by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura
Wed Dec 9, 1:44 am ET
TOKYO (AFP) – They rap sutras, use manga characters and serve beers -- some of Japan's Buddhist monks are turning to decidedly unorthodox means to boost the appeal of their ancient faith.
The new breed of holy men worry that Buddhism is slowly losing its shine as a generation raised in a consumer society turns its back on prayer and seeks solace in material rather than spiritual remedies.
Buddhism is still Japan's main religion, along with the animist Shinto faith, but hundreds of temples have been shuttered and monks say they struggle to be heard above the buzz of modern life.
With prayer beads in one hand and a microphone in another, robed and bespectacled monk "Mr. Happiness" flicked on a boom box one recent afternoon and, under the placid gaze of a Buddha statue, rapped lyrics that roughly translated to this:
"This is a story from a long time ago /
He gets in my dreams, he's my cosmic idol /
Yeah yeah, who ya talkin' about bro? /
I'm talkin' about the Buddha yo."
His lyrics, sung in modern Japanese, are inspired by ancient Sanskrit scriptures about compassion, pain and suffering, said the monk, the latest in a line of family patriarchs to head the 400-year old Kyouyoji Temple.
"There was a lot of controversy when I started this," said the monk, whose real name is Kansho Tagai.
"But I think a monk's role is to spread the teachings through a wide variety of performances. With more than 2,500 years of history, I think we should be able to choose ways to adapt Buddhism to every age.
"Buddhism has the substance ... to respond to people's needs, but monks need to get closer to the people," said Tagai, who on his website describes his temple as "Your Heart's Clinic."
Elsewhere in Tokyo, the suburban Ryohoji temple attracted hundreds of people for last month's autumn festival by drawing on the power of manga comics and the quirky youth cult of Cosplay, or costume-play.
Girls sporting frilly maid uniforms and sets of fluffy cat-ears -- the latest in comic-inspired costuming and usually a more common sight in Tokyo's geeky manga cafes -- greeted visitors to the 16th century temple.
Benzaiten, the goddess of knowledge, music and the arts, was depicted as a doe-eyed cartoon character on a sign at the temple, which also offered short cellphone video downloads of chief monk Shoko Nakazato chanting prayers.
"I came over because this temple has been the talk of the Net," said software programmer Mitsutaka Adachi, 26. "I was a bit surprised to see this, but it's fun. This can motivate people to come here."
Ryohoji's abbot Nakazato, 45, said he is part of the manga generation himself, having grown up on a diet of big-eyed cartoon figures and robo-cats, and sees nothing wrong with using the genre to attract newcomers.
"I have little resistance to manga ... I wanted to tell the people that temples are a fun place to visit," he said.
In another Buddhist temple, monks and nuns have even staged a fashion show to promote the faith, strutting down a catwalk to hip-hop music at Tsukiji Honganji Temple and showcasing their colorful Tokyo Bouz ("monk") Collection.
The fashion-monks from several different sects wore colourful robes and rapped sutras under a shower of confetti shaped like lotus petals.
Yet another monk, hipster Kaku Aoe with a goatee and a shaved head, has organised monthly 'dinners in the dark,' where blindfolded guests play a guessing game about the food but also get a taste of a monk's life.
"There are few opportunities for monks and people to connect," he said during a recent dinner. "Through a fun concept like this, people will be more open and eager to learn about Buddhism."
While some detractors dismiss the monks' business ventures as marketing gimmicks, the debate underscores real worries over the faith's future.
Japan is home to 75,000 temples and 20,000 monks, but hundreds of the religious sites are shuttered each year.
Although temples and religious festivals remain popular, many Japanese see them as tourist magnets that do a roaring trade in lucky charms and expensive funerals but have little connection to their lives.
Others resent the idea of ascetics seeking enlightenment in the comfort of their tax-free temples at a time when a severe recession has caused massive layoffs, a spike in suicides, and worries over a bleak future.
Hoping to take his spiritual message into the earthly realm of the Japanese office worker, another monk has ventured into the inner sanctum of the salaryman, the after-hours beer bar.
Working the counter of a cozy music club one recent night, monk Hogen Natori was serving drinks, yelling orders, joking with customers -- and chanting traditional ancient sutras.
Hogen began performing with two junior monks six years ago, experimenting with jazz and other styles. In the end they decided to stick with the original -- unembellished and ancient chants.
The monks explained their message before dimming the lights. Then, one struck a chime and a hush descended over the 12-seat bar. The trio began to hum in low voices that swelled into chants as candles flickered.
After their performances, the monks engaged the guests in dialogue.
"Japan's youth have very few opportunities to run into Buddhism," Natori said. "They think monks are boring, that they just sit in their temples and say they pray for people without even coming out to listen to them."
Natori is unashamed about his nocturnal forays into Tokyo nightlife in his bid to bring enlightenment to the people.
"We need to actively guide people about how to live," he said. "But we also need to make monks fun ... If they can't come to us, we need to go to them, like a delivery service."
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved
Thursday, December 10, 2009
HONG KONG: Tattoos and Hong Kong women
11/12/2009 02:34:00 Ed Jones
Spurred-on by celebrity style or simply looking for a new way to stand out in a city of seven million, Hong Kong women are increasingly taking to tattoos – an art form long considered taboo.
Hidden demurely behind blouses and stockings during office hours, the walking, talking, body-art galleries are flaunted at the beach or in Hong Kong’s trendy nightspots.
“Most women here who want tattoos are between 20 and 40 years old,” says tattooist Joey Pang, who went a step further than most and opened her own parlour, the Tattoo Temple.
“At first they want smaller tattoos, more for beauty, more feminine designs. For their first one, most of the female customers want lower back tattoos, very popular.
“We educate them; they can have more choice, but they still don’t want to show off.”
Historically a firm favourite with male-dominated triad gangs, tattoos have been slow to gain popularity among women in the southern Chinese territory.
But with the ancient art now flashed on the pampered skin of a range of celebrities from movie star Angelina Jolie to party girl Paris Hilton, Pang says there has been a sharp rise in female customers eager to “get inked”.
Tattooist Kenny Chin of Solo tattoo agrees that the old stigma attached to body-art is fading.
“Some men in Hong Kong do not accept their girlfriends having tattoos,” he said. “But people are more open now – the tattoo is loosing the bad-guy status it once had.”
For young women the decision to go under the gun now revolves more around the reaction of their parents than touchy gangsters – something Hong Kong student and apprentice tattoo artist Jeyers knows well.
“I had to hide my first tattoos because my parents are pretty traditional – and especially because they work in the medical field,” she says, asking for her full identity to be withheld.
“They still don’t know that in my spare time I work as an apprentice tattoo artist,” she adds, recalling that when her mother found out about the first tattoos she initially wanted them removed by laser.
The 25-year-old, whose collection of body-art includes a hand-sized portrait of her surgeon father at work, located on her left shoulder, feels that mass media has played an important role in the rise of the female tattoo.
“Ten years ago tattoos were more underground; you didn’t see a lot of tattoos on the streets, so I didn’t know much about them.”
But she says she saw more and more tattoos popping up in magazines and on the internet, and was attracted to them immediately.
“Before, there was not much choice, but it has evolved a lot more now,” Jeyers says. “There are portraits, colour works, Japanese works, all kinds of styles, and I am so amazed by the work that you can put on people’s skin.”
AFP
Spurred-on by celebrity style or simply looking for a new way to stand out in a city of seven million, Hong Kong women are increasingly taking to tattoos – an art form long considered taboo.
Hidden demurely behind blouses and stockings during office hours, the walking, talking, body-art galleries are flaunted at the beach or in Hong Kong’s trendy nightspots.
“Most women here who want tattoos are between 20 and 40 years old,” says tattooist Joey Pang, who went a step further than most and opened her own parlour, the Tattoo Temple.
“At first they want smaller tattoos, more for beauty, more feminine designs. For their first one, most of the female customers want lower back tattoos, very popular.
“We educate them; they can have more choice, but they still don’t want to show off.”
Historically a firm favourite with male-dominated triad gangs, tattoos have been slow to gain popularity among women in the southern Chinese territory.
But with the ancient art now flashed on the pampered skin of a range of celebrities from movie star Angelina Jolie to party girl Paris Hilton, Pang says there has been a sharp rise in female customers eager to “get inked”.
Tattooist Kenny Chin of Solo tattoo agrees that the old stigma attached to body-art is fading.
“Some men in Hong Kong do not accept their girlfriends having tattoos,” he said. “But people are more open now – the tattoo is loosing the bad-guy status it once had.”
For young women the decision to go under the gun now revolves more around the reaction of their parents than touchy gangsters – something Hong Kong student and apprentice tattoo artist Jeyers knows well.
“I had to hide my first tattoos because my parents are pretty traditional – and especially because they work in the medical field,” she says, asking for her full identity to be withheld.
“They still don’t know that in my spare time I work as an apprentice tattoo artist,” she adds, recalling that when her mother found out about the first tattoos she initially wanted them removed by laser.
The 25-year-old, whose collection of body-art includes a hand-sized portrait of her surgeon father at work, located on her left shoulder, feels that mass media has played an important role in the rise of the female tattoo.
“Ten years ago tattoos were more underground; you didn’t see a lot of tattoos on the streets, so I didn’t know much about them.”
But she says she saw more and more tattoos popping up in magazines and on the internet, and was attracted to them immediately.
“Before, there was not much choice, but it has evolved a lot more now,” Jeyers says. “There are portraits, colour works, Japanese works, all kinds of styles, and I am so amazed by the work that you can put on people’s skin.”
AFP
S. KOREA: South Korea markets demilitarized zone bottled water
Published: 2009/12/10 16:49:19 GMT
Designer water connoisseurs can try a new tipple, directly sourced from the military zone between the two Koreas.
The water is called DMZ 2km and is bottled near the buffer zone separating North and South Korea.
It comes from an area unspoilt for decades, enclosed by razor wire fences, filled with land mines and monitored by more than one million armed soldiers.
The zone is a wildlife haven but also boasts one of the world's largest concentrations of weapons.
In spite of its name, the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) is the world's most heavily armed frontier.
It is a 4km (2.5-mile) thick ribbon that has divided the Korean peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The two Koreas are still technically at war.
But the makers of the drink hope it will appeal to those who do not think of the area in geo-political terms.
"We decided on water from the DMZ because it's different, and the environment there is untouched, so many people thinks it's clean," brand spokesman Lee Sang-hyo says.
The bottler draws the water from a plant close to the South Korean end of the DMZ, from a spring that flows directly under it.
"Getting the water is not dangerous at all. We worked it all out with the military," Mr Lee added.
© BBC MMIX
Designer water connoisseurs can try a new tipple, directly sourced from the military zone between the two Koreas.
The water is called DMZ 2km and is bottled near the buffer zone separating North and South Korea.
It comes from an area unspoilt for decades, enclosed by razor wire fences, filled with land mines and monitored by more than one million armed soldiers.
The zone is a wildlife haven but also boasts one of the world's largest concentrations of weapons.
In spite of its name, the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) is the world's most heavily armed frontier.
It is a 4km (2.5-mile) thick ribbon that has divided the Korean peninsula since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The two Koreas are still technically at war.
But the makers of the drink hope it will appeal to those who do not think of the area in geo-political terms.
"We decided on water from the DMZ because it's different, and the environment there is untouched, so many people thinks it's clean," brand spokesman Lee Sang-hyo says.
The bottler draws the water from a plant close to the South Korean end of the DMZ, from a spring that flows directly under it.
"Getting the water is not dangerous at all. We worked it all out with the military," Mr Lee added.
© BBC MMIX
JAPAN: And the best Japanese films of 2009 were . . .
The Japan Times: Friday, Dec. 11, 2009
BEST FILMS OF 2009
By MARK SCHILLING
Staff Writer
1. "Fish Story":
Can a punk-rock song, recorded in 1975, save the world from a comet on course to destroy the planet in 2012? In his 10th film, Yoshihiro Nakamura answers this question with four radically different stories in four different periods — and ties them up in a glorious final five-minute sequence that is pure cinematic satori.
2. "Dear Doctor":
The most promising director of her thirtysomething generation, Miwa Nishikawa hits a new peak with this finely layered character study of a phony doctor in a rural village. Tsurube Shofukutei deserves every acting award out there for his shape-shifting performance as the kindly-seeming, but deeply devious doc.
3. "Summer Wars":
Mamoru Hosoda assumes the title of Japan's premier animator with this human-scaled but stunningly imaginative film about an online "war" between a rogue AI program and a boy math prodigy, aided by a large, rambunctious family in rural Nagano.
4. "Villon no Tsuma":
Based on a story by Osamu Dazai, Kichitaro Negishi's unsparing, finally cathartic portrait of a troubled marriage features career-peak performances by Takako Matsu as the plucky, self-realizing wife and Tadanobu Asano as the alcoholic, unfaithful, but somehow sympathetic, writer husband.
5. "Zero no Shoten":
Isshin Inudo's mystery about a woman's search for her missing newlywed husband in Kanazawa in the dead of winter channels the stylistics of Alfred Hitchcock, while echoing the social-mask-vs.-true-face themes of Douglas Sirk.
6. "Nankyokyu Ryomin":
Shuichi Okita's dramady, centering on the gung-ho cook (Makoto Sakai) for a Japanese research team in Antarctica, offers up big helpings of wry humor, likable characters and absolutely scrumptious-looking chow.
7. "Live Tape":
Tetsuaki Matsue's docudrama of singer-songwriter Kenta Maeno's New Year's Day stroll through Kichijoji unfolds in one 74-minute take that amuses, surprises, entertains — and finally moves, as the too-cool Maeno reveals his own insecurities and regrets, summed up in a stirring final number dedicated to his dead father.
8. "Instant Numa":
Satoshi Miki's comedy about an endearingly flaky woman's search for her eccentric antique (i.e., junk) dealer dad is packed with small comic gems, delivered in Miki's trademark dry style of spot-on timing and blithe disregard for logic.
9. "Symbol":
Hitoshi Matsumoto's man-in-a-room comedy takes inspiration from the final sequence of "2001: A Space Odyssey," but the silly, inspired slapstick gags are pure Matsumoto.
10. "Ultra Miracle Love Story (Bare Essence of Life)":
Satoko Yokoyama's drama about a mentally challenged man's crush on a new kindergarten teacher in his rural Aomori town is a bold, original blend of the real and fantastic, comic and dramatic.
(C) All rights reserved
BEST FILMS OF 2009
By MARK SCHILLING
Staff Writer
1. "Fish Story":
Can a punk-rock song, recorded in 1975, save the world from a comet on course to destroy the planet in 2012? In his 10th film, Yoshihiro Nakamura answers this question with four radically different stories in four different periods — and ties them up in a glorious final five-minute sequence that is pure cinematic satori.
2. "Dear Doctor":
The most promising director of her thirtysomething generation, Miwa Nishikawa hits a new peak with this finely layered character study of a phony doctor in a rural village. Tsurube Shofukutei deserves every acting award out there for his shape-shifting performance as the kindly-seeming, but deeply devious doc.
3. "Summer Wars":
Mamoru Hosoda assumes the title of Japan's premier animator with this human-scaled but stunningly imaginative film about an online "war" between a rogue AI program and a boy math prodigy, aided by a large, rambunctious family in rural Nagano.
4. "Villon no Tsuma":
Based on a story by Osamu Dazai, Kichitaro Negishi's unsparing, finally cathartic portrait of a troubled marriage features career-peak performances by Takako Matsu as the plucky, self-realizing wife and Tadanobu Asano as the alcoholic, unfaithful, but somehow sympathetic, writer husband.
5. "Zero no Shoten":
Isshin Inudo's mystery about a woman's search for her missing newlywed husband in Kanazawa in the dead of winter channels the stylistics of Alfred Hitchcock, while echoing the social-mask-vs.-true-face themes of Douglas Sirk.
6. "Nankyokyu Ryomin":
Shuichi Okita's dramady, centering on the gung-ho cook (Makoto Sakai) for a Japanese research team in Antarctica, offers up big helpings of wry humor, likable characters and absolutely scrumptious-looking chow.
7. "Live Tape":
Tetsuaki Matsue's docudrama of singer-songwriter Kenta Maeno's New Year's Day stroll through Kichijoji unfolds in one 74-minute take that amuses, surprises, entertains — and finally moves, as the too-cool Maeno reveals his own insecurities and regrets, summed up in a stirring final number dedicated to his dead father.
8. "Instant Numa":
Satoshi Miki's comedy about an endearingly flaky woman's search for her eccentric antique (i.e., junk) dealer dad is packed with small comic gems, delivered in Miki's trademark dry style of spot-on timing and blithe disregard for logic.
9. "Symbol":
Hitoshi Matsumoto's man-in-a-room comedy takes inspiration from the final sequence of "2001: A Space Odyssey," but the silly, inspired slapstick gags are pure Matsumoto.
10. "Ultra Miracle Love Story (Bare Essence of Life)":
Satoko Yokoyama's drama about a mentally challenged man's crush on a new kindergarten teacher in his rural Aomori town is a bold, original blend of the real and fantastic, comic and dramatic.
(C) All rights reserved
CHINA: Chinese car market overtakes that of United States
Associated Press
By ELAINE KURTENBACH and DEE-ANN DURBIN , 12.10.09, 05:10 PM EST
SHANGHAI --
China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford, the Cadillac and the minivan.
Now that the Chinese buy more cars and trucks than Americans, the shift could produce ripples for the environment, gas prices and even the kinds of cars automakers design.
More than 12.7 million cars and trucks will be sold in China this year, up 44 percent from the previous year and surpassing the 10.3 million forecast in the U.S., according to J.D. Power and Associates.
China has long been expected to overtake the U.S. since its population of 1.3 billion is more than quadruple that of the United States. But the increase in sales happened much faster than anyone expected because of China's tax cuts, its stimulus program and a depressed American market.
Two years ago, J.D. Power predicted China would pass the U.S. in 2025. Earlier this year, it forecast 2009 sales of just 9 million vehicles for China.
After a sharp slowdown in auto sales late last year, the Chinese government cut taxes on small cars and spent $730 million on subsidies to encourage sales of SUVs, pickups and minivans. A big stimulus program also boosted truck sales by pumping money into construction.
Auto sales were expected to rise with China's stimulus, but they have far exceeded expectations, said Jeff Schuster, J.D. Power's executive director of automotive forecasting.
Most experts think the top-sales title will shift back and forth between China and the United States for the next several years, with China ultimately prevailing.
Improving sales of autos and other big-ticket items is key to Beijing's strategy to promote stronger domestic consumption and lower dependence on exports.
"The government has sent a very clear message that they will not let the auto industry weaken, especially in 2010," say Jia Xinguang, chief analyst at China National Automotive Industry Consulting & Developing Corp.
Meanwhile, U.S. sales hit a 26-year low in early 2009 and remain well below the 17 million average from earlier this decade.
China's growing auto market is sure to affect the industry worldwide. Some key factors are:
_ CHINA'S CAR POLLUTION: It's gotten worse. China's fleet is newer, and big cities have imposed emissions standards that exceed those in the U.S., but lax enforcement of standards is a major problem. Vehicles may meet standards at first but then degrade over time.
On top of that, the number of vehicles on China's roads is soaring, although it's still a fraction of the U.S.
_ FUEL DEMAND: Global demand for oil is rising, fueled by China and India. Most energy experts agree that demand for crude has peaked in the U.S. Meanwhile, China's demand for oil used in transportation could more than double between 2007 and 2020, according to the World Energy Outlook, a joint study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Energy Agency.
At home, China struggles both with the amount and quality of its fuel supply. A study by Harvard researchers found that refiners were not supplying fuel that was good enough to meet the country's rising emissions standards.
The cost of oil is prompting China to encourage a shift to cars and trucks that are more fuel efficient or run on batteries and alternative fuels. The government has raised taxes on gas guzzlers. China is the world's No. 3 net importer after the U.S. and Japan.
_ VEHICLE DESIGN: The Chinese will have more influence over vehicle design as they buy more cars. GM had its Chinese team design the 2010 Buick LaCrosse because the brand sells better in China than in the U.S. Buick is considered a luxury car in China.
The designers included sumptuous back seats for executives with drivers. They also used Feng shui principles and swooping designs based on Chinese art.
Chinese automakers will emerge stronger from the sales boom. BYD Co. aims to overtake Toyota as the global auto leader by 2030. Among BYD's backers is billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
China's sales may grow so large that cars designed for Chinese tastes are sold globally, the way U.S. vehicles are now. But some experts doubt that will happen until Chinese automakers become competitive on style and quality.
Meanwhile, as China's middle class expands, Chinese car shoppers are developing tastes similar to those of drivers in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.
"I talk to my friends in Beijing," says Crystal Jiang, a professor at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., who studies globalization. "I drive a Subaru, they also drive a Subaru."
Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
By ELAINE KURTENBACH and DEE-ANN DURBIN , 12.10.09, 05:10 PM EST
SHANGHAI --
China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford, the Cadillac and the minivan.
Now that the Chinese buy more cars and trucks than Americans, the shift could produce ripples for the environment, gas prices and even the kinds of cars automakers design.
More than 12.7 million cars and trucks will be sold in China this year, up 44 percent from the previous year and surpassing the 10.3 million forecast in the U.S., according to J.D. Power and Associates.
China has long been expected to overtake the U.S. since its population of 1.3 billion is more than quadruple that of the United States. But the increase in sales happened much faster than anyone expected because of China's tax cuts, its stimulus program and a depressed American market.
Two years ago, J.D. Power predicted China would pass the U.S. in 2025. Earlier this year, it forecast 2009 sales of just 9 million vehicles for China.
After a sharp slowdown in auto sales late last year, the Chinese government cut taxes on small cars and spent $730 million on subsidies to encourage sales of SUVs, pickups and minivans. A big stimulus program also boosted truck sales by pumping money into construction.
Auto sales were expected to rise with China's stimulus, but they have far exceeded expectations, said Jeff Schuster, J.D. Power's executive director of automotive forecasting.
Most experts think the top-sales title will shift back and forth between China and the United States for the next several years, with China ultimately prevailing.
Improving sales of autos and other big-ticket items is key to Beijing's strategy to promote stronger domestic consumption and lower dependence on exports.
"The government has sent a very clear message that they will not let the auto industry weaken, especially in 2010," say Jia Xinguang, chief analyst at China National Automotive Industry Consulting & Developing Corp.
Meanwhile, U.S. sales hit a 26-year low in early 2009 and remain well below the 17 million average from earlier this decade.
China's growing auto market is sure to affect the industry worldwide. Some key factors are:
_ CHINA'S CAR POLLUTION: It's gotten worse. China's fleet is newer, and big cities have imposed emissions standards that exceed those in the U.S., but lax enforcement of standards is a major problem. Vehicles may meet standards at first but then degrade over time.
On top of that, the number of vehicles on China's roads is soaring, although it's still a fraction of the U.S.
_ FUEL DEMAND: Global demand for oil is rising, fueled by China and India. Most energy experts agree that demand for crude has peaked in the U.S. Meanwhile, China's demand for oil used in transportation could more than double between 2007 and 2020, according to the World Energy Outlook, a joint study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Energy Agency.
At home, China struggles both with the amount and quality of its fuel supply. A study by Harvard researchers found that refiners were not supplying fuel that was good enough to meet the country's rising emissions standards.
The cost of oil is prompting China to encourage a shift to cars and trucks that are more fuel efficient or run on batteries and alternative fuels. The government has raised taxes on gas guzzlers. China is the world's No. 3 net importer after the U.S. and Japan.
_ VEHICLE DESIGN: The Chinese will have more influence over vehicle design as they buy more cars. GM had its Chinese team design the 2010 Buick LaCrosse because the brand sells better in China than in the U.S. Buick is considered a luxury car in China.
The designers included sumptuous back seats for executives with drivers. They also used Feng shui principles and swooping designs based on Chinese art.
Chinese automakers will emerge stronger from the sales boom. BYD Co. aims to overtake Toyota as the global auto leader by 2030. Among BYD's backers is billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
China's sales may grow so large that cars designed for Chinese tastes are sold globally, the way U.S. vehicles are now. But some experts doubt that will happen until Chinese automakers become competitive on style and quality.
Meanwhile, as China's middle class expands, Chinese car shoppers are developing tastes similar to those of drivers in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.
"I talk to my friends in Beijing," says Crystal Jiang, a professor at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., who studies globalization. "I drive a Subaru, they also drive a Subaru."
Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
CHINA, RUSSIA & US: China charges US, Russian steel dumpers in tense time for trade
Created: 2009-12-11 1:46:23
Author:Wang Yanlin
CHINA will from today start levying charges on United States and Russian companies that export steel used in electrical apparatuses and dump it on the domestic market after receiving government subsidies.
It is another sign that trade tension is a part of life, at least in the short term.
An announcement yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce on imported flat-rolled electrical steel - used in transformers, rectifiers and reactors - said the US companies were dumping the product in China with a rate of 10.7-25 percent after they received subsidies ranging from 11.7-12 percent.
The ministry said the Russian flat-rolled steel producers were dumping with a rate from 4.6-25 percent.
China would collect cash deposits from the US and Russian steel producers of varying percentage amounts starting from today, the ministry said.
It was the first time China unveiled results of an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation, which started in June.
The decision is preliminary and a final ruling is expected before next June.
The decision followed a US ruling last month that imposed countervailing tariffs on China-made pipes used in oil wells.
"It could be a coincidence that the Chinese announcement came just after the US decision but trade disputes are escalating," said Sun Lijian, an economics professor at Fudan University. "Although the sector involved is relatively small in the total trade spectrum, it will deepen people's fears about a full-blown trade war."
The US and Russia exported a combined US$602 million of the targeted steel products to China last year, compared with China's steel imports of US$23.4 billion during the same period.
China's overall imports totaled US$1.13 trillion in 2008.
"It seems China has learned fromthe global experience and is using countervailing duties to protect the interests of its domestic industry," said Wang Feng, a steel analyst at Guotai Jun'an Securities Co.
"US and Russian imports have hurt companies like Baosteel Group Corp and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group."
Trade tussles continued to hit headlines in China after the US decided to levy special tariffs on imports of Chinese tires in September.
China started an investigation into American exports of chicken and auto parts in October.
The agony deepened last month after the US Commerce Department issued a final ruling allowing the imposition of countervailing duties ranging between 10.36 and 15.78 percent on the China-made oil well pipes.
These duties will affect more than US$2.7 billion worth of products, making it the biggest trade conflict between the two countries in terms of value.
"Although the affected sectors are limited, investors and exporters are in fear they could be the next victim," said Xue Jun, a CITIC Securities Co analyst.
"It threatens the process of the global economic recovery, which is just showing signs of improvement."
Copyright © 2001-2009 Shanghai Daily Publishing House
Author:Wang Yanlin
CHINA will from today start levying charges on United States and Russian companies that export steel used in electrical apparatuses and dump it on the domestic market after receiving government subsidies.
It is another sign that trade tension is a part of life, at least in the short term.
An announcement yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce on imported flat-rolled electrical steel - used in transformers, rectifiers and reactors - said the US companies were dumping the product in China with a rate of 10.7-25 percent after they received subsidies ranging from 11.7-12 percent.
The ministry said the Russian flat-rolled steel producers were dumping with a rate from 4.6-25 percent.
China would collect cash deposits from the US and Russian steel producers of varying percentage amounts starting from today, the ministry said.
It was the first time China unveiled results of an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation, which started in June.
The decision is preliminary and a final ruling is expected before next June.
The decision followed a US ruling last month that imposed countervailing tariffs on China-made pipes used in oil wells.
"It could be a coincidence that the Chinese announcement came just after the US decision but trade disputes are escalating," said Sun Lijian, an economics professor at Fudan University. "Although the sector involved is relatively small in the total trade spectrum, it will deepen people's fears about a full-blown trade war."
The US and Russia exported a combined US$602 million of the targeted steel products to China last year, compared with China's steel imports of US$23.4 billion during the same period.
China's overall imports totaled US$1.13 trillion in 2008.
"It seems China has learned fromthe global experience and is using countervailing duties to protect the interests of its domestic industry," said Wang Feng, a steel analyst at Guotai Jun'an Securities Co.
"US and Russian imports have hurt companies like Baosteel Group Corp and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group."
Trade tussles continued to hit headlines in China after the US decided to levy special tariffs on imports of Chinese tires in September.
China started an investigation into American exports of chicken and auto parts in October.
The agony deepened last month after the US Commerce Department issued a final ruling allowing the imposition of countervailing duties ranging between 10.36 and 15.78 percent on the China-made oil well pipes.
These duties will affect more than US$2.7 billion worth of products, making it the biggest trade conflict between the two countries in terms of value.
"Although the affected sectors are limited, investors and exporters are in fear they could be the next victim," said Xue Jun, a CITIC Securities Co analyst.
"It threatens the process of the global economic recovery, which is just showing signs of improvement."
Copyright © 2001-2009 Shanghai Daily Publishing House
CHINA: China Detains Three In New Toxic Milk Scare
December 10, 2009
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained three people suspected of selling milk powder tainted with melamine, state media said on Thursday, the industrial chemical involved in a massive toxic food scandal last year.
The three were detained in northwestern Shaanxi province on December 2, before tainted goods reached stores, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It named the three as Liu Ping, general manager of Shaanxi Jinqiao Diary Company, and two of the firm's employees and said they were detained for "the suspected crime of producing and selling toxic food."
The report, citing police, said they sold 5.25 tons of melamine-laced milk powder to Nanning Yueqian Food Additive Company, based in the southern region of Guangxi.
The powder was seized on November 18, so did not make its way into the market, Xinhua added.
China executed two people last month for their role in a huge melamine-tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children and further sullied the made-in-China brand.
Nearly 300,000 children fell ill in that scandal last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound that can give a fake positive on protein tests, sold mainly in that case by the now bankrupt Sanlu Group.
The case was the latest in a string of food safety failures, but the Sanlu milk scandal was also one of the worst and prompted an outpouring of public anger.
Melamine, which can cause kidney stones, is meant to be used in making plastics, fertilizers and even concrete. Its high nitrogen content allows protein levels to appear higher when it is added to milk or animal feed.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)
Copyright 2009 Reuters Ltd.
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:26 a.m. ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained three people suspected of selling milk powder tainted with melamine, state media said on Thursday, the industrial chemical involved in a massive toxic food scandal last year.
The three were detained in northwestern Shaanxi province on December 2, before tainted goods reached stores, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It named the three as Liu Ping, general manager of Shaanxi Jinqiao Diary Company, and two of the firm's employees and said they were detained for "the suspected crime of producing and selling toxic food."
The report, citing police, said they sold 5.25 tons of melamine-laced milk powder to Nanning Yueqian Food Additive Company, based in the southern region of Guangxi.
The powder was seized on November 18, so did not make its way into the market, Xinhua added.
China executed two people last month for their role in a huge melamine-tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children and further sullied the made-in-China brand.
Nearly 300,000 children fell ill in that scandal last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound that can give a fake positive on protein tests, sold mainly in that case by the now bankrupt Sanlu Group.
The case was the latest in a string of food safety failures, but the Sanlu milk scandal was also one of the worst and prompted an outpouring of public anger.
Melamine, which can cause kidney stones, is meant to be used in making plastics, fertilizers and even concrete. Its high nitrogen content allows protein levels to appear higher when it is added to milk or animal feed.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)
Copyright 2009 Reuters Ltd.
RUSSIA: Putin: Yes, I May Run Again. Thanks for Asking
Wednesday, Dec. 09, 2009
By Simon Shuster
When Vladimir Putin took to the airwaves on Dec. 3 for his annual call-in show on state-run television, the questions and Putin's answers appeared natural and unprompted. But as with many high-profile political campaigns in the West, little is left to chance at the upper echelons of Russia's leadership, especially when the Prime Minister's image makers want to send a message to the public. Which is why, says Andrei Kryukov, a student who asked Putin about his plans for the 2012 elections, he had been steered by Putin's press service and coached for two days before the live show went on the air. Putin's answer to Kryukov's question and one other was clear and direct. Yes, he told the millions of viewers watching the show, he would think about running for President again. And no, nobody should hold their breath for his giving up power.
If the Q&A session is anything to go by, Russia's democracy will probably stay tightly choreographed. "It was very well organized," says Kryukov of the rehearsals for the show. "They gathered together people from various institutes across the country, and one of those was our institute," he says, referring to the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute, which he has studied at since 2005.
Kryukov, a graduate student in open pit mine development, says he and four classmates caught a train to Moscow and were housed at a resort outside the capital that is owned by the Russian State Technology University. "That's where all the students were taken. They treated us really well. We didn't pay for any of it," he says. Rehearsals for the program lasted two days and were organized by Putin's press service and producers from the state-owned Vesti television channel. "We had other questions, ones that were more relevant to us, about mining, about the education system and so on," Kryukov says. "Then it was decided that the question should be more general, more significant. So that's how it came out."
In a statement to TIME, Putin's press service said it had helped state TV producers organize the event and rehearsals but had not helped select questions. "Of course we did not help them formulate their questions. People asked their questions on their own and chose what questions they would ask," the statement said.
Putin's answer was hardly surprising. In 2008, with the constitution barring him from running for a third four-year term, Putin stepped down as President, chose ally Dmitri Medvedev as a successor and then took the post of Prime Minister for himself. Widely regarded as a placeholder President, Medvedev has no political power base of his own, little charisma and a rather awkward habit of trying to imitate Putin's macho demeanor. Many of his key advisers once worked on Putin's staff.
Indeed, just hours after Putin made his remarks about the 2012 vote, Medvedev chimed in with his support. "Prime Minister Putin said he doesn't rule out this possibility [of seeking re-election], and I also say I don't rule it out," Medvedev said. "We will be able to agree how not to elbow each other, but to make a reasonable decision for the nation," he told a press conference in Rome, where he had traveled to meet the Pope.
Political analysts in Russia say the transition plan is clear. "What they are signaling is that in 2012, they will not compete with each other for the presidency. They will sit down and decide in an orderly fashion which of them will be the next President. If Putin wants it, he will take it, and the public will then legitimize this decision at the polls," says Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Center for Political Technologies, a think tank in Moscow. "There's no room here for Western ideas of plurality, debate or political struggle. Nobody wants that here. The public wants to know exactly what's coming and whom they should vote for well in advance."
Some pundits, pointing to Putin's wish to regain full control of the Kremlin as soon as possible, believe he may return to the presidency next year by asking Medvedev to take the fall for the financial crisis and resign. That would trigger a snap election, which Putin would be sure to win. His approval ratings are still around 65%, despite a year that saw an economic recession, spiking unemployment, a sharp currency devaluation, the murder of several human-rights activists and persistent terrorist attacks.
"Changing places too suddenly would create dissonance in the dance they've created," says Makarkin, who believes Putin will avoid a hasty or obvious power grab ahead of the 2012 vote. Instead, he could use the next few years to pass messy reforms, which would then be associated not with his reign but with Medvedev's. One of these is a constitutional amendment that is expected to pass this month; announced in Medvedev's first state-of-the-nation address last year, it would extend the presidential term from four to six years and would go into effect, of course, only after the next election. This would allow the next President to hold the post until 2024.
"All the levers are in their hands for enacting this change," says Lilya Shibanova, director of Russia's only independent election watchdog, Golos, or Voice. Putin's political party, United Russia, has enough seats in the parliament to change the constitution single-handedly. "So far in the political arena, there is no competition to the tandem of Putin and Medvedev," Shibanova says. "And to think that Medvedev could in any way compete with Putin is quite frankly naive."
That means United Russia will probably field Putin, its chairman, as the favored candidate. Now 56, Putin would then be free to legally hold the presidency until the ripe old age of 72. As student Kryukov (whose name was given as Kurikov in the transcript of the show that was posted on the government's website) puts it, "He said what I expected him to say."
By Simon Shuster
When Vladimir Putin took to the airwaves on Dec. 3 for his annual call-in show on state-run television, the questions and Putin's answers appeared natural and unprompted. But as with many high-profile political campaigns in the West, little is left to chance at the upper echelons of Russia's leadership, especially when the Prime Minister's image makers want to send a message to the public. Which is why, says Andrei Kryukov, a student who asked Putin about his plans for the 2012 elections, he had been steered by Putin's press service and coached for two days before the live show went on the air. Putin's answer to Kryukov's question and one other was clear and direct. Yes, he told the millions of viewers watching the show, he would think about running for President again. And no, nobody should hold their breath for his giving up power.
If the Q&A session is anything to go by, Russia's democracy will probably stay tightly choreographed. "It was very well organized," says Kryukov of the rehearsals for the show. "They gathered together people from various institutes across the country, and one of those was our institute," he says, referring to the St. Petersburg State Mining Institute, which he has studied at since 2005.
Kryukov, a graduate student in open pit mine development, says he and four classmates caught a train to Moscow and were housed at a resort outside the capital that is owned by the Russian State Technology University. "That's where all the students were taken. They treated us really well. We didn't pay for any of it," he says. Rehearsals for the program lasted two days and were organized by Putin's press service and producers from the state-owned Vesti television channel. "We had other questions, ones that were more relevant to us, about mining, about the education system and so on," Kryukov says. "Then it was decided that the question should be more general, more significant. So that's how it came out."
In a statement to TIME, Putin's press service said it had helped state TV producers organize the event and rehearsals but had not helped select questions. "Of course we did not help them formulate their questions. People asked their questions on their own and chose what questions they would ask," the statement said.
Putin's answer was hardly surprising. In 2008, with the constitution barring him from running for a third four-year term, Putin stepped down as President, chose ally Dmitri Medvedev as a successor and then took the post of Prime Minister for himself. Widely regarded as a placeholder President, Medvedev has no political power base of his own, little charisma and a rather awkward habit of trying to imitate Putin's macho demeanor. Many of his key advisers once worked on Putin's staff.
Indeed, just hours after Putin made his remarks about the 2012 vote, Medvedev chimed in with his support. "Prime Minister Putin said he doesn't rule out this possibility [of seeking re-election], and I also say I don't rule it out," Medvedev said. "We will be able to agree how not to elbow each other, but to make a reasonable decision for the nation," he told a press conference in Rome, where he had traveled to meet the Pope.
Political analysts in Russia say the transition plan is clear. "What they are signaling is that in 2012, they will not compete with each other for the presidency. They will sit down and decide in an orderly fashion which of them will be the next President. If Putin wants it, he will take it, and the public will then legitimize this decision at the polls," says Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Center for Political Technologies, a think tank in Moscow. "There's no room here for Western ideas of plurality, debate or political struggle. Nobody wants that here. The public wants to know exactly what's coming and whom they should vote for well in advance."
Some pundits, pointing to Putin's wish to regain full control of the Kremlin as soon as possible, believe he may return to the presidency next year by asking Medvedev to take the fall for the financial crisis and resign. That would trigger a snap election, which Putin would be sure to win. His approval ratings are still around 65%, despite a year that saw an economic recession, spiking unemployment, a sharp currency devaluation, the murder of several human-rights activists and persistent terrorist attacks.
"Changing places too suddenly would create dissonance in the dance they've created," says Makarkin, who believes Putin will avoid a hasty or obvious power grab ahead of the 2012 vote. Instead, he could use the next few years to pass messy reforms, which would then be associated not with his reign but with Medvedev's. One of these is a constitutional amendment that is expected to pass this month; announced in Medvedev's first state-of-the-nation address last year, it would extend the presidential term from four to six years and would go into effect, of course, only after the next election. This would allow the next President to hold the post until 2024.
"All the levers are in their hands for enacting this change," says Lilya Shibanova, director of Russia's only independent election watchdog, Golos, or Voice. Putin's political party, United Russia, has enough seats in the parliament to change the constitution single-handedly. "So far in the political arena, there is no competition to the tandem of Putin and Medvedev," Shibanova says. "And to think that Medvedev could in any way compete with Putin is quite frankly naive."
That means United Russia will probably field Putin, its chairman, as the favored candidate. Now 56, Putin would then be free to legally hold the presidency until the ripe old age of 72. As student Kryukov (whose name was given as Kurikov in the transcript of the show that was posted on the government's website) puts it, "He said what I expected him to say."
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