What's Up Down Under?

What's Up Down Under?:

Editor's note: More than ever, Cruise Critic is keeping an eye on changes in cruising that affect its increasingly devoted Australia- and New Zealand-based members. Carnival is the first North American-based line this year to create some excitement in the world's top-two countries when it comes to massive growth in interest in this kind of travel. And we're excited, too, about the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, Celebrity Solstice and Holland America's Oosterdam -- all new classes for anyone cruising Down Under. We look forward to hearing more interpretations about Aussification.

Chinese Officials Fired Over Sex Scandal

Chinese Officials Fired Over Sex Scandal: The state news media reported details of a sex extortion ring in Chongqing that has led to the dismissals of at least 11 officials of the Communist Party, government or state-owned companies.

Envoy delivers Abe's good wishes letter

Envoy delivers Abe's good wishes letter:

CHINESE leader Xi Jinping received a letter from Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday from a senior Japanese envoy in what was the highest-level contact between the sides since tensions spiked in September over the Diaoyu Islands.

The letter sent wishes of good health, spoke of the two countries' "shared responsibility for peace and prosperity" in the region and said that yesterday's meeting was a "valuable opportunity to share views."
Xi's meeting with senior lawmaker Natsuo Yamaguchi in Beijing's Great Hall of the People followed four months of rising friction that included mass protests in China and the scrambling of fighter jets by both countries.

Yamaguchi is leader of the New Komeito party, the smaller party in Abe's ruling coalition, but not a member of the government.

Since the dispute began, both sides have called for dialogue to avoid an armed confrontation, though Japan has rejected China's demand that it acknowledge a sovereignty dispute.

For Chinese, the dispute has reawakened bitter memories of Japan's conquest of Chinese territory beginning in 1895 and its brutal World War II occupation of much of the country.

Japan may shutter world’s largest nuclear plant over earthquake threat

Japan may shutter world’s largest nuclear plant over earthquake threat:
The world’s largest nuclear power plant may be forced to shut down under stricter rules proposed by Japan’s new nuclear watchdog. The measures are intended to safeguard against future natural disasters following the...
Read Full Article at RT.com

Could a Third North Korea Nuclear Test Strain U.S.-South Korea Coordination?

Could a Third North Korea Nuclear Test Strain U.S.-South Korea Coordination?:

By Nicholas Hamisevicz

Earlier this week the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) finally responded to North Korea’s December 12^th rocket launch with a new resolution. Predictably, North Korea reacted angrily with statements, including one attributed to its National Defense Commission (NDC). The NDC statement specifically targeted the United States as a problem and as a threat to North Korea; moreover, it vowed that “a variety of satellites and long-range rockets will be launched by the DPRK one after another and a third nuclear test of higher level which will be carried out by it in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century, will target against the U.S., the sworn enemy of the Korean people.” North Korea has conducted nuclear tests in the past after being punished by UN resolutions for launching missiles. If the North Korean leadership tests another nuclear device, it might actually do more to separate U.S.-ROK coordination than the anticipated engagement of North Korea from the incoming Park Geun-hye administration.

This potential nuclear test could disrupt close U.S.-ROK coordination. In the event of a third North Korean nuclear test, the U.S. would have to respond, at least with another trip to the UNSC to maintain some credibility for UN resolutions and to demonstrate an international consensus against North Korea’s actions. Moreover, a successful nuclear test would move North Korea one step closer to being a direct threat to U.S. territory. Two years ago, then U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that North Korea would be able to hit the continental U.S. within five years with an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea’s actions suggest they are trying to make that schedule a reality and become a direct threat to the U.S., not just to its troops, citizens, and interests in Asia. These factors could force the Obama administration to push for a firm response from its South Korean ally to the nuclear test rather than supporting its immediate direct outreach.

Even though support for engagement with North Korea inside the U.S. is quite low because of the difficulty in getting a quicker turnaround on a resolution condemning the North Korean rocket launch, the April rocket launch that scuttled the February 29 agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, and North Korean missile and nuclear tests in 2009 that welcomed an incoming President Obama open to engagement, it could still be possible. In President Obama’s second inaugural address he stated that “engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.” Additionally, his likely incoming Secretary of State John Kerry has been perceived as more open to dialogue. Lastly, the U.S. wants to be supportive of South Korea in inter-Korean relations, and would probably look for ways to demonstrate its support for the South Korean government’s engagement efforts. In some ways, a second Obama administration and the more cautious approach to engagement described by the Park Geun-hye team was seen as the best possible combination for maintaining strong U.S.-South Korea relations through difficult early challenges. Thus, the often worrisome divergence in the engagement and containment approaches by the U.S. and South Korea that have caused separation in U.S.-Korea relations in the past could be minimized. But those small possibilities for support and engagement shrink considerably if North Korea tests a nuclear device.

A third nuclear test would put Park Geun-hye in an almost no win situation. If she immediately engages North Korea after a nuclear test, it could be seen as undermining her pledge to present a credible deterrence and seek commensurate actions from North Korea on denuclearization. This is especially the case in light of North Korea’s threat to attack South Korea if it takes part in new UN sanctions. If she pushes for tougher sanctions and doesn’t reach out to North Korea quickly, she could be seen as failing to live up to her campaign pledges and continuing the perceived hard-line policy of President Lee Myung-bak. Park campaigned on a new engagement with North Korea based on trust. A positive action from North Korea would help her argue that South Korea can benefit from engaging North Korea and convince the U.S. to support her policy, but a significant gesture hasn’t happened yet. A last resort for justifying an outreach gesture, especially if North Korea explodes a nuclear device before her inauguration, is to blame the test on President Lee’s perceived failure to engage North Korea.

But with such a direct reference to the U.S., could the Park administration convince President Obama and his team to support South Korea’s outreach to North Korea after a nuclear test? Exploding a nuclear device challenges the ability of the U.S.-Korea alliance’s leaders to coordinate potentially different policies toward North Korea aimed at convincing it not to provoke the U.S. and its neighbors. A third nuclear test could lead to a difference in approaches by Park and Obama administrations toward North Korea and could create that separation amongst allies that North Korea loves to exploit even further.

Nicholas Hamisevicz is the Director of Research and Academic Affairs for the Korea Economic Institute. The views represented here are his own.

Photo from the Secretary of Defense’s photo stream on flickr Creative Commons.

North Korea lashes out at the US and South. How big a threat?

North Korea lashes out at the US and South. How big a threat?:
Renewed threats from North Korea's regime have given rise to questions about how far the North Koreans will go in carrying them out.

Chongqing Journalist Freed Early

Chongqing Journalist Freed Early:
Authorities in the southwestern city of Chongqing have released from jail a top journalist jailed by ousted former city chief Bo Xilai.
Gao Yingpiao, who had written critically of Bo's policies and was sentenced secretly to three years' imprisonment by a Chongqing court in 2010 for "endangering state security," was released on Sunday, his wife Li Danxin said.
"He is out a bit early, and his health is OK," Li said in an interview on Friday.
She said the family was unsure of whether Gao's release was the result of Bo's removal from office on March 15 and subsequent investigation for graft and involvement in the murder of a British businessman.
"We can't say yet," said Li, who only announced Gao's prison sentence in public last April after Bo's removal from office. "We haven't really even adjusted yet, and we haven't talked about it yet."
Gao had already served more than 26 months of the jail term, which was likely the result of a series of blog posts he had made on the popular social media site QQ during 2009 that were highly critical of Bo's high-profile, populist policies.
Lawyers involved in anti-crime campaigns in Chongqing during Bo's tenure have likened his policies to the "struggle" campaigns and kangaroo courts of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), alleging widespread framing of businessmen using torture and forced confessions, with the aim of confiscating their assets.
While the revolutionary song concerts and anti-crime campaigns won political plaudits for Bo at the time, the authorities have now offered an amnesty for police officers who elicited forced confessions, if they cooperate with current investigations into abuse of power in Chongqing.
Keeping quiet
Li said it was "inconvenient" for Gao to give media interviews, in an indication that keeping quiet may have been a condition of his release.
"He wants to thank everyone for their concern, but he apologizes that he won't be giving interviews because everything is still in the process of being sorted out, and his mother is sick," Li said.
"He will probably stay home for a while, because his mother is ill," she said. "He hasn't been able to take care of her these past couple of years, and he felt very guilty about that."
Li said she only found out Gao was being released on Saturday, and the authorities gave no detailed explanation for the move.
Gao, a graduate of the cutting-edge journalism department at Wuhan University in central China, worked as head of editorial at the Asia Pacific Economic Times and later as head of the newsroom at the China Commercial Times.
He first made his name during the 1980s with interviews of two high-ranking Chinese leaders.
Chongqing resident Fang Hong, who was sent to labor camp after writing a satirical poem online about Bo, said Gao's release was definitely linked to the fate of the former rising political star.
"Of course it's related," Fang said. "It's a way of admitting that this was a wrongful conviction."
He added: "It was ridiculous how easy it was to get sent to prison just for saying stuff back then."
Fang said a total of 5,800 people were sent to labor camp in Chongqing in 2011 alone, some for lodging complaints against the authorities, others for alleged gang involvement, and others for saying the wrong thing.
Fang said he was still awaiting judgement in his application for compensation from the authorities for his labor camp sentence.
Fallen political star
China's ruling Communist Party transferred Bo's case to the judiciary earlier this month, marking the beginning of criminal proceedings, although analysts said a trial is not expected soon.
Beijing-based rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan said the authorities were keeping most of the details of Bo's case secret.
"They seem to feel there is a need for secrecy," Liu said in a recent interview. "It's possible that this case doesn't involve state secrets, but that they are still treating it as internal [to the Party]."
The Party expelled Bo from its ranks in October, following accusations of corruption and sexual misconduct, later also removing his parliamentary privilege and paving the way for a criminal trial.
Bo was judged to bear "major responsibility" in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, for which his wife Gu Kailai was handed a suspended death sentence on Aug. 20, official media reports said at the time.
His former right-hand man and Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun was jailed for 15 years in September for "bending the law for selfish ends," "abuse of power," and "defection," after his Feb. 6 visit to the U.S. consulate in Chengdu brought the murder scandal to public attention.

Reported by Wen Yuqing and Hai Nan for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Princess Cruises Dramatically Expands Japan Cruise Program in 2014

Princess Cruises Dramatically Expands Japan Cruise Program in 2014: SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (January 23, 2013) – Underscoring its commitment to the growing Japanese cruise market, Carnival Corporation & plc today detailed a substantially expanded 2014 Japan cruise program for the Princess Cruises brand, which brings a second ship to the market, features sailings from three homeports and plans to significantly expand the size of the cruise market in Japan to approximately 100,000 passengers.The Japan-built Diamond Princess will join Sun Princess for a cruise pr...

Princess Cruises to expand rapidly in Japan

Princess Cruises to expand rapidly in Japan: The line will send two ships to the country in 2014.

Dalian's Japan ties kept riots at bay

Dalian's Japan ties kept riots at bay: The red sun of the Japanese flag flutters alongside the Chinese banner's five stars in a business zone in Dalian — a rare sight in a country still embittered by Japan's Imperial dominance decades ago.

Dalian was the only city in China with a Japanese Consulate to avoid demonstrations when anti-Japan protests raged across the country over the disputed Senkaku Islands four months ago.

JAPAN: Travel Warning

This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated March 21, 2011.  In response to the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Department of Energy, and other technical experts in the U.S. Government have reviewed the scientific and technical information they have collected from assets in country, as well as what the Government of Japan has disseminated.  Consistent with the NRC guidelines that would apply to such a situation in the United States, we continue recommending, as a precaution, that U.S. citizens within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or take shelter indoors, if safe evacuation is not practical.

On March 16, the State Department authorized the voluntary departure from Japan of eligible family members of U.S. government personnel assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, the U.S. Consulate in Nagoya, the Foreign Service Institute Field School in Yokohama and the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Iwate, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizouka, Tochigi, Yamagata, and Yamanashi.  U.S. citizens should defer all travel to the evacuation zone around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and to areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

For the latest U.S. Government information on the situation in Japan, please visit the Embassy website, http://japan.usembassy.gov. 

U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to the following regions:  Tokyo (Tokyo Capital Region), Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture), and the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Iwate, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Yamagata, and Yamanashi.

Areas of Japan outside these above regions of concern include:  the islands of Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa, and the prefectures Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Hiroshima, Hyogo, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Mie, Nara, Okayama, Osaka, Shiga, Shimane, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, and Yamaguchi on the island of Honshu.  Travelers to these prefectures should bear in mind that transit through Narita (Chiba) and Haneda (Tokyo) airports may be required.

The Situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

The situation regarding the Fukushima nuclear plant remains serious.  We strongly encourage you to understand the facts about how to protect your family.  Please see our website: http://japan.usembassy.gov. 

The U.S. Government is making available Potassium Iodide (KI) solely as a precautionary measure for United States Government personnel and dependents residing within Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture), Tokyo (Tokyo Capital Region), Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture), and the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Iwate, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizouka, Tochigi, Yamagata, and Yamanashi.  The KI should only be consumed after specific instruction from the United States Government.  While there is no indication that it will become advisable to take KI, out of an abundance of caution the United States Government is making it available to its personnel and family members to be used only upon direction if a change in circumstances were to warrant.  In the event of a radiological release, sheltering in place or departing the affected area remain the primary means of protection.

As a precautionary measure, the U.S. Embassy is continuing to make potassium iodide (KI) tablets available to private U.S. citizens who have not been able to obtain it from their physicians, employers, or other sources. Anyone considering availing themselves of this opportunity should consult the Embassy website (http://japan.usembassy.gov) for up-to-date information regarding distribution.  We do not recommend that anyone take KI at this time.  There are risks associated with taking KI.  It should only be taken on the advice of emergency management officials, public health officials or your doctor.  For more information about KI, see this fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control, or contact your doctor.

In the Event of Further Earthquakes, Strong Aftershocks, or Tsunamis

Strong aftershocks are likely for weeks following a massive earthquake such as the March 11 earthquake. The American Red Cross recommends that in the event of aftershocks, persons be alert to the danger of falling debris and move to open spaces away from walls, windows, buildings, and other structures that may collapse. If you are indoors, drop, cover, and hold on; if possible, seek cover under a sturdy desk or table, hold on, and protect your eyes by pressing your face against your arm. If there is no table or desk nearby, sit on the floor against an interior wall away from windows, bookcases or tall furniture that could fall on you.  Avoid damaged buildings and downed power lines. Great care should be used with matches, lighters, candles, or any open flame due to the possibility of disrupted gas lines.  Due to the continuing possibility of strong aftershocks, Japan remains at risk for further tsunamis.  Japanese authorities have issued a warning for people to stay away from low-lying coastal areas.  If a tsunami alert is issued by Japanese authorities, evacuate immediately to higher ground.  See information on our website, http://japan.usembassy.gov.

Conditions

Commercial flights have resumed at all airports that were closed by the earthquake, except Sendai Airport, and commercial seats are available at the time of this posting. In Tokyo, public transportation including trains and subways are operating.  Across Japan, about 90 percent of roads damaged by the tsunami and earthquake have been repaired or made passable, and most restrictions that limited traffic on roads to emergency vehicles have been lifted.  Hardships caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami continue to cause severe difficulties for people in areas, including Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima, and Ibaraki prefectures.  Temporary shortages of water and food supplies may occur in areas of Honshu north of Tokyo due to power and transportation disruptions.  Restaurants, supermarkets, and other stores in Tokyo have resumed operations.

Planned rolling power outages are decreasing in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but continue in areas in northeast Japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami.  Please monitor the Tokyo Electric Power Company website (http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html), and local news media for specific information and schedules for the planned outages. Radio stations in the Tokyo area that have emergency information in English include the U.S. Armed Forces station at 810AM and InterFM (76.1FM).

U.S. citizens in Japan are encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).  U.S. citizens without internet access may enroll directly at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulates.  By enrolling, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy/Consulates to contact them in case of emergency.

Updated information on travel and security in Japan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.  For further information, please consult the Country Specific Information for Japan, as well as the Worldwide Caution.

For any emergencies involving U.S. citizens, please contact the American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit of either the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo or one of the U.S. Consulates in Japan listed below:

U.S. Embassy in Tokyo
American Citizen Services
1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420
Tel: 03-3224-5000
After Hours: 03-3224-5000
Fax: 03-3224-5856
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/tacs-main.html

The U.S. Embassy serves Americans in Tokyo, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Yamagata and Yamanashi.

Consulates:

• Osaka-Kobe: 11-5, Nishitenma 2-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-8543; Tel: 06-6315-5912, Fax: 06-6315-5914; serving Americans in Osaka, Tel: 06-6315-5912, Fax: 06-6315-5914; serving Americans in Osaka, Aichi, Ehime, Fukui, Gifu, Hiroshima, Hyogo, Ishikawa, Kagawa, Kochi, Kyoto, Mie, Nara, Okayama, Shimane, Shiga, Tokushima, Tottori, Toyama, and Wakayama prefectures. http://osaka.usconsulate.gov/
• Nagoya: Nagoya International Center Bldg. 6th floor, 1-47-1 Nagono, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya 450-0001; Tel (052) 581-4501, Fax: (052) 581-3190; providing emergency consular services only (including death and arrest cases) for Americans living in Aichi, Gifu, and Mie prefectures. http://nagoya.usconsulate.gov/
• Fukuoka:  5-26, Ohori 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 810-0052; Tel: 092-751-9331, Fax: 092-713-9222; serving Americans in Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Oita, Saga and Yamaguchi prefectures. http://japan.usembassy.gov/fukuoka/wwwhmain.html
• Sapporo: Kita 1-jo, Nishi 28-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 064-0821; Tel: 011-641-1115, Fax: 011-643-1283; serving Americans in Akita, Aomori, Hokkaido, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. http://sapporo.usconsulate.gov/
• Naha: 2-1-1 Toyama, Urasoe City, Okinawa 901-2104; Phone: 098.876.4211, Fax: 098.876.4243, DSN: 645-7323; serving Americans in Okinawa and the Amami Oshima Island group
  http://naha.usconsulate.gov/

JAPAN: Japan's Belching Smokestacks Draw Industrial-Strength Sightseers

Kojo Moe Fans Are Infatuated by Factories; Night Cruise Past Steel Plants

By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI

YOKKAICHI, Japan—Armed with expensive and elaborate camera equipment, the tourists excitedly disembarking the charter bus have all the markings of a stereotypical tour group. But they aren't interested in the area's renowned pottery making or its tranquil Shisuian teahouse. They are here to see a giant power plant billowing smoke.

The newest trend in Japanese tourism? Kojo Moe. It means 'Factory Infatuation' and it's the term used to describe people who are thrilled by the aesthetics of industrial factories. WSJ's Daisuke Wakabayashi reports from Japan.

It's the first stop of a sightseeing trip catering to factory fanatics who caravan to Japan's industrial hubs to gawk at the aesthetics of power plants, oil refineries and other smokestack facilities once derided as polluting eyesores.

On a recent bus tour to factory hot spots around this central Japan city, passengers erupted into applause at the sight of circular liquefied natural gas tanks.

"Doesn't that look so amazing against the blue sky," said Naomi Tsukasaki, a 39-year-old saleswoman at an electric-parts maker, who says she goes sightseeing to industrial sites at least once a month.

Moments later, the bus stopped at a railroad crossing, as a train carrying cement rumbled past. Passengers stampeded off the bus to photograph the train with a factory set in the background.

What started as a fringe subculture known as kojo moe, or "factory infatuation," is beginning to gain wider appeal in Japan, turning industrial zones into unlikely tourist attractions. It's the Japanese equivalent of going sightseeing at industrial stretches along the New Jersey Turnpike...

View The Wall Street Journal Article

SHANGHAI, CHINA: City Resorts to Property Tax to Cool Housing Prices

By JAMES T. AREDDY

SHANGHAI—Shanghai's mayor on Friday said the city will impose a controversial tax on property, a move by China's richest city that may be rolled out nationally as authorities scout for new ways to cool housing prices.

Mayor Han Zheng told a rare press conference that Shanghai's ambition as a global center for finance, trade and shipping depends on controlling "distorted" home prices, which he said threaten to drive away talent as people fear being "slaves of their house." The tax is a "future-oriented" policy, the 56-year-old mayor said, adding "If we cannot solve the housing issue, there will be no future for the city of Shanghai."

View The Wall Street Journal Article...

VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA: City of Military Glory & Russia’s Window on the Pacific

By Heather Hopkins Clement

Vladivostok’s advantageous location in close proximity to China, Korea, and Japan was recognized quite early.  It was founded as a military post in 1860 and celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding last year.  From the beginning it has played an important role in the history of Russia.
 

Vladivostok became the main Russian port on the Pacific Ocean in 1873 and received city status in 1880.  It soon became a center of international trade.

For much of the Soviet period, the city closed not only to foreigners but also to all Soviet citizens without special permits. An exception was made when President Gerald Ford met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1974 for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT).

After Gorbachev introduced perestroika and the Soviet Union fell, the city was officially “opened” again in January 1992. 

Today it is the capital of Primorye--the Maritime Territory of the Russian Far East, Russia’s largest port city on the Pacific Ocean, and a key commercial hub.

The city’s other claims to fame include being the birthplace of actor Yul Brynner, being home to the Russian Pacific Fleet, and being the terminus of the Trans-Siberian railway--the longest railway in the world.

This unique city in the Russian Far East is vastly different from Moscow or St. Petersburg (which are seven time zones away) and is sometimes compared to San Francisco for its views, steep hills, streetcars, and turn-of-the-century buildings.

The city has maintained its diversity and pioneering spirit, and Vladivostok reflects the history and culture of its own unique location commemorated in the numerous monuments throughout the city.

The city is proud of its Soviet/Russian heritage, but it also recognizes the opportunities that lie ahead for it in the Pacific Rim as it prepares to host the APEC Summit in 2012.

CHINA: 60% of 'ant tribe' blames society for situation

Since 2007, Lian Si, a young scholar and his team have been conducting an ongoing study of the so-called "ant tribe," a term sociologists use to refer to young Chinese graduates who live on low salaries in crowded conditions. 

According to the latest study by Lian and his team, nearly 60 percent of China's ant tribe members believe their living predicament is caused by society. However, only 10 percent of them think that is due to personal reasons.

Lian Si said he found that many "ant tribe" members expressed a strong feeling of resentment toward the group of people who benefit from the wealth or power of their families. Those people in China are usually called "second-generation rich" and "second-generation officials"...


View People's Daily Online Article 

RUSSIA: Call that a drink? Uproar over alcohol label for beer

MOSCOW: Russia's parliamentarians might find it easier to turn lead into gold than make beer into alcohol.

Creating gold requires only the magic of alchemy but the fate of a proposal to legally define beer as an alcoholic drink will depend on the more challenging art of politics.

Russian law treats beer as a food and anyone who makes and sells it only has to prove that conditions are sanitary.

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This lack of regulation and attendant attitude, critics say, has contributed to people as young as 13 drinking, paving the way to the nation's unbridled alcoholism...

View Article...

CHINA: The Coming Clash With China

January 17, 2011

Hu Jintao's visit to Washington may be intended to patch up relations, but it is more likely to prove a turning point as tensions rise.

By Aaron Freidberg

When he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama this week, China's paramount leader Hu Jintao will not be carrying a symbolic "reset button" of the sort that Secretary of State Clinton presented to her Russian counterpart back in 2009. But he will probably be looking for ways to soothe concerns over his country's recent behavior and its possible implications for the future course of U.S.-China relations.

The last two years have seen a marked upturn in tensions between the two Pacific powers, as well as between China and many of its Asian neighbors. As viewed from Washington, but also from Seoul, Tokyo, Hanoi, Canberra, and New Delhi, this trend is a direct result of increasingly assertive Chinese words and deeds across a wide range of fronts...

View The Wall Street Journal Article...

OSAKA, JAPAN: Mecca for foodies, and More

By KATE CROCKETT

A visit to Osaka is all about enjoyment, entertainment and indulgence — particularly in the fine fare to be found everywhere around its historic sites and along the buzzing neon streets of Japan's food-fueled second city...

View The Japan Times Article...

RUSSIAN FAR EAST: Russian film to hit US screens in spring

Jan 14, 2011 12:37 Moscow Time
Russia’s Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, ‘The Edge’ by Alexei Uchitel, is going to hit movie screens in the United States this spring. 


The film starring Vladimir Mashkov narrates the life of a former train driver who after the end of WWII settles in a distant Siberian village...

View The Voice of Russia Article...

VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA: Internet Game Allows Players to Shoot Medvedev at Kremlin

14 January 2011

Reuters

VLADIVOSTOK — Primorye prosecutors have requested an inquiry into a telecom web site that gives visitors a chance to shoot a cartoon likeness of President Dmitry Medvedev, a spokeswoman said Thursday...

View The Moscow Times Article...

JAPAN: Searching for the Perfect Bowl of Ramen

January 9, 2011 8:38 AM

Every culture has its own unique comfort food, as Lucy Craft found out in a "Postcard from Tokyo."

CHINA & JAPAN: The 41 Places to Go in 2011

12. Niseko, Japan
An Aspen emerges in Asia, with luxury to spare.

It was the snow that first brought the Australian ski bums here, the great powder blown in by Siberian cold fronts. Then chefs and designers discovered that this sleepy town on Japan’s northern Hokkaido island was actually a lovely spot in itself, with natural hot springs, family-owned inns and spectacular views of impossibly symmetrical Mount Yotei. Now with the development of stylish restaurants and a network of fashion-forward chalets (like the foodie must stopKamimura and the 10 zenlike lofts at Suiboku), the well-heeled are arriving on direct flights from all over Asia to Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport, creating the region’s answer to Aspen and Courchevel.

Expect that to intensify when a high-speed train line, now planned to begin service in 2015, cuts the trip up from Tokyo to under four hours. This month the fully revamped 200-room Green Leaf Niseko Village, stylishly renovated by the New York-based Alexandra Champalimaud, is reopening its doors, while a Banyan Tree and Tadao Ando-designed Capella complex are in the pipeline.
— ONDINE COHANE

33. Hangzhou, China
An hour from Shanghai, a historic jewel goes five-star.

Although Hangzhou is only now coming into the global spotlight, its gorgeous pagodas, historic temples and lush gardens have been inspiring Chinese poets and painters for centuries. Recently, the feverish growth of Shanghai has sparked the rediscovery of Hangzhou as a peaceful retreat and a cultural masterpiece. And with it, a new generation of luxury hotels has arrived: Shangri-la overlooking West Lake; the Banyan Tree set within China’s first wetland reserve; the Aman, close to some of the area’s most spectacular ancient Buddhist temples up in the hills; and most recently, the Four Seasons with a destination spa and two swimming pools set up along the lagoons. Next up is an Angsana, the Banyan Tree’s design-chic sister hotel. And with the debut of a high-speed train from Shanghai, it’s now — unbelievably — less than a one-hour journey from central Shanghai. Once there, rent a bike and step into sights like Lingyin Temple, one of the world’s most important Buddhist temples. 
— ONDINE COHANE

37. Pingyao, China
Ming architecture is intact as contemporary culture takes root.

While other towns in China have modernized, Pingyao, in China’s coal-rich Shanxi Province, has clung to its old ways, barring cars within its 33-foot-tall Ming dynasty walls and preserving the traditional architecture of incense shops, courtyard houses and 19th-century bank buildings. Named a Unesco World Heritage site in 1997, Pingyao has become a major destination for Chinese and foreigners alike.

But the city is becoming known for more than its history. Its yearly photography festival, which takes place in late summer, has attracted enthusiasts and professionals from across the globe for a decade. Another sign that Pingyao is being embraced by the fashionable set: in 2009, the city’s first boutique hotel, the 19-room Jing’s Residence, a Relais & Chateaux member, opened in a restored courtyard house built more 200 years ago by a Qing dynasty silk merchant.
— DAN LEVIN

39. Okinawa, Japan
A ‘Japanese Amazon’ with some luxury thrown in.

The latest news about Okinawa might focus on the future of the American military base there, but the cluster of coral-lined islands has long been a uniquely lovely place to experience wild Japan. Few foreigners make it here, though Okinawa is a popular vacation spot for Japanese mainlanders as it’s just a few hours from Tokyo by plane and has excellent diving, hiking and palm-fringed white-sand beaches.

Playing off an increased awareness of the islands as a destination for non-Japanese tourists, new hotels are popping up all over the prefecture: InterContinental opened the first two luxury resorts last year, and in March, the Tera Resort Hotel is scheduled to open near the Shuri Castle ruins, which are part of a Unesco World Heritage Site. On Okinawa Island visitors should head to the northern coast for a decidedly unspoiled, natural experience replete with sugarcane fields, hibiscus-lined beaches, and traditional ceramics studios that use old-fashioned Okinawan firing techniques and dragon-shaped kilns. Farther southwest, the island of Iriomote is the wildest of them all, with dense coastal jungle, mangroves, rich indigenous wildlife, and tiny villages accessible only by boat. They don’t call it the Japanese Amazon for nothing.
— BONNIE TSUI

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THE KOREAS: Korean, US forces lower alert status: report

North Korea has lowered its military alert status to a pre-crisis level, prompting similar moves by Seoul and US forces as tensions on the Korean peninsula showed signs of easing, a report said Friday...


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JAPAN: Popularity of bunnies soars ahead of year of the rabbit

Tokyo - A sunny weekend in the port city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture finds a small room packed with young visitors eager to get to the dozen metal cages lined up on a shelf.

‘‘Look, it’s getting all cozy and drowsy,’’ said a young woman to her husband as they sat on a bench, while a little boy timidly touched the furry little animal in his lap and smiled.

Usagi Cafe, or rabbit cafe, located not far from the city’s Chinatown district, has been a key attraction in the area since its opening in November.

Like the numerous ‘‘cat cafes’’ that have sprouted up across the country in recent years as more Japanese people turn to animals for comfort or relaxation, the cafe allows people to spend time with 11 rabbit ‘‘staffers’’ kept at the facility and to have drinks there.

Rabbits are already a popular pet here, with animal hospitals, pet hotels and clothes shops specializing in rabbits thriving.

But their popularity has increased in recent months as 2011 marks the year of the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac, and the emergence of the rabbit cafe is the latest sign of it...

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OSAKA, JAPAN: Ko Tae Mun, Ko Chung Hee, and the Osaka Family Origins of North Korean Successor Kim Jong Un

Kokita Kiyohito, Tessa Morris-Suzuki and Mark Selden

The following article by Kokita Kiyohito, on the family origins of Kim Jong Un, the leader designate of North Korea, is illuminating above all for the language, assumptions and treatment of issues related to North Korea in contemporary Japanese media, including the Asahi. Two brief commentaries locate some of the issues in broader perspective. The headline and article are taken from the Asahi’s weekly Aera; photos have been provided from other sources. The major story addressed in the commentary by Tessa Morris-Suzuki is the collaboration of the Japanese government and the International Red Cross in arranging the migration of more than 93,000 Korean residents of Japan, who had been deprived of Japanese citizenship following Japan’s wartime defeat, to North Korea. Mark Selden examines a range of issues related to the perspective of the Japanese journalist on Zainichi Koreans and North Korea.

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CHINA: Marriage database created to catch cheaters

7:45 PM Wednesday Jan 5, 2011

China's exploding wealth has created a culture of secret mistresses and second wives. Now officials are putting marriage records online so lovers and spouses can check for cheaters.

State media on Wednesday said Beijing and Shanghai are among the first places to put marriage databases online this year...

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CHINA: Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail opens in June

01-05-2011 16:49 BJT

Editor:Yang Jie |Source: Xinhua

The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway will be put into operation by the middle of June this year, Chinese Railways Minister Liu Zhijun said at a conference Tuesday.

The high-speed link connecting the country's two most important cities will open ahead of its original schedule, previously set in 2012.

The construction of the 1,318-km railway was started in April 2008 with total investment estimated at 220.9 billion yuan (around 32.5 billion U.S. dollars).

The railway is expected to cut travel time between Beijing, China's capital in the north, and Shanghai, the country's economic center in the east, to less than five hours, compared with the current 10-hour rail journey…

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RUSSIA: For Tolstoy and Russia, Still No Happy Ending

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) remains excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church

January 3, 2011

By ELLEN BARRY and SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY

MOSCOW — A couple of months ago one of Russia’s elder statesmen set out on a paradoxical mission: to rehabilitate one of the most beloved figures in Russian history, Tolstoy.

This would have seemed unnecessary in 2010, a century after the author’s death. But last year Russians wrestled over Tolstoy much as they did when he was alive. Intellectuals accused the Russian Orthodox Church of blacklisting a national hero. The church accused Tolstoy of helping speed the rise of the Bolsheviks. The melodrama of his last days, when he fled his family estate to take up the life of an ascetic, was revived in all its pulpy detail, like some kind of early-stage reality television.

And in a country that rarely passes up a public celebration, the anniversary of his death, on Nov. 20, 1910, was not commemorated by noisy galas or government-financed cinematic blockbusters. Officially speaking, it was barely noted at all…

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CHINA & JAPAN: Small Islands – Big Problem: Senkaku/Diaoyu and the Weight of History and Geography in China-Japan Relations

By Gavan McCormack

“Senkaku Islands Colonization Day”

In December 2010, the Okinawan city of Ishigaki (within which Japanese administrative law incorporates these islands) adopted a resolution to declare 14 January to be “Senkaku Islands Colonization Day.” The “Colonization Day” is intended to commemorate the incorporation of the islands by cabinet decision 116 years earlier. China immediately protested.

Ishigaki was following the model of the Shimane Prefectural Assembly, which in 2005 declared a “Takeshima Day” in commemoration of the Japanese state’s incorporation 100 years earlier of the islands known in Japan as Takeshima but in South Korea (which occupies and administers them) as Tokdo. That Shimane decision prompted fierce protests in South Korea. The Ishigaki decision seems likely to do no less in China. Why should these barren rocks, inhabited only by endangered short-tailed albatross, be of such importance to otherwise great powers? Whose islands are they? How should the contest over them be resolved?

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CHINA: What's Next in 2011?

In the past, Chinese officials insisted their foreign policy strategy was to "lie low". But as America's influence dims, China's demanding attention. Celia Hatton asks, what's next for Asia in 2011?

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