDY BARTOK
Special to The Japan Times
The windmill is the first thing I notice, its delicate white blades gleaming against the cloud- flecked sky. Nearby, a semi-circle of polished Doric-style columns occupies prime position overlooking the glassy sea. As a breeze blows gently through olive trees on the shady hillside, it's easy to imagine I've landed on some idyllic Greek isle.
Instead, this is Shodoshima (Shodo Island), at just 152 sq. km, the second-largest (after Awajishima) of more than 800 islands in Japan's Inland Sea, and the only one where commercial olive groves impart a taste of the Mediterranean.
Olives aren't indigenous to Japan, making the pale-green-leafed trees a somewhat anomalous site spread across the island's slopes. But Olive Park, an organic farm-cum-Greek theme park on Shodoshima's southern slopes facing the island of Shikoku, does a fine job of allowing visitors to trace — and taste — the story of this bountiful tree and how it came to take root in this part of the world.
While the decor can be a bit kitsch — with its large murals of olives and grapes decorating the buildings' interiors, and a statue of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry (equivalent to the Roman god Bacchus), greeting visitors to the gift shop — Olive Park is nevertheless one of Shodoshima's most successful attractions.
Around the hillside complex, a day-spa tempts with olive-oil facials and baths ornamented with faux Greek columns, while plant-lovers can wander through an inviting herb garden and a restaurant awaits to treat diners to a wide range of olive-themed dishes.
For those who just want to soak up the peaceful atmosphere and long-distance views, though, there are numerous walking paths on the sprawling grounds.
I start in the main building, lured by the tables of free samples of olives and olive oil, and soon find myself drawn into an engrossing history lesson.
"Olives arrived on the island as a result of Japan's love affair with seafood," explains Tomoaki Kinoshita, a staffer at Olive Park's museum, as he leads me around its small but well-prepared historical exhibit.
But rather than any unquenchable Japanese taste for tapenade, I learn that it was the annexation of Hokkaido in 1905, and the opening of its new and plentiful fishing grounds, that led to the importation of olive trees in the early 20th century. As sardines from the northern waters were soon being harvested and packaged in record numbers, factories began looking for ways to source olive oil — an excellent preservative for the salty fish — in their own backyard.
"Three places in Japan were selected as suitable for growing olives," Kinoshita explains, proudly showing me dessicated cuttings of the grove's first trees, which were gifts from the United States. Unfavorable conditions caused the failure of the plants in both Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyushu and Mie Prefecture on the Pacific coast of Honshu between Osaka and Nagoya. In contrast, the 519 trees planted on Shodoshima's hillsides here in Kagawa Prefecture — though afflicted with blight and parasites for the first few decades — eventually began to thrive. Indeed, olives even briefly eclipsed soy sauce, somen (thin wheatflour noodles), chrysanthemums and building stone as the island's prime earner.
Though the exodus of much of the island's younger generation and primary workforce led to a fall in olive production, Kinoshita says he feels that with the emphasis on organic food now sweeping the globe, a resurgence of Japan's olive business is just around the corner.
"We're very mindful today of how the olives are grown and picked," he says, stressing the park's use of traditional methods and tools. "No insecticides are sprayed on the leaves and all of the actual harvesting is done by hand."
The harvest, I learn, is a twofold process — the olives collected in September and October eventually make their way to customers as table snacks, while a later harvest lasting through December sources the island's much-prized olive oil. I sample a little of the latter on a nearby table, first letting the golden liquid soak into my slice of bread. It's delicious, though if I want it to feature in my future dinners, I had better stock up now, according to Kinoshita. The park's products are only sold either on the island or by mail order (domestic delivery only).
Still savoring the oil's rich taste, I step outside to wander among the celebrated trees, searching — at Kinoshita's suggestion — for heart-shaped leaves that bring good luck. In the spring months, the hillsides are a carpet of white, as millions of olive blossoms gleam in the island sun. It's the perfect tableau for a leisurely picnic . . . olive-themed, of course.
Shodoshima (which means Small Bean Island) is also known for its somen noodle production and soy sauce factory — though, as its old name of Azukishima makes clear, it's not soybeans its name refers to, but fruits of the azuki vine. With all this gastronomy at every turn, I'd originally planned a food-focused theme to my explorations. However, as a slave to the limited local bus timetable, the only afternoon route took me south — away from the other edible attractions — and along one of the island's many tiny peninsulas. At the end of a narrow byway, the bus reached journey's end on a small spit of land where a picture-perfect community hugs the coast.
The houses have never been lived in and the paths are as polished as the day they were laid, but the story behind this small village is real enough.
The model community served as a set for "Nijushi no Hitomi" ("Twenty-four Eyes"), a 1954 film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita based on a story by Shodoshima native Sakae Tsuboi that chronicles the lives of a local teacher and her 12 students from 1928 through World War II and beyond. The poignant film, widely lauded for its messages of peace and healing in postwar Japan, remains to this day a fixture in Japan's pantheon of classic movies.
Small exhibits detailing the life of Tsuboi and the story behind the making of the film are tucked into several of the period houses, while others act as the obligatory gift shops, bursting with old-fashioned toys, candies and others nostalgic items.
On the edge of the village sits the schoolhouse, just a few steps from the sandy beach. Inside, wooden desks crowd into the homey classroom, impeccably laid out in ordered rows. Prewar maps of Asia act as wallpaper on the back walls, while a dusty, decades-old movie camera stands at the ready. And through the windows, the aquamarine sea is visible — an ever-present part of life on Shodoshima.
As the public bus bounces back up the winding cliff road to meet the evening ferry, the sun begins its slow descent to the horizon, casting Shodoshima in the kind of soft warm glow usually reserved for an Aegean paradise. Greece may be thousands of miles away, but I've at least found a similar slice of heaven on my own doorstep.
Shodoshima is accessible via ferry from Osaka, Himeji, Okayama and Takamatsu. For an overview of ferry schedules and companies, visit www.town.shodoshima.lg.jp/en/ map a _access.html Local buses meet all incoming ferries; bus schedules are posted both on the ferries themselves and at the port. Buses run several times a day to Olive Park (open 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; admission to the museum and grounds is free) and the "Twenty-four Eyes" Movie Studio ("Nijushi no Hitomi" Eigamura; open 9 a.m.-5 p.m.).
Special to The Japan Times
The windmill is the first thing I notice, its delicate white blades gleaming against the cloud- flecked sky. Nearby, a semi-circle of polished Doric-style columns occupies prime position overlooking the glassy sea. As a breeze blows gently through olive trees on the shady hillside, it's easy to imagine I've landed on some idyllic Greek isle.
Instead, this is Shodoshima (Shodo Island), at just 152 sq. km, the second-largest (after Awajishima) of more than 800 islands in Japan's Inland Sea, and the only one where commercial olive groves impart a taste of the Mediterranean.
Olives aren't indigenous to Japan, making the pale-green-leafed trees a somewhat anomalous site spread across the island's slopes. But Olive Park, an organic farm-cum-Greek theme park on Shodoshima's southern slopes facing the island of Shikoku, does a fine job of allowing visitors to trace — and taste — the story of this bountiful tree and how it came to take root in this part of the world.
While the decor can be a bit kitsch — with its large murals of olives and grapes decorating the buildings' interiors, and a statue of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry (equivalent to the Roman god Bacchus), greeting visitors to the gift shop — Olive Park is nevertheless one of Shodoshima's most successful attractions.
Around the hillside complex, a day-spa tempts with olive-oil facials and baths ornamented with faux Greek columns, while plant-lovers can wander through an inviting herb garden and a restaurant awaits to treat diners to a wide range of olive-themed dishes.
For those who just want to soak up the peaceful atmosphere and long-distance views, though, there are numerous walking paths on the sprawling grounds.
I start in the main building, lured by the tables of free samples of olives and olive oil, and soon find myself drawn into an engrossing history lesson.
"Olives arrived on the island as a result of Japan's love affair with seafood," explains Tomoaki Kinoshita, a staffer at Olive Park's museum, as he leads me around its small but well-prepared historical exhibit.
But rather than any unquenchable Japanese taste for tapenade, I learn that it was the annexation of Hokkaido in 1905, and the opening of its new and plentiful fishing grounds, that led to the importation of olive trees in the early 20th century. As sardines from the northern waters were soon being harvested and packaged in record numbers, factories began looking for ways to source olive oil — an excellent preservative for the salty fish — in their own backyard.
"Three places in Japan were selected as suitable for growing olives," Kinoshita explains, proudly showing me dessicated cuttings of the grove's first trees, which were gifts from the United States. Unfavorable conditions caused the failure of the plants in both Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyushu and Mie Prefecture on the Pacific coast of Honshu between Osaka and Nagoya. In contrast, the 519 trees planted on Shodoshima's hillsides here in Kagawa Prefecture — though afflicted with blight and parasites for the first few decades — eventually began to thrive. Indeed, olives even briefly eclipsed soy sauce, somen (thin wheatflour noodles), chrysanthemums and building stone as the island's prime earner.
Though the exodus of much of the island's younger generation and primary workforce led to a fall in olive production, Kinoshita says he feels that with the emphasis on organic food now sweeping the globe, a resurgence of Japan's olive business is just around the corner.
"We're very mindful today of how the olives are grown and picked," he says, stressing the park's use of traditional methods and tools. "No insecticides are sprayed on the leaves and all of the actual harvesting is done by hand."
The harvest, I learn, is a twofold process — the olives collected in September and October eventually make their way to customers as table snacks, while a later harvest lasting through December sources the island's much-prized olive oil. I sample a little of the latter on a nearby table, first letting the golden liquid soak into my slice of bread. It's delicious, though if I want it to feature in my future dinners, I had better stock up now, according to Kinoshita. The park's products are only sold either on the island or by mail order (domestic delivery only).
Still savoring the oil's rich taste, I step outside to wander among the celebrated trees, searching — at Kinoshita's suggestion — for heart-shaped leaves that bring good luck. In the spring months, the hillsides are a carpet of white, as millions of olive blossoms gleam in the island sun. It's the perfect tableau for a leisurely picnic . . . olive-themed, of course.
Shodoshima (which means Small Bean Island) is also known for its somen noodle production and soy sauce factory — though, as its old name of Azukishima makes clear, it's not soybeans its name refers to, but fruits of the azuki vine. With all this gastronomy at every turn, I'd originally planned a food-focused theme to my explorations. However, as a slave to the limited local bus timetable, the only afternoon route took me south — away from the other edible attractions — and along one of the island's many tiny peninsulas. At the end of a narrow byway, the bus reached journey's end on a small spit of land where a picture-perfect community hugs the coast.
The houses have never been lived in and the paths are as polished as the day they were laid, but the story behind this small village is real enough.
The model community served as a set for "Nijushi no Hitomi" ("Twenty-four Eyes"), a 1954 film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita based on a story by Shodoshima native Sakae Tsuboi that chronicles the lives of a local teacher and her 12 students from 1928 through World War II and beyond. The poignant film, widely lauded for its messages of peace and healing in postwar Japan, remains to this day a fixture in Japan's pantheon of classic movies.
Small exhibits detailing the life of Tsuboi and the story behind the making of the film are tucked into several of the period houses, while others act as the obligatory gift shops, bursting with old-fashioned toys, candies and others nostalgic items.
On the edge of the village sits the schoolhouse, just a few steps from the sandy beach. Inside, wooden desks crowd into the homey classroom, impeccably laid out in ordered rows. Prewar maps of Asia act as wallpaper on the back walls, while a dusty, decades-old movie camera stands at the ready. And through the windows, the aquamarine sea is visible — an ever-present part of life on Shodoshima.
As the public bus bounces back up the winding cliff road to meet the evening ferry, the sun begins its slow descent to the horizon, casting Shodoshima in the kind of soft warm glow usually reserved for an Aegean paradise. Greece may be thousands of miles away, but I've at least found a similar slice of heaven on my own doorstep.
Shodoshima is accessible via ferry from Osaka, Himeji, Okayama and Takamatsu. For an overview of ferry schedules and companies, visit www.town.shodoshima.lg.jp/en/ map a _access.html Local buses meet all incoming ferries; bus schedules are posted both on the ferries themselves and at the port. Buses run several times a day to Olive Park (open 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; admission to the museum and grounds is free) and the "Twenty-four Eyes" Movie Studio ("Nijushi no Hitomi" Eigamura; open 9 a.m.-5 p.m.).
Gigantor, a 59-foot tall monument, is now awaiting you in Kobe!
A giant robot from a classic Japanese cartoon emerged in Kobe this year. Tetsujin 28-go (the iron man number 28), known as Gigantor in the US, was created in 1956 by Mitsuteru Yokohama, the pioneer of the Japanese robot series, and released to a TV anime series in 1963. The Tetsujin has been the iconic Japanese anime robot, and its popularity has spread generations and nationalities. Its rather primitive and toy-like design and across mild facial expression indicate the early concept of a fighting robot for a manga series, but these charms remain endearing, inspiring the non-profit organization KOBE Tetsujin Project a 59-foot tall monument of the Tetsujin, which was completed on October 4, 2009. The robot was installed in Wakamatsu Park in Kobe City.
Turbulent climate talks
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
EDITORIAL
Clouds are hanging over current negotiations leading up to the 15th, 192-nation U.N. Climate Change Conference scheduled to be held in Copenhagen Dec. 7-18 for the purpose of adopting a global framework for curbing greenhouse gas emissions from 2013. The Kyoto Protocol now in effect will expire in 2012.
There is a schism between developed and developing countries over specific responsibility for greenhouse-gas emission cuts and technological transfers and financial aid to developing countries to help them curb emissions. Developing countries are calling on developed countries to commit themselves to deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
Negotiations are so tortuous that Mr. Yvo De Boer, executive director of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, reportedly said it will be "physically impossible under any scenario to complete every detail of a treaty in Copenhagen."
Developed countries have emitted large amounts of CO2 by burning coal and oil since the Industrial Revolution. In recent decades, developing countries also have started using large amounts of fossil fuels for their economic development.
China, now the No. 1 emitter, and the United States, the No. 2 emitter, are responsible for 41 percent of the global emissions. Without their participation, the new framework will have little impact. Both developing and developed nations should remember the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." At the July summit in Italy, the Group of Eight industrialized nations agreed on the need for developed countries to reduce emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050 in order to limit average global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. This is taken to mean that they must reduce emissions 25 percent or more from 1990 levels by 2020.
Although Japan accounts for only 4 percent of the global emissions, it can play a constructive role by working out details of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's pledge to cut emissions 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and to extend technological and financial assistance to developing countries as leverage to advance the negotiations. At home, Mr. Hatoyama is urged to immediately spell out concrete measures to curb emissions.
EDITORIAL
Clouds are hanging over current negotiations leading up to the 15th, 192-nation U.N. Climate Change Conference scheduled to be held in Copenhagen Dec. 7-18 for the purpose of adopting a global framework for curbing greenhouse gas emissions from 2013. The Kyoto Protocol now in effect will expire in 2012.
There is a schism between developed and developing countries over specific responsibility for greenhouse-gas emission cuts and technological transfers and financial aid to developing countries to help them curb emissions. Developing countries are calling on developed countries to commit themselves to deep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.
Negotiations are so tortuous that Mr. Yvo De Boer, executive director of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, reportedly said it will be "physically impossible under any scenario to complete every detail of a treaty in Copenhagen."
Developed countries have emitted large amounts of CO2 by burning coal and oil since the Industrial Revolution. In recent decades, developing countries also have started using large amounts of fossil fuels for their economic development.
China, now the No. 1 emitter, and the United States, the No. 2 emitter, are responsible for 41 percent of the global emissions. Without their participation, the new framework will have little impact. Both developing and developed nations should remember the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." At the July summit in Italy, the Group of Eight industrialized nations agreed on the need for developed countries to reduce emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050 in order to limit average global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. This is taken to mean that they must reduce emissions 25 percent or more from 1990 levels by 2020.
Although Japan accounts for only 4 percent of the global emissions, it can play a constructive role by working out details of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's pledge to cut emissions 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and to extend technological and financial assistance to developing countries as leverage to advance the negotiations. At home, Mr. Hatoyama is urged to immediately spell out concrete measures to curb emissions.
Remains of artificial pond discovered around ancient capital of Tohoku region
(Mainichi Japan) November 15, 2009
TAGAJO, Miyagi -- Archaeologists have discovered what appears to be traces of an artificial pond 400 meters in circumference here, part of an ornamental garden dating back to the Nara or Heian periods.
The area, where the ruins of Taga Castle are located, was the former capital of the Tohoku region. The pond, measuring around 130 by 100 meters, appears to have been created by a wood and stone dike -- the remains of which have been unearthed near the ancient government office's south gate road.
The site dates back to between the late 8th and late 9th century, judging from geological samples and artifacts found.
The dike appears to have been constructed by shoring up a wooden picket fence with earth, with paving stones laid on top. Located in the swampy Konoike area, the new discovery raises the likelihood that the pond was artificial.
TAGAJO, Miyagi -- Archaeologists have discovered what appears to be traces of an artificial pond 400 meters in circumference here, part of an ornamental garden dating back to the Nara or Heian periods.
The area, where the ruins of Taga Castle are located, was the former capital of the Tohoku region. The pond, measuring around 130 by 100 meters, appears to have been created by a wood and stone dike -- the remains of which have been unearthed near the ancient government office's south gate road.
The site dates back to between the late 8th and late 9th century, judging from geological samples and artifacts found.
The dike appears to have been constructed by shoring up a wooden picket fence with earth, with paving stones laid on top. Located in the swampy Konoike area, the new discovery raises the likelihood that the pond was artificial.
Fat-trimmers target Kansai airport grants
The Japan Times: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
Kyodo News
A government panel charged with cutting waste sought Monday to freeze grants to debt-laden Kansai International Airport until a new bailout plan is worked out, as part of the panel's efforts to sort out overspending in ministries' budget requests for fiscal 2010.
Rather than green-light the proposed ¥16 billion in grants to help lower high landing fees at the Osaka Prefecture-based airport, which is saddled with more than ¥1 trillion in interest-bearing debts, the Government Revitalization Unit demanded that demand-boosting measures be devised, such as a review of the roles played by the Kansai region's three airports.
On the fourth day of its nine-day, open-door investigation that started last Wednesday, the panel also called for cutting about 10 percent from the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry's ¥42.5 billion request for projects to maintain local airports.
The panel likewise recommended the ministry's ¥6.7 billion request for its noise-reduction and other improvement projects for areas around airports be cut by 10 percent to 20 percent.
The proposal, however, drew a mixed reaction. Senior vice transport minister Sumio Mabuchi said the ministry will continue to request that the Finance Ministry earmark funds for the grants next fiscal year, which starts April 1.
Kansai International Airport Co. President Shinichi Fukushima expressed disappointment with the panel's verdict, while Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto said it would be good for the Kansai region in the long run.
The panel, comprising lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and outside experts, also called for cuts of around 10 percent to the transport ministry's ¥42.5 billion request for projects to maintain local airports.
The panel's three working groups screened 24 projects Monday, including welfare, education and agricultural projects.
They proposed cutting ¥300 million in requested subsidies by as much as a half for training teachers when they renew their licenses, in view of the administration's desire to scrap the teaching license renewal system.
The panel also said the education ministry's ¥2 billion vocational training program should be delegated to local governments.
(C) All rights reserved
Kyodo News
A government panel charged with cutting waste sought Monday to freeze grants to debt-laden Kansai International Airport until a new bailout plan is worked out, as part of the panel's efforts to sort out overspending in ministries' budget requests for fiscal 2010.
Rather than green-light the proposed ¥16 billion in grants to help lower high landing fees at the Osaka Prefecture-based airport, which is saddled with more than ¥1 trillion in interest-bearing debts, the Government Revitalization Unit demanded that demand-boosting measures be devised, such as a review of the roles played by the Kansai region's three airports.
On the fourth day of its nine-day, open-door investigation that started last Wednesday, the panel also called for cutting about 10 percent from the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry's ¥42.5 billion request for projects to maintain local airports.
The panel likewise recommended the ministry's ¥6.7 billion request for its noise-reduction and other improvement projects for areas around airports be cut by 10 percent to 20 percent.
The proposal, however, drew a mixed reaction. Senior vice transport minister Sumio Mabuchi said the ministry will continue to request that the Finance Ministry earmark funds for the grants next fiscal year, which starts April 1.
Kansai International Airport Co. President Shinichi Fukushima expressed disappointment with the panel's verdict, while Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto said it would be good for the Kansai region in the long run.
The panel, comprising lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and outside experts, also called for cuts of around 10 percent to the transport ministry's ¥42.5 billion request for projects to maintain local airports.
The panel's three working groups screened 24 projects Monday, including welfare, education and agricultural projects.
They proposed cutting ¥300 million in requested subsidies by as much as a half for training teachers when they renew their licenses, in view of the administration's desire to scrap the teaching license renewal system.
The panel also said the education ministry's ¥2 billion vocational training program should be delegated to local governments.
(C) All rights reserved
Is Barack Obama going to apologise for Hiroshima?
There was an interesting moment during Barack Obama’s visit to Japan when a reporter from Fuji Television asked him whether he would visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, something no American president has done. Obama responded:
We share, I think, a vision of a world without nuclear weapons. We recognize, though, that this is a distant goal that will not be reached probably even in our own lifetimes. Obviously Japan has unique perspective on the issue of nuclear weapons as a consequence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that, I’m sure, helps to motivate the prime minister’s deep interest in this issue. I certainly would be honored, it would be meaningful for me to visit those two cities in the future. I don’t have immediate travel plans but it’s something that would be meaningful to me.
Watch video of his answer here.
While Obama dodged the part of the question about whether he thought it was right or not to drop the bombs, he made it pretty clear that he is inclined to go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his presidency. Note the formulation, used twice, that it “would be meaningful for me” – not meaningful for America or in the country’s or even the world’s interests but “meaningful for me”.
In his Prague speech in April, Obama referred to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by stating that “as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act” to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
By linking the current nuclear issue with the events of 1945, Obama is treading on very dangerous political territory. The Left, of course, would love him to apologise or express regret for President Harry Truman’s decision. He would be lauded around the world for doing so. Maybe he’d be given another Nobel Peace Prize.
But any such sentiments would cause enormous resentment amongst those whose relatives were killed at Pearl Harbor or in the Pacific – and potentially anyone of the Second World War generation who felt that their lives were saved by Truman’s actions. As Don Surber points out, it would be seen as a “slap in the face” to the Greatest Generation.
It would be hard to see how Obama could go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki without offering something that would be construed as an apology for dropping the atom bomb. And even if he – in classic Obama style – tried to “balance” this by stating that Pearl Harbor was an atrocious act and the Japanese were guilty of war crimes in the Pacific etc etc then that would make very little difference to the net effect domestically.
As HotAir’s Madison Conservative puts it, this would be seen as the “cherry on a weakness sundae”.
We share, I think, a vision of a world without nuclear weapons. We recognize, though, that this is a distant goal that will not be reached probably even in our own lifetimes. Obviously Japan has unique perspective on the issue of nuclear weapons as a consequence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that, I’m sure, helps to motivate the prime minister’s deep interest in this issue. I certainly would be honored, it would be meaningful for me to visit those two cities in the future. I don’t have immediate travel plans but it’s something that would be meaningful to me.
Watch video of his answer here.
While Obama dodged the part of the question about whether he thought it was right or not to drop the bombs, he made it pretty clear that he is inclined to go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his presidency. Note the formulation, used twice, that it “would be meaningful for me” – not meaningful for America or in the country’s or even the world’s interests but “meaningful for me”.
In his Prague speech in April, Obama referred to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by stating that “as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act” to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
By linking the current nuclear issue with the events of 1945, Obama is treading on very dangerous political territory. The Left, of course, would love him to apologise or express regret for President Harry Truman’s decision. He would be lauded around the world for doing so. Maybe he’d be given another Nobel Peace Prize.
But any such sentiments would cause enormous resentment amongst those whose relatives were killed at Pearl Harbor or in the Pacific – and potentially anyone of the Second World War generation who felt that their lives were saved by Truman’s actions. As Don Surber points out, it would be seen as a “slap in the face” to the Greatest Generation.
It would be hard to see how Obama could go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki without offering something that would be construed as an apology for dropping the atom bomb. And even if he – in classic Obama style – tried to “balance” this by stating that Pearl Harbor was an atrocious act and the Japanese were guilty of war crimes in the Pacific etc etc then that would make very little difference to the net effect domestically.
As HotAir’s Madison Conservative puts it, this would be seen as the “cherry on a weakness sundae”.
Special Report on Russia: The long arm of the state
Nov 27th 2008
From The Economist print edition
The financial crisis may lead to renationalisation by stealth
EVEN to someone who has never been to Yekaterinburg, a large industrial city in the Urals, the changes are obvious. Shiny towers of metal and glass have shot up everywhere without order or design, pushing aside historic buildings and making the Soviet-era apartment blocks look even grimmer. At night cranes are lit up like Christmas trees. At eight in the morning heavy traffic, mostly of foreign-made cars, chokes streets that still bear Soviet names. The city’s ultra-modern airport makes Moscow’s look shabby.
Yekaterinburg, traditionally the centre of the mining and metal-bashing industry, is a microcosm of Russia’s economy. Until recently it has been flush with money, mostly from natural resources and cheap credit, spent in sprawling supermarkets, restaurants and car dealerships. Oil, gas and metals make up around 80% of Russia’s exports, and until recently their prices were rising fast. For the past five years the economy has been growing at about 7% a year. Measured in dollars the rise has been much faster. Some of this money has been stashed away into a stabilisation fund, but a large portion has been fuelling an unprecedented consumer boom. Real incomes have more than doubled since 1999 and the growth in retailing has averaged 12% a year.
In a country so long starved of good restaurants, hotels and shops, it was natural that consumers should take a lead role, says Andrei Illarionov, a former economic adviser to Vladimir Putin and now one of his fiercest critics. Besides, there is so much uncertainty around that most people would rather spend than save.
But there has been plenty of capital investment too, though mostly in extractive industries. Fixed investment last year rose by a record 21% on the year before, although it remains relatively low.
Private initiative, freed up by the market reforms of the 1990s, became the main force behind Russia’s economic recovery after the 1998 crisis. Growth was particularly strong in sectors that were not weighed down by any Soviet legacy, such as mobile telecoms. But private ownership was also transforming Soviet-era behemoths.
Proud to be private
One example is Uralelectromed, a large copper producer in the Urals, which is partly owned by Andrei Kozitsyn. In the past five years the company’s revenues have tripled. It has used the money to install a new production line, along with the latest American equipment. To add value, it has begun to produce high-quality wire, which it exports to Europe. “We had to be competitive, otherwise we were meaningless,” says Mr Kozitsyn. Having started as a worker in the factory, he rose to the top because he wanted to be in business. But these days, he says, young people prefer bureaucratic careers.
Tax revenues from his industry provide about 40% of the Ural region’s budget. But the government has used the money to pay higher salaries to its employees, recruit more of them and renovate offices rather than build new roads and railway lines, which companies like Uralelectromed badly need.
Crucially, the government failed to use the good times to diversify the economy, clean up its banking system, reform capital markets, strengthen property rights and establish the rule of law. As long as the oil price was going up, nothing that Russia did—from the overt expropriation of Yukos, a giant Russian oil company, to forcing foreign oil companies out of production-sharing agreements—seemed to stop the flow of money into the Russian stockmarket. The job of raising capital was outsourced to foreign banks and capital markets. They lent money to state companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft whose debts were implicitly backed by the government.
This uncontrolled corporate borrowing undid the government’s success at repaying state debt, building up foreign-exchange reserves and setting up a stabilisation fund in which to accumulate some of the oil revenues. At the end of June Russia’s total external debt was $527 billion. Its total reserves in November were $475 billion.
Mr Putin boasted that the net inflow of capital had reached $80 billion last year and total foreign investment had risen to 9% of Russia’s GDP. But only a quarter of this was foreign direct investment; the rest came in the form of loans and portfolio investments. As Kirill Rogov of the Institute of Economy in Transition, a think-tank, explains, this reflected the strength of Russia’s reserves and the weakness of its investment climate. Whereas other emerging economies were fighting tooth and nail for direct investment, Russia was borrowing cheaply instead, he says.
When the world economy started to wobble, the government increased its spending by 40% to boost consumption, says Evgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at Troika Dialog, an investment bank. With demand outpacing supply, the Russian economy started to overheat. Inflation topped 15% during the summer. Held back by red tape, the strong rouble and weak property rights, Russian industrial production grew by 5.4% in the first nine months of this year and imports in the same period shot up by 42%. Yekaterinburg is full of department stores, but hardly anything that is sold in them is produced around there. What is made locally is tanks, exports of which did go up last year.
Even as the Russian stockmarket went into a nosedive, Mr Putin insisted that Russia had escaped the financial crisis. On September 13th, in an interview with France’s Le Figaro, he gloated: “We did not have a crisis of liquidity; we did not have a mortgage crisis [like America or Europe]. We did not have it, we escaped it.”
When the music stopped
But when the oil price started to fall, foreign banks stopped lending and money began to flow out of Russia, it became clear that the economy was more vulnerable and more highly leveraged than many investors had wanted to believe. The cranes in Yekaterinburg, and in many other Russian cities, are now standing idle. Production lines have ground to a halt and metal companies and carmakers have begun to sack workers.
The fall in the stockmarket mattered because Russian firms had borrowed heavily against their shares and faced margin calls from their foreign creditors. Mr Illarionov says this is a “standard” credit and liquidity crisis rather than a budget crisis. Compared with many other countries Russia still has plenty of cash, even if its reserves are dwindling at a worrying rate. Leaving aside the recent spending spree, the country’s overall macroeconomic policy has been sensible. For the past eight years the government has been running budget and current-account surpluses. If growth were to slow down to 3% next year, as some analysts predict, that would still be more than in most countries.
Eyevine
All quiet now in YekaterinburgIgor Shuvalov, the first deputy prime minister, puts a brave face on it: “High oil prices corrupted us, inflated our expenditure and distorted our economy. If this crisis had not happened now, by 2011 the quality of credit portfolios would have been much worse. So it is a blessing. Now we can start the real project, to develop domestic industry and the financial sector.”
In essence Russia’s problems are political, not economic. “We have come to this crisis well prepared,” says Yegor Gaidar, a former prime minister and architect of Russia’s post-Soviet economy. “But now we need to stop nationalising companies and cut down on populism. You can make any argument for nationalisation, but when Russia started to nationalise its oil industry production stopped growing.”
Russia may also need to devalue the rouble. The central bank recently allowed it to depreciate slightly against a basket of currencies, but it still intervenes in the market to defend it. Politically a strong rouble has become a proxy for a resurging Russia and devaluing it or letting it float would hurt Mr Putin’s reputation.
As Mr Rogov explains, it would do no harm if Russia’s highly leveraged oligarchs were to hand over their stakes to foreign creditors, but the Kremlin would not allow this. The risk is that instead of clearing the system and promoting the most efficient firms, the crisis is helping the least efficient. The government is already introducing protectionist measures.
“The crisis itself is less grave than the potential consequences of the government’s actions in solving it,” says Andrei Sharonov, a former deputy economics minister who now works in the private sector. The government has earmarked a total of more than $200 billion for various rescue measures, which as a proportion of GDP is almost three times what the Americans are spending. But in contrast to America, there is little public scrutiny of what the money goes on. The first victims to be rescued by the government were two banks said to be closely linked to senior government officials.
To unblock the banking system, the government deposited $50 billion in three banks, two of which are state-linked. The third used to be controlled by Gazprom and is now owned mostly by private individuals. The idea was that the banks would inject liquidity into the system, but in the event they did not lend the money on to other banks, so now the government decides whom they should lend to.
Another $50 billion of the rescue money was earmarked for bailing out “strategic” companies. At the front of the queue were Russia’s largest oil and gas companies, including the state-controlled Gazprom and Rosneft. Igor Sechin, the powerful deputy prime minister in charge of energy, seems to have promised $9 billion of government money to energy companies. Half of it will go to Rosneft, which has a debt of $20 billion that goes back to its controversial takeover of the Yukos oil company. Mr Sechin is also the chairman of Rosneft and, says Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former boss of Yukos (and now in jail), the man who destroyed his company.
Next came electricity companies, carmakers and anyone else who could think of a good reason to ask for help. As one Russian oligarch observed, a lot of people in the Kremlin would like to take back the companies that were privatised in the 1990s. Back then the oligarchs lent money to the cash-strapped state and got assets at knock-down prices in return. Now it is the companies that are in debt, whereas the state is cash-rich and can buy the assets back cheaply. To make them even cheaper, government officials publicly threaten companies or dig out old charges against them, as Mr Sechin has recently done with one of Russia’s largest fertiliser producers.
The crisis has also changed the behaviour of private firms. In the past the market pushed them to improve their governance, but now they are encouraged to look towards the state, says Roland Nash of Renaissance Capital.
Mr Shuvalov admits that some private assets might end up in state hands, but he insists that the government does not intend to keep them. The question is how, and to whom, these assets will be sold. Nationalising businesses is risky in any country, but in Russia, with its weak institutions and powerful Kremlin clans, it is almost certain to lead to a redistribution of property to the ruling elite, mainly past and present members of the security services, collectively known as siloviki, or hard men.
Neither one thing nor the other
The new entities that could emerge from the crisis may be neither state nor private, says Mr Rogov, but the worst of both worlds: opaque, quasi-state firms run by people affiliated with the Kremlin. One model for this form of ownership is a privately controlled subsidiary of a state-controlled company. Another is something called a “state corporation”.
One example is Russian Technologies, run by Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB officer and a friend of Mr Putin’s from the 1980s when the two served together in East Germany. Until last year Mr Chemezov was in charge of a state arms-trading monopoly, which did not stop him from taking over a successful private titanium business and a car factory. This year his empire, now under the umbrella of Russian Technologies, has grown even further. State corporations’ assets, Mr Chemezov once said, “are neither state not private”; they are “state commerce”.
He has successfully lobbied for the inclusion in Russian Technologies of some 420 mostly state-controlled companies, some of which—such as airlines or property—seem to have little to do with the corporation’s declared aim of promoting technology. Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s finance minister, noted that giving Russian Technologies all these assets would amount to “a covert privatisation and the loss of control over how the proceeds are spent”. But his words fell on deaf ears.
Another state corporation is based on Vneshekonombank (VEB), which is meant to be bailing out Russian firms that need to refinance their foreign debt. The committee that decides on the bail-outs is chaired by Mr Putin himself. VEB has recently lent $4.5 billion, well above its supposed limit, to Rusal, a company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminium tycoon, so he could repay a foreign loan backed by 25% of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest nickel producer. In return VEB will include government officials in the company’s management and board. But even before the crisis Norilsk Nickel’s controlling shareholder, Vladimir Potanin, one of the most politically savvy oligarchs, had put a former KGB officer in charge of the company—to be on the safe side.
The projection of KGB power in Russia’s politics and economy has been a guiding principle of Mr Putin’s period in office. In the past the siloviki often had to rely on tax inspectors or the Federal Security Service (FSB) to get hold of assets. Now the crisis is creating new opportunities for what Mr Illarionov calls the “KGB-isation of the economy”. The result, he explains, could be a new, highly monopolistic system, based on a peculiar state-private partnership in which the profits are privatised by Kremlin friends and debts are nationalised. This will not take Russia back to a state-run economy, but it is likely to shift it further towards a corporatist state.
From The Economist print edition
The financial crisis may lead to renationalisation by stealth
EVEN to someone who has never been to Yekaterinburg, a large industrial city in the Urals, the changes are obvious. Shiny towers of metal and glass have shot up everywhere without order or design, pushing aside historic buildings and making the Soviet-era apartment blocks look even grimmer. At night cranes are lit up like Christmas trees. At eight in the morning heavy traffic, mostly of foreign-made cars, chokes streets that still bear Soviet names. The city’s ultra-modern airport makes Moscow’s look shabby.
Yekaterinburg, traditionally the centre of the mining and metal-bashing industry, is a microcosm of Russia’s economy. Until recently it has been flush with money, mostly from natural resources and cheap credit, spent in sprawling supermarkets, restaurants and car dealerships. Oil, gas and metals make up around 80% of Russia’s exports, and until recently their prices were rising fast. For the past five years the economy has been growing at about 7% a year. Measured in dollars the rise has been much faster. Some of this money has been stashed away into a stabilisation fund, but a large portion has been fuelling an unprecedented consumer boom. Real incomes have more than doubled since 1999 and the growth in retailing has averaged 12% a year.
In a country so long starved of good restaurants, hotels and shops, it was natural that consumers should take a lead role, says Andrei Illarionov, a former economic adviser to Vladimir Putin and now one of his fiercest critics. Besides, there is so much uncertainty around that most people would rather spend than save.
But there has been plenty of capital investment too, though mostly in extractive industries. Fixed investment last year rose by a record 21% on the year before, although it remains relatively low.
Private initiative, freed up by the market reforms of the 1990s, became the main force behind Russia’s economic recovery after the 1998 crisis. Growth was particularly strong in sectors that were not weighed down by any Soviet legacy, such as mobile telecoms. But private ownership was also transforming Soviet-era behemoths.
Proud to be private
One example is Uralelectromed, a large copper producer in the Urals, which is partly owned by Andrei Kozitsyn. In the past five years the company’s revenues have tripled. It has used the money to install a new production line, along with the latest American equipment. To add value, it has begun to produce high-quality wire, which it exports to Europe. “We had to be competitive, otherwise we were meaningless,” says Mr Kozitsyn. Having started as a worker in the factory, he rose to the top because he wanted to be in business. But these days, he says, young people prefer bureaucratic careers.
Tax revenues from his industry provide about 40% of the Ural region’s budget. But the government has used the money to pay higher salaries to its employees, recruit more of them and renovate offices rather than build new roads and railway lines, which companies like Uralelectromed badly need.
Crucially, the government failed to use the good times to diversify the economy, clean up its banking system, reform capital markets, strengthen property rights and establish the rule of law. As long as the oil price was going up, nothing that Russia did—from the overt expropriation of Yukos, a giant Russian oil company, to forcing foreign oil companies out of production-sharing agreements—seemed to stop the flow of money into the Russian stockmarket. The job of raising capital was outsourced to foreign banks and capital markets. They lent money to state companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft whose debts were implicitly backed by the government.
This uncontrolled corporate borrowing undid the government’s success at repaying state debt, building up foreign-exchange reserves and setting up a stabilisation fund in which to accumulate some of the oil revenues. At the end of June Russia’s total external debt was $527 billion. Its total reserves in November were $475 billion.
Mr Putin boasted that the net inflow of capital had reached $80 billion last year and total foreign investment had risen to 9% of Russia’s GDP. But only a quarter of this was foreign direct investment; the rest came in the form of loans and portfolio investments. As Kirill Rogov of the Institute of Economy in Transition, a think-tank, explains, this reflected the strength of Russia’s reserves and the weakness of its investment climate. Whereas other emerging economies were fighting tooth and nail for direct investment, Russia was borrowing cheaply instead, he says.
When the world economy started to wobble, the government increased its spending by 40% to boost consumption, says Evgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at Troika Dialog, an investment bank. With demand outpacing supply, the Russian economy started to overheat. Inflation topped 15% during the summer. Held back by red tape, the strong rouble and weak property rights, Russian industrial production grew by 5.4% in the first nine months of this year and imports in the same period shot up by 42%. Yekaterinburg is full of department stores, but hardly anything that is sold in them is produced around there. What is made locally is tanks, exports of which did go up last year.
Even as the Russian stockmarket went into a nosedive, Mr Putin insisted that Russia had escaped the financial crisis. On September 13th, in an interview with France’s Le Figaro, he gloated: “We did not have a crisis of liquidity; we did not have a mortgage crisis [like America or Europe]. We did not have it, we escaped it.”
When the music stopped
But when the oil price started to fall, foreign banks stopped lending and money began to flow out of Russia, it became clear that the economy was more vulnerable and more highly leveraged than many investors had wanted to believe. The cranes in Yekaterinburg, and in many other Russian cities, are now standing idle. Production lines have ground to a halt and metal companies and carmakers have begun to sack workers.
The fall in the stockmarket mattered because Russian firms had borrowed heavily against their shares and faced margin calls from their foreign creditors. Mr Illarionov says this is a “standard” credit and liquidity crisis rather than a budget crisis. Compared with many other countries Russia still has plenty of cash, even if its reserves are dwindling at a worrying rate. Leaving aside the recent spending spree, the country’s overall macroeconomic policy has been sensible. For the past eight years the government has been running budget and current-account surpluses. If growth were to slow down to 3% next year, as some analysts predict, that would still be more than in most countries.
Eyevine
All quiet now in YekaterinburgIgor Shuvalov, the first deputy prime minister, puts a brave face on it: “High oil prices corrupted us, inflated our expenditure and distorted our economy. If this crisis had not happened now, by 2011 the quality of credit portfolios would have been much worse. So it is a blessing. Now we can start the real project, to develop domestic industry and the financial sector.”
In essence Russia’s problems are political, not economic. “We have come to this crisis well prepared,” says Yegor Gaidar, a former prime minister and architect of Russia’s post-Soviet economy. “But now we need to stop nationalising companies and cut down on populism. You can make any argument for nationalisation, but when Russia started to nationalise its oil industry production stopped growing.”
Russia may also need to devalue the rouble. The central bank recently allowed it to depreciate slightly against a basket of currencies, but it still intervenes in the market to defend it. Politically a strong rouble has become a proxy for a resurging Russia and devaluing it or letting it float would hurt Mr Putin’s reputation.
As Mr Rogov explains, it would do no harm if Russia’s highly leveraged oligarchs were to hand over their stakes to foreign creditors, but the Kremlin would not allow this. The risk is that instead of clearing the system and promoting the most efficient firms, the crisis is helping the least efficient. The government is already introducing protectionist measures.
“The crisis itself is less grave than the potential consequences of the government’s actions in solving it,” says Andrei Sharonov, a former deputy economics minister who now works in the private sector. The government has earmarked a total of more than $200 billion for various rescue measures, which as a proportion of GDP is almost three times what the Americans are spending. But in contrast to America, there is little public scrutiny of what the money goes on. The first victims to be rescued by the government were two banks said to be closely linked to senior government officials.
To unblock the banking system, the government deposited $50 billion in three banks, two of which are state-linked. The third used to be controlled by Gazprom and is now owned mostly by private individuals. The idea was that the banks would inject liquidity into the system, but in the event they did not lend the money on to other banks, so now the government decides whom they should lend to.
Another $50 billion of the rescue money was earmarked for bailing out “strategic” companies. At the front of the queue were Russia’s largest oil and gas companies, including the state-controlled Gazprom and Rosneft. Igor Sechin, the powerful deputy prime minister in charge of energy, seems to have promised $9 billion of government money to energy companies. Half of it will go to Rosneft, which has a debt of $20 billion that goes back to its controversial takeover of the Yukos oil company. Mr Sechin is also the chairman of Rosneft and, says Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former boss of Yukos (and now in jail), the man who destroyed his company.
Next came electricity companies, carmakers and anyone else who could think of a good reason to ask for help. As one Russian oligarch observed, a lot of people in the Kremlin would like to take back the companies that were privatised in the 1990s. Back then the oligarchs lent money to the cash-strapped state and got assets at knock-down prices in return. Now it is the companies that are in debt, whereas the state is cash-rich and can buy the assets back cheaply. To make them even cheaper, government officials publicly threaten companies or dig out old charges against them, as Mr Sechin has recently done with one of Russia’s largest fertiliser producers.
The crisis has also changed the behaviour of private firms. In the past the market pushed them to improve their governance, but now they are encouraged to look towards the state, says Roland Nash of Renaissance Capital.
Mr Shuvalov admits that some private assets might end up in state hands, but he insists that the government does not intend to keep them. The question is how, and to whom, these assets will be sold. Nationalising businesses is risky in any country, but in Russia, with its weak institutions and powerful Kremlin clans, it is almost certain to lead to a redistribution of property to the ruling elite, mainly past and present members of the security services, collectively known as siloviki, or hard men.
Neither one thing nor the other
The new entities that could emerge from the crisis may be neither state nor private, says Mr Rogov, but the worst of both worlds: opaque, quasi-state firms run by people affiliated with the Kremlin. One model for this form of ownership is a privately controlled subsidiary of a state-controlled company. Another is something called a “state corporation”.
One example is Russian Technologies, run by Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB officer and a friend of Mr Putin’s from the 1980s when the two served together in East Germany. Until last year Mr Chemezov was in charge of a state arms-trading monopoly, which did not stop him from taking over a successful private titanium business and a car factory. This year his empire, now under the umbrella of Russian Technologies, has grown even further. State corporations’ assets, Mr Chemezov once said, “are neither state not private”; they are “state commerce”.
He has successfully lobbied for the inclusion in Russian Technologies of some 420 mostly state-controlled companies, some of which—such as airlines or property—seem to have little to do with the corporation’s declared aim of promoting technology. Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s finance minister, noted that giving Russian Technologies all these assets would amount to “a covert privatisation and the loss of control over how the proceeds are spent”. But his words fell on deaf ears.
Another state corporation is based on Vneshekonombank (VEB), which is meant to be bailing out Russian firms that need to refinance their foreign debt. The committee that decides on the bail-outs is chaired by Mr Putin himself. VEB has recently lent $4.5 billion, well above its supposed limit, to Rusal, a company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminium tycoon, so he could repay a foreign loan backed by 25% of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest nickel producer. In return VEB will include government officials in the company’s management and board. But even before the crisis Norilsk Nickel’s controlling shareholder, Vladimir Potanin, one of the most politically savvy oligarchs, had put a former KGB officer in charge of the company—to be on the safe side.
The projection of KGB power in Russia’s politics and economy has been a guiding principle of Mr Putin’s period in office. In the past the siloviki often had to rely on tax inspectors or the Federal Security Service (FSB) to get hold of assets. Now the crisis is creating new opportunities for what Mr Illarionov calls the “KGB-isation of the economy”. The result, he explains, could be a new, highly monopolistic system, based on a peculiar state-private partnership in which the profits are privatised by Kremlin friends and debts are nationalised. This will not take Russia back to a state-run economy, but it is likely to shift it further towards a corporatist state.
Special Report on Russia: A matter of judgment
Nov 27th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Russia’s legal system is deeply flawed
DESPITE Mr Putin’s promise to establish a “dictatorship of the law”, the judiciary in Russia is far from just. At least that is the view of Sergei Pashin, a former judge and now a law professor. He should know: in 2000 he was dismissed after supporting a young man who had political objections to serving in the army. Mr Pashin was later restored to office, but the young man he helped to free died in mysterious circumstances.
The trouble starts with the selection of judges, says Mr Pashin. The process looks reasonable on paper, but it leaves scope for interference. Judges are appointed either directly by the president or on his recommendation by the upper chamber of parliament. But most of them are first screened by a Kremlin commission which includes the deputy heads of the security services and the interior ministry. And although judges are appointed for life, their careers (and perks) are in the hands of the chairman of their particular court, who is appointed for a six-year term, renewable once. To get that second term he has to prove his loyalty, Mr Pashin explains.
The criteria for assessing a court’s work are the number of cases it processes and the number of successful appeals against its decisions. To avoid too many appeals, a trial judge often seeks informal advice from a judge in a higher court. Astonishingly, fewer than 1% of criminal cases tried by a judge end in acquittals. But in jury trials, which were introduced in all Russian regions except Chechnya in 2002, the acquittal rate is about 20%.
However, prosecutors quickly found a way round the new system. For a start, most cases coming before a jury involve a confession, often obtained under duress. Yet when evidence of torture is presented, juries have to leave the room. Second, a jury can be dismissed if it includes someone linked to the police or security services, so prosecutors often plant such people in juries so that the verdict can be overturned if it is inconvenient.
Things are not much better in corporate disputes. Large companies rarely trust in a judge’s unprompted decision. In commercial courts a judge often takes a bribe for reaching a speedy conclusion. All this helps to explain why the European Court of Human Rights is overwhelmed with Russian cases, and why large Russian companies seek justice in London. The Yukos case showed that the courts have become part of the Kremlin machinery. The problem, says one Moscow lawyer, is that “the law in Russia is often trumped by money and always by high-level power.”
From The Economist print edition
Russia’s legal system is deeply flawed
DESPITE Mr Putin’s promise to establish a “dictatorship of the law”, the judiciary in Russia is far from just. At least that is the view of Sergei Pashin, a former judge and now a law professor. He should know: in 2000 he was dismissed after supporting a young man who had political objections to serving in the army. Mr Pashin was later restored to office, but the young man he helped to free died in mysterious circumstances.
The trouble starts with the selection of judges, says Mr Pashin. The process looks reasonable on paper, but it leaves scope for interference. Judges are appointed either directly by the president or on his recommendation by the upper chamber of parliament. But most of them are first screened by a Kremlin commission which includes the deputy heads of the security services and the interior ministry. And although judges are appointed for life, their careers (and perks) are in the hands of the chairman of their particular court, who is appointed for a six-year term, renewable once. To get that second term he has to prove his loyalty, Mr Pashin explains.
The criteria for assessing a court’s work are the number of cases it processes and the number of successful appeals against its decisions. To avoid too many appeals, a trial judge often seeks informal advice from a judge in a higher court. Astonishingly, fewer than 1% of criminal cases tried by a judge end in acquittals. But in jury trials, which were introduced in all Russian regions except Chechnya in 2002, the acquittal rate is about 20%.
However, prosecutors quickly found a way round the new system. For a start, most cases coming before a jury involve a confession, often obtained under duress. Yet when evidence of torture is presented, juries have to leave the room. Second, a jury can be dismissed if it includes someone linked to the police or security services, so prosecutors often plant such people in juries so that the verdict can be overturned if it is inconvenient.
Things are not much better in corporate disputes. Large companies rarely trust in a judge’s unprompted decision. In commercial courts a judge often takes a bribe for reaching a speedy conclusion. All this helps to explain why the European Court of Human Rights is overwhelmed with Russian cases, and why large Russian companies seek justice in London. The Yukos case showed that the courts have become part of the Kremlin machinery. The problem, says one Moscow lawyer, is that “the law in Russia is often trumped by money and always by high-level power.”
President pledges stronger Asia ties
By Teri Weaver and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, November 16, 2009
President Obama called on a renewed alliance with Japan in a speech Saturday morning in Tokyo during his first visit to Asia as president. Japan and the United States "have not only reaffirmed our alliance, we’ve agreed to deepen it,” Obama said to a crowd of 2,000 invited guests in the main concert arena of Suntory Hall.
Obama boosts Asia free trade hopes
SINGAPORE — President Barack Obama raised hopes for creating an Asia-Pacific free-trade region by announcing Saturday that the U.S. would seek to join a smaller group seen as a precursor to a broader Pacific Rim agreement.
News that the U.S. would participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was announced in Tokyo and Singapore, drawing applause at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
“Significant steps like the TPP are important to help keep up the momentum in our efforts to realize the ... vision” to create a region-wide free trade area said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
- The Associated Press
TOKYO — President Barack Obama launched his inaugural trip to Asia this weekend by calling for a revitalized alliance with Japan and declaring the United States a member of the Pacific region.
Nuclear threats from North Korea, rising extremism in island nations, growing trade between the United States and Asia, concerns about climate change, and continued human trafficking all unify interests on both sides of the Pacific, Obama said.
“I want everyone to know, and I want everyone in America to know, that we have a stake in the future of the region, because what happens here has a direct effect on what happens on our lives at home,” the president said at a morning speech in Tokyo before a crowd of 2,000 invited guests.
Obama’s call for a stronger relationship with Pacific nations comes as the United States faces a test of wills with Japan, one of its greatest economic and military allies. The two countries are at odds over the future of the U.S. troop presence on Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost island that hosts nearly half of the almost 50,000 American servicemembers in the country.
“That is why, at this critical moment in history, the two of us have not only reaffirmed our alliance, we’ve agreed to deepen it,” Obama said Saturday morning in the main concert arena of Suntory Hall.
But during his 24-hour visit to Japan that stretched over Friday and Saturday, Obama stopped short of directly tackling the Okinawa issue. Instead, the president acknowledged that Japanese voters had called for “a promise of change,” comparing his own historic election last year with that of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan this fall beat out the five-decade rule of the more conservative Liberal Democratic Party.
That change allows for an expeditious review of the three-year-old Marine relocation plan, Obama and Hatoyama said at a Friday night news conference, repeating pledges from earlier in the week.
Obama’s visit to Japan, two months before the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan alliance, was the first of a four-country tour in Asia. Other planned stops included an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore, an official state dinner in Beijing and meeting with South Korean leaders and U.S. troops.
On Saturday morning, Obama praised Japan and its neighbors for working together in recent years to build economic ties and encourage democratic values.
The president criticized North Korea for its continued provocations and nuclear ambitions.
“We will not be cowed by threats, and we will continue to send a clear message through our actions, and not just our words,” Obama said. “North Korea’s refusal to meet its international obligations will lead only to less security, not more.”
Obama also called China’s emergence as an economic power a success not to be feared.
“The United States does not seek to contain China. … The rise of a strong and prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations,” he said to applause.
Early in his remarks, Obama reflected on his only other visit to Japan when he was a child, remembering the Buddhist temples of Kamakura and the taste of green tea ice cream. He gave special thanks to the residents of a tiny northwestern fishing and logging town that shares his name — Obama, Japan — to one of the first of about a dozen rounds of applause.
Later in the speech, Obama turned his attention to Myanmar — which he referred to as Burma. He called on the military-run government to release its political prisoners and ease its restrictions on human rights or face continued pressure from the United States.
“Existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform,” Obama said.
After the speech, Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha noted Obama’s push to uphold human rights.
“I would like for him to start in Okinawa,” said Iha, whose city includes Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the focal point of the argument involving the troop relocation on the island.
Last week, Iha brought a resolution to Tokyo in which Okinawan residents called for the closing of the base at Futenma and a halt to the planned relocation to a more rural part of the island.
The people, Iha argued, are worried about the potential dangers of keeping a busy air station in the midst of people’s homes and businesses.
Iha said the visit was an opportunity for the president to better understand the new government’s campaign promises to revisit the military agreement. The mayor also said he hoped that next time Obama would visit Okinawa, “as soon as possible.”
© 2009 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved.
Pacific edition, Monday, November 16, 2009
President Obama called on a renewed alliance with Japan in a speech Saturday morning in Tokyo during his first visit to Asia as president. Japan and the United States "have not only reaffirmed our alliance, we’ve agreed to deepen it,” Obama said to a crowd of 2,000 invited guests in the main concert arena of Suntory Hall.
Obama boosts Asia free trade hopes
SINGAPORE — President Barack Obama raised hopes for creating an Asia-Pacific free-trade region by announcing Saturday that the U.S. would seek to join a smaller group seen as a precursor to a broader Pacific Rim agreement.
News that the U.S. would participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was announced in Tokyo and Singapore, drawing applause at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
“Significant steps like the TPP are important to help keep up the momentum in our efforts to realize the ... vision” to create a region-wide free trade area said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
- The Associated Press
TOKYO — President Barack Obama launched his inaugural trip to Asia this weekend by calling for a revitalized alliance with Japan and declaring the United States a member of the Pacific region.
Nuclear threats from North Korea, rising extremism in island nations, growing trade between the United States and Asia, concerns about climate change, and continued human trafficking all unify interests on both sides of the Pacific, Obama said.
“I want everyone to know, and I want everyone in America to know, that we have a stake in the future of the region, because what happens here has a direct effect on what happens on our lives at home,” the president said at a morning speech in Tokyo before a crowd of 2,000 invited guests.
Obama’s call for a stronger relationship with Pacific nations comes as the United States faces a test of wills with Japan, one of its greatest economic and military allies. The two countries are at odds over the future of the U.S. troop presence on Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost island that hosts nearly half of the almost 50,000 American servicemembers in the country.
“That is why, at this critical moment in history, the two of us have not only reaffirmed our alliance, we’ve agreed to deepen it,” Obama said Saturday morning in the main concert arena of Suntory Hall.
But during his 24-hour visit to Japan that stretched over Friday and Saturday, Obama stopped short of directly tackling the Okinawa issue. Instead, the president acknowledged that Japanese voters had called for “a promise of change,” comparing his own historic election last year with that of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan this fall beat out the five-decade rule of the more conservative Liberal Democratic Party.
That change allows for an expeditious review of the three-year-old Marine relocation plan, Obama and Hatoyama said at a Friday night news conference, repeating pledges from earlier in the week.
Obama’s visit to Japan, two months before the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan alliance, was the first of a four-country tour in Asia. Other planned stops included an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore, an official state dinner in Beijing and meeting with South Korean leaders and U.S. troops.
On Saturday morning, Obama praised Japan and its neighbors for working together in recent years to build economic ties and encourage democratic values.
The president criticized North Korea for its continued provocations and nuclear ambitions.
“We will not be cowed by threats, and we will continue to send a clear message through our actions, and not just our words,” Obama said. “North Korea’s refusal to meet its international obligations will lead only to less security, not more.”
Obama also called China’s emergence as an economic power a success not to be feared.
“The United States does not seek to contain China. … The rise of a strong and prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations,” he said to applause.
Early in his remarks, Obama reflected on his only other visit to Japan when he was a child, remembering the Buddhist temples of Kamakura and the taste of green tea ice cream. He gave special thanks to the residents of a tiny northwestern fishing and logging town that shares his name — Obama, Japan — to one of the first of about a dozen rounds of applause.
Later in the speech, Obama turned his attention to Myanmar — which he referred to as Burma. He called on the military-run government to release its political prisoners and ease its restrictions on human rights or face continued pressure from the United States.
“Existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform,” Obama said.
After the speech, Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha noted Obama’s push to uphold human rights.
“I would like for him to start in Okinawa,” said Iha, whose city includes Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the focal point of the argument involving the troop relocation on the island.
Last week, Iha brought a resolution to Tokyo in which Okinawan residents called for the closing of the base at Futenma and a halt to the planned relocation to a more rural part of the island.
The people, Iha argued, are worried about the potential dangers of keeping a busy air station in the midst of people’s homes and businesses.
Iha said the visit was an opportunity for the president to better understand the new government’s campaign promises to revisit the military agreement. The mayor also said he hoped that next time Obama would visit Okinawa, “as soon as possible.”
© 2009 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved.
Medvedev reiterates Russian stance on interpretation of WWII
15:2916/11/2009
SINGAPORE, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke out strongly and repeatedly on Monday against attempts to rewrite the results of World War II and the Soviet Union's contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany.
In late September, Medvedev voiced a similar warning to the United Nations, urging the international organization to act firmly against the rise of neo-Nazism.
"If falsifiers who are attempting to rewrite history are given real power, we will find ourselves facing demands for compensation. This is simply dangerous to the state," Medvedev told sailors aboard the Varyag missile cruiser, making a port call in Singapore, which hosted the APEC summit at the weekend.
He said historians could debate some issues, but said there was no controversy about the outcome of World War II, which was backed up by international and government decisions.
"We should keep an eye on such things - not fighting different points of view, but protecting our interests and thwarting falsifications of history that could hamper the interests of the state," the Russian president said.
The war continues to be a contentious issue in Russia's relations with both Estonia and Latvia, over the Baltic States' perceived glorification of Nazi collaborators. Parades in honor of Waffen-SS veterans, involving veterans from the Latvian Legion and the 20th Estonian SS Division and their supporters, are held annually in the two Baltic States.
Another former Soviet republic, Ukraine, holds numerous events to honor the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which fought against the Soviets during World War II.
SINGAPORE, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke out strongly and repeatedly on Monday against attempts to rewrite the results of World War II and the Soviet Union's contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany.
In late September, Medvedev voiced a similar warning to the United Nations, urging the international organization to act firmly against the rise of neo-Nazism.
"If falsifiers who are attempting to rewrite history are given real power, we will find ourselves facing demands for compensation. This is simply dangerous to the state," Medvedev told sailors aboard the Varyag missile cruiser, making a port call in Singapore, which hosted the APEC summit at the weekend.
He said historians could debate some issues, but said there was no controversy about the outcome of World War II, which was backed up by international and government decisions.
"We should keep an eye on such things - not fighting different points of view, but protecting our interests and thwarting falsifications of history that could hamper the interests of the state," the Russian president said.
The war continues to be a contentious issue in Russia's relations with both Estonia and Latvia, over the Baltic States' perceived glorification of Nazi collaborators. Parades in honor of Waffen-SS veterans, involving veterans from the Latvian Legion and the 20th Estonian SS Division and their supporters, are held annually in the two Baltic States.
Another former Soviet republic, Ukraine, holds numerous events to honor the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which fought against the Soviets during World War II.
2 U.S. Marines arrested for attacking taxi driver in Hiroshima
(Mainichi Japan) November 16, 2009
HIROSHIMA -- Two U.S. Marines were arrested on Sunday for allegedly attacking a taxi driver in downtown Hiroshima, police said.
Bradley Arthur Gutierrez, 21, and Ilene Renae Garcia, 20, both belonging to the Marine Corps Air Station in the Yamaguchi Prefecture city of Iwakuni, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of destruction of property and assault, and destruction of property, respectively, according to police.
Garcia is suspected of kicking the door of a taxi parked on a street in Hiroshima's Naka Ward at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. The 58-year-old male driver immediately got out of the taxi and called police using his mobile phone. Gutierrez is believed to have pushed the driver to the ground after grabbing the phone away from him.
The two suspects, who reportedly dined at a nearby restaurant right before the incident, have basically admitted to the allegations, police said. Alcohol was not reportedly detected on their breath.
The driver suffered minor injuries including a neck sprain. Police sent both suspects to the public prosecutors office on Monday morning after upgrading the charges against Gutierrez from assault to bodily harm.
HIROSHIMA -- Two U.S. Marines were arrested on Sunday for allegedly attacking a taxi driver in downtown Hiroshima, police said.
Bradley Arthur Gutierrez, 21, and Ilene Renae Garcia, 20, both belonging to the Marine Corps Air Station in the Yamaguchi Prefecture city of Iwakuni, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of destruction of property and assault, and destruction of property, respectively, according to police.
Garcia is suspected of kicking the door of a taxi parked on a street in Hiroshima's Naka Ward at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. The 58-year-old male driver immediately got out of the taxi and called police using his mobile phone. Gutierrez is believed to have pushed the driver to the ground after grabbing the phone away from him.
The two suspects, who reportedly dined at a nearby restaurant right before the incident, have basically admitted to the allegations, police said. Alcohol was not reportedly detected on their breath.
The driver suffered minor injuries including a neck sprain. Police sent both suspects to the public prosecutors office on Monday morning after upgrading the charges against Gutierrez from assault to bodily harm.
Changes must go beyond Hague abduction treaty
The Japan Times: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
THE ZEIT GIST
Signing convention won't alter outcomes for many left-behind parents
By COLIN P. A. JONES
First in a two-part series
Christopher Savoie's recent arrest for "kidnapping" his own children in Fukuoka after they had been brought to Japan by his ex-wife generated not only much-needed media attention on Japan's abduction problem, but some unhelpful static as well. For example, some non-Japanese have claimed that Mr. Savoie's arrest reflects some sort of racism on the part of the Japanese police, though Japanese fathers have been arrested for doing basically the same thing. From the Japanese side there have been allegations that he "tricked" his former wife to the U.S., as well as nonsense about him being a bigamist because he remarried without registering his divorce in Japan.
Commentators on both sides have tended to converge, however, on one notion — that the Savoie case is somehow related to Japan not being a party to the Hague Convention on international child abduction. This notion is probably mistaken, as I will try to explain.
The treaty's formal title is the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. As this suggests, the convention is about the use of expedited civil rather than criminal proceedings to return children who have been abducted across borders. Thus, even if Japan had been a party to the convention, it would not have required Ms. Savoie to be arrested for bringing them here in violation of a U.S. court order. Many signatory nations also have domestic laws criminalizing parental child abduction, but this is not part of the convention.
Although Mr. Savoie's arrest shows that Japan's penal code is already up to the task, under the Hague the starting point in Japan for a father whose children are wrongfully brought to Japan will probably not be much different from what it is now — civil court. Although the convention should require Japanese authorities to help find the children, he will probably still have to go to a family or other civil court once they are located. Under the convention, Japanese courts would probably have to hear his case on an expedited basis, recognize his foreign custody (or visitation) order, and refrain from conducting a new determination of the best interests of the child. This last point is key, as currently Japanese judges tend to determine that children brought from foreign countries have adjusted to their new environments almost immediately, and that a change would not be in their best interests. The convention would require judges to limit their inquiry to whether the child was brought to or kept in Japan "wrongfully." If the removal/retention is wrongful, the child is supposed to be sent back.
This is where the rubber meets the road, however, and what I think is the real problem at the core of the Savoie case: Japanese courts have almost no coercive powers when a case involves children. This is a problem that foreign observers may have trouble understanding, particularly if they are in the U.S., Canada or other countries where police or judicial marshals participate in the enforcement of civil court orders, and judges have broad powers to punish, even imprison recalcitrant parents.
Policy hurts Japanese nationals too
This is not the case in Japanese courts, particularly family courts. The first thing that may happen to a parent who violates a court order in a custody or visitation dispute may be nothing more than someone from the court calling up to see if they have a good reason, and recommending compliance if they do not. Further intransigence may result in a non-penal fine, but this may have a limited impact on a party having no money, or if the fine just rebounds on the children (I know a Japanese father who had a fine imposed on his ex-wife for interfering with his visitation; she paid and, despite having adequate means, gave the children nearly-expired, cut-price food for dinner, telling them it was because their father had impoverished them).
The Japanese statute covering the enforcement of civil judgments does not contain any provisions regarding how to deal with children. Judges are left analogizing younger children to movable property, for which there is a statutory provision allowing for the direct enforcement of the judgment (i.e., physically taking possession) by a bailiff. There is a somewhat surreal academic debate regarding how young a child must be in order for a judge to treat them as a piece of property, but it is generally understood that children older than a certain age (seven or eight is one range given) are deemed capable of forming their own intent and cannot be taken by a bailiff against their will. Even if a judge does order the handover of a child, how (and if) to proceed with the enforcement is left to the bailiff (who, although an officer of the court, lacks police powers).
A recent article on the subject of enforcing child handover orders authored by a judge and published in the Japanese Supreme Court's family court journal illustrates the problem in Japan. It contains summaries of a number of enforcement situations, including one that goes roughly like this: Father abducts his four-year-old child from mother. Court orders father to return child to Mother. Bailiff goes to the father's residence to enforce the order directly (the child being young enough for the movable property analogy to work). Mother has previously warned the court that father is a violent sort, so the police are requested to accompany the bailiff. Father clutches child to his chest, saying "Over my dead body." The bailiff asks the child, "Do you want to come with me?" Child says "No." With this, the enforcement effort ends in failure.
This case illustrates what has to me always been a disturbing aspect of how cases involving children often seem to get resolved in Japan — by an adult in a position of authority letting even a very young child directly or indirectly make the final decision. Perhaps judges and other court personnel take comfort in having "respected the wishes of the child," but it sometimes comes across as a blatant abdication of responsibility. Respecting the wishes of a child is probably also often a convenient excuse for ratifying the status quo, since the courts often can do little to change it. If all it takes to frustrate a court order in a domestic case is to get a four-year-old child to say "no," then the same technique may prove effective in Hague cases also. The convention contains an exception stating that children old enough to express a contrary preference do not have to be returned.
Japan's habeas corpus statute provides another remedy, and although it is clearly drafted with unlawful police detentions in mind, it is now used mostly in child custody cases against parents who are "detaining" their own children. It is probably also the only remedy available to civil courts in such cases where there is a possibility of criminal sanctions for noncompliance. The Supreme Court, however, has indicated that absent exceptional circumstances, habeas corpus should not be used when the child is being detained by a parent (i.e. most cases).
In light of the above, I think that at the heart of the Savoie case is not "culture," not the Hague Convention and not racial discrimination, but an issue which affects Japanese and foreign parents alike — the dismal prospects for protecting your relationship with your children through litigation even if you win. Without deeper changes in the legal system, the Hague Convention may not do anything to change this state of affairs, since it leaves the specific remedies for abduction to the domestic laws of signatory states. Even if Japan does sign the Hague, it could end up like Germany, which, although a party to the treaty, was named in the U.S. State Department's 2008 report on the convention as having compliance issues due to "judicial performance" — more specifically the lack of enforcement mechanisms.
But remedies — getting the child back — are probably the only thing that left-behind parents care about. Most parents who love their children and take time to reflect on the matter probably do not want the abducting parent to be convicted or punished for a crime. Indeed, the issuance of an arrest warrant in the country from which the child is abducted can be counterproductive in the long run if it prevents the abducting parent traveling with the children years later, after everyone has had a chance to calm down.
For most left-behind parents, the real significance of criminalizing parental child abduction, in addition to whatever deterrent effect it might have, is probably not the ability to punish the abducting parent, but to have the child summarily returned by the police as part of the arrest process (and without the child being forced to make a decision). Most parents are unlikely to care if the case is not pursued after their children are returned, as effectively happened in the Savoie case.
However, it is the seemingly arbitrary availability of this remedy in Japan where claims of bias may be closer to the mark. But it is more likely gender bias rather than discrimination against foreigners. Quite simply put, when it comes to children, the Japanese legal system seems to cut mothers a lot more slack than it does fathers.
Colin P. A. Jones is a professor at Doshisha Law School in Kyoto. Send comments on this issue to community@japantimes.co.jp
(C) All rights reserved
THE ZEIT GIST
Signing convention won't alter outcomes for many left-behind parents
By COLIN P. A. JONES
First in a two-part series
Christopher Savoie's recent arrest for "kidnapping" his own children in Fukuoka after they had been brought to Japan by his ex-wife generated not only much-needed media attention on Japan's abduction problem, but some unhelpful static as well. For example, some non-Japanese have claimed that Mr. Savoie's arrest reflects some sort of racism on the part of the Japanese police, though Japanese fathers have been arrested for doing basically the same thing. From the Japanese side there have been allegations that he "tricked" his former wife to the U.S., as well as nonsense about him being a bigamist because he remarried without registering his divorce in Japan.
Commentators on both sides have tended to converge, however, on one notion — that the Savoie case is somehow related to Japan not being a party to the Hague Convention on international child abduction. This notion is probably mistaken, as I will try to explain.
The treaty's formal title is the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. As this suggests, the convention is about the use of expedited civil rather than criminal proceedings to return children who have been abducted across borders. Thus, even if Japan had been a party to the convention, it would not have required Ms. Savoie to be arrested for bringing them here in violation of a U.S. court order. Many signatory nations also have domestic laws criminalizing parental child abduction, but this is not part of the convention.
Although Mr. Savoie's arrest shows that Japan's penal code is already up to the task, under the Hague the starting point in Japan for a father whose children are wrongfully brought to Japan will probably not be much different from what it is now — civil court. Although the convention should require Japanese authorities to help find the children, he will probably still have to go to a family or other civil court once they are located. Under the convention, Japanese courts would probably have to hear his case on an expedited basis, recognize his foreign custody (or visitation) order, and refrain from conducting a new determination of the best interests of the child. This last point is key, as currently Japanese judges tend to determine that children brought from foreign countries have adjusted to their new environments almost immediately, and that a change would not be in their best interests. The convention would require judges to limit their inquiry to whether the child was brought to or kept in Japan "wrongfully." If the removal/retention is wrongful, the child is supposed to be sent back.
This is where the rubber meets the road, however, and what I think is the real problem at the core of the Savoie case: Japanese courts have almost no coercive powers when a case involves children. This is a problem that foreign observers may have trouble understanding, particularly if they are in the U.S., Canada or other countries where police or judicial marshals participate in the enforcement of civil court orders, and judges have broad powers to punish, even imprison recalcitrant parents.
Policy hurts Japanese nationals too
This is not the case in Japanese courts, particularly family courts. The first thing that may happen to a parent who violates a court order in a custody or visitation dispute may be nothing more than someone from the court calling up to see if they have a good reason, and recommending compliance if they do not. Further intransigence may result in a non-penal fine, but this may have a limited impact on a party having no money, or if the fine just rebounds on the children (I know a Japanese father who had a fine imposed on his ex-wife for interfering with his visitation; she paid and, despite having adequate means, gave the children nearly-expired, cut-price food for dinner, telling them it was because their father had impoverished them).
The Japanese statute covering the enforcement of civil judgments does not contain any provisions regarding how to deal with children. Judges are left analogizing younger children to movable property, for which there is a statutory provision allowing for the direct enforcement of the judgment (i.e., physically taking possession) by a bailiff. There is a somewhat surreal academic debate regarding how young a child must be in order for a judge to treat them as a piece of property, but it is generally understood that children older than a certain age (seven or eight is one range given) are deemed capable of forming their own intent and cannot be taken by a bailiff against their will. Even if a judge does order the handover of a child, how (and if) to proceed with the enforcement is left to the bailiff (who, although an officer of the court, lacks police powers).
A recent article on the subject of enforcing child handover orders authored by a judge and published in the Japanese Supreme Court's family court journal illustrates the problem in Japan. It contains summaries of a number of enforcement situations, including one that goes roughly like this: Father abducts his four-year-old child from mother. Court orders father to return child to Mother. Bailiff goes to the father's residence to enforce the order directly (the child being young enough for the movable property analogy to work). Mother has previously warned the court that father is a violent sort, so the police are requested to accompany the bailiff. Father clutches child to his chest, saying "Over my dead body." The bailiff asks the child, "Do you want to come with me?" Child says "No." With this, the enforcement effort ends in failure.
This case illustrates what has to me always been a disturbing aspect of how cases involving children often seem to get resolved in Japan — by an adult in a position of authority letting even a very young child directly or indirectly make the final decision. Perhaps judges and other court personnel take comfort in having "respected the wishes of the child," but it sometimes comes across as a blatant abdication of responsibility. Respecting the wishes of a child is probably also often a convenient excuse for ratifying the status quo, since the courts often can do little to change it. If all it takes to frustrate a court order in a domestic case is to get a four-year-old child to say "no," then the same technique may prove effective in Hague cases also. The convention contains an exception stating that children old enough to express a contrary preference do not have to be returned.
Japan's habeas corpus statute provides another remedy, and although it is clearly drafted with unlawful police detentions in mind, it is now used mostly in child custody cases against parents who are "detaining" their own children. It is probably also the only remedy available to civil courts in such cases where there is a possibility of criminal sanctions for noncompliance. The Supreme Court, however, has indicated that absent exceptional circumstances, habeas corpus should not be used when the child is being detained by a parent (i.e. most cases).
In light of the above, I think that at the heart of the Savoie case is not "culture," not the Hague Convention and not racial discrimination, but an issue which affects Japanese and foreign parents alike — the dismal prospects for protecting your relationship with your children through litigation even if you win. Without deeper changes in the legal system, the Hague Convention may not do anything to change this state of affairs, since it leaves the specific remedies for abduction to the domestic laws of signatory states. Even if Japan does sign the Hague, it could end up like Germany, which, although a party to the treaty, was named in the U.S. State Department's 2008 report on the convention as having compliance issues due to "judicial performance" — more specifically the lack of enforcement mechanisms.
But remedies — getting the child back — are probably the only thing that left-behind parents care about. Most parents who love their children and take time to reflect on the matter probably do not want the abducting parent to be convicted or punished for a crime. Indeed, the issuance of an arrest warrant in the country from which the child is abducted can be counterproductive in the long run if it prevents the abducting parent traveling with the children years later, after everyone has had a chance to calm down.
For most left-behind parents, the real significance of criminalizing parental child abduction, in addition to whatever deterrent effect it might have, is probably not the ability to punish the abducting parent, but to have the child summarily returned by the police as part of the arrest process (and without the child being forced to make a decision). Most parents are unlikely to care if the case is not pursued after their children are returned, as effectively happened in the Savoie case.
However, it is the seemingly arbitrary availability of this remedy in Japan where claims of bias may be closer to the mark. But it is more likely gender bias rather than discrimination against foreigners. Quite simply put, when it comes to children, the Japanese legal system seems to cut mothers a lot more slack than it does fathers.
Colin P. A. Jones is a professor at Doshisha Law School in Kyoto. Send comments on this issue to community@japantimes.co.jp
(C) All rights reserved
Busan Fire — Disaster Waiting to Happen
11-16-2009 17:51
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
A total of seven Japanese tourists, rather than the eight initially believed to have died, were killed in a fire Saturday at a Busan shooting range, according to an ongoing investigation.
Initially, the police announced that eight Japanese and two Koreans were killed. Six additional victims are being treated at a nearby hospital.
As on-site investigations progressed, police found more pieces of evidence that showed the blaze was a disaster waiting to happen, with the tourist spot lacking basic safety measures.
Police are suspecting that the blaze that claimed nine lives overall was caused by a cigarette. "Given that the gun range allowed smoking, we are looking into the possibility of this activities role in the accident," Kim Jung-hwak, chief of the Busan Jungbu Police Station said during a press conference Monday. Police have been conducting an investigation at the shooting range since the weekend and are yet determine the exact cause.
Citing Japanese tourists that had used the shooting range, a Japanese newspaper observed that its sound-proofing structure had made it difficult for smoke to escape in case of a fire. Tourists also said that the building was old, had low ceilings and poor ventilation, making it susceptible to fire.
Authorities played down the possibility of a gas explosion although some witnesses said they had heard a loud bang.
Eleven Japanese visitors were at the shooting gallery range when the fire broke out including nine farmers and office workers from Nagasaki Prefecture, visiting Busan as part of a junior high school reunion. They had been on group tours for three years, and the Busan trip was the group's first overseas experience. They had arrived there Busan on a high-speed ferry from Fukuoka, 208 kilometers from Busan, and were planning to return to Japan after a one night stay.
The other two men from Fukuoka and Miyazaki prefectures were from a different tour group.
Individual identification of the bodies is expected to take some time as all were severely burned and will likely require DNA analysis, according to the Busan Fire Department.
Family members of the victims arrived in Busan Sunday afternoon to visit memorial altars set up at Busan National University Yansang Hospital. "My father was always kind and generous. I wish the accident had not happened," Atsunobu Inada, 37, the son of one of the dead victims was quoted as saying.
The Korean government issued an apology for the incident and is expected to take due compensatory measures. "We will take proper measures to deal with the aftermath of this incident and come up with policies to prevent future occurrences," Yoo In-chon, minister of culture, tourism and sports, said.
Noting that the fire could have been avoided with stricter adherence to safety measures, President Lee Myung-bak urged a review of standards nationwide. "We must take this incident as an opportunity to raise our consciousness about safety throughout our society. Such efforts should not be limited to the tourism industry," the President said during a weekly meeting with his top aides.
The Japanese Consulate General in Busan is operating a task force to deal with the accident.
The blaze started at around 2:25 p.m. Saturday at the shooting gallery, situated on the second floor of a five-story building. It was extinguished about 40 minutes later.
The Busan fire is the latest in a series of major fatal fires since 2000.
In 2008, 47 people were killed after fires burned two cold-storage facilities in Gyeonggi Province. In the previous year, nine foreigners who had entered Korea illegally were killed while being detained when a fire broke out at an immigration office in South Jeolla Province. In 2003, more than 190 people were victims of arson on board a subway train in Daegu.
jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
A total of seven Japanese tourists, rather than the eight initially believed to have died, were killed in a fire Saturday at a Busan shooting range, according to an ongoing investigation.
Initially, the police announced that eight Japanese and two Koreans were killed. Six additional victims are being treated at a nearby hospital.
As on-site investigations progressed, police found more pieces of evidence that showed the blaze was a disaster waiting to happen, with the tourist spot lacking basic safety measures.
Police are suspecting that the blaze that claimed nine lives overall was caused by a cigarette. "Given that the gun range allowed smoking, we are looking into the possibility of this activities role in the accident," Kim Jung-hwak, chief of the Busan Jungbu Police Station said during a press conference Monday. Police have been conducting an investigation at the shooting range since the weekend and are yet determine the exact cause.
Citing Japanese tourists that had used the shooting range, a Japanese newspaper observed that its sound-proofing structure had made it difficult for smoke to escape in case of a fire. Tourists also said that the building was old, had low ceilings and poor ventilation, making it susceptible to fire.
Authorities played down the possibility of a gas explosion although some witnesses said they had heard a loud bang.
Eleven Japanese visitors were at the shooting gallery range when the fire broke out including nine farmers and office workers from Nagasaki Prefecture, visiting Busan as part of a junior high school reunion. They had been on group tours for three years, and the Busan trip was the group's first overseas experience. They had arrived there Busan on a high-speed ferry from Fukuoka, 208 kilometers from Busan, and were planning to return to Japan after a one night stay.
The other two men from Fukuoka and Miyazaki prefectures were from a different tour group.
Individual identification of the bodies is expected to take some time as all were severely burned and will likely require DNA analysis, according to the Busan Fire Department.
Family members of the victims arrived in Busan Sunday afternoon to visit memorial altars set up at Busan National University Yansang Hospital. "My father was always kind and generous. I wish the accident had not happened," Atsunobu Inada, 37, the son of one of the dead victims was quoted as saying.
The Korean government issued an apology for the incident and is expected to take due compensatory measures. "We will take proper measures to deal with the aftermath of this incident and come up with policies to prevent future occurrences," Yoo In-chon, minister of culture, tourism and sports, said.
Noting that the fire could have been avoided with stricter adherence to safety measures, President Lee Myung-bak urged a review of standards nationwide. "We must take this incident as an opportunity to raise our consciousness about safety throughout our society. Such efforts should not be limited to the tourism industry," the President said during a weekly meeting with his top aides.
The Japanese Consulate General in Busan is operating a task force to deal with the accident.
The blaze started at around 2:25 p.m. Saturday at the shooting gallery, situated on the second floor of a five-story building. It was extinguished about 40 minutes later.
The Busan fire is the latest in a series of major fatal fires since 2000.
In 2008, 47 people were killed after fires burned two cold-storage facilities in Gyeonggi Province. In the previous year, nine foreigners who had entered Korea illegally were killed while being detained when a fire broke out at an immigration office in South Jeolla Province. In 2003, more than 190 people were victims of arson on board a subway train in Daegu.
jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr
Yokozuna maintain steady starts in Kyushu
The Japan Times: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Asashoryu made mincemeat out of Aminishiki while rival yokozuna Hakuho also won his second straight in a demolition of Takekaze at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.
Asashoryu got inside to hem up Aminishiki immediately after the face-off before slamming his opponent into the ringside seats when the No. 1 maegashira tried a counter maneuver for a force out at Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Aminishiki slipped to 0-2.
The fiery yokozuna from Ulan Bator is seeking his second consecutive title after winning his career 24th Emperor's Cup in a playoff against Hakuho on the final day of the September meet.
In the day's final bout, Hakuho jostled for leverage against Takekaze before getting both hands underneath for a firm belt grip and waltzing the winless top-ranked maegashira over the edge. Asashoryu and Hakuho lead a pack of 12 wrestlers at 2-0.
Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu muscled out Tochiozan (0-2) to pick up a second win, while demotion-threatened Chiyotaikai railroaded Mongolian Kakuryu (0-2) in a lopsided affair to also improve to 2-0.
Chiyotaikai faces demotion from sumo's second highest rank for a record 14th time, but has said he will continue his career even if he fails to post eight wins here to maintain his rank.
Hometown favorite Kaio was dumped abruptly to the dirt surface by komusubi Kisenosato, who improved to 1-1, with a beltless arm throw to slip to his first defeat.
Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji, meanwhile, bounced back from a first-day loss, getting both hands wrapped around Goeido (0-2) before toppling the komusubi over the edge.
Kotomitsuki grappled briefly after the face-off with Tokitenku (0-2) before deploying a well-timed shoulder-pulling technique to pick up a second win.
No. 2 maegashira Kotoshogiku (2-0) got the jump on Baruto (1-1), getting both arms under his opponent's armpits before grinding the Estonian sekiwake over the ridge.
(C) All rights reserved
FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Asashoryu made mincemeat out of Aminishiki while rival yokozuna Hakuho also won his second straight in a demolition of Takekaze at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.
Asashoryu got inside to hem up Aminishiki immediately after the face-off before slamming his opponent into the ringside seats when the No. 1 maegashira tried a counter maneuver for a force out at Fukuoka Kokusai Center. Aminishiki slipped to 0-2.
The fiery yokozuna from Ulan Bator is seeking his second consecutive title after winning his career 24th Emperor's Cup in a playoff against Hakuho on the final day of the September meet.
In the day's final bout, Hakuho jostled for leverage against Takekaze before getting both hands underneath for a firm belt grip and waltzing the winless top-ranked maegashira over the edge. Asashoryu and Hakuho lead a pack of 12 wrestlers at 2-0.
Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu muscled out Tochiozan (0-2) to pick up a second win, while demotion-threatened Chiyotaikai railroaded Mongolian Kakuryu (0-2) in a lopsided affair to also improve to 2-0.
Chiyotaikai faces demotion from sumo's second highest rank for a record 14th time, but has said he will continue his career even if he fails to post eight wins here to maintain his rank.
Hometown favorite Kaio was dumped abruptly to the dirt surface by komusubi Kisenosato, who improved to 1-1, with a beltless arm throw to slip to his first defeat.
Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji, meanwhile, bounced back from a first-day loss, getting both hands wrapped around Goeido (0-2) before toppling the komusubi over the edge.
Kotomitsuki grappled briefly after the face-off with Tokitenku (0-2) before deploying a well-timed shoulder-pulling technique to pick up a second win.
No. 2 maegashira Kotoshogiku (2-0) got the jump on Baruto (1-1), getting both arms under his opponent's armpits before grinding the Estonian sekiwake over the ridge.
(C) All rights reserved
Russia seeks inspiration from high-tech Singapore
By Stuart Williams (AFP) – 23 hours ago
SINGAPORE — President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said Russia should learn from Singapore's "great example" of economic transformation as he made the first ever visit by a Russian head of state to the island.
Accompanied by a high-ranking Russian business delegation, Medvedev said the Singaporean example was vital for Russia as he battles to develop its oil exports-based economy into a more diversified system.
The visit came days after Medvedev gave a state-of-the-nation address outlining a plan to modernize the Russian economy, which analysts praised for its broad vision but criticized for a lack of concrete proposals.
He said in Singapore that Russia was seeking "a change from a hydrocarbon-based model of the Russian economy to a new innovative model based on the wide use of high technologies to make it highly competitive."
"In this respect, the experience of Singapore is very interesting for us," he said, hailing the "great example" the country had set in implementing a rapid transformation of the economy.
Speaking at a roundtable with business leaders, Medvedev said one of the most important results of his trip was the creation of an inter-governmental commission on the economy and science and technology.
Medvedev also met with post-colonial Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who is credited with masterminding the country's rapid growth since independence.
He now holds the title of minister mentor in the cabinet of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who Medvedev also met for official talks.
Medvedev listened intently, without translation, as several Singapore business leaders outlined their desire to do business with Russia but expressed concern about the strength of the rule of law in the country.
He said Russia risked being seen only as a hydrocarbon exporter by other states and warned that "in the 21st century this is senseless".
Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer and remains the world's biggest natural gas producer. But its failure to diversify the economy hit hard when the economic crisis struck and oil prices plunged.
Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the world's largest gas firm Gazprom, said at the meeting he hoped that diversification of the Russian economy would go hand in hand with "development of the oil and gas sector".
Moscow and Singapore forged ties in 1968 under the Soviet Union. Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime minister for three decades, twice visited the USSR and has been to post-Soviet Russia three times.
With Russia importing Singaporean high-tech goods and Singapore importing Russian natural materials and engine oils, total trade in 2008 rose to 1.64 billion US dollars.
And despite the economic crisis which has hit Russian trade with other big Asian economies, trade rose 62.2 percent in the first eight months of the year to 1.1 billion US dollars.
"I am glad to say that our relations have not been weakened by the crisis," said Medvedev.
Russia joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 1998 and in recent years sought to bolster its relationship with states such as Singapore to diversify its trade base.
At the weekend's APEC summit meeting, Medvedev again made clear Russia's ambition to be a leading member of the group and the importance it attaches to hosting the 2012 summit in its Far East city of Vladivostok.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved
SINGAPORE — President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said Russia should learn from Singapore's "great example" of economic transformation as he made the first ever visit by a Russian head of state to the island.
Accompanied by a high-ranking Russian business delegation, Medvedev said the Singaporean example was vital for Russia as he battles to develop its oil exports-based economy into a more diversified system.
The visit came days after Medvedev gave a state-of-the-nation address outlining a plan to modernize the Russian economy, which analysts praised for its broad vision but criticized for a lack of concrete proposals.
He said in Singapore that Russia was seeking "a change from a hydrocarbon-based model of the Russian economy to a new innovative model based on the wide use of high technologies to make it highly competitive."
"In this respect, the experience of Singapore is very interesting for us," he said, hailing the "great example" the country had set in implementing a rapid transformation of the economy.
Speaking at a roundtable with business leaders, Medvedev said one of the most important results of his trip was the creation of an inter-governmental commission on the economy and science and technology.
Medvedev also met with post-colonial Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who is credited with masterminding the country's rapid growth since independence.
He now holds the title of minister mentor in the cabinet of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who Medvedev also met for official talks.
Medvedev listened intently, without translation, as several Singapore business leaders outlined their desire to do business with Russia but expressed concern about the strength of the rule of law in the country.
He said Russia risked being seen only as a hydrocarbon exporter by other states and warned that "in the 21st century this is senseless".
Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer and remains the world's biggest natural gas producer. But its failure to diversify the economy hit hard when the economic crisis struck and oil prices plunged.
Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the world's largest gas firm Gazprom, said at the meeting he hoped that diversification of the Russian economy would go hand in hand with "development of the oil and gas sector".
Moscow and Singapore forged ties in 1968 under the Soviet Union. Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime minister for three decades, twice visited the USSR and has been to post-Soviet Russia three times.
With Russia importing Singaporean high-tech goods and Singapore importing Russian natural materials and engine oils, total trade in 2008 rose to 1.64 billion US dollars.
And despite the economic crisis which has hit Russian trade with other big Asian economies, trade rose 62.2 percent in the first eight months of the year to 1.1 billion US dollars.
"I am glad to say that our relations have not been weakened by the crisis," said Medvedev.
Russia joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in 1998 and in recent years sought to bolster its relationship with states such as Singapore to diversify its trade base.
At the weekend's APEC summit meeting, Medvedev again made clear Russia's ambition to be a leading member of the group and the importance it attaches to hosting the 2012 summit in its Far East city of Vladivostok.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved
NKorea cargo ship arrives in SKorea after skirmish
By HYUNG-JIN KIM (AP) – 17 hours ago
SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean cargo ship visited a South Korean port Monday, showing that trade between the rival countries is continuing despite their bloody naval skirmish last week.
The ship unloaded 1,750 tons of silica at Incheon Port, west of Seoul, and sailed back to the North later Monday, according to port official Lee Jin-wu. The ship departed from a North Korean port last Thursday, two days after the neighboring countries clashed along their disputed western sea border.
North Korea had warned it would take unspecified military action to defend itself following the clash — their first at sea in seven years. A senior South Korean military officer said the fighting left one North Korean crew member dead and three others wounded. South Korea suffered no casualties.
South Korea put its troops on high alert to cope with possible North Korean provocations, but has said it does not want to see the skirmish harm relations with its communist neighbor.
"We've been saying that we won't artificially regulate" inter-Korean trade and exchanges, said Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo.
She said other North Korean ships, carrying marine products and coal, have passed through South Korean waters following the skirmish, and some South Korean ships have sailed to North Korean ports to deliver humanitarian aid.
South Korea is the No. 2 trading partner of North Korea, with trade volume reaching $1.1 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
At Incheon Port alone, 35 North Korean cargo ships had docked this year before Monday. Two more North Korean cargo ships were to arrive at the port later this week, port official Lee said.
The ship with silica to be delivered to a South Korea company was the first North Korean ship to enter Incheon Port following the clash, he said.
The divided Koreas have long been at odds over their western sea border and fought battles in the area in 1999 and 2002. The North insists a line imposed by the U.N. command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War be redrawn farther south, a demand rejected by South Korea.
South Korean officials said they had not detected any signs of suspicious activity from North Korea's military following the clash.
South Korean media including Yonhap news agency, however, reported that North Korea briefly activated radar for its surface-to-ship missiles Sunday, forcing South Korean naval vessels to move away from the disputed sea border. The radar is usually operated before the North test-fires a missile or engages in a drill, but the reports did not say why the North turned on the radar for an hour.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean cargo ship visited a South Korean port Monday, showing that trade between the rival countries is continuing despite their bloody naval skirmish last week.
The ship unloaded 1,750 tons of silica at Incheon Port, west of Seoul, and sailed back to the North later Monday, according to port official Lee Jin-wu. The ship departed from a North Korean port last Thursday, two days after the neighboring countries clashed along their disputed western sea border.
North Korea had warned it would take unspecified military action to defend itself following the clash — their first at sea in seven years. A senior South Korean military officer said the fighting left one North Korean crew member dead and three others wounded. South Korea suffered no casualties.
South Korea put its troops on high alert to cope with possible North Korean provocations, but has said it does not want to see the skirmish harm relations with its communist neighbor.
"We've been saying that we won't artificially regulate" inter-Korean trade and exchanges, said Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo.
She said other North Korean ships, carrying marine products and coal, have passed through South Korean waters following the skirmish, and some South Korean ships have sailed to North Korean ports to deliver humanitarian aid.
South Korea is the No. 2 trading partner of North Korea, with trade volume reaching $1.1 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
At Incheon Port alone, 35 North Korean cargo ships had docked this year before Monday. Two more North Korean cargo ships were to arrive at the port later this week, port official Lee said.
The ship with silica to be delivered to a South Korea company was the first North Korean ship to enter Incheon Port following the clash, he said.
The divided Koreas have long been at odds over their western sea border and fought battles in the area in 1999 and 2002. The North insists a line imposed by the U.N. command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War be redrawn farther south, a demand rejected by South Korea.
South Korean officials said they had not detected any signs of suspicious activity from North Korea's military following the clash.
South Korean media including Yonhap news agency, however, reported that North Korea briefly activated radar for its surface-to-ship missiles Sunday, forcing South Korean naval vessels to move away from the disputed sea border. The radar is usually operated before the North test-fires a missile or engages in a drill, but the reports did not say why the North turned on the radar for an hour.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Obama Pushes China To Stop Censoring Internet
November 16, 2009
President Obama sat down with Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Beijing on Monday to talk trade, climate change and economics hours before addressing university students on the delicate subjects of censorship and Internet access in the nation of 1.3 billion.
The White House delegation met with Hu at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Obama hoped to impart his belief that few global challenges can be solved unless the world's only superpower and its rising competitor work together. He and his advisers have insisted in virtually all public utterances since he arrived in Japan on Friday: "We do not seek to contain China's rise."
Obama echoed that message in a town hall-style meeting with university students in Shanghai, where he assured his young audience that the United States has more to gain from working with a rising China than standing against it.
One Student's Reaction
Qian Jin is a former news assistant at NPR's Shanghai Bureau. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in communication at Fudan University in Shanghai. He was selected to attend the town hall-style meeting.
"I believe cooperation must go beyond our government. It must be rooted in our people — in the studies we share, in the business that we do, the knowledge that we gain, and even in the sports that we play," the U.S. president said.
Obama said the United States is not seeking to impose any system of government on any other nation, "but we also don't believe that the principles we stand for are unique to our nation."
"These freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information, and political participation, we believe are universal rights," he said. "They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any other nation."
Censorship and Beijing's record on human rights — especially its treatment of ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and the Uighur people concentrated in China's southwest Xinjiang province — are especially sensitive issues between the two nations.
In his opening statement to the students in Shanghai, Obama spoke bluntly about the benefits of individual freedoms in a country known for limiting them. Social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are among those blocked to China's estimated 250 million Internet users by the government's so-called Great Firewall.
"I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable," Obama told students during his first-ever trip to China. "They can begin to think for themselves."
He credited the Internet with helping him win the presidency because it allowed for the mobilization of young Americans not unlike those in the audience at Shanghai's Museum of Science and Technology.
"I'm a big supporter of non-censorship," Obama said. "I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access — is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged."
In the U.S., he noted, the free flow of information extended to a healthy debate about government. He acknowledged that he has "a lot of critics" that can say "all kinds of things" about him.
"I actually think that makes our democracy stronger, and it makes me a better leader," he told the gathered students.
The town hall was not broadcast live across China on television, but was shown on local Shanghai TV and streamed online on two big national Internet portals.
He also told students that China and the United States needed to demonstrate that they could work together to solve big problems, such as climate change. The two nations are cooperating more than ever on battling global warming, but they still differ deeply over hard targets for reductions in the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause it.
I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable.
- President Obama
"I can tell you other countries around the world will be waiting for us," Obama said. "They will watch to see what we do. And if they say, 'Ah, the United States and China aren't serious about this,' then they won't be serious either. That is the burden of leadership that both of our countries carry."
On Monday night, Hu played host to Obama at an informal dinner. The most substantive talks were set for Tuesday, when the two leaders were to meet in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. After that, Obama will do some sightseeing, visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
Obama is in the midst of a weeklong Asia trip. He came with a vast agenda of security, economic and environmental concerns.
He is expected to raise the issue of the yuan's exchange rate. China maintains a de facto peg to the U.S. dollar through its "managed float" regime, which has been criticized for keeping the yuan's value artificially low. That is a boon to the country's huge export economy because it keeps the price of "Made in China" products low.
From NPR staff and wire reports
President Obama sat down with Chinese leader Hu Jintao in Beijing on Monday to talk trade, climate change and economics hours before addressing university students on the delicate subjects of censorship and Internet access in the nation of 1.3 billion.
The White House delegation met with Hu at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Obama hoped to impart his belief that few global challenges can be solved unless the world's only superpower and its rising competitor work together. He and his advisers have insisted in virtually all public utterances since he arrived in Japan on Friday: "We do not seek to contain China's rise."
Obama echoed that message in a town hall-style meeting with university students in Shanghai, where he assured his young audience that the United States has more to gain from working with a rising China than standing against it.
One Student's Reaction
Qian Jin is a former news assistant at NPR's Shanghai Bureau. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in communication at Fudan University in Shanghai. He was selected to attend the town hall-style meeting.
"I believe cooperation must go beyond our government. It must be rooted in our people — in the studies we share, in the business that we do, the knowledge that we gain, and even in the sports that we play," the U.S. president said.
Obama said the United States is not seeking to impose any system of government on any other nation, "but we also don't believe that the principles we stand for are unique to our nation."
"These freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information, and political participation, we believe are universal rights," he said. "They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any other nation."
Censorship and Beijing's record on human rights — especially its treatment of ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and the Uighur people concentrated in China's southwest Xinjiang province — are especially sensitive issues between the two nations.
In his opening statement to the students in Shanghai, Obama spoke bluntly about the benefits of individual freedoms in a country known for limiting them. Social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter are among those blocked to China's estimated 250 million Internet users by the government's so-called Great Firewall.
"I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable," Obama told students during his first-ever trip to China. "They can begin to think for themselves."
He credited the Internet with helping him win the presidency because it allowed for the mobilization of young Americans not unlike those in the audience at Shanghai's Museum of Science and Technology.
"I'm a big supporter of non-censorship," Obama said. "I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access — is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged."
In the U.S., he noted, the free flow of information extended to a healthy debate about government. He acknowledged that he has "a lot of critics" that can say "all kinds of things" about him.
"I actually think that makes our democracy stronger, and it makes me a better leader," he told the gathered students.
The town hall was not broadcast live across China on television, but was shown on local Shanghai TV and streamed online on two big national Internet portals.
He also told students that China and the United States needed to demonstrate that they could work together to solve big problems, such as climate change. The two nations are cooperating more than ever on battling global warming, but they still differ deeply over hard targets for reductions in the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause it.
I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable.
- President Obama
"I can tell you other countries around the world will be waiting for us," Obama said. "They will watch to see what we do. And if they say, 'Ah, the United States and China aren't serious about this,' then they won't be serious either. That is the burden of leadership that both of our countries carry."
On Monday night, Hu played host to Obama at an informal dinner. The most substantive talks were set for Tuesday, when the two leaders were to meet in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. After that, Obama will do some sightseeing, visiting the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
Obama is in the midst of a weeklong Asia trip. He came with a vast agenda of security, economic and environmental concerns.
He is expected to raise the issue of the yuan's exchange rate. China maintains a de facto peg to the U.S. dollar through its "managed float" regime, which has been criticized for keeping the yuan's value artificially low. That is a boon to the country's huge export economy because it keeps the price of "Made in China" products low.
From NPR staff and wire reports
Traditional wedding costumes and rituals become popular in Tianjin
Taking off their suits and glasses and putting on traditional red costumes, 29-year-old Bao Zhigang transforms into "Mr. Bao, new son-in-law" and Chen Jing has become "bride Chen". On November 8, the young couple interpreted a wedding ceremony in the ancient style.
Both the bride and the bridegroom are ordinary office workers. They are interested in history, so they chose a traditional style wedding ceremony. Red carpet, totem design on the background wall, inscriptions paying sacrifice to heaven and ancient poems, together with slow music played on Chinese instruments brought the wedding ceremony into ancient times. During the ceremony, both sets of parents wearing traditional costumes sat at the front of the big hall; the master of the ceremony was called the propriety guider; the bridesmaids and groomsmen became servants, and the organizer of wedding ceremony who usually works behind the scenes had to walk onto the stage and was called a "chaperone".
The master of the ceremony abandoned his active style and started to recite ancient poems. The new couple looked constrained as ceremonial bowing is strictly required, so they raised their hands to their eyebrows and crouched down on the floor. For the "sharing of the sacrifice", the new couple shared the meat of a livestock, symbolizing their ability to share happiness and setbacks; the "sharing of the nuptial wine cup" refers to drinking from the nuptial cup; and the "tying of the hair" involves cutting a little hair from the couple's heads, braiding it together and putting it into a sachet, with the knot representing husband and wife…
Mr. Zhang, the master of the ceremony, told reporters that recently he has presided over many traditional style wedding ceremonies. This style has become popular, as many young people are becoming more interested in history and think that a traditional wedding ceremony is more solemn.
Translated by LOTO
Both the bride and the bridegroom are ordinary office workers. They are interested in history, so they chose a traditional style wedding ceremony. Red carpet, totem design on the background wall, inscriptions paying sacrifice to heaven and ancient poems, together with slow music played on Chinese instruments brought the wedding ceremony into ancient times. During the ceremony, both sets of parents wearing traditional costumes sat at the front of the big hall; the master of the ceremony was called the propriety guider; the bridesmaids and groomsmen became servants, and the organizer of wedding ceremony who usually works behind the scenes had to walk onto the stage and was called a "chaperone".
The master of the ceremony abandoned his active style and started to recite ancient poems. The new couple looked constrained as ceremonial bowing is strictly required, so they raised their hands to their eyebrows and crouched down on the floor. For the "sharing of the sacrifice", the new couple shared the meat of a livestock, symbolizing their ability to share happiness and setbacks; the "sharing of the nuptial wine cup" refers to drinking from the nuptial cup; and the "tying of the hair" involves cutting a little hair from the couple's heads, braiding it together and putting it into a sachet, with the knot representing husband and wife…
Mr. Zhang, the master of the ceremony, told reporters that recently he has presided over many traditional style wedding ceremonies. This style has become popular, as many young people are becoming more interested in history and think that a traditional wedding ceremony is more solemn.
Translated by LOTO
Battle to be major shipping centre in NE Asia hots up
Bohai Rim ports have been pooling cargo, vessels, routes and clients with the blessing of provincial goverments in their battle to become the shipping centre of Northeast Asia. Correspondent Susan Geng looks at the progress made by the contestants
Bohai Rim ports were the top performers in China in the first nine months of this year as competition heated up with each port striving to be recognised as Northeast Asia's international shipping centre.
New players have entered the battle besides the three key ports of Tianjin, Qingdao and Dalian. These are the coastal ports of Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Huanghua in Hebei province; Yingkou and Jinzhou near Dalian; Rizhao and Yantai near Qingdao.
While Tianjin held third place in cargo volumes in the first nine months. Tangshan in Hebei province led the cargo growth with a 51 percent year-on-year increase, handling 126.5 million tonnes.
All Bohai Rim ports registered positive growth by September except Qinhuangdao, which saw a decline in throughput along with ports in East and South China.
Tianjin ranked third in cargo throughput last year with 356 million tonnes, followed by Qingdao with 300 million tonnes and Dalian 246 million tonnes.
The region's performance in container shipping, long considered a weak link compared to southern and eastern China ports, has improved. Four out of five coastal ports showed positive container growth in the first nine months with Yingkou leading with a 29 percent increase. Growth in container volumes was also registered by Qingdao, Tianjin and Dalian.
Last year, Qingdao Port led northern China with 10 million TEUs, ranking fifth in the country while Tianjin ended the year with 8.5 million TEUs and Dalian with 4.53 million TEUs.
"The Bohai Rim's port battle to become known as Northeast Asia' top shipping centre has helped to lift their status and efficiency as port groups,'' said Professor Liu Bin, director of the World Economic Research Institute at Dalian Maritime University.
In August, Hebei's provincial capital Shijiaz-huang established the Hebei Port Group, comprising Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Huanghua and Cangzhou ports, in its drive to be the top shipping centre. A month later, Tianjin drummed up support for itself with the release of impressive expansions plans. And last month, Dalian port announced it would list its shares in Shanghai and has given the green light for the building of four container berths at Dayao Bay, including exclusive mineral ore and crude oil berths. The same month, Qingdao released plans to "build another Qingdao Port" at Dongjiakou with 112 designed berths, including 400,000-dwt terminals for mineral ore.
Provincial governments have jumped into the fray providing financial and other support to ports in their provinces as they vie for the hub business that comes with being a shipping centre.
The Hebei group has been put under direct management of the provincial State Assets Commission while Tianjin's plans were publicised by the Binhai New Area administration. The Dalian administration was drawing other Northeast China cities into its pool while the Shandong provincial authorities have drawn up a port strategy under which Qingdao will become the main port, Yantai and Rizhao branch ports and Weihai a feeder port.
"Such direct government involvement could maximise local interest in the ports, and iron out obstacles in infrastructure and fund-raising,'' said Liu.
He dispelled industry worries of redundant construction and a price war. "Only consolidation through market competition can move the ports on to the world stage," he said.
Beijing has been encouraging provincial administrations to compete and tap their potential while following overall regulations, Liu said. "The glory of becoming a global shipping centre will go the most capable and efficient group of ports,'' he said.
Price wars are cruel but beneficial for the market and help improve port efficiency, said Liu. "Such competition is inevitable and necessary in
the transitory period during the growing-up period," he said.
Liu also saw an advantage in port cooperation, "which puts all sides in the same boat and pools resources in cargo sources, fleet, routes and clients and lets ports find their own particular advantages''.
But capital cooperation is by far the best option," he said. Following this is Dalian, which has swapped shares with Jinzhou Port and is expected to buy into nearby berths at Changxing Island, Lushun District, Changhai County and Zhuanghe and reach a reasonable arrangement with clear division of load. The Dayao Bay Bonded Zone, which came into operation in June, has become a special Customs service area, offering a 20-hour cargo clearing service compared to 70 hours previously. Its shipping exchange offers a one-stop service and one-network trade.
Tianjin, however, has attracted the most attention with its ambitious blueprint for becoming the international shipping centre of northern China by 2015. The blueprint said the centre would serve northern China and Asia's northeast, west, and central areas. Tianjin's gross cargo volume will reach 550 million tonnes by that time and container throughput 17 million TEUs.
The Binhai New Area has regional advantages, said Tianjin Port Group president Yu Rumin. The area is the outlet for northern manufacturing bases in Tianjin and Beijing, and now has spread its wings not only to the hinterland but also to central and western Asia, such as Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
As the transport hub of northern China, "Binhai has integrated various modes of transport such as railways, expressways, highways, oil pipes and aviation, which makes transport costs reasonable," Yu said.
The expansion of container routes will be the focus of Tianjin in coming years, integrating ocean liners, Bohai-rim feeder routes and internal trade routes. The routes will be supported by rail-sea lines to the hinterland as far as Xinjiang and Ningxia autonomous regions.
In a bid to accomodate larger vessels, Tianjin initially dredged channels to allow transit of 100,000-tonne vessels, then dug deeper to accommodate 250,000-tonne vessels and expects to handle 300,000 tonne vessels by 2015.
Copyright © 2009 Times Business Information Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Bohai Rim ports were the top performers in China in the first nine months of this year as competition heated up with each port striving to be recognised as Northeast Asia's international shipping centre.
New players have entered the battle besides the three key ports of Tianjin, Qingdao and Dalian. These are the coastal ports of Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Huanghua in Hebei province; Yingkou and Jinzhou near Dalian; Rizhao and Yantai near Qingdao.
While Tianjin held third place in cargo volumes in the first nine months. Tangshan in Hebei province led the cargo growth with a 51 percent year-on-year increase, handling 126.5 million tonnes.
All Bohai Rim ports registered positive growth by September except Qinhuangdao, which saw a decline in throughput along with ports in East and South China.
Tianjin ranked third in cargo throughput last year with 356 million tonnes, followed by Qingdao with 300 million tonnes and Dalian 246 million tonnes.
The region's performance in container shipping, long considered a weak link compared to southern and eastern China ports, has improved. Four out of five coastal ports showed positive container growth in the first nine months with Yingkou leading with a 29 percent increase. Growth in container volumes was also registered by Qingdao, Tianjin and Dalian.
Last year, Qingdao Port led northern China with 10 million TEUs, ranking fifth in the country while Tianjin ended the year with 8.5 million TEUs and Dalian with 4.53 million TEUs.
"The Bohai Rim's port battle to become known as Northeast Asia' top shipping centre has helped to lift their status and efficiency as port groups,'' said Professor Liu Bin, director of the World Economic Research Institute at Dalian Maritime University.
In August, Hebei's provincial capital Shijiaz-huang established the Hebei Port Group, comprising Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, Huanghua and Cangzhou ports, in its drive to be the top shipping centre. A month later, Tianjin drummed up support for itself with the release of impressive expansions plans. And last month, Dalian port announced it would list its shares in Shanghai and has given the green light for the building of four container berths at Dayao Bay, including exclusive mineral ore and crude oil berths. The same month, Qingdao released plans to "build another Qingdao Port" at Dongjiakou with 112 designed berths, including 400,000-dwt terminals for mineral ore.
Provincial governments have jumped into the fray providing financial and other support to ports in their provinces as they vie for the hub business that comes with being a shipping centre.
The Hebei group has been put under direct management of the provincial State Assets Commission while Tianjin's plans were publicised by the Binhai New Area administration. The Dalian administration was drawing other Northeast China cities into its pool while the Shandong provincial authorities have drawn up a port strategy under which Qingdao will become the main port, Yantai and Rizhao branch ports and Weihai a feeder port.
"Such direct government involvement could maximise local interest in the ports, and iron out obstacles in infrastructure and fund-raising,'' said Liu.
He dispelled industry worries of redundant construction and a price war. "Only consolidation through market competition can move the ports on to the world stage," he said.
Beijing has been encouraging provincial administrations to compete and tap their potential while following overall regulations, Liu said. "The glory of becoming a global shipping centre will go the most capable and efficient group of ports,'' he said.
Price wars are cruel but beneficial for the market and help improve port efficiency, said Liu. "Such competition is inevitable and necessary in
the transitory period during the growing-up period," he said.
Liu also saw an advantage in port cooperation, "which puts all sides in the same boat and pools resources in cargo sources, fleet, routes and clients and lets ports find their own particular advantages''.
But capital cooperation is by far the best option," he said. Following this is Dalian, which has swapped shares with Jinzhou Port and is expected to buy into nearby berths at Changxing Island, Lushun District, Changhai County and Zhuanghe and reach a reasonable arrangement with clear division of load. The Dayao Bay Bonded Zone, which came into operation in June, has become a special Customs service area, offering a 20-hour cargo clearing service compared to 70 hours previously. Its shipping exchange offers a one-stop service and one-network trade.
Tianjin, however, has attracted the most attention with its ambitious blueprint for becoming the international shipping centre of northern China by 2015. The blueprint said the centre would serve northern China and Asia's northeast, west, and central areas. Tianjin's gross cargo volume will reach 550 million tonnes by that time and container throughput 17 million TEUs.
The Binhai New Area has regional advantages, said Tianjin Port Group president Yu Rumin. The area is the outlet for northern manufacturing bases in Tianjin and Beijing, and now has spread its wings not only to the hinterland but also to central and western Asia, such as Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
As the transport hub of northern China, "Binhai has integrated various modes of transport such as railways, expressways, highways, oil pipes and aviation, which makes transport costs reasonable," Yu said.
The expansion of container routes will be the focus of Tianjin in coming years, integrating ocean liners, Bohai-rim feeder routes and internal trade routes. The routes will be supported by rail-sea lines to the hinterland as far as Xinjiang and Ningxia autonomous regions.
In a bid to accomodate larger vessels, Tianjin initially dredged channels to allow transit of 100,000-tonne vessels, then dug deeper to accommodate 250,000-tonne vessels and expects to handle 300,000 tonne vessels by 2015.
Copyright © 2009 Times Business Information Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Japan’s Deflation Concern Mounts Even as Growth Accelerates
By Jason Clenfield and Tatsuo Ito
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The acceleration of Japan’s economy to the fastest growth pace in more than two years masked a slide in prices of goods and services that threatens to temper the nation’s recovery.
The domestic demand deflator, a measure of price levels that excludes the cost of imports, fell 2.6 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the most since 1958, Cabinet Office figures showed yesterday in Tokyo. At the same time, gross domestic product jumped 4.8 percent, the most since early 2007.
Sustained price declines threaten to curtail a corporate- profit rebound that’s already been insufficient to spur a rally in Japan’s shares this quarter. The report prompted Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan to say the government may outline an emergency-spending package as soon as today, adding that “I’m concerned we’re entering into a deflationary situation.”
“This isn’t sustainable growth and the government knows it -- that’s precisely why they’re talking about the GDP deflator,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. “On the face of it, 4.8 percent growth is a positive for the Democrats, but they’re not reading it as a reason to abandon their economic policies.”
Most stocks dropped yesterday, with the Topix closing at 860.42 at 3 p.m. in Tokyo, the lowest level since July 13. While the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.2 percent to 9,791.18, about four stocks retreated for every three that climbed.
Pushing BOJ
Kan also said yesterday that the government should work with the Bank of Japan to tackle the price slump. The central bank has kept interest rates near zero to help rekindle growth.
Consumer prices in the world’s second-largest economy have fallen for seven straight months, undermined by the deepest recession in the postwar era.
Deflation can undermine the economy by persuading companies and consumers to delay purchases in the anticipation of further price declines. It also increases the value of their debt.
“Deflation is great if you don’t have debt,” Nishioka said. “But debt drives most economic activity. Companies take out a loan to build factories or you get a mortgage to buy a house. Those burdens get heavier when incomes start to fall.”
The yen’s 6 percent gain against the dollar in the past three months has exacerbated the price slump by making imports cheaper.
Even after seven months of gains in factory output, about one third of Japan’s factories sit idle. The Democratic Party of Japan took power in September pledging to support households that have endured 16 months of wage declines and unemployment that climbed to a record in July.
‘Biggest Worry’
“The biggest worry to us is that consumption growth has been too strong relative to incomes,” said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief Japan economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo, who used to work at the central bank.
“It might be a decade before the job market returns to the level of health we had a year or two ago,” he said. “The number of jobs may recover but not wages. It’s very fragile.”
A price war over jeans is a sign of that fragility. Discount retailer Don Quijote Co. last month started selling jeans for 690 yen ($7.70), undercutting Aeon Co., Japan’s largest supermarket chain, which has been offering them for about $9. Fast Retailing Co., the operator of Uniqlo stores, started the battle in March with pairs at $11.
“Japanese domestic demand is still dependent on price declines to grow,” said Naomi Fink, a strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.
Contraction Continues
Without adjusting for prices, Japan’s economy shrank an annualized 0.3 percent last quarter, the sixth straight contraction. The Democratic Party of Japan has signaled that these nominal figures will play a greater role in its policy making.
“There’s been a tendency to focus on the price-adjusted figures,” Keisuke Tsumura, one of the DPJ’s top economic officials, said in an interview this month. “We’re going to try to strike a better balance in our decision-making that doesn’t ignore the nominal figures,” which he said better reflect the economy as households experience it.
The government’s heightened concern about deflation may put it at odds with the Bank of Japan. While the central bank last month forecast prices will keep falling through the year ending March 2012, Governor Masaaki Shirakawa has said deflation is unlikely to weigh on economic growth.
The central bank won’t have room to raise the benchmark interest rate from the current 0.1 percent until at least the end of 2010, according to 15 of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News last month.
Double Dip
Still, most analysts said yesterday’s report suggests Japan will avoid a double-dip recession. Domestic demand, which includes consumer spending and business investment, contributed two-thirds of the country’s growth last quarter. In the previous three months, exports led the economy’s first expansion in more than a year.
“The composition of these numbers was a lot more encouraging than the second-quarter numbers, said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Tokyo. “It wasn’t the net exports story, it was a swing in private domestic demand, which brings some promise of greater stability.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Clenfield in Tokyo at jclenfield@bloomberg.net; Tatsuo Ito in Tokyo at tito2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 16, 2009 10:01 EST
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The acceleration of Japan’s economy to the fastest growth pace in more than two years masked a slide in prices of goods and services that threatens to temper the nation’s recovery.
The domestic demand deflator, a measure of price levels that excludes the cost of imports, fell 2.6 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the most since 1958, Cabinet Office figures showed yesterday in Tokyo. At the same time, gross domestic product jumped 4.8 percent, the most since early 2007.
Sustained price declines threaten to curtail a corporate- profit rebound that’s already been insufficient to spur a rally in Japan’s shares this quarter. The report prompted Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan to say the government may outline an emergency-spending package as soon as today, adding that “I’m concerned we’re entering into a deflationary situation.”
“This isn’t sustainable growth and the government knows it -- that’s precisely why they’re talking about the GDP deflator,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. “On the face of it, 4.8 percent growth is a positive for the Democrats, but they’re not reading it as a reason to abandon their economic policies.”
Most stocks dropped yesterday, with the Topix closing at 860.42 at 3 p.m. in Tokyo, the lowest level since July 13. While the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.2 percent to 9,791.18, about four stocks retreated for every three that climbed.
Pushing BOJ
Kan also said yesterday that the government should work with the Bank of Japan to tackle the price slump. The central bank has kept interest rates near zero to help rekindle growth.
Consumer prices in the world’s second-largest economy have fallen for seven straight months, undermined by the deepest recession in the postwar era.
Deflation can undermine the economy by persuading companies and consumers to delay purchases in the anticipation of further price declines. It also increases the value of their debt.
“Deflation is great if you don’t have debt,” Nishioka said. “But debt drives most economic activity. Companies take out a loan to build factories or you get a mortgage to buy a house. Those burdens get heavier when incomes start to fall.”
The yen’s 6 percent gain against the dollar in the past three months has exacerbated the price slump by making imports cheaper.
Even after seven months of gains in factory output, about one third of Japan’s factories sit idle. The Democratic Party of Japan took power in September pledging to support households that have endured 16 months of wage declines and unemployment that climbed to a record in July.
‘Biggest Worry’
“The biggest worry to us is that consumption growth has been too strong relative to incomes,” said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief Japan economist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo, who used to work at the central bank.
“It might be a decade before the job market returns to the level of health we had a year or two ago,” he said. “The number of jobs may recover but not wages. It’s very fragile.”
A price war over jeans is a sign of that fragility. Discount retailer Don Quijote Co. last month started selling jeans for 690 yen ($7.70), undercutting Aeon Co., Japan’s largest supermarket chain, which has been offering them for about $9. Fast Retailing Co., the operator of Uniqlo stores, started the battle in March with pairs at $11.
“Japanese domestic demand is still dependent on price declines to grow,” said Naomi Fink, a strategist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.
Contraction Continues
Without adjusting for prices, Japan’s economy shrank an annualized 0.3 percent last quarter, the sixth straight contraction. The Democratic Party of Japan has signaled that these nominal figures will play a greater role in its policy making.
“There’s been a tendency to focus on the price-adjusted figures,” Keisuke Tsumura, one of the DPJ’s top economic officials, said in an interview this month. “We’re going to try to strike a better balance in our decision-making that doesn’t ignore the nominal figures,” which he said better reflect the economy as households experience it.
The government’s heightened concern about deflation may put it at odds with the Bank of Japan. While the central bank last month forecast prices will keep falling through the year ending March 2012, Governor Masaaki Shirakawa has said deflation is unlikely to weigh on economic growth.
The central bank won’t have room to raise the benchmark interest rate from the current 0.1 percent until at least the end of 2010, according to 15 of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News last month.
Double Dip
Still, most analysts said yesterday’s report suggests Japan will avoid a double-dip recession. Domestic demand, which includes consumer spending and business investment, contributed two-thirds of the country’s growth last quarter. In the previous three months, exports led the economy’s first expansion in more than a year.
“The composition of these numbers was a lot more encouraging than the second-quarter numbers, said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Tokyo. “It wasn’t the net exports story, it was a swing in private domestic demand, which brings some promise of greater stability.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Clenfield in Tokyo at jclenfield@bloomberg.net; Tatsuo Ito in Tokyo at tito2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 16, 2009 10:01 EST
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