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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

THE KOREAS: S. Korea and U.S. Dismiss N. Korea’s Peace Talks Proposal

January 13, 2010

By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea and the United States said Tuesday that they would discuss a peace treaty with North Korea only after the North returned to six-nation disarmament talks and began dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

The two countries also rejected the North’s demand that United Nations sanctions be lifted before it returns to the talks.

“We’ re not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the six-party-process,” Philip J. Crowley, a State Department spokesman, said in Washington.

On Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry proposed “immediate” talks with the United States to negotiate a peace treaty that would formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically in a state of war.

The North said treaty talks could be held separately or be included in the six-nation talks, which include the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. The talks have been in limbo since last spring, when North Korea withdrew to protest sanctions that were imposed after it tested its second nuclear device and some ballistic missiles.

“We can discuss a peace treaty only after the six-party talks are reopened and there is progress in the denuclearization of North Korea,” Defense Minister Kim Tae-young of South Korea said at a news conference on Tuesday. “North Korea has a history of offering peace gestures with one hand while committing provocations with the other.”

Washington also said the North must first return to the talks and take “affirmative steps towards denuclearization.”

“Once they’re back within the process, once we have confidence that they’re meeting their obligations, then a wide range of other possible discussions open up,” Mr. Crowley said.

The stance reflects the allies’ suspicions that North Korea is trying to deflect the focus of the talks, which have so far focused on ending the North’s nuclear weapons program. North Korea says that asking it to give up its nuclear capabilities before it feels safe under a formal peace treaty is “like a gangster trying to disarm us at gunpoint.”

View Article in The New York Times

Next Cruise: China & Japan Explorer on the Ocean Princess in February and March

I’m looking forward to another Princess cruise next month as guest lecturer to speak about the history and culture of the areas we visit.

This time I will be sailing for about a month on the newly renovatedOcean Princess”.  The “China and Japan Explorer” route will be sailing from Shanghai to Tokyo and back again from Tokyo to Osaka.

While this will be my first voyage on the Ocean Princess, I sailed on its sister trip, the Royal Princess, about a year ago and had a wonderful experience.  I really enjoyed the “small ship” experience.

The 9 Ports of Call are as follows:

Map picture

My complete itinerary is as follows:

Date

Day

Arrival

Departure

Thursday, 2/18     from LA
Friday, 2/19   in Shanghai  
Saturday, 2/20 1   from Shanghai @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, 2/21 2 @ Sea Lecturing
Monday, 2/22 3 in Dalian
@ 8:00 AM
from Dalian
@ 4:00 PM
Tuesday, 2/23 4 in Xingang
@ 7:00 AM
from Xingang
@ 7:00 PM
Wednesday, 2/24 5 Lecturing @ Sea
Thursday, 2/25 6 in Incheon
@ 7:00 AM
from Incheon
@ 6:00 PM
Friday, 2/26 7 @ Sea Lecturing
Saturday, 2/27 8 @ Sea Lecturing
Sunday, 2/28 9 in Vladivostok
@ 5: 30 AM
from Vladivostok
@ 7:30 PM
Monday, 3/1 10 @ Sea Lecturing
Tuesday, 3/2 11 in Fukuoka
@ 8:00 AM
from Fukuoka
@ 5:00 PM
Wednesday, 3/3 12 in Hiroshima
@ 8:00 AM
from Hiroshima
@ 5:00 PM
Thursday, 3/4 13 in Osaka
@ 8:00 AM
from Osaka
@ 8:00 PM
Friday, 3/5 14 @ Sea Lecturing
Saturday, 3/6 15
& 1
in Tokyo
@ 8:00 Am
from Tokyo
@ 10:00 PM
Sunday, 3/7 2 @ Sea Lecturing
Monday, 3/8 3 in Osaka
@ 8:00 AM
from Osaka
@ 8:00 PM
Tuesday, 3/9 4 in Hiroshima
@ 9:00 AM
from Hiroshima
@ 6:00 PM
Wednesday, 3/10 5 in Fukuoka
@ 8:00 AM
in Fukuoka
@ 5:00 PM
Thursday, 3/11 6 @ Sea Lecturing
Friday, 3/12 7 in Vladivostok
@ 5:30 AM
fro Vladivostok
@ 7:30 PM
Saturday, 3/13 8 @ Sea Lecturing
Sunday, 3/14 9 @ Sea Lecturing
Monday, 3/15 10 in Incheon
@ 7:00 AM
from Incheon
@ 6:00 PM
Tuesday, 3/16 11 @ Sea Lecturing
Wednesday, 3/17 12 in Xingang
@ 7:00 AM
from Xingang
@ 7:00 PM
Thursday, 3/18 13 in Dalian
@ 11 AM
from Dalian
@ 7 PM
Friday, 3/19 14 @ Sea Lecturing
Saturday, 3/20 15 in Shanghai
@ 7:00 AM
 
Sunday, 3/21   in LA from Shanghai

Stay tuned for more details . . .

CHINA: E-Mail Breach Has Google Threatening to Leave China

January 12, 2010

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:06 p.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. said Tuesday it might end its operations in China after it discovered that the e-mail accounts of human rights activists had been breached.

The company disclosed in a blog post that it had detected a ''highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China.'' Further investigation revealed that ''a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists,'' Google said in the post written by Chief Legal Officer David Drummond.

Google did not specifically accuse the Chinese government. But the company added that it is ''no longer willing to continue censoring our results'' on its Chinese search engine, as the government requires. Google says the decision could force it to shut down its Chinese site and its offices in the country.

It's unclear how much of a blow to its business Google would suffer by pulling out of China. The country has the world's largest population of Internet users but research firm Analysys International said last year that Baidu.com handled 62 percent of Web searches in China compared with 29 percent for Google.

Clothilde Le Coz, Washington director for Reporters Without Borders, called Google's willingness to stop censoring results a positive step, but added it doesn't necessarily mean more information will be available to the average Chinese person.

''The Chinese government is one of the most efficient in terms of censoring the Web,'' she said. The media watchdog group has long criticized Google and other Internet companies for caving to China's censorship regime.

Google first agreed to censor search results in China in 2006 when it created a version of its search engine bearing China's Web suffix, ''.cn.'' Previously, Chinese-language results had been available through the company's main Google.com site.

To obtain its Chinese license, Google agreed to omit Web content that the country's government found objectionable. At the time Google executives said they struggled with how to reconcile the censorship concessions with the company's motto of ''don't be evil.'' By then Yahoo had come under fire for giving the Chinese government account information of a Chinese journalist who was later convicted for violating state secrecy laws.

AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this story.

On the Net:

Google post: http://bit.ly/6vGb9S

JAPAN: 'Torino,' 'Dear Doctor' win awards


dear doctor poster

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010

Kyodo News

The Japanese film "Dear Doctor" and the U.S. film "Gran Torino" were chosen as the best films released in Japan in 2009, movie magazine publisher Kinema Junposha Co. announced Tuesday.

Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" was the top foreign film.

"Dear Doctor," directed by Miwa Nishikawa, topped the list for Japanese films. Nishikawa also won for best screenplay while the main actor, Shofukutei Tsurube, was named best male actor.

Click Here to View Trailer in Japanese

JAPAN: Follow the rules when feeding deer in Nara Park

Just a reminder to all of you out there who are thinking of visiting Nara sometime soon: don’t feed human food to the deer. The deer who live in Nara Park are meant to eat the specially-produced deer crackers sold at the park, yet some jerks think the deer should enjoy other kinds of food. This makes the deer associate plastic bags with food, so they eat such plastic and become sick. The video report below from TBS shows how plastic was found in the stomach of a deer that recently died at the park:

CHINA: China set for world consumer crown

Created: 2010-1-13 2:02:39

Author:Wang Yanlin

CHINA has been forecast to become the world's largest consumer market by 2020, driven by people's rising income and less savings.

China's household income of the bottom 20 percent of earners rose by 50 percent last year from 2004, while the top 10 percent surged 255 percent to about 34,000 yuan (US$4,978) per month, Credit Suisse found in its proprietary China Consumer Survey released yesterday.

The savings rate has dropped from 26 percent to 12 percent during the same period.

Based on this trend, Credit Suisse expects China's consumer spending will climb and its share of global consumption will increase from5.2 percent at US$1.72 trillion in 2009 to 23.1 percent at US$15.94 trillion in 2020, overtaking the United States as the world's largest consumer market.

The company interviewed 2,700 respondents in eight major cities between October and November last year for the latest survey.

Vincent Chan, head of China Equity Research at Credit Suisse, said the declining share of household savings, particularly from 2008 onward, could be a natural tendency that came with higher income.

"At present, the reduced savings are spent mainly on housing, including mortgages and rental payments - a reflection of the desire among Chinese to improve living conditions and showing the burden of rising property prices," Chan said.

People would probably spend more on property ownership and tend to buy more big-ticket items such as cars, LCD television sets and personal computers, Chan said.

He said a major concern over long-term consumer market development was the clamp on wage increase because of a labor oversupply.

Foreign brands still had advantages in luxury goods and high-tech products, while consumer confidence in domestic brands was generally rising, the survey found.

Chinese companies had a much stronger position in the consumer-service sector, such as telecoms, Internet and travel, it found.

China has tried to adjust its export-driven economy to rely more on domestic demand and this process has accelerated since the outbreak of the global financial crisis.

In 2008, during the crisis, China started to provide subsidies for rural buyers of big-ticket items such as TV sets, air-conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators.

The program expanded to cities and covered more products, including computers and mobile phones.

It boosted China's retail sales to 11.2 trillion yuan (US$1.64 trillion) in the first 11 months of last year, up 15.3 percent on an annual basis.

China also lowered the sales tax on small-engine vehicles last year.

The move triggered a surge in car sales, enabling China to eclipse the US as the world's largest auto market.

China will continue various stimulus measures to further boost domestic demand this year.

Copyright © 2001-2009 Shanghai Daily Publishing House

JAPAN: Port Cities Yokohama, Fukuoka & Kagoshima Considered Top Places to Live in Japan

January 11th, 2010

by Curzon

A post on the worst cities to travel to at ComingAnarchy developed into a comment discussion on the worst and best cities, with many regular MF commenters quickly joining the thread and turning the topic into a list of best and worst places to live or visit in Japan. Which gave me an idea—for those of you who live in Japan, or who are familiar with Japan, where would you want to live, and why?

This post covers my top ten, but I must preface this with an important disclaimer—my life in Japan will always be centered in Tokyo, for family, professional, and personal reasons. But I have long fantasized about acquiring a secondary residence outside the capital, for use as a vacation retreat, a place to escape from the city, or to settle for retirement. This list is covering top ten candidates for that second residence.

Biei, together with its more popular neighbor Furano, has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in Japan. Situated in the center of Hokkaido and closer to Asahikawa airport than Asahikawa city itself and thus a rural area that is very convenient to the rest of Japan, it is a popular place for Tokyoites to escape the city in the summer and has gorgeous, rolling hills covered in fields and farms. It would be a great place to launch into my favorite pasttime, cycling around Japan. Land is also relatively cheap—you can get a house with a backyard for the same price as a tiny apartment in Tokyo. The one disadvantage would be poor access to fresh seafood.

Kagoshima is a fun place for me because of its pride in its local history and easy boat access to the Okinawan islands. And I have never seen a town in Japan promote its own history so well, with biographies of famous Meiji military, political and business figures peppered over the city marking the places where they were born. Add to that the fun gardens, quaint trollycar, and Sakurajima just across the bay, and it really is a beautiful city with personality.

Tsushima is a beautiful island with countless hills and inlet bays situated between Kyushu and Korea. It has a tiny population of less than 40,000 people, and land in Tsushima can be had for a real bargain, and for a brief moment, I thought of buying some when I was there in 2007—but unfortunately, the airport no longer has direct flights to Tokyo, only Nagasaki and Fukuoka (and Korea).

A number of places along the Izu peninsula, or even out in the Izu islands, would be a wonderful place to be, with beautiful beaches in summer and very mild winters, delicious fresh food from the sea, and convenience to Tokyo that would make it almost possible to commute.

Kawagoe has always struck me as perhaps the nicest old neighborhood in the greater Tokyo area, with its clock tower and many old temples (some people complain that the buildings are not genuine, but that doesn’t bother me—even if it’s not genuine, it’s authentic, and it’s the effort and thought that counts). It is also a cheap train ticket away to Tokyo, just an hour away on the Seibu Shinjuku line. Kawagoe would be a great place to live if you were working in Tokyo but wanted to hold on to a town with history and personality.

Rebun is the northernmost island of Japan after Hokkaido, and sits a short ferry ride away from Wakkanai. This remote island truly feels like the most remote area of Japan, when you cross the stubby mountains to its west side and look down over dramatic cliffs that drop into the sea, tiny huts in a small village, and water empty of any ships except the occasional fishing boat.

Karuizawa is a hoity-toity mountain retreat for Japan’s old school elite, and one of the few places outside Tokyo where land prices are absurdly high. But it is truly beautiful in the winter

Practically part of the capital, Yokohama is one of those places that makes me reevaluate my life in Tokyo everytime I visit. It has a feel of being much more modern (read: futuristic) and clean, consumer good prices feel much cheaper, and land prices and housing prices give you much more bang for your buck than Tokyo.

Wakayama holds a certain special place in my heart because it was the first place I lived in Japan as a teenager. I have lots of friends there, and land prices keep on getting cheaper, although the economy is notably awful.

Fukuoka boasts the most convenient airport in the world, right in the heart of the city, great food, fun history and things to see, and is the one place on this list next to Yokohama that just could be a permanent home outside of Tokyo for an eager professional doing business with the rest of Asia. And it also boasts great cuisine—first class seafood, nabe, ramen, and much more.

This list is long, but how about you, readers?

JAPAN: Registration of child under sex-change father to be reviewed

TOKYO, Jan. 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba showed her willingness Tuesday to review the handling of a municipal government request that a man who had legally changed his sexual status due to sexual identity disorder register his son, who was born by artificial insemination, as an illegitimate child.
"There are points which should be improved," Chiba said. "I'm willing to review them."

The man in Shisho, Hyogo Prefecture, changed his sex under a special law concerning people with sexual identity disorder, and his wife gave birth to the boy in November through artificial insemination using semen from his brother.

The man went to register the boy the following day but was unable to do so and was later told by the municipal office to register the boy as adopted.

Children born through artificial insemination by donor are ordinarily accepted as legitimate because municipal offices do not necessarily have knowledge of the birth process.

RUSSIA: U.S.-Russia arms reduction talks to resume in January

MOSCOW, January 12 (RIA Novosti)
16:2112/01/2010

Moscow and Washington could resume talks on a new U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction treaty by the end of January, the Russian foreign minister said on Tuesday.

The new document to replace the START 1 treaty, which expired on December 5, has not been signed yet because the sides have failed to agree on verification and control arrangements to be included in the document.

"We are expecting the talks to resume some time in the second half of January," Sergei Lavrov told reporters at a press conference in Moscow.

Lavrov insisted that an important document such as a new arms reduction treaty demands thorough development and revision, including by legal and linguistics experts, before it is submitted for signing.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama pledged at their first meeting in April to replace the START I treaty as part of broader efforts to "reset" bilateral ties strained in recent years.

The new treaty's outline agreed by the presidents included cutting nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

American and Russian officials have been holding intense talks since July last year with the initial aim of signing a new accord before the expiration of the START I treaty.

CHINA: Ancient map with China at the centre goes on show in the US

Published: 2010/01/12 12:09:44 GMT

A historic map of the world, with China at its centre, has gone on display at the Library of Congress in Washington.

The map was created by Italian missionary Matteo Ricci in 1602. It is one of only two copies in existence in good condition.

Because of its rarity and fragility - the map is printed on rice paper - the map has become known as the "Impossible Black Tulip of Cartography".

This is the first time it has been on public show in north America.

Ricci created the map at the request of Emperor Wanli who wanted it to help scholars and explorers.

'Revered by Chinese'

The map was purchased by the James Ford Bell Trust in October for $1m (£0.62m), making it the second-most expensive rare map ever sold.

It denotes different parts of the world with annotations and pictures.

In the Americas, for example, several places are named including Chih-Li (Chile), Wa-ti-ma-la (Guatemala) and Ka-na-ta (Canada), and Florida is described as "the Land of the Flowers".

Ford W Bell, a trustee for the James Ford Bell Trust, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper, that the map was "one of the two best in terms of quality, as far as we know".

"Ricci was a very smart missionary. He put China right at the centre of this new universe, this new globe, to underscore its importance," he said.

"Ricci, of course, was the first Westerner to enter Beijing. He was revered by the Chinese, and he was buried there."


The first secretary for cultural affairs at the Chinese embassy in the US, Ti Ban Zhang, said in a statement that the map represents "the momentous first meeting of East and West".

© BBC MMX

CHINA: Making moves to curb economic boom

Published: 2010/01/12 16:46:31 GMT

China's central bank has stepped in to curb lending in its banking system.

Chinese banks must now keep more money back in reserves, the first such increase since June 2008, thereby taking cash out of the economy.


Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao recently urged banks to curb lending, saying they needed to be "more balanced".

China is concerned about inflation and potential asset bubbles - in stocks and property - forming in its booming economy.

The People's Bank of China also raised the interest rate on its one-year Treasury bills, another move designed to remove money from the system.


The central bank has issued a series of calls recently to banks to moderate their lending.

Monetary policy

"It would be good if our bank lending was more balanced, better structured and not on such a large scale," Mr Wen said recently, according to the Xinhua news agency.

The new moves came a day after state media reported that the banks had extended 600bn yuan ($88bn, £54bn) in loans in the first week of January.

China had employed what it called a "moderately loose" monetary policy over the past year to keep the economy growing amid the global downturn.

Economic growth is not the worry for China that it is for many other parts of the world, particularly developed nations.

The country has announced it is targeting economic growth of 8% this year.

© BBC MMX

JAPAN: Investors Sell as JAL Tries to Decide Its Next Step

January 13, 2010

By HIROKO TABUCHI

TOKYO — Investors rushed to sell their shares in Japan Airlines on Tuesday ahead of a bankruptcy filing that could come as early as next week. At the same time, two rival airlines, American and Delta, battled for a stake in JAL, which could still be a strong regional player once restructuring takes place.

American Airlines said Tuesday it had raised its offer of an investment in JAL by $300 million, to $1.4 billion. American, which is making the bid jointly with the private equity firm TPG, also guaranteed a $100 million annual increase in sales for JAL if it stayed with the American-led Oneworld alliance.

Still, shares in JAL, which has $16 billion in liabilities, fell 45 percent on Tuesday to a record low of 37 yen in Tokyo as a bankruptcy filing appeared inevitable.


The sell-off came after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama suggested that shareholders of JAL — the recipient of a string of government bailouts — would not be protected in the restructuring process, which would be orchestrated by a state-backed corporate turnaround agency.

The transport minister, Seiji Maehara, confirmed Tuesday that shareholders were at risk
, adding that JAL’s main creditor banks supported the government’s plans for a court-led restructuring.

“I think shareholders should also bear responsibility,” Mr. Hatoyama told reporters.

Despite its expected bankruptcy filing, American and Delta are locked in battle over a stake in the Japanese carrier.

The two airlines hope to tap JAL’s routes to the fast-growing Asian market once the carrier is restructured, and strengthen their foothold in Japan. A recent “open skies” agreement between the United States and Japan had led to tie-ups between airlines of the two countries.

Delta is offering JAL $500 million in equity, as well as a substantial increase in passengers and revenue from its SkyTeam alliance.

A state-backed body tasked with JAL’s restructuring could reject both investments, however, and rely instead on a public injection of funds, Japanese news agencies have said. The agency believes that an outside investment will only complicate the restructuring process, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, the Japanese airline appeared to clear a major hurdle to receiving more public money after it said Tuesday that it had persuaded retirees to accept a 30 percent cut in their pensions. The government had demanded that JAL slash its pension payouts in return for an additional 300 billion yen.

The finance minister, Naoto Kan, told reporters that the government would consider increasing its assistance to JAL.

“The government has already expressed support to JAL, but I wonder whether that’s enough,” Mr. Kan said. “If we need to express further support, we will take action as needed.”

The chief financial officer of American Airlines, Thomas W. Horton, urged the Japanese to allow further investment from a commercial partner, saying that it would be to JAL’s advantage.

“While JAL and the Japanese government might decide to address capital requirements internally, and we certainly would understand and respect that, our offer of capital would also be available if this was deemed appropriate,” Mr. Horton said.

“It brings stability and certainty to Japan Airlines at a time when most needed, as it faces turbulent times over the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Mr. Horton made his case alongside other members of the Oneworld alliance, including British Airways, Qantas and Cathay Pacific.

British Airways offered an additional $200 million in revenue to JAL over three years through an expanded code-sharing agreement, while Qantas said it would advise JAL on setting up a low-cost carrier business.

The extent of JAL’s woes have come as a shock to many Japanese.

Initially state-owned, the airline’s rapid growth in the 1960s and ’70s mirrored that of the Japanese economy. The airline was privatized in 1987.

But intense price competition and ill-timed investments, along with soaring personnel and pensions costs, have weighed heavily on JAL. The airline has also suffered from a drop in travel amid the global economic crisis and swine flu epidemic. It lost about $1.5 billion in the six months through September.

The carrier will shed 13,000 jobs — almost a quarter of its work force — through early retirement programs and by spinning off units, according to the Nikkei business daily. The airline’s chief executive, Haruka Nishimatsu, is expected to step down.


Mr. Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party swept to power in September on promises of bold changes to Japan, has said the government is committed to keeping JAL flying throughout the restructuring.

“We are united in our efforts to guarantee JAL’s operations, and that the company’s future revival,” Mr. Hatoyama told reporters. “That is most important.”

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

THE KOREAS: S. Korea and U.S. Dismiss N. Korea’s Peace Talks Proposal

January 13, 2010

By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea and the United States said Tuesday that they would discuss a peace treaty with North Korea only after the North returned to six-nation disarmament talks and began dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

Seoul and Washington also rejected the North’s demand that United Nations sanctions be lifted before it returns to the talks.


“We’re not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the six-party-process,” P. J. Crowley, a State Department spokesman, said in Washington.

On Monday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry proposed “immediate” talks with the United States to negotiate a peace treaty that would formally end the 1950-3 Korean War, which ended in a truce, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically in a state of war.

The North said treaty talks could be held separately or be included in the six-nation talks, which include the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. The talks have been in limbo since last spring, when North Korea withdrew to protest sanctions that were imposed after it tested its second nuclear device and some ballistic missiles.


“We can discuss a peace treaty only after the six-party talks are reopened and there is progress in the denuclearization of North Korea,” Defense Minister Kim Tae-young of South Korea said at a news conference Tuesday. “North Korea has a history of offering peace gestures with one hand while committing provocations with the other.”

Washington also said the North must first return to the talks and take “affirmative steps towards denuclearization.”

“Once they’re back within the process, once we have confidence that they’re meeting their obligations, then a wide range of other possible discussions open up,” Mr. Crowley said.

The stance reflects the allies’ suspicions that North Korea is trying to deflect the focus of the talks, which have so far focused on ending the North’s nuclear weapons program. North Korea says that asking it to give up its nuclear capabilities before it feels safe under a formal peace treaty is “like a gangster trying to disarm us at gunpoint.”

Mutual mistrust has made “sequence” — the diplomatic question of who does what first — a central point of contention during years of negotiations between North Korea and the United States.

Also Tuesday, the North Korean ambassador to China, Choe Jin-su, called together a small group of reporters to reiterate Pyongyang’s latest statement.

Mr. Choe said the signing of a peace treaty would help promote “denuclearization at a rapid tempo,” the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. “Here I would like to stress ‘at a rapid tempo.’ ”

The Korean War began 60 years ago with a North Korean invasion of the South. The United States led United Nations forces in defense of the South and China fought for North Korea. An American general representing the U.N. Command signed a ceasefire pact with the Chinese and North Korean militaries, but South Korea did not.

The North had previously tried to keep the South out of peace talks, saying it fought the war with the Americans and not with a “South Korean puppet.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Choe, the North Korean diplomat, said he did not know whether South Korea wanted to be part of peace talks “because they didn’t even sign the truce.”

Mr. Kim, the South Korean defense minister, retorted: “Of course, South Korea should be included.”

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

CHINA: Defense Test Indicates China’s Displeasure With the U.S.

January 13, 2010

News Analysis
By ANDREW JACOBS

BEIJING — China said it had successfully tested the nation’s first land-based missile defense system, announcing the news late Monday in a brief dispatch by Xinhua, the official news agency. “The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country,” the item said.

Even if news accounts on Tuesday did not provide details about the test — and whether it destroyed its intended target — Chinese and Western analysts say there is no mistaking that the timing of the test, coming amid Beijing’s fury over American arms sales to Taiwan, was largely aimed at the White House.

In recent days, state media outlets have been producing a torrent of articles condemning the sale of Patriot air defense equipment to Taiwan. China views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, separated since the civil war of the 1940s, and sees arms sales as interference in an internal matter.

The Defense and Foreign Ministries have released a half-dozen warnings over the weapons deal, saying it would have grave consequences for United States-China relations. The state-run Global Times newspaper urged readers to come up with ways to retaliate against the United States.

Writing in the Study Times newspaper, Maj. Gen. Jun Yinan said that China had the power to strike back. “We must take countermeasures to make the other side pay a corresponding price and suffering corresponding punishment,” wrote General Jun, a professor at China’s National Defense University.

Although most analysts doubt the Chinese will seek to punish the United States in a significant way — retaliatory measures over past arms sales have included the suspension of military talks — the especially vociferous response may herald rockier relations between the countries as they confront differences over monetary policy, trade issues, Iran and North Korea.

“For the Chinese, selling arms to Taiwan feels like a slap in the face,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of United States-Chinese relations at People’s University in Beijing. “I think the government expected something different from Obama, especially so soon after his visit to China.”

The White House said it was simply fulfilling a deal that was negotiated during the Bush administration. It also pointed out that the sale, approved by the Pentagon last week, omits F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, a concession to Beijing.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking in California on Monday, said she thought the strain in relations would be brief and mild. “It doesn’t go off the rails when we have differences of opinions,” she said of the relationship with China.

Relations may get bumpier in the coming weeks when President Obama meets with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader whom China accuses of being a separatist, and President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan makes a brief visit to the United States. Overseas visits by Taiwanese officials invariably irk Beijing.

Arthur Ding, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital, said China may have thought its growing economic might and the improving cross-strait relations fostered by President Ma during his 20 months in office might have persuaded the United States to put off any weapons deal.

“Perhaps Beijing has unrealistic expectations,” he said. “I think they imagined their influence is greater than it is.”

For all the saber-rattling over the arms sale, some analysts say the official invective and anti-missile demonstration may have been largely aimed at domestic audiences, who increasingly expect their leaders to stand up to the West.

Zhu Feng, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Peking University, described China’s missile defense system as experimental and “not really meaningful” and said the test’s real purpose was an opportunity for the People’s Liberation Army to strut.

Despite China’s newfound confidence, he said the government is increasingly frustrated by its inability to influence the United States on an issue that has bedeviled Beijing for decades.

“China still lacks the leverage to force the White House to stop these sales,” he said. “So they feel like they must make a lot of noise.”

Jonathan Ansfield contributed reporting, and Li Bibo contributed research.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

JAPAN: Sumo Veteran ozeki Kaio makes sumo history at New Year basho

Jan 12 05:29 AM US/Eastern

TOKYO, Jan. 12 (AP) - (Kyodo)

Kaio etched his name in the sumo record books at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday as the veteran ozeki claimed his 808th win in sumo's elite makuuchi division to take top spot on the all-time list.

The 37-year-old Kaio, who matched former yokozuna great Chiyonofuji's record of 807 victories on Monday, reached the milestone by overpowering Chiyotaikai, pushing the former ozeki a step closer to retirement in the process.

The Tomozuna stable warhorse shrugged off a slap at the charge and got around the back of Chiyotaikai to floor him with an "okurinage" rear throw down.

Kaio, the oldest wrestler in sumo's premier league, improved to 2-1 while Chiyotaikai dropped to 0-3 at the 15-day meet at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

The five-time Emperor's Cup winner, who made his debut alongside the likes of former yokozuna Takanohana and Akebono at the spring tourney in 1988, has a career total of 976 wins, second on the all-time list behind Chiyonofuji (1,045).

Chiyonofuji hailed Kaio's achievement after seeing his makuuchi record broken.

"Records are there to be broken and when a wrestler comes out and does that it livens sumo up," Chiyonofuji told NHK. "He wrestled well as well. His body is not as packed with energy as it once was but he has made a massive effort and it is a splendid achievement."

Chiyotaikai has been demoted to sekiwake here after competing in 65 tournaments as an ozeki. The 33-year-old has said he will retire if he fails to get the 10 wins he needs for promotion back to ozeki for the next tournament.

Meanwhile, tournament favorite Hakuho and fellow Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu both maintained their unbeaten records with comfortable wins.

Looking to improve on an 11-4 showing in Kyushu in November, Asashoryu outmuscled winless Georgian No. 1 maegashira Tochinoshin and Hakuho flexed his muscles to reel in top-ranked Toyonoshima and floor him with an "amiuchi" fisherman's throw to extend his unbeaten streak stretching back to the autumn meet to 27 bouts.

Elsewhere, in the upper ranks, Bulgarian pin-up Kotooshu showed nifty footwork to tip over second-ranked Goeido (1-2) for a third win while Harumafuji made short work of Miyabiyama (1-2) to keep his slate clean, the ozeki weathering a pair of neck thrusts and bumping the No. 2 maegashira over the straw ridge.

But there was more grief for ozeki Kotomitsuki, who was second best in every department against Hokutoriki and was bundled out to a third consecutive defeat. Third-ranked Hokutoriki improved to 2-1.

Estonian sekiwake Baruto (2-1) moved back into the winning column with a routine force-out victory over Mongolian komusubi Kakuryu, who dropped to 1-2.

TRAVEL: Delta & Continental Increase Checked Bag Fees

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Online charges for checked bags will be $23 for the first bag, $32 for the second
* That's an $8 and $7 increase from current rates, respectively
* Checking in bags at airport will be even more: $25 for first bag, $35 for second
* New Delta rates start Tuesday; Continental rates are for travel on or after January 16

(CNN) -- Continental Airlines has matched Delta Air Lines' recent checked-luggage fee increase, a Continental spokeswoman says.

Delta Air Lines passengers paying online for checked bags will be charged $23 for the first bag and $32 for the second -- an $8 and $7 increase from current rates, respectively.

The new Delta rates start Tuesday and apply to tickets purchased on or after January 5. Passengers who bought tickets before that date will pay the old rates, Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said.

Continental Airlines matched the increase late last week, spokeswoman Mary Clark said. The increase on Continental applies to passengers who purchased tickets on or after January 9 for travel on or after January 16.

Those checking in bags at the airport will shell out even more: $25 for the first bag, $35 for the second on both airlines.

Some passengers -- such as first-class fliers, some frequent fliers and military personnel on deployment -- are exempt from most checked-luggage fees.

Delta and Continental luggage fees now are among the highest in the industry. US Airways also charges $25 for the first checked bag and $35 for the second bag when checked in at the airport. Online, the airline charges $20 and $30 for the first and second bags.

United Airlines charges $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second bag at the airport, and $15 and $25 online for the first and second bags, respectively. American Airlines charges $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second bag, both online and at the airport.

Most major air carriers started adding checked-bag fees in 2008.

On discount carrier Southwest Airlines, the first and second checked bags are free. JetBlue offers a free first checked bag and charges $30 for the second.

© 2008 Cable News Network