News » Society » 'Severe' mood at Japan-China meet
News » Society » 'Severe' mood at Japan-China meet |
- 'Severe' mood at Japan-China meet
- Sleepy Taiwan island plans casino
- VIDEO: China's first carrier in service
- VIDEO: Inside China’s Communist school
- Work resumes as iPhone 5 pressure blamed for brawl
- Philippines agrees to repay Chinese loan
- Bikinis hit the wrong note with opera fans
- China's aircraft carrier entering active service
- Water cannon fired at Diaoyu ships
- Another holiday, another railway headache
- Overloading blamed for deaths of 20 coal miners
- Suspect sought in college killings caught by police
- 11 still trapped
- China factory unrest a fresh headache for Foxconn
- Have You Heard…
- China carrier a show of force as Japan tension festers
- Taiwanese Boats Near Disputed Islands
- Japan and China Fail to Ease Tensions Over Island Dispute
- Cops kill flaming owner in demolition standoff
- Police shot and killed a homeowner who set himself on fire while trying to protect his property from a demolition crew.
| 'Severe' mood at Japan-China meet Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:14 PM PDT The Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers discuss a bitter row over disputed islands in an atmosphere described as "severe". |
| Sleepy Taiwan island plans casino Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:03 PM PDT Sleepy island plans casino for mainland visitors |
| VIDEO: China's first carrier in service Posted: 25 Sep 2012 12:45 PM PDT China's first aircraft carrier has entered into service, following a ceremony attended by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in Dalian, Liaoning Province. |
| VIDEO: Inside China’s Communist school Posted: 25 Sep 2012 01:25 PM PDT A school of the Chinese Communist Party looks to rekindle the revolutionary spirit among party members. |
| Work resumes as iPhone 5 pressure blamed for brawl Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:07 AM PDT A FACTORY in north China owned by the company making Apple's new iPhone 5 resumed production yesterday after a brawl by workers highlighted tensions that labor groups say were worsened by the pressure of the new iPhone launch. Foxconn Technology Group and police said the cause of the unrest on Sunday night was under investigation, but labor activists said the rollout of the iPhone 5 had led to longer working hours and more pressure on workers. Foxconn and police said as many as 2,000 employees were involved in the brawl and 40 people were injured. The new phone debuted last week in the United States and eight other markets and Apple has a three to four-week backlog of online orders. Foxconn declined to say whether its one-day suspension of production in Taiyuan City on Monday might affect supplies. It did not respond to a request for comment on the labor groups' claims. News reports and witnesses said the violence in Taiyuan stemmed from a confrontation between a factory worker and a guard that escalated. One employee said the violence was fueled by workers' anger at mistreatment by Foxconn security guards and managers. "Foxconn, some supervisors, and security guards never respect us," said the employee, who asked not to be identified. "We all have this anger toward them and they (the workers) wanted to destroy things to release this anger." Foxconn did not respond to a request for information on the status of its investigation or whether policies at the factory might change. The company, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is the world's biggest assembler of consumer electronics, with about 1.2 million workers in factories in Taiyuan, the southern city of Shenzhen, Chengdu in the southwest and Zhengzhou in central China. It makes iPhones and iPads for Apple and also assembles products for Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. Labor activists say the need to ramp up iPhone 5 production had increased pressure on Foxconn employees. "Because of the launch of the iPhone 5, the workload of workers suddenly surges," said a Hong Kong group, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, in a report this month. It said some employees interviewed at the Zhengzhou factory had not had a day off in the previous 30 days. Foxconn has declined to say which products are made in each factory but another group, China Labor Watch, said the Taiyuan facility, which employs 79,000 people, is assembling the new iPhone 5. The group, based in New York City, complained that employees suffer "verbal and physical abuse" by guards. "These workers must be treated with respect," it said in a statement. "And both Apple and Foxconn, with billions of dollars in profits every year, have both a legal and ethical obligation to uphold the rights of these workers." Foxconn raised minimum pay and promised in March to limit hours after an auditor hired by Apple found Foxconn employees were regularly required to work more than 60 hours a week. That review followed a number of suicides at Foxconn facilities - about a dozen since 2010 - and an explosion at an iPad-making plant in Chengdu in May 2011 that killed four employees. Foxconn's facilities are exceptionally large by the standards of a Chinese electronics industry in which most manufacturers employ hundreds or thousands of workers. Its flagship mainland factory in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, has 250,000 workers. The Chengdu site has 100,000 and the company has said the Zhengzhou factory might eventually employ 300,000. Foxconn has also faced criticism in the past over the conduct of its security guards. In 2010, Foxconn's parent company pledged that its guards would obey the law and refrain from using threats or harassment after a videotape showing several of them beating workers was circulated on the Internet. "Workers are expected to obey their manager at all times, not to question but simply do what they are told," said Geoffrey Crothall, communications director for China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong organization that promotes employee rights in China. "That atmosphere is not conducive to a happy or contented workforce. It's a very dehumanizing way of treating workers." |
| Philippines agrees to repay Chinese loan Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:06 AM PDT THE Philippine government will comply with a Chinese demand for repayment of a US$500 million loan for a stalled railway, an official said yesterday. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said he told Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying during a meeting in China over the weekend that the Philippines planned to repay the loan in two years. The Philippines has the funds and is negotiating the terms, he said. The high-speed railway was to have linked Manila with a northern province and eventually with the former US Clark Air Base, which President Benigno Aquino III's administration plans to convert into the country's main airport. The US abandoned Clark after it was damaged by the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. The long-delayed railway was one of a number of infrastructure projects Aquino ordered reviewed when he took power in 2010 to ensure they were not tainted by corruption. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that a lower court could hear allegations that the railway project was illegal because it was awarded without competitive bidding. It is not clear what happened to the funds or how much has been used for the railway. Roxas said Aquino's administration wants to continue the project if the contract can be renegotiated to conform with Philippine laws. But he said Chinese officials demanded earlier this year that the loan be repaid because the project had stalled. China's demand coincided with a sea standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels over the Huangyan Island in the South China Sea, but Roxas said he believed Beijing's decision was not linked. Roxas said he met separately with Vice President Xi Jinping to assure him that Manila wants to bolster ties with China despite the disputes over the island. "What's important is that we stop the deterioration, that we establish the other linkages such as in trade and investment," Roxas said. "We fix what we can fix. We remove as many of the irritants as we can so that there's no further deterioration." |
| Bikinis hit the wrong note with opera fans Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:06 AM PDT BEAUTY pageant contestants wearing bikinis designed with Peking Opera elements have upset many Internet users, who say the combination is spoiling the "quintessence" of Chinese culture. Pictures of bikini-clad girls wearing Peking Opera headwear and performing on stage began circulating widely on the Internet this week following an announcement in Beijing of preparations for the finals of the 37th Miss Bikini International contest. An overwhelming majority of online comments criticized the idea as a clumsy attempt to incorporate Chinese traditional elements into pop culture without paying due respect to the essence of Peking Opera, a 200-year-old form of theater that combines music, vocal performance, dance and acrobatics. One Internet user commented on Weibo: "It may be a clever idea of commercial promotion, but to Peking Opera, the 'quintessence' of Chinese culture, it's an insult." Another commented: "The beauty of Peking Opera should definitely not be presented with naked skin. Peking Opera-themed bikinis are vulgar." Li Yulong, chairman of the contest's organizing committee, said the pictures were taken in April at a celebration performed by previous winners. The intention was to make the costumes more innovative and at the same time present traditional Chinese culture to foreign audiences. His explanation was echoed by a smaller camp of Internet users who argued the act was just like fashion designers incorporating Chinese cultural elements into catwalk shows and that it was an effective way to attract attention to the art form. "Bodies are also a form of art. Only people with dirty minds see obscenity," one wrote. Arising in Beijing in the late 18th century, Peking Opera fully developed in the 19th century and flourished in the 20th. However, after its heyday during the late 1970s and early 1980s, it gradually declined. Chen Changwen, a researcher for the Chinese Theater Society, said innovation is a must for Peking Opera, but too bold an idea like the bikini one can do little to help the opera modernize or go global. "At a time of rapid economic development and increasing cultural exchange, countries should pay even more attention to preserving their cultural traditions, particularly for an ancient civilization like China," Chen said. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| China's aircraft carrier entering active service Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:03 AM PDT China's first aircraft carrier officially entered service yesterday, making China the 10th country in the world to have such a vessel in active service. The Ministry of National Defense said the carrier, Liaoning, would "raise the overall operational strength of the Chinese navy." In a statement after a ceremony overseen by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in the ship's home port in Dalian, the ministry said: "It has important significance in effectively safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development benefits, and advancing world peace and common development." Zhang Zheng, a 43-year-old senior colonel in the navy and a former student of military academies in the UK, has been named the Liaoning's commanding officer. Zhang, who was born in east China's Zhejiang Province, is a former frigate and destroyer commander. The Liaoning was refitted from the former Soviet navy's unfinished Varyag after the Admiral Kuznetsov class carrier was bought from Ukraine in 1998 as an empty shell. Renamed Liaoning after the northeastern province where it underwent a 10-year refurbishment program, it began sea trials in August 2011. All weapons and radar systems and other equipment on board were made in China. So far, 10 trial runs of the aircraft carrier have tested its propulsion, communications and navigation systems. Chinese military analysts also believe that launching and recovering fixed-wing aircraft at sea, a complicated procedure, had also taken place during the trials. The Central Military Commission said the Liaoning would continue to be used for scientific research purposes, as well as military training, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. It would be used to master the technology for more advanced carriers and to train personnel on how to operate such a craft in a battle group and with vessels from other nation's navies, said retired Rear Admiral Yang Yi. "When China has a more balanced and powerful navy, the regional situation will be more stable as various forces that threaten regional peace will no longer dare to act rashly," Yang said. Military officials and experts have said the aircraft carrier could soon be accompanied by destroyers and frigates to form an aircraft carrier fleet with combat abilities. China's J-15 fighters that analysts say are match for US F-18 Hornets would probably be used on the carrier as many photographs have been published showing the plane on the carrier's deck. The carrier is also equipped with a defense system capable of launching attacks on missiles, aircraft and approaching vessels, said Song Zhongping, a military commentator. He estimated the ship will carry around 30 Chinese J-15 fighters and helicopters and have a crew of about 2,000. Some 98 percent of the crew have bachelor degrees or above, Mei Wen, the newly appointed commissar of the carrier, told China News Service yesterday. "The advanced military weaponry needs high-quality talent," Mei said. Many of the crew are female, doing the same work as the men. Xu Xiaoyan, a People's Liberation Army lieutenant general, has said China will need at least three aircraft carriers. Major General Luo Yuan, a researcher with the PLA's Military Science Academy, said: "It is fully possible for China to build more aircraft carriers based on the country's economic power." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Water cannon fired at Diaoyu ships Posted: 25 Sep 2012 10:01 AM PDT Japanese and Taiwan ships shot water cannon at each other yesterday in the latest confrontation over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. About 40 fishing boats from Taiwan and 12 patrol boats entered waters near the islands in the morning, briefly triggering an exchange of water cannon fire with Japanese coast guard ships. Coast guard officials said the Taiwan vessels had ignored warnings to leave the area. After shooting water back at the Japanese ships, the Taiwan ships pulled back. It was Taiwan's first foray into waters around the islands since the Japanese government "purchased" some of them two weeks ago. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai met at China's Foreign Ministry yesterday to discuss the Diaoyu situation. After the four-hour meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said both sides exchanged views "frankly and deeply" and agreed to continue discussions. Zhang said: "Japan must banish illusions, undertake searching reflection and use concrete actions to amend its errors, returning to the consensus and understandings reached between our two countries' leaders." He called the Japanese government's purchase of the islands "a grave trampling on historical facts and international jurisprudence." "Given the current situation, there were severe parts," Kawai told the Kyodo News agency. "But I can say we both stated our thinking in a frank way." While the talks were under way, the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a white paper on the history of the island group, asserting the country's indisputable sovereignty over it and its affiliated islets. Diaoyu and its affiliated islands are an inseparable part of Chinese territory, it is China's inherent territory in all historical, geographical and legal terms, and China enjoys indisputable sovereignty over them, the white paper says. Japanese coast guard officials said their ships fired water cannon after the Taiwan fishing boats and government patrol boats entered the waters close to the Diaoyu Islands and ignored warnings to leave. Japanese patrol boats only fired at fishing vessels, said Hideaki Takase, a coast guard official. "Shooting water cannon at an official vessel is like waging a war against its country," he said. Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou supports the "protecting Diaoyutai campaign" launched by local fishermen, and offered praise to Taiwan's coast guard for its role in escorting the Taiwan vessels to the island area, his spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi said yesterday. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tokyo requested, through diplomatic channels, that Taiwan stop entering the area near the Diaoyu Islands. "We will continue to keep our guard up to protect the area," he said. "Japan sticks to our principle that we should resolve the issue while maintaining friendly relations between Japan and Taiwan." Ships from the Chinese mainland have briefly entered the waters around the islands in recent weeks without being fired on. About 10 vessels are still just off the islands. The fleet size has decreased over the past few days, Japanese officials said. "Both sides hope to see the escalation in tensions ease up because confrontation does no good to either, but so far we haven't seen any room for compromise," Liang Yunxiang, a Japan expert at Peking University, said. |
| Another holiday, another railway headache Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:03 AM PDT EVEN with an expanded rail network and upgraded computer systems, Chinese travelers still find it difficult to buy tickets for travel during national holidays. The upcoming extended "Golden Week" holiday, which starts on Sunday and runs until October 7, encompassing the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, is the latest test for railway authorities. The Ministry of Railways has upgraded its ticket booking website, 12306.cn, which opened late last year. However, it has been sharply criticized after crashing periodically amid fielding hundreds of millions of page views ahead of the holiday season. One particular subject of complaint is the "queuing" - often, even after users submit orders, a reminder pops up saying they have to wait for half an hour to find out whether the orders are finalized, and there is no guarantee of success. One Weibo comment likened booking a ticket on the website to climbing Mt Everest. Passengers find it hard to understand why the website, with a reported investment of 330 million yuan (US$49 million), fails to function as efficiently as those of major online retailers handling a similar number of visits. Questions have been raised over whether corruption has hamstrung the website project, an indication of the public's lack of confidence in the transparency of railway departments. One rule peculiar to the Chinese railway system and widely believed to be the reason for the difficulty in obtaining tickets is that passengers are only allowed to start purchasing tickets 10 days ahead of the departure date, which always triggers a rush to booking sites on the first day that they become available. Unlike sales of air tickets in China, train tickets may only be bought at agents designated by the ministry and its official booking website. Loosening the monopoly and allowing professional online ticket agents to compete for the business is believed to be the key to solving the problem. The ministry has given various reasons why it has not been able to "open up" ticket distribution to competitors, citing management difficulties and technical barriers, but critics say it needs to work hard on its own distribution channel, probably by learning from counterparts in developed countries. Critics say that repeated complaints whenever major holidays arrive can only undermine the public's opinion of the capabilities and credibility of the railway authorities. |
| Overloading blamed for deaths of 20 coal miners Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:02 AM PDT OVERLOADING was to blame for a coal mine accident that killed 20 miners early yesterday in northwest China's Gansu Province, work safety officials said. Two carriages with 34 people on board slipped 150 meters and overturned at 0:25am when a steel cable pulling them up a 28-degree 704-meter slope broke 80 meters from the entrance to the pit in the city of Baiyin. Company sources said the cable that snapped was replaced on July 29, but an initial investigation suggested the carriages were overloaded, Xinhua news agency reported. All the bodies and the survivors had been brought to the surface as of midday. Most of the 14 survivors are in hospital being treated for their injuries. Three of them are in serious condition. Officials said the coal mine, run by Qusheng Coal Mining Co, was operating illegally, as it was one of 55 that safety authorities had ordered to halt production. The order was part of an industry reorganization that was incorporating 55 small mines into 10 larger ones, Xinhua said. The Qusheng pit began operation in 2003 and had a designed annual output of 90,000 tons. In the wake of the accident, the Gansu government has demanded a temporary shutdown of all mines with annual output below 300,000 tons for a safety overhaul. The Baiyin City government has set aside 6.1 million yuan (US$966,850) as compensation for the accident victims. |
| Suspect sought in college killings caught by police Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT A MAN suspected of killing three female students in a dormitory in central China's Henan Province was in police custody yesterday, the local Dahe Daily reported. Officers apprehended the suspect, surnamed Zhang and born in 1991, on a long-distance bus about 2pm, according to police. They said he broke into the girls' dormitory in Henan Polytechnic College in Zhengzhou about 5am yesterday, killing three of the students with a knife in the room and injuring another. The survivor suffered severe injuries to her back and arms and is undergoing treatment in hospital. Police said the suspect was not a student at the college but had got to know one of the girls online and planned the attack following a dispute. |
| Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT RESCUE efforts for 11 miners trapped for three days are being hampered by roof collapses and a dense concentration of inflammable gas in a coal mine in northeast China. Yesterday, rescuers were still unable to reach the trapped men in the mine in Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province. They are working in shifts to clear a 20-meter tunnel blocked by fallen rubble, but another section the same length lies ahead. Fire broke out in the shaft on Saturday, trapping 11 of 13 miners working underground. The other two escaped. |
| China factory unrest a fresh headache for Foxconn Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:53 AM PDT  Source: Reuters By Michael Martina (Reuters) – A brawl at a Foxconn factory that disrupted production at Apple's main China supplier for 24 hours highlights regimented dormitory life and thuggish security as major sources of labor tension in China. It marked a blow to Apple's top supplier as it ramps up production to meet orders for the iPhone 5 and seeks to rehabilitate its image after a labor audit this year found flaws. Foxconn does not say which of its plants supply Apple but an employee told Reuters that the Taiyuan plant was among those that assembled and made parts for the iPhone 5. Some workers said they were making the iPhone 4s and some reported an increase in production targets of about 20 percent since June. Details of the melee remain sketchy as police and company officials investigate, but employees interviewed by Reuters said tension between workers and security guards boiled over on Sunday evening after a worker was severely beaten. That led to thousands joining the fracas and about 40 people were injured, according to Foxconn and Chinese media, while thousands of police were deployed to quell the unrest. A 19-year-old worker in hospital with back and hand injuries said he was angered by the rough security guards and a culture of managers cursing workers. "It doesn't matter who you are, you shouldn't curse people like that," said the worker surnamed Liu. "They do it all the time. If it happens over a long time, it builds up and of course it makes people angry and they go crazy like that." The movement of workers from other Foxconn plants to Taiyuan may have contributed to friction between groups of laborers facing heavier workloads and crowded dormitories as production intensified to meet Apple targets, rights groups and workers said. It was quiet on Tuesday outside the factory, with police keeping watch. Gates had been torn off hinges and windows smashed, and a voice on a loop recording broadcast over a loud speaker appealed for people to maintain order. "There were thousands of bystanders and they just couldn't control it," said a 29-year-old worker who would only give his surname Xiang. "It was just smash and destroy." Foxconn Technology Group of Taiwan, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is the world's largest contract maker of electronics for global brands such as Hewlett Packard, Nokia and Dell as well as Apple. Foxconn said on Tuesday the one-day closure would not disrupt supplies from the factory where 79,000 people work. "PRODUCT SHORTAGES, PRESSURE" The company said the unrest was triggered by a personal dispute that spun out of control, rather than conditions in the factory. Louis Woo, a Foxconn spokesman, said the security personnel involved were under contract with a third party at a privately managed factory dormitory, adding that their attitude was "not too good". In the past, security personnel working for Foxconn have been known for bullying and as tough enforcers of efforts to stop theft, including the pilfering of Apple prototypes, with workers being subjected to stringent body searches. In 2010, guards working for the company roughed up a Reuters journalist outside a factory in Shenzhen. Several Taiyuan workers said some tension had arisen because of the deployment of workers from other Foxconn plants to bolster manpower in Taiyuan, with friction between workers from different provinces including Henan and Shandong. "This happens in many companies, especially big ones," Woo said of the movement of workers around the country. "We have 1.1 million workers in total in China, the advantage is we can mobilize our workers when one business line suddenly needs more people. Relocation happens very often." Some labor groups say ultimate responsibility for strains rests with Apple, which they say puts profit above workers' welfare despite pledges to cut overtime hours and improve workers' livelihoods. "The whole Apple production chain has problems," said Li Qiang, with the New York-based China Labor Watch, that has scrutinized Apple and Foxconn for years. "Its sales and marketing strategy involves launching a product suddenly, without maintaining much inventory … so the subsequent product shortages help build demand, but also place extreme pressures on workers." Foxconn has begun a series of reforms after facing accusations of poor conditions and mistreatment of workers. Li Qiang, the labor activist, said workers at Foxconn's giant plant in Zhengzhou, in Henan province, were largely working on the iPhone 5, and were also facing great pressure, with 70 hours a week common, despite pledges by Apple and Foxconn to cap work at 60 hours. |
| Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:50 AM PDT Have You Heard…   |
| China carrier a show of force as Japan tension festers Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:56 AM PDT  Source: Reuters By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Terril Yue Jones (Reuters) – China sent its first aircraft carrier into formal service on Tuesday amid a tense maritime dispute with Japan in a show of force that could worry its neighbors. In fact, the aircraft carrier, refitted from a ship bought from Ukraine, will have a limited role, mostly for training and testing ahead of the possible launch of China's first domestically built carriers after 2015, analysts say. China cast the formal handing over of the carrier to its navy — attended by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao — as a triumphant show of national strength at a time of tensions with Japan over islands claimed by both sides. "The smooth commissioning of the first aircraft carrier has important and profound meaning for modernizing our navy and for enhancing national defensive power and the country's overall strength," Xinhua news agency cited Wen as saying at the commissioning ceremony in the northern port of Dalian. Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated sharply this month after Japan bought the East China Sea islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from their private owner, sparking anti-Japan protests across China. "China will never tolerate any bilateral actions by Japan that harm Chinese territorial sovereignty," Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told his Japanese counterpart on Tuesday as the two met in a bid to ease tensions. "Japan must banish illusions, undertake searching reflection and use concrete actions to amend its errors, returning to the consensus and understandings reached between our two countries' leaders." In a sign of the tensions, China has postponed a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic ties with Japan. But an official at the Japan-China Economic Association said Toyota Motor Corp Chairman Fujio Cho and Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Japanese business lobby Keidanren, and other representatives of Japan-China friendship groups would attend an event on Thursday in Beijing. The risks of military confrontation are scant, but political tensions between Asia's two biggest economies could fester and worries persist about an unintended incident at sea. "If blood is shed, people would become irrational," Koichi Kato, an opposition lawmaker who heads the Japan-China Friendship Association and will travel to Beijing, told Reuters. "NOT CUTTING EDGE" For the Chinese navy, the addition of carriers has been a priority as it builds a force capable of deploying far from the Chinese mainland. China this month warned the United States, with President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia, not to get involved in separate territorial disputes in the South China Sea between China and U.S. allies such as the Philippines. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in turn urged China and its Southeast Asian neighbors to resolve disputes "without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and certainly without the use of force". Narushige Michishita, a security expert at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, said he thought the timing of the launch was unrelated to the islands dispute. Rather, experts said it might be associated with China's efforts to build up patriotic unity ahead of a Communist Party congress that will install a new generation of top leaders as early as next month. "China is taking another step to boost its strategic naval capability," Michishita said. "If they come to have an operational aircraft carrier, for the time being we are not super-concerned about the direct implications for the military balance between the U.S. and Japan on the one hand, and China on the other. This is still not cutting edge." The East China Sea tensions with Japan were complicated on Tuesday by the entry of Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing calls an illegitimate breakaway, which also lays claim to the islands. Japanese Coast Guard vessels fired water cannon to turn away about 40 Taiwan fishing boats and 12 Taiwan Coast Guard vessels. Six Chinese patrol ships were also near the islands but four left, leaving two nearby but not in waters Japan considers its own. Japan protested to Taiwan, a day after lodging a complaint with China over what it called a similar intrusion by Chinese vessels. Taiwan has friendly ties with Japan, but the two sides have long squabbled over fishing rights in the area. China and Taiwan both argue they have inherited China's historic sovereignty over the islands. The flare-up in tension comes at a time when both China and Japan confront domestic political pressures. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government faces an election in months, adding pressure on him not to look weak on China. China's Communist Party is preoccupied with the leadership turnover, with President Hu Jintao due to step down. |
| Taiwanese Boats Near Disputed Islands Posted: 25 Sep 2012 08:59 AM PDT  Source: Wall Street Journal By Eleanor Warnock TOKYO—A flotilla of nearly 50 Taiwanese boats entered territorial waters near disputed islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea on Tuesday as another Asian neighbor protested the Japanese government's purchase of the islands. The vessels were met by the Japan Coast Guard and a minor altercation, broadcast on Japan's NHK, ensued. One of the Japanese vessels was seen racing up alongside a Taiwanese fishing boat and trying to cut off its course. The footage also showed the Japanese boats spraying the fishing vessels with water, while the Taiwanese patrol ships sprayed water back. The development comes as a reminder that Taipei also claims the Senkaku, after the recent focus on anti-Japanese demonstrations in more than 100 cities in China, in the wake of Japan's decision to buy the islands. China also claims the islands, which are situated in supposedly resource-rich waters. A Taiwanese fishing association said the fishing boats went to the islands to assert their right to fish in "traditional fishing grounds" and that they had planned to circle the islands at a distance of 12 nautical miles. The Taiwanese Coast Guard Administration said the ships were ultimately unable to circle the island as planned and turned around, describing the altercation as "mild." The Japan Coast Guard also released a photo taken of one of the Taiwanese fishing boats bearing a sign saying "Diaoyutai are Taiwan's," referring to the islands' name in Taiwan. Japan's top government spokesman said Tokyo has lodged a protest with Taipei authorities. "Obviously, we told them not to enter our territorial waters," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said at a regular news conference. On Monday, Taiwan's Presidential Office reiterated its stance on Taipei's claim to the islands, but said it would not team up with China in the dispute. Chinese government patrol boats have entered territorial waters several times in the past two weeks. The Japanese Coast Guard confirmed 10 still in the area as of Tuesday morning. |
| Japan and China Fail to Ease Tensions Over Island Dispute Posted: 25 Sep 2012 09:02 AM PDT  Source: Bloomberg News Diplomats from China and Japan failed to ease tensions over a territorial dispute as the Japanese Coast Guard used water cannons to drive off Taiwanese vessels near the islands at the center of the spat. The meeting was the first since protests in China last week damaged operations for Japanese companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and Aeon Co. Japan's purchase of the islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, exacerbated the worst diplomatic crisis since 2005, which has threatened a $340 billion trade relationship between Asia's two biggest economies. About 50 Taiwanese fishing boats and patrol vessels left waters administered by Japan after the Japanese Coast Guard fired water cannons at them this morning, the Coast Guard said in a statement. Five Chinese government boats were also spotted in or near what Japan calls its "contiguous zone," according to a separate statement. "We will continue to guard the area around the Senkakus intensely and remain in contact with the relevant agencies," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters today in Tokyo. The clash between the Coast Guard and the Taiwanese boats was broadcast on NHK Television. Carrier Commissioned Also today, China formally commissioned its first aircraft carrier at a ceremony in the port city of Dalian that was attended by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The carrier will enhance China's war-fighting and defense capabilities and "promote international peace and common development," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Cheng Yonghua, China's ambassador to Japan, said today he is "deeply worried" about deteriorating relations and hopes Japan's government will abide by existing agreements between the two countries. "We are committed to work to clear the obstacles and keep the healthy development in bilateral relations with all parties concerned," he said at a banquet being held in Tokyo to commemorate China's National Day on Oct. 1. 'Serious Violation' Separately, Japan's de facto envoy to Taiwan visited Taipei today to discuss the dispute over the East China Sea islands claimed by all three governments. Tadashi Imai is president of Japan's Interchange Association, which represents the Japanese government in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations. Fujimura said the situation with Taiwan should be dealt with "calmly" to ensure good relations continue. He said yesterday the government protested "at a high diplomatic level" after Chinese vessels entered the waters. Zhang told Kawai that Japan had ignored China's protests in buying the islands, a move he called "a serious violation of historical facts and international jurisprudence," according to the Foreign Ministry statement. The last time senior Japanese and Chinese officials met was Sept. 9, when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda discussed the island issue briefly with Hu on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Vladivostok, Russia. Hu told Noda that any Japanese move to buy the islands would be considered "illegal and invalid," according to a statement on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website. Noda's government reached a deal to purchase the islands from a private Japanese owner on Sept. 11.   |
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