Looming Clash Between Seoul and Washington Over Nuclear Technology

When South Korean President Park Geun-hye visits Washington on May 5 she will be reaffirming the 60-year alliance between the U.S. and her country with cordiality. Relations between Washington and Seoul are better than ever thanks to a free-trade agreement, greater policy coordination and solidarity against North Korea’s provocations. But there is an unresolved question in their relationship: How much nuclear technology should South Korea possess? Representatives from both countries have tried to answer that question since October 2010, when they started negotiating over the 1974 nuclear-cooperation agreement, which permits commercial nuclear trade between the two nations. Under the pact, South Korea is banned from reprocessing spent U.S. fuel and enriching uranium — technologies that could be used to make weapons. Now, nearly 40 years after the agreement was signed, South Korea wants Washington to lift that ban. The U.S. refuses to do so. Washington and Seoul were supposed to come up with a new deal this spring before the original agreement expires in March 2014. They haven’t done so, but to prevent a hiatus in nuclear trade the two decided to extend the current agreement for two years and hold additional negotiations every three months until the new expiry date. “Because our cooperation is increasingly broad and deep, there are several complex technical issues that will take some additional time and effort to resolve,” said the U.S. State Department in a statement. The stopgap extension helps avoid potential awkwardness between Park and Obama at their first summit, but it ultimately underscores the clash between Seoul’s goals to expand its nuclear-energy industry and Washington’s efforts to contain the spread of nuclear technologies that could be used to produce weapons. (PHOTOS: North Korea Ratchets Up Tension on The Peninsula) Washington’s argument is that if South Korea has enrichment and reprocessing rights, then other countries that are trying to sign nuclear-cooperation agreements with the U.S. will also ask for the same rights and undermine nonproliferation efforts. That line of thinking does not go down well in South Korea, which considers itself a

JAPAN: One Man's Invasion Is . . .

Japan's Prime Minister reinterprets the history of World War II.

JAPAN: Why Resurrect the Divisive Politics of Yasukuni?

Just as I thought I could put the finishing touches on my book manuscript, Japanese Domestic Politics and the Rise of China (Columbia University Press), which has a chapter on Yasukuni, the issue erupted again to confound Japan’s diplomatic relations.

The revival of Yasukuni Shrine visits presents a serious diplomatic setback for Tokyo. The costs have been high and the benefits hard to find. (Jennifer Lind wrote a great piece on this in March before this week’s headlines.)

More importantly, it reveals the reactive nationalisms afoot in Northeast Asia that are dangerous and unpredictable.

The debate over Yasukuni is fraught with political tensions, even within Japan. There are some who would liken it to America’s Arlington Cemetery, but this is wrong. There are no deep divisions in the United States over Arlington, or over those who lie there. Postwar Japanese however have been deeply ambivalent about the politics of Yasukuni Shrine, and the effort to try to give it the same standing as Arlington cemetery—to legally designate it as a national war memorial—has been defeated over and over again in the Japanese parliament on the grounds that the Shinto shrine violated the postwar Constitution’s separation of church and state.

Yasukuni Shrine also carries the stigma of state secrecy and complicit activism. The inclusion of the Class-A war criminals was done furtively in 1978 at the behest of a Yasukuni Shrine official, Nagayoshi Matsudaira. When the Japanese media found out almost a year later, it reignited the emotional differences between left and right over the proper place for commemorating Japan’s defeat and the losses, both civilian and military, the nation suffered. It is significant that Japan’s Emperor Hirohito, who had presided over the invasion of China and the Pacific War, stopped visiting Yasukuni Shrine once the Class-A war criminals were included.

The annual ceremony presided over by the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and attended by the prime minister and his cabinet, continues to be the place of preference for commemorating August 15 among the Japanese public. In Japanese, August 15 is referred to as the day World War II ended (終戦記念日); the official commemoration is referred to as “the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace” (戦歿者を追悼し平和を祈念する日).

Previous prime ministers have sought to demonstrate their sympathy with Japan’s Imperial veterans by visiting Yasukuni on August 15. Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone visited Yasukuni Shrine in 1984/5 and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi promised Japan’s veterans families that he would do so as well. Koizumi finally realized his promise in 2006, his fifth year in office. Nakasone and Koizumi both confronted the outrage of China and South Korea when they visited, and the balancing act between their desire to satisfy their conservative followers and to maintain good relations with neighboring countries proved extraordinarily difficult.

The Koizumi years proved salutary, however, for the national conversation in Japan over war responsibility and Yasukuni Shrine’s place in the national commemoration of Japan’s war dead. As chief cabinet secretary under Koizumi, Yasuo Fukuda led a task force to consider an alternative national memorial, one that would not be of a religious nature. Former prime minister Taro Aso also advocated for a national secular memorial when he ran for the leadership of his party, and thus his visit to Yasukuni as deputy prime minister this week seems puzzling.

Not all of those whose family members died in World War II find solace in the politicization of Yasukuni. During the Koizumi-era debate, the idea that the Emperor of Japan could visit Yasukuni seemed more important to some families of Japan’s war dead than the prime minister’s visit.
Likewise many Japanese were forced to consider the question of war responsibility. A Yomiuri Shimbun series of articles prompted a national conversation, and even those with longstanding and deep differences over the question of Japan’s history—the leading editorial writers of the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun respectively—got together to discuss the assumptions in their positions on the war and on how it shapes Japanese postwar national identity.

Yet this remains an incomplete conversation, one that today has become deeply entwined with Yasukuni Shrine’s role as a symbol of conservative nationalism. For others, Yasukuni Shrine has become a symbol of Japan’s inability to make a break with its past, and to fully allow the generation who died in the war—civilians and those who wore the Emperor’s uniform—to be given a place where all Japanese can honor them.

Yasukuni Shrine visits have always been steeped in politics. The domestic debate over Yasukuni prompted by Koizumi’s pledge to his followers in many ways encouraged a healthy conversation about topics that had long been too difficult for many Japanese to address. But it did not legitimize the practice. Since then, many individual politicians have made their own trips to Yasukuni, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has visited on several occasions although not as prime minister.
But there is a new edge to the domestic activism on Yasukuni this week.

Nationalism seems to beget nationalism among the nations of Northeast Asia, and political leaders should find little comfort in the growing popular sensitivities in Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo to perceived slight and impugned motive. The diplomatic protest, and cancellation of the visit to Tokyo by South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, seemed to invite a reaction in kind. The defiant march into Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday, sponsored by the Let’s Go to Yasukuni Together group of politicians, was clearly meant as a political signal to Japan’s neighbors.

Even the language used in Japan’s parliament to the effect that Japanese won’t be intimidated suggested a new reactive motive for Yasukuni Shrine visits, a motive that many of us outside the country find difficult to understand.

Tokyo today needs to look outward, to find common cause with its friends in Asia and across the globe, rather than retreat into isolation. Postwar Japan’s accomplishments, not the divisive symbols of its past, should continue to guide its choices. Japan’s postwar generation, conservatives and liberals alike, embraced a new future with different values, and created the tremendous energy needed to lead their nation into a different era.

Rather than turn to defiant gestures, Japan’s contemporary political leaders—conservative and liberal alike—must have the courage to lead the way to firmer ground upon which to base their children and grandchildren’s future. Yasukuni may always be the place of commemoration for a generation of Japanese who seek to honor their family members who fought in the name of the Emperor.

But for the Japan of today, the nation that has committed itself to avoiding war and building peace and democratic values, perhaps the time has come to embrace Mr. Fukuda’s plan for the construction of an alternative memorial, one where all Japanese and non-Japanese can honor those who gave their lives for their country.

RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin’s Live Q&A Sessions: 10 Facts

President Vladimir Putin is set to hold his 11th question and answer session with the Russian public on Thursday.

JAPAN court rejects demand to evacuate children

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court has rejected a demand that a city affected by the fallout of the country’s 2011 nuclear disaster evacuate its children.

The unusual lawsuit was filed on behalf of the children by their parents and anti-nuclear activists in June 2011. The Sendai High Court handed down its ruling Wednesday.

The case had drawn international attention because it touched the uncertainties about the effects of continuous low-dose radiation on health, especially that of children, who are far more vulnerable than adults.

The lawsuit argued the city of Koriyama had legal responsibility to evacuate children at elementary schools and junior-high schools, which are part of compulsory education under Japanese law.

The court acknowledged radiation in the city exceeded levels deemed safe prior to the disaster. But it said the government shoulders no responsibility for evacuating the schools as demanded — in effect, telling people to leave on their own if they were worried.

Toshio Yanagihara, one of the lawyers, said the ruling was unfair as the children were “victims with absolutely no responsibility for the nuclear accident.”

A lower court threw out the original case in December 2011, but that ruling was appealed. The latest ruling can also be appealed.

Koriyama is a city of 330,000 people located about 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which went into multiple meltdowns more than two years ago after a giant tsunami destroyed it cooling system. That set off the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl.

Thousands of children got cancer after the Chernobyl disaster, but the cases did not surface for several years.

It is unclear whether Fukushima children are equally prone, as cancer has various causes, and radiation affects people differently. Radioactive contamination is complex, tainting not only the air but also getting in the food, soil and water.

Some experts say radiation outside the restricted zone right around Fukushima Dai-ichi is so low the probability of getting cancer is no different from the rest of Japan. But many Fukushima residents are worried and have moved out.

The government’s handling of the Fukushima disaster has led to widespread public distrust. Thousands of people have taken to the streets, demanding a phase-out of atomic power. The government has expressed a desire to restart reactors after checking on their safety.

KOREA PENINSULA: South Korea Warns North of ‘Grave Measure’ in Factory Dispute

Concerns grow that South Korea could withdraw from a jointly operated industrial complex located in North Korea.

ASEAN makes progress on trade, not on sea disputes

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders were upbeat Thursday about progress made on an ambitious plan to weld the region into a European Union-style economic community as a counterweight to Asian powerhouse China, while efforts were stalling on South China Sea disputes.

Leaders attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Brunei had hoped China would soon agree to start talks on a nonaggression pact to prevent a major clash in the disputed territories that
could smoke out their region’s robust economies.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, center, and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung pose for a group photo session during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, Thursday. Pic: AP.

But China has given no clear indication when it would agree to negotiate such a stopgap accord, known in ASEAN parlance as a “Code of Conduct.”

“Everybody is interested in having a peaceful resolution and also in voicing a concern that there have been increasing sea disputes,” Philippine President Benigno Aquino III told reporters after he and the other heads of state sat in a traditional dinner Wednesday.

Although overshadowed by security issues, an ambitious plan by ASEAN to transform itself into an E.U.-like community of more than 600 million people by the end of 2015 has sparked more optimism, with diplomats saying the bloc was on track to meet the deadline.

About 77 percent of the work to turn the bustling region into a single market and production base, first laid out in a 2007 blueprint, have been done, according to a confidential draft statement to be issued after the summit.

Nine leaders in the 10-nation bloc huddled behind closed doors Thursday at a cavernous, stone and marble building Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah had ordered built for the annual two-day summit. Absent from the session was Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Rasak, who was campaigning for re-election back home.

Carl Thayer, an expert who has extensively studied the territorial conflicts, said ASEAN may have committed a strategic mistake of agreeing to a crucial process that could easily be stalled by China, which would not commit to anything that would restrict its plans.

“ASEAN is stuck in a bureaucratic rut,” Thayer said.

The battle for ownership of potentially oil-rich territories in the South China Sea has settled into an uneasy stand-off since the last fighting, involving China and Vietnam, that killed more than 70 Vietnamese sailors in 1988. The other claimants are Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan.
New skirmishes, however, have erupted in the last two years, involving Vietnam, the Philippines and China, which claims the busy waterway virtually in its entirety.

Concerns have been exacerbated by China’s deployment of a patrol ship, equipped with a helipad, to guard its claimed areas and establishment last year of what they called Sansha city on a remote island 350 kilometers (220 miles) from southern Hainan to administer areas being contested by rival claimant countries.

A tense standoff erupted last year between Chinese and Filipino ships over the Scarborough Shoal has remained unresolved, prompting the Philippines in January to take a daring legal step that challenged China’s vast claims before a tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China has ignored the move.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said all the five arbiters of the tribunal have been appointed and they could now start looking into the case if they declare they have jurisdiction.
The long-raging disputes have threatened to divide ASEAN. Last year, its foreign ministers failed to issue a joint statement — a first in the bloc’s 45-year history — after Cambodia refused mention of the territorial rifts in the communique, provoking protests from Vietnam and the Philippines.

Cambodia, a known China ally, has towed Beijing’s line that the disputes should not be brought to the international arena. China wants the disputes settled by negotiating one on one with each of the rival claimants, something that will give it advantage because of its sheer size.

During the summit, ASEAN leaders also expressed concern about North Korea’s latest threats.

CHINA: Tibetan monks die after immolations

Two Tibetan monks die after setting themselves alight in a Tibetan area of China's Sichuan province, reports say.

TAIWAN confirms first case of H7N9 bird flu

Taiwan on Wednesday reported the first case of the H7N9 bird flu outside of mainland China. The case involves a 53-year-old man, who had been working in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. He showed flu symptoms three days after returning to Taiwan via Shanghai, the Centres for Disease Control said, adding that he had been hospitalised since April 16 and was in a critical condition.

NORTH KOREA & CHINA: Kevin Rudd on North Korea and U.S.-Chinese Relations

Kevin Rudd discusses North Korea and U.S.-Chinese relations during a conference call moderated by Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman.  KEVIN RUDD is a Member of the Australian Parliament. He served as Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2012. JONATHAN TEPPERMAN is Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs.

JAPAN & CHINA: Japan PM issues warning to Beijing over Diaoyu Islands

Abe's warning came after China sent eight surveillance vessels within 12 nautical miles of the islands - the most in a single day since Japan bought three of the islands in September.

JAPAN's Shinzo Abe threatens to 'expel by force' CHINESE landing on Diaoyus

Japan’s prime minister on Tuesday vowed to "expel by force" any Chinese landing on islands at the centre of a territorial row, after eight Chinese government vessels sailed into disputed waters.

SOUTH KOREA: Threatening Letter with Suspicious Powder Sent to Seoul Defense Minister

South Korea says the suspicious powder found in a threatening letter sent to Seoul's defense minister has been found to be flour.

Investigators earlier Tuesday said they were investigating the letter as an attempted act of terror against Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin.

They said the letter is similar to the hundreds of leaflets found scattered last week near the defense ministry that threatened to "punish" Kim for what it said was his tough stance on North Korea.

The North has ...

CHINA: Military planes drop aid into Sichuan quake zone

The People's Liberation Army has started airdrops of relief supplies to the two counties in Sichuan worst affected by Saturday's earthquake, which has killed at least 192 people and injured nearly 12,000.

NORTH KOREA: How About We Take Their Word For It

Do we really want the North Koreans to prove they can launch a nuke with a missile?

KOREAN PENINSULA: Top US Military Officer Visits South Korea

U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stopped briefly in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday for talks with high-ranking Korean and U.S. officers.

Dempsey was greeted by his counterpart, Chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Jung Seung-jo, at the South Korean Defense Ministry.

Dempsey added the stop in Seoul to his previously announced trip to China to gain a greater understanding of the latest rise in tensions on the Korean ...

CHINA: Battle to help victims of Sichuan quake

Relief teams battled to gain access to isolated areas in quake-hit Sichuan province as the death toll rose to 186 yesterday, with more than 11,000 injured and 21 still missing.

NORTH KOREA moves two more missile launchers: report

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved two short-range missile launchers to its east coast, apparently indicating it is pushing ahead with preparations for a test launch, a South Korean news agency reported on Sunday.

JAPAN PM Abe's war shrine offering likely to infuriate CHINA

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a ritual offering of a pine tree to a shrine seen as a symbol of Japan's former militarism on Sunday, a gesture likely to upset Asian victims of Japan's war-time aggression, including China and South Korea.

CHINA: Quake jolts China’s Sichuan, killing 56

BEIJING (AP) — A powerful earthquake jolted China’s Sichuan province Saturday near where a devastating quake struck five years ago, leaving at least 56 dead and more than 600 injured and prompting state media to warn of higher casualties.

The quake — measured by China’s seismological bureau at magnitude-7 and the U.S. Geological Survey at 6.6 — struck the steep hills of Lushan county shortly after 8 a.m. toppling buildings, many of them older brick structures. Tiles fell from roofs, and walls collapsed, sending people into the streets in their underwear and wrapped in blankets.

Rescue workers turned a square outside the Lushan’s county hospital into a triage center with medical personnel treating the wounded, according to footage on China Central Television.
Hard-hit parts of the county remained unreachable by road, with phone services cut off, but some text and Internet services continuing, state media said.

A person whose posts to a micro-blogging account “Qingyi Riverside” on Sina Corp.’s Twitter-like Weibo service carried a Lushan geotag said that many buildings collapsed buildings and that people could spot helicopters hovering above.

Aerial photos released by China’s military and shown on state television showed individual houses in ruins and some stretches of the county seat and villages flattened into rubble. The roofs of some taller buildings appeared to have slipped off exposing the floors beneath them.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that 56 people died. Xu Mengjia, Communist Party secretary for Ya’an, which administers Lushan, told CCTV that more than 600 people were injured.
The quake’s shallow depth, less than 13 kilometers (8 miles), likely magnified the impact and CCTV showed footages from local security cameras shaking. The official Xinhua News Agency said that the quake rattled buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu 115 kilometers (70 miles), to the east. It caused the shutdown of the city’s airport for about an hour before reopening, state media said.

Lushan, where the quake struck, is home to 1.5 million people where the fertile Sichuan plain meets foothills that eventually rise to the Tibetan plateau. The area is near a well-known preserve for pandas, Bifengxia, which Xinhua said was not affected by the quake. Dozens of pandas were moved to Bifengxia from another preserve, Wolong, after its habitat was wrecked by the 2008 quake.

Xinhua reported that more than 2,000 soldiers were being sent to the disaster area, along with specialized crews to restore telecommunications. Premier Li Keqiang flew to Ya’an to direct rescue efforts, and he and President Xi Jinping ordered officials and rescuers to make saving people the top priority, Xinhua said.

Social media users who said they were in Lushan county posted photos of collapsed buildings and reported that water and electricity had been cut off. At least 10 aftershocks some of them at magnitude-5 or higher shook the area.

“It’s too dangerous,” said a person with the Weibo account Chengduxinglin and with a Lushan geotag.
“Even the aftershocks are scary.”  The area lies near the same Longmenshan fault where the devastating 7.9-magnitude quake struck May 12, 2008, leaving more than 90,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead.

“It was just like May 12,” said Liu Xi, a writer in Ya’an city, who was jolted awake by Saturday’s quake. “All the home decorations fell at once, and the old house cracked.”

Friday Asia Update: Top Five Stories for the Week of April 19, 2013

Sharone Tobias and Will Piekos look at the top five stories in Asia this week.

1. China released a white paper on defense on Tuesday. The 2013 National Defense White Paper blamed Japan and the United States for the rise in tensions in the region (in so many words). It complained about neighboring countries for “making trouble over the Diaoyu islands,” referring to Japan. It also referenced the United States, saying, “some country has strengthened its Asia-Pacific military alliances, expanded its military presence in the region, and frequently makes the situation tenser.”

The white paper omitted any reference to a “no-first use” policy on nuclear weapons for the first time, a possible change in China’s nuclear policy. It is unclear what the significance of this omission is, though, as experts have questioned China’s commitment to this policy in the past.

2. Shifts in North Korea policy? China’s special envoy on North Korea, Wu Dawei, will travel to Washington, DC, next week for “an in-depth exchange of views” on the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The announcement comes after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Beijing and urged China to help convince the North to get rid of its nuclear weapons. Kerry has also indicated a readiness to talk with North Korea, as long as it takes steps toward denuclearization. Meanwhile, Pyongyang announced its own preconditions for resuming talks with Washington and Seoul, demanding the withdrawal of UN sanctions and the end of U.S.-South Korea military drills. North Korea’s willingness to discuss even the possibility of dialogue hopefully signals a desire to deescalate the tensions that have plagued the Korean Peninsula.

3. China GDP growth slows to 7.7 percent. New economic data in the first quarter of 2013 showed slower-than-expected growth that surprised analysts, who had forecasted growth of around 8 percent. It’s possible that even that number is inflated, given that there are strong incentives for local government officials to inflate their numbers for promotions; the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics only takes two weeks to compile its data, compared to six weeks in Hong Kong and eight weeks in the United States. For years, China’s stated goal was to secure 8 percent GDP growth, in a policy called “bao ba (保八),” or “protect the eight,” on the premise that the country needed that level of GDP growth to maintain domestic stability.

4. Bird flu fears increase. The numbers keep rising, as China has now confirmed ninety-one cases of H7N9 and raised the death toll to seventeen. Meanwhile, fears of human-to-human transmission have intensified—the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that 40 percent of people who have tested positive for H7N9 had no recent contact with poultry. Still, such fears seem premature, and the World Health Organization has stated that there is “no evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission.”

5. Chinese national killed in Boston bombing. Lu Lingzi, a graduate student at Boston University from Shenyang, was confirmed as a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued visas to her parents, as well as to the parents of a second Chinese student injured in the attack. China’s new ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, stated that “We strongly condemn such an act of terror targeted at innocent civilians. We stand with the United States. We are ready to further our cooperation with the United States in fighting terror.”

Bonus: Rodman to return to North Korea, says Kim Jung-un just needs a hug. The basketball star is planning his second “diplomatic” visit to North Korea. Dennis Rodman claims that the most recent increase in tensions is because “[Kim] just wants to be loved. He just wants to sit down and talk. That’s all.” The Worm, as Rodman is affectionately known, also says he’s been approached by the FBI for insider information into the North Korean regime. In unrelated news, North Korea recently released its most hilarious propaganda video yet, claiming that Americans drink coffee made out of snow and that North Korean aid workers hand out cakes in the streets. Watch it here, dubbed in English. (Update: the video is a hoax, but the comedic factor remains. Enjoy!)

HONG KONG: Six people missing after river boats collide off Stanley

Rescuers searched waters off Wong Ma Kok on Thurday for six missing people after two river boats collided in fog near Stanley, in the worst maritime accident since the fatal Lamma ferry collision last October.

AUSTRALIA: New Cruise Terminal in Sydney Welcomes First Ship

New Cruise Terminal in Sydney Welcomes First Ship

CHINA Reports 13 Bird Flu Deaths; Cases Climb To 60

Health officials in China say they've confirmed 11 new bird flu diagnoses, bringing the number of H7N9 infections to 60, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The virus, which began in eastern China, has now sickened at least one person in Beijing, and two in the central province of Henan.

PORT OF HAKATA, JAPAN: Dazaifu's rich past still delights today

The gravel of a path in the garden at Komyozenji Temple has been swirled into the shape of the kanji for "light." It's a bit of an ironic choice for the fall day I visit, as only a few of the sun's rays have managed to penetrate the dense growth surrounding the rear of the temple. Those that do filter through the red-tinged maples, though, bathe the garden in an ethereal glow befitting daybreak rather than the near-noontime it actually is.

I turn to the other visitor on the temple's back porch, poised to share an observation, but the words die unsaid in my throat. To voice them would be to break the silence of this restful place and, after a few days in nearby Fukuoka's bustling downtown, silence is suddenly a commodity not to be trifled with.

AOMORI, JAPAN: Mega Snow - James Whitlow Delano's Buried Japan

Japan's Aomori Prefecture might be at the same latitude as New York, but its climate can seem a lot more harsh. Nestled at the northernmost part of the country's Honshu Island, the average yearly snowfall there is around 34 ft.

CHINA lauds Thatcher’s ‘biggest compromise’ over HONG KONG

Margaret Thatcher was an "outstanding" leader who wisely compromised over Hong Kong's future, Chinese state media said after her death, although reactions in the territory ...

CHINA: Circle of Poison

April 4, 2013

When Briton Neil Heywood was found dead in a Chinese hotel in 2011, police at first blamed alcohol. In fact, he had been murdered – and top Chinese politicians were involved, as Pin Ho and Wenguang Huang reveal.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/circle-of-poison-20130325-2goq0.html#ixzz2Qmj73OLrhttp://www.smh.com.au/world/circle-of-poison-20130325-2goq0.html

JAPAN & TAIWAN: Fishing in Troubled Waters

China may have felt it had bigger fish to fry last week when it gave a low-key response to a maritime deal between Japan and Taiwan on access to waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea, but isn't letting the issue sink from sight.

NORTH KOREA & VIETNAM: 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners

Yes, each one of these four books has now been officially anointed with a 2013 Pulitzer Prize. But that's not the only reason we are recommending them to you. Months before the Pulitzer Prize committee got there, the Monitor's book critics had already let readers know that these books were something special. Here's why.

Korean Rapper Psy's 'Gentleman' Climbs YouTube Heights

South Korean rapper Psy's new video, "Gentleman," rocketed up the YouTube heights with more than 82 million views on Tuesday, chasing the success of his megahit "Gangnam Style" after smashing the previous record for first-day views for songs.

"Gangnam Style," which holds the YouTube record for most views ever with more than 1.5 billion, made the corpulent Korean a global star and one of the best-known faces to come out of the growing K-pop music scene.

The ...

How foreign languages mutate English words

 
It's no secret that English borrows freely — steals, actually — from other languages. And you're probably familiar with at least a few words from English that have been borrowed into other languages — for instance, le weekend in French. But do you know just how much English words can be changed when they're taken on by other languages? Consider these odd examples:

Sound changes
Different languages have different sets of sounds and different things you can do with those sounds. An English word may have a sound that's not used in the language, or it may have combination of sounds...
More

JAPAN & RUSSIA: Bridgestone to spend $375m to build first tire plant in Russia

The project will cost $375 million and is scheduled to be complete in three years time and be Bridgestone's 47th plant in the world the company said in a statement.
Japan's Mitsubishi will be Bridgestone’s partner in the project with a 10% stake in the joint venture.
The plant will be built on an 800,000 square meter site in one of the first three certified Russian industrial parks - the Zavolzhye Industrial Zone in Russia's Ulyanovsk region.
Once up and running the factory will have a capacity of 12,000 units a day (or roughly 4.4 million units per year) and will focus mainly on winter tire production to serve the growing demand on the Russian domestic market and the CIS states.
The tire giant aims to reach full capacity by the second half of 2018. The plant will provide a total of 800 jobs.
In connection with the decision to build a tire plant, Mitsubishi Corp. will buy a 20-percent stake in Bridgestone C.I.S. L.L.C., the tire company's Moscow-based sales company. This will leave Bridgestone C.I.S. with a capital of about $180 million.
Bridgestone will be the sixth international tire company to set up a manufacturing plant in Russia after Continental A.G. with a plant in Kaluga, Michelin with a joint venture in Davydovo; Nokian Tyres P.L.C. with a plant in Vsevolozhsk, and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. With a production facility in Liptesk. Pirelli is also producing tires in Russia at a plant it co-owns with Russia's CJSC Sibur Holding in Kirov and a joint venture in Voronezh co-owned with partner Russian Technologies.
“The fact that we come to the market after our main competitors have already done so, does not weaken our positions: customer confidence in our brand is comparable with or even stronger than in some of our competitors,” Vedomosti daily quotes a Bridgestone spokesperson as saying.

Beijing concerned about 4-year-old bird flu 'carrier'

Beijing concerned about 4-year-old bird flu 'carrier': Doctors say the discovery of a 4-year-old carrier of the H7N9 virus who shows no symptoms of the potentially lethal virus is a worrying development that could make the spread of the infection more difficult to monitor.

CDC Travelers' Health: Avian Flu (H7N9) in China update

Watch: Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions Avian Flu (H7N9) in China 
This information is current as of today, April 16, 2013 at 21:26 EDT Updated: April 15, 2013

What is the current situation? 

On April 1, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that influenza A (H7N9), a type of flu usually seen in birds, has been identified in a number of people in China. Cases have been confirmed in the following provinces and municipalities: Anhui, Beijing, Henan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang. This is the first time this virus has been seen in people. Symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Infection with the new virus has resulted in severe respiratory illness and, in some cases, death. Chinese health authorities are conducting investigations to learn the source of the infections with this virus and to find other cases. CDC is following this situation closely and coordinating with domestic and international partners in a number of areas. More information will be posted as it becomes available. There is no recommendation against travel to China at this time.

 What can travelers and Americans living in China do to protect themselves? 

There is currently no vaccine to prevent H7N9. At this time, we do not know the source of this virus. CDC is repeating its standard advice to travelers and Americans living in China to follow good hand hygiene and food safety practices and to avoid contact with animals.

Do not touch birds, pigs, or other animals.

• Do not touch animals whether they are alive or dead. 
• Avoid live bird or poultry markets. 
• Avoid other markets or farms with animals (wet markets). 

Eat food that is fully cooked.

• Eat meat and poultry that is fully cooked (not pink) and served hot.
• Eat hard-cooked eggs (not runny). 
• Don’t eat or drink dishes that include blood from any animal. 
• Don’t eat food from street vendors. 

Practice hygiene and cleanliness: 

• Wash your hands often. 
• If soap and water aren’t available, clean your hands with hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol. 
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. If you need to touch your face, make sure your hands are clean. 
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing. 
• Try to avoid close contact, such as kissing, hugging or sharing eating utensils or cups, with people who are sick. 

See a doctor if you become sick during or after travel to China. 

See a doctor right away if you become sick with fever, coughing, or shortness of breath. If you get sick while you are still in China, visit the US Department of State website to find a list of local doctors and hospitals. Many foreign hospitals and clinics are accredited by the Joint Commission International. A list of accredited facilities is available at their website (www.jointcommissioninternational.org). Delay your travel home until after you have recovered or your doctor says it is ok to travel. If you get sick with fever, coughing, or shortness of breath after you return to the United States, be sure to tell your doctor about your recent travel to China.

Clinician information:

Clinicians should consider the possibility of novel influenza A (H7N9) virus infection in persons presenting with respiratory illness within 10 days of an appropriate travel or exposure history. Although the majority of novel influenza A (H7N9) cases have resulted in severe respiratory illness in adults, infection with this virus may cause mild illness in some and may cause illness in children as well. Influenza diagnostic testing in patients with respiratory illness for whom an etiology has not been confirmed may identify human cases of avian influenza A virus infection or new cases of variant influenza in the United States. Patients with novel influenza A (H7N9) virus infections should have a positive test result for influenza A virus via reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing but be unsubtypeable. Clinicians suspecting novel influenza A (H7N9) should obtain appropriate specimens and notify their local or state health department promptly. State health departments should notify CDC of suspected cases within 24 hours. For more information, see the Health Alert Notice issued April 5, 2013.

N. Korea Lashes Out Anew Over Protest in Seoul

N. Korea Lashes Out Anew Over Protest in Seoul: (PYONGYANG, North Korea) — North Korea said it was open to talks, but not as long as the United States is “brandishing a nuclear stick,” while Washington insisted that the burden for renewed negotiations now rests with Pyongyang. North Korea also warned that it will intensify unspecified “military countermeasures” unless the U.S. stops conducting military drills on the peninsula and withdraws the military assets that Pyongyang says threaten the North with a nuclear attack. The statements Tuesday came amid international fears that the North is preparing to conduct a medium-range missile test and also as North Korea marked the second day of festivities in honor of the April 15 birthday of its first leader, Kim Il Sung. The renewed vitriol began after a Monday protest by about 250 people in downtown Seoul, where effigies of Kim Il Sung and his late son and successor, Kim Jong Il, were burned. Such protests are fairly common in South Korea, and though Monday’s was held on the holiday that North Korea calls “The Day of the Sun,” some analysts suggested North Korea was using it as a pretext to reject calls for a dialogue with the South, at least for the time being. North Korea often denounces protests like the one held Monday, but this time responded with a statement from the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army, which is headed by Kim Il Sung’s grandson and North Korea’s overall leader, Kim Jong Un. The North’s statement said it would refuse any offers of talks with the South until it apologized for the “monstrous criminal act.” “If the puppet authorities truly want dialogue and negotiations, they should apologize for all anti-DPRK hostile acts, big and small, and show the compatriots their will to stop all these acts in practice,” the statement said. North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. (MORE: North Korea Marks Founder’s Birthday, Issues More Ire) Later in the day, its state media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman saying North Korea has no intention

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Princess Cruises Brand to Enter Singapore Market with Largest Deployment Ever by a Premium Cruise Line

SINGAPORE (April 10, 2013) – Responding to the growing interest for cruising in Southeast Asia, Carnival Corporation & plc is introducing the largest deployment ever by a premium cruise line in the region when it brings Sapphire Princess to Singapore for a four-month fall 2014 to spring 2015 season.Carnival Corporation & plc is launching a program with one of the world’s leading cruise line brands, Princess Cruises, featuring 15 roundtrip departures that can be combined for 25 distinct i...