News » Politics » World cannot afford clash between China and Japan: US official

News » Politics » World cannot afford clash between China and Japan: US official


World cannot afford clash between China and Japan: US official

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 05:10 AM PDT

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said on Sept. 20 that the world cannot afford a potential clash between China and Japan over disputed islands in the Ea...

Canada approves CNOOC's acquisition of Nixen

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 05:10 AM PDT

A Canadian court on Thursday approved China National Offshore Oil Corp's plan to buy Nixen, a Canadian oil and gas producer, for US$27.50 per share but is still waiting for US approval since parts of ...

Should China be involved in the UK's nuclear energy infrastructure? | Paul Dorfman

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:30 AM PDT

A more responsible way forward to this ethically questionable strategy can be found with Germany's energy policy

Government officials have been in Beijing this week with their Chinese counterparts for an "unprecedented" collaboration on energy. On the table was new nuclear power, and its role in moving the UK to a low-carbon economy.

So far, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has been relentlessly optimistic about new nuclear, and hopes that its electricity market reform plans for a draft energy bill will do the trick, despite strong and sustained criticism from a parliamentary select committee on energy, and more recently a House of Lords working group who conclude that the reforms are "unworkable". But Decc is still loyal to the nuclear project and hopes the financial support implied in these market reforms will attract foreign investment.

France's state nuclear corporation EDF and their UK junior partner, Centrica, have been centre stage in this nuclear fiscal drama. Centrica appears increasingly lukewarm, and City insiders doubt whether it will maintain a 20% stake in the nuclear consortium. Centrica's potential departure could have something to do with the economics of nuclear power, with construction costs more than doubling from €3bn to over €6bn – and rising for each of the French-designed European pressurised reactors being built in Finland at Olkiluoto, and Flamanville in France.

Separately, since Germany's RWE and E.ON in March pulled out of the UK's second nuclear consortium, Horizon Nuclear Power, two Chinese nuclear state corporations, China Guangdong Nuclear Power and State Nuclear Power Technology, are considering taking on the consortium. Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, has also expressed an interest in the UK nuclear market.

At this point, it's worth looking at the underlying business ethics of the Russian and Chinese nuclear industries, and questioning the wisdom of their strategic involvement in key UK energy infrastructure.

Russia's Rosatom has recently built the hugely controversial nuclear power plant in Iran at Bushehr, and is ready to help Iran build another power generating unit there, despite reports that Iran has installed an underground uranium enrichment facility, potentially paving the way for nuclear weapons development.

In Tibet, the Chinese nuclear industry is engaged in a determined effort to secure uranium deposits located in Amdo, where leaching and open pit extraction are reported to have resulted in significant environmental contamination. Regulation of safety oversight mechanisms is relatively weak in the Chinese nuclear industry, and according to a recent Nuclear Materials Security Index report, China ranks 29th among the group of 32 nuclear nations in terms of nuclear security and materials transparency. Although it's to be hoped that greater corporate social responsibility and sensitivity to vulnerable industrial communities is evolving in both Russia and China, it's still troubling to reflect on their respective human rights situations, documented by Amnesty International.

A more responsible way forward to this ethically questionable strategy can be found closer to home.

Germany uses 20% of all European electricity, and its decision to go nuclear-free by 2020, meeting power and CO2 targets by investing in renewables and energy efficiency, grid network infrastructure, and planning for trans-boundary pumped storage hydroelectricity, with combined heat and power gas and some coal as interim measures, will prove significant for all European energy policy.

Germany also views its non-nuclear energy policy as a driver of economic expansion. As Chancellor Angela Merkel says: "We can achieve a transformation to efficient and renewable energy, with all the opportunities that brings for exports, developing new technologies and jobs."


guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds




Japanese people still friendly to Chinese visitors: report

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:50 AM PDT

The website of Chinese state broadcaster China Radio International reported on Sept. 21 that people in Japan are friendly toward Chinese visitors and residents in the country despite the current wave ...

Philippines to include Scarborough Shoal on official maps

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:38 AM PDT

The Philippines, which earlier this month renamed the area within the country's exclusive economic zone as the "West Philippine Sea," is planning on including the disputed Scarborough Shoal in officia...

Hong Kong greets iPhone 5

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:22 AM PDT

There was tight security at an Apple store in Hong Kong early on Friday morning, with crowds of people eager to buy the newly released iPhone 5, reports the state-run news agency CNS. Only customers...

Dongfeng gains new joint ventures with purchase of Fujian Motor

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:14 AM PDT

Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor has announced its acquisition of Fujian Motor Industry Group. The robust state-run Dongfeng, whose joint ventures with Japanese carmakers have performed well, also p...

Chinese, Indian solar panel makers negotiate first: MOC

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:14 AM PDT

China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang on Wednesday called for solar panel makers from China and India to continue with talks and to cooperate to solve trade frictions. Shen's remarks ca...

'Good Samaritan' in Jiangsu held responsible for accident

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:14 AM PDT

A driver in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu says she came to the assistance of a 72-year-old woman who fell from a bicycle but was later made to pay 60% of the cyclist's medical expenses, rep...

India deploys armored divisions to Chinese border

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:14 AM PDT

Two armoured brigades of the Indian Army equipped with T-90 tanks and BMP-II infantry combat vehicles will be deployed to Ladakh and northeast India near the Chinese border against any potential attac...

Yunnan monkey reserve faces tourism dilemma

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:10 AM PDT

A nature reserve for endangered black snub-nosed monkeys in southwestern China is facing a dilemma from surging numbers of visitors, a trend which is bringing awareness to their plight, but also strai...

Shipbuilding supply, demand to balance by 2020: shipbuilders

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:02 AM PDT

Current overcapacity in the shipbuilding industry is likely to end by 2020 with a rebalance between supply and demand, attendees of the World Congress of Ocean in northeast China's coastal city of Dal...

China woos neighbours in sea spat with Japan

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:49 PM PDT

But Xi, who is at present the vice president, also sent a signal that China is unlikely to give up its claims on the issue of territory.


Number of millionaires in Asia-Pacific exceeds N America: report

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:18 AM PDT

With the number of wealthy individuals in the Asia-Pacific region exceeding North America for the first time in 2011, the Asia-Pacific offshore wealth market led by Hong Kong and Singapore has become ...

Japanese car sales slip as relations with China deteriorate

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:06 AM PDT

Deteriorating China-Japan ties have adversely affected the sales outlook for Japanese cars in China. "While a minor slip in sales in August could be attributed to seasonal factors, the cancellatio...

Chinese pundits suggest protest sell-off of Japanese bonds

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:06 AM PDT

Chinese officials have repeated their hope of peacefully resolving the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea nationalized by Japan last week. But they also stressed that Beijing reserves the ...

Airlines hit hard by ongoing China-Japan dispute

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:06 AM PDT

Chinese and Japanese airlines have been hit hard with flights between the two countries being canceled as a result of Japan's purported nationalization of the disputed Diaoyu islands earlier this mont...

China becoming political card in US elections

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:06 AM PDT

China is quickly becoming a political card in this year's presidential elections as US president Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney step up their campaign efforts. Forme...

Japanese auto JVs prolong production halt in China

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:02 AM PDT

Japanese automobile joint ventures in China including Dongfeng Honda and Dongfeng Nissan kept their production facilities on hold on Wednesday, as many other Japanese businesses resumed operations. ...

Taiwanese carriers to offer new nano-SIMs on iPhone 5 launch

Posted: 22 Sep 2012 03:02 AM PDT

Taiwan's three major telecom companies said Thursday that they will offer a SIM-card changing service when the highly anticipated Apple iPhone 5 debuts in nine countries or regions on Sept. 21. Alt...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Blogs » Politics » In Defense of China’s Golden Week

Blogs » Politics » Xu Zhiyong: An Account of My Recent Disappearance

Blogs » Politics » Chen Guangcheng’s Former Prison Evaporates