China bars English words in all publications
BEIJING, Dec 23 (ANTARA) - Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country`s publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril.
The General Administration of Press and Publication, which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language".
Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the body said on its website.
"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language," it said.
GAPP said companies which violated the regulation would face "administrative punishment" without offering specifics.
English abbreviations such as NBA (National Basketball Association), GDP (gross domestic product), CPI (consumer price index) and WTO (World Trade Organization) are commonly used in Chinese publications.
The body left a small loophole, saying that "if necessary", English terms could be used but now must be followed by a direct translation of the abbreviation or an explanation in Chinese, according to the regulation.
The names of people or places in English also must be translated, the China Daily reported Wednesday.
One editor at a Beijing publishing house told the newspaper that the new GAPP regulation could actually result in reduced understanding.
"The intention of protecting the Chinese language is good. But in an age ofglobalisation, when some English acronyms like WTO have been widely accepted by readers, it might be too absolute to eliminate them," the editor said.
"Conversationally, people also use these words all the time, so the regulation could create discord between the oral and written uses of language."
Earlier this year, China Central Television and Beijing Television told the China Daily that they had received notification from the government to avoid using certain English abbreviations on Chinese programmes. (ANTARA)
Friday 24 December 2010
China Urges Calm for Korea/ Xinhua News/China Daily
China urges Korean Peninsula dialogue .
BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China Thursday urged the two sides on the Korean Peninsula to value people's safety and regional peace, and resume dialogue and negotiation at an early date.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula remains complicated and sensitive," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular press conference.
Jiang called on concerned parties to make the safety of the people on the peninsula and regional peace and stability their top priority.
Jiang's remarks came after the Republic of Korea (ROK) Thursday held a large-scale military drill near its land border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"We urge the relevant parties to keep calm, exercise restraint, adopt a responsible attitude, do more to ease the situation, and contribute to peace and stability on the peninsula," Jiang said.
"We hope all the parties could respond to China's proposal and push the Peninsula situation back onto the track of dialogue and negotiation at an early date."
Launched in 2003 and stalled since the end of 2008, the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue involve China, the United States, the DPRK, the ROK, Russia and Japan.
On Nov. 28, China proposed emergency consultations among the heads of delegations to the six-party talks after the ROK and DPRK exchanged fire.
BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China Thursday urged the two sides on the Korean Peninsula to value people's safety and regional peace, and resume dialogue and negotiation at an early date.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula remains complicated and sensitive," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular press conference.
Jiang called on concerned parties to make the safety of the people on the peninsula and regional peace and stability their top priority.
Jiang's remarks came after the Republic of Korea (ROK) Thursday held a large-scale military drill near its land border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"We urge the relevant parties to keep calm, exercise restraint, adopt a responsible attitude, do more to ease the situation, and contribute to peace and stability on the peninsula," Jiang said.
"We hope all the parties could respond to China's proposal and push the Peninsula situation back onto the track of dialogue and negotiation at an early date."
Launched in 2003 and stalled since the end of 2008, the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue involve China, the United States, the DPRK, the ROK, Russia and Japan.
On Nov. 28, China proposed emergency consultations among the heads of delegations to the six-party talks after the ROK and DPRK exchanged fire.
Opinion: DPRK/North Korea: a New Israel
In China, especially the great North of it, the support for North Korea is equally passionate and China will not do anything that threatens not only the DPRK but also the loyalties of hundreds of millions of Northern Chinese who, through kin blood and trade, are very tightly linked with the DPRK.
As a Northern Han man said to me on a train leaving Shen Yang last year: The DPRK is the most inhuman government in the world, but they are our blood brothers. I wish them well. They have our support. We all have relatives who died fighting in Korea to get rid of the Americans last time. Even Mao's son died at their hands, yet the Americans did not win. No one in their right mind would go to war with North Korea.
He was a retired PLA colonel. His brother was killed by the Americans in Korea. I told him I was trying to learn the thai language. He said 'Don't bother with the small languages. Thailand is not a country, it is a border town. China is Asia.' That night we sang in a karaoke bar. He sang a PLA war-ballad with great sentiment, love and sincerity: "After all the suffering, I would still borrow from the god another 500 years."
DPRK North Korea ready to launch "Sacred War" Xinhua News
According to the KCNA, Korean People's Army (KPA) Vice Marshal Kim Yong Chun delivered a report at a national meeting held to mark the 19th anniversary of top leader Kim Jong Il's gaining of the supreme commandership of the KPA at the April 25 House of Culture on Thursday that South Korea's military provocation through holding shelling exercises again indicated its intention of starting "another Korean War" , leading the the Korean Peninsula to a situation that "a war may break out at any moment" .
"If the enemies intrude into the sky, land and seas of the DPRK even by0.001 mm, the KPA will as ever continue dealing more devastating physical blows at them without hesitation. The army and people of the DPRK never make an empty talk" , he said.
The army of the DPRK is getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice "based on the nuclear deterrent" at any time necessary to cope with the enemies' actions deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war, he stressed.
At the end, he warned that in case the U.S. and its followers finally ignite an all-out war, the army of the DPRK will "not only wipe out the aggressors but also blow up their bases and thus eradicate the root cause of war and surely accomplish the historic cause of national reunification.
Situation on the peninsula is getting tense after the exchange of artillery fire on Nov. 23 between South Korea and the DPRK, which killed four people. The South Korean military held a live fire artillery drill in waters southwest of Yonphyong Island near the disputed water maritime border again on Dec. 20.
The South Korean Department of Defense declared on Dec. 22 that the three-day drills would be held in waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula from Dec. 22 and large-scale joint drills involving the South Korean Army and the Air Force from Dec. 23.
Kim Yong Chun is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK and minister of the People's Armed Forces.
$AU /$US Parity
60 day cash forecast: the $AU should remain at least on par with the $US for the next 2 months. It may increase and be worth 1.02 or 1.03US but that should be about it.
Tuesday 21 December 2010
Bangkok Chinatown
One of the things about Bangkok Chinatown is that it keeps getting more interesting. The coal smoke from the chestnut roasters, the fresh fruit, the vegetables, the remarkable fish and seafood stores, the restaurants spilling out legally into the grid-lock traffic every day, the outstanding varieties of just about everything...and ,for me, how everything that is transported is transported through narrow crowded alleys on beautiful vespa motorscooters from 30 years ago....it's an astounding place and, strangely enough, one of the deeply safe places in South East Asia. Even with Thailand's throes of political and military upheavals that continue because the Great King is old now, no one will cause any trouble in Bangkok Chinatown. Whoever you are, whatever political or social movement you are passionate about, no one in their right mind every causes a big disturbance in a 2 million-people strong sub-city of Chinese merchants just trying to make a living by having a shop. That's just crazy. No matter what your cause, it doesn't belong here. You will be hunted down and dealt with at a completely local level.
The best restaurant in Bangkok Chinatown: The Red Shirt Seafood Restaurant that cranks up on the footpath in the main drag at 5 pm every day, revolution or no revolution. The best seafood, freshest, cheapest, fastest.
The best restaurant in Bangkok Chinatown: The Red Shirt Seafood Restaurant that cranks up on the footpath in the main drag at 5 pm every day, revolution or no revolution. The best seafood, freshest, cheapest, fastest.
China's Approach is Consistent with Supporting Peace
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- China strongly urges both sides of the Korean Peninsula to keep calm and restraint, solve issues through peaceful dialogue and engagement, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Wang Min said here Monday.
Wang made the remarks to reporters at the United Nations Headquarter in New York. He said China has taken note of the latest developments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Maintaining peace and stability on the Peninsula is in the interest of both the South and the North of the Peninsula, as well as other relevant parties, he said.
"We strongly appeal relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint, act in a responsible manner and avoid increase of tensions," Wang told reporters.
The Security Council met for an emergency close-door meeting on Sunday that lasted about eight hours, but failed to reach consensus due to gaps among the council members.
Wang said China on Sunday supported Russia's proposal to call for an urgent meeting of the Security Council on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
"Members of the Council, including China, the United States and Russia have made efforts to the extent possible to avoid armed conflict on the Peninsula. The meeting was positive and of great importance," he said.
South Korea staged a live-fire artillery drill in the sensitive area of Yonphyong Island off the west coast earlier on Monday. The army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) dealt no counterattack to the drill.
"Calm rather than tension, dialogue rather than confrontation, peace rather than warfare. This is the strong aspiration and voice of the peoples from both sides of the Peninsula and the international community," said Wang.
He said China recently has spared no efforts to engage both sides of the Peninsula and relevant parties through various channels, in order to avoid broadening of differences and escalation of tensions.
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo paid urgent visits to South Korea and the DPRK respectively, conducting candid and thorough discussions with leaders of the two countries. He urged the two sides to maintain calm and show restraint, pursue dialogue and engagement, and avoid taking any action that may worsen the situation.
During the last several days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China also urgently met with ambassadors of both the DPRK and the ROK in Beijing, reiterating for several times China's views and positions, Wang said.
"China strongly urges both sides of the Peninsula to keep calm and restraint, solve issues through peaceful dialogue and engagement. China will continue to make our efforts toward this end," Wang said.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
Wang made the remarks to reporters at the United Nations Headquarter in New York. He said China has taken note of the latest developments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Maintaining peace and stability on the Peninsula is in the interest of both the South and the North of the Peninsula, as well as other relevant parties, he said.
"We strongly appeal relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint, act in a responsible manner and avoid increase of tensions," Wang told reporters.
The Security Council met for an emergency close-door meeting on Sunday that lasted about eight hours, but failed to reach consensus due to gaps among the council members.
Wang said China on Sunday supported Russia's proposal to call for an urgent meeting of the Security Council on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
"Members of the Council, including China, the United States and Russia have made efforts to the extent possible to avoid armed conflict on the Peninsula. The meeting was positive and of great importance," he said.
South Korea staged a live-fire artillery drill in the sensitive area of Yonphyong Island off the west coast earlier on Monday. The army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) dealt no counterattack to the drill.
"Calm rather than tension, dialogue rather than confrontation, peace rather than warfare. This is the strong aspiration and voice of the peoples from both sides of the Peninsula and the international community," said Wang.
He said China recently has spared no efforts to engage both sides of the Peninsula and relevant parties through various channels, in order to avoid broadening of differences and escalation of tensions.
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo paid urgent visits to South Korea and the DPRK respectively, conducting candid and thorough discussions with leaders of the two countries. He urged the two sides to maintain calm and show restraint, pursue dialogue and engagement, and avoid taking any action that may worsen the situation.
During the last several days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China also urgently met with ambassadors of both the DPRK and the ROK in Beijing, reiterating for several times China's views and positions, Wang said.
"China strongly urges both sides of the Peninsula to keep calm and restraint, solve issues through peaceful dialogue and engagement. China will continue to make our efforts toward this end," Wang said.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
Monday 20 December 2010
DPRK on alert/ SBS Australia News
N.Korea on alert ahead of S.Korea drill
Email to friendPrintEnlarge text20 December 2010
01:54:07 AM
Source: AAP
North Korea has boosted the readiness of its military forces on the coast nearest to a planned live-fire drill by South Korea, the South's Yonhap news agency said on Sunday, quoting a government source.
"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the anonymous source was quoted as saying.
"Some fighter jets that had been inside the air force hangar have come out to the ground," Yonhap quoted the source as saying, without confirming whether weapons had been moved closer to the south.
In November North Korean artillery fired on Yeonpyeong island, near the two countries' disputed maritime border, killing four people in its first shelling of a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The attack has sparked fears of a conflict on the tense peninsula.
The North has threatened to hit back harder if South Korea carries out a planned live-fire drill in the area, but the South said on Sunday it will go ahead with the exercise on Monday or Tuesday.
Yonhap said the North's weapons in the area include a 76.2mm gun with a 12km range and a 122mm multiple rocket launcher with a 20km range.
Email to friendPrintEnlarge text20 December 2010
01:54:07 AM
Source: AAP
North Korea has boosted the readiness of its military forces on the coast nearest to a planned live-fire drill by South Korea, the South's Yonhap news agency said on Sunday, quoting a government source.
"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the anonymous source was quoted as saying.
"Some fighter jets that had been inside the air force hangar have come out to the ground," Yonhap quoted the source as saying, without confirming whether weapons had been moved closer to the south.
In November North Korean artillery fired on Yeonpyeong island, near the two countries' disputed maritime border, killing four people in its first shelling of a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.
The attack has sparked fears of a conflict on the tense peninsula.
The North has threatened to hit back harder if South Korea carries out a planned live-fire drill in the area, but the South said on Sunday it will go ahead with the exercise on Monday or Tuesday.
Yonhap said the North's weapons in the area include a 76.2mm gun with a 12km range and a 122mm multiple rocket launcher with a 20km range.
Sunday 19 December 2010
South Korean protestors hold banners and shout slogans during an anti-government rally in Seoul, capital of South Korea on Dec. 18, 2010. South Korea has declared plans for a live shell artillery drill in the waters southwest of Yeonpyeong Island on a selected date from Dec. 18-21 depending on weather conditions. (Xinhua/Park Jin Hee)
ReUnification or Integration?
The following article is from Al Jazeera regarding the views of the South Korean President. This is interesting and presents half an idea. The other half belongs to the North. To have any validity both North and South must work out the details without force being applied to either from foreign powers. I'm thinking they will surely fight each other because this is what warr-like brothers usually do. Whilst it's kind of good that the UN is getting involved, we should remember that it was the UN who created the division within the one Korea to suit the two powers USSR and USA...and the idea has worked abominably every day since. Still, there is some hope. As we can recall there was an equally bizarre and schizophrenic nation divided into North and South Vietnam some time back. Unification has worked out very well there.
The other alternative for the North I think would be for it to integrate into the greater China system with specific portfolios within the Chinese politburo held by NK present representatives. This would be far better than the current situation. Either would be far better than the current situation. Korea remains about the only place on earth that a real international war could commence: the strategic position, the untapped wealth of the north, the population densities etc. No one is really interested in peace between Palestinians and Israelis because on the whole no one likes either very much, and there's no real resources there, and, comparatively, not many people. Korea is very different and remarkably more significant and explosively 'tectonic' to life on earth.
_______________________________________________________-
South Korea's president says Seoul must prepare for a united country as the North becomes aware of South's affluence.
Despite calls for reunification, tensions still remain high on the Korean peninsula [GALLO/GETTY]
South Korea's president has said unification with North Korea has become more likely as people in the North become more aware of the South's affluence.
Lee Myung-bak said on Thursday, during a trip to Malaysia, that residents of the communist nation know the world is changing, but did not elaborate on how their knowledge has expanded, or how soon unification would come.
"Reunification will definitely come," Lee said in a speech marking the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese colonial rule.
"I believe that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day such as a reunification tax."
Heightened tensions
Lee's comments come amid a period of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after the North shelled a South Korean island close to a disputed maritime border, killing at least four people.
The North has blamed the South for sparking the exchange of artillery fire last month and criticised both Seoul and its US allies for "provocative" military drills.
The two states are still technically at war having only signed a ceasefire in 1953 and since coming to power in 2008, Lee has abandoned the so-called "Sunshine Policy" of his predecessor for a more strident stance.
Lee said on Friday that North Korea's new understanding of circumstances in the outside world is "an important change that no one can stop".
He added that South Korea has a responsibility to ensure that the North's 23 million people enjoy basic rights, and that Seoul should use its economic power to prepare for unification.
One way Lee proposed was a "reunification tax" to help fund the expected $1 trillion it could cost when the two Koreas eventually rejoin.
Costly reunification
He also said it was now time to start saving for the massive cost of reuniting with the North, whose economy has been driven close to ruin by central economic planning, heavy military expenditure and years of famine.
North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, with annual gross national income of about $24bn in 2009 - less than three per cent the size of the South's economy.
The cost of reunification could wreak havoc on South Korea's economy, with a state-funded research agency saying it would raise the tax bill for South Koreans by the equivalent of two percentage points annually for 60 years.
Opinion polls, however, show more than 60 per cent of South Koreans want unification, but they would prefer it happen later rather than sooner because of the cost.
The other alternative for the North I think would be for it to integrate into the greater China system with specific portfolios within the Chinese politburo held by NK present representatives. This would be far better than the current situation. Either would be far better than the current situation. Korea remains about the only place on earth that a real international war could commence: the strategic position, the untapped wealth of the north, the population densities etc. No one is really interested in peace between Palestinians and Israelis because on the whole no one likes either very much, and there's no real resources there, and, comparatively, not many people. Korea is very different and remarkably more significant and explosively 'tectonic' to life on earth.
_______________________________________________________-
South Korea's president says Seoul must prepare for a united country as the North becomes aware of South's affluence.
Despite calls for reunification, tensions still remain high on the Korean peninsula [GALLO/GETTY]
South Korea's president has said unification with North Korea has become more likely as people in the North become more aware of the South's affluence.
Lee Myung-bak said on Thursday, during a trip to Malaysia, that residents of the communist nation know the world is changing, but did not elaborate on how their knowledge has expanded, or how soon unification would come.
"Reunification will definitely come," Lee said in a speech marking the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese colonial rule.
"I believe that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day such as a reunification tax."
Heightened tensions
Lee's comments come amid a period of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after the North shelled a South Korean island close to a disputed maritime border, killing at least four people.
The North has blamed the South for sparking the exchange of artillery fire last month and criticised both Seoul and its US allies for "provocative" military drills.
The two states are still technically at war having only signed a ceasefire in 1953 and since coming to power in 2008, Lee has abandoned the so-called "Sunshine Policy" of his predecessor for a more strident stance.
Lee said on Friday that North Korea's new understanding of circumstances in the outside world is "an important change that no one can stop".
He added that South Korea has a responsibility to ensure that the North's 23 million people enjoy basic rights, and that Seoul should use its economic power to prepare for unification.
One way Lee proposed was a "reunification tax" to help fund the expected $1 trillion it could cost when the two Koreas eventually rejoin.
Costly reunification
He also said it was now time to start saving for the massive cost of reuniting with the North, whose economy has been driven close to ruin by central economic planning, heavy military expenditure and years of famine.
North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, with annual gross national income of about $24bn in 2009 - less than three per cent the size of the South's economy.
The cost of reunification could wreak havoc on South Korea's economy, with a state-funded research agency saying it would raise the tax bill for South Koreans by the equivalent of two percentage points annually for 60 years.
Opinion polls, however, show more than 60 per cent of South Koreans want unification, but they would prefer it happen later rather than sooner because of the cost.
One Korea
I guess this is what you get when one nation is sliced in half by the UN to protect the interests, and spheres of influence at the time, of the USA and the USSR. It was a crazed and stupid decision at the time and so it has remained ever since.
The resolution of the present situation really comes down to the 2 Korean 'brothers-North & South' working things out with each other. Whether this is a bloody and violent method or a peaceful one is really up to those 2 halves of the one whole. I think it will be quite bloody as this suits the prevailing and kindred temperaments on both sides... but it's really no one else' business at all.
The resolution of the present situation really comes down to the 2 Korean 'brothers-North & South' working things out with each other. Whether this is a bloody and violent method or a peaceful one is really up to those 2 halves of the one whole. I think it will be quite bloody as this suits the prevailing and kindred temperaments on both sides... but it's really no one else' business at all.
North Korea Ready for An All Out War that Will Not Be Confined to the Koreas/ China Daily
PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said its army and people were ready for escalated conflicts and all-out war that would not be confined to the peninsula, the official news agency KCNA reported Saturday.
According to the KCNA, a spokesman for the National Peace Committee of Korea said in the statement released Saturday that the recent moves of the US indicated that it was fully joining in Republic of Korea (ROK)'s moves for a war of aggression against the DPRK after "throwing away the disguise of a hypocrite".
It was clear that if the ROK army mobilized all flying corps, warships and missiles for a war against the DPRK and the US joined them with the latest weapons, it would develop into an all-out war, not a local war, he said.
The spokesman said ROK and the US fabricated the sinking of the ROK'S warship the Cheonan early this year and the recent Yonphyong Island shelling incident was aimed at sparking an all-out war.
It was ridiculous for the south to talk about a "right to self-defence". It was no more than "war servants and colonial stooges" of the US, he said.
"Should an all-out war break out again on this land, it will not be confined to the boundaries of the peninsula," he said.
The army and people who are ready for both escalated war and an all-out war will "deal merciless retaliatory blows" at the provocateurs and aggressors and blow up their bases and thus honorably defend the dignity and security of the nation, he said.
He warned ROK and the US to bear in mind that their ignition of a dangerous war would bring them nothing but self-destruction.
It was reported that the US and ROK held a meeting of the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of ROK and the US in Seoul on Dec 8 over a military attack on the DPRK under the pretext of "deterring provocation".
Tension on the peninsula increased after the exchange of artillery fire on Nov 23 between ROK and DPRK, which killed four people.
According to the KCNA, a spokesman for the National Peace Committee of Korea said in the statement released Saturday that the recent moves of the US indicated that it was fully joining in Republic of Korea (ROK)'s moves for a war of aggression against the DPRK after "throwing away the disguise of a hypocrite".
It was clear that if the ROK army mobilized all flying corps, warships and missiles for a war against the DPRK and the US joined them with the latest weapons, it would develop into an all-out war, not a local war, he said.
The spokesman said ROK and the US fabricated the sinking of the ROK'S warship the Cheonan early this year and the recent Yonphyong Island shelling incident was aimed at sparking an all-out war.
It was ridiculous for the south to talk about a "right to self-defence". It was no more than "war servants and colonial stooges" of the US, he said.
"Should an all-out war break out again on this land, it will not be confined to the boundaries of the peninsula," he said.
The army and people who are ready for both escalated war and an all-out war will "deal merciless retaliatory blows" at the provocateurs and aggressors and blow up their bases and thus honorably defend the dignity and security of the nation, he said.
He warned ROK and the US to bear in mind that their ignition of a dangerous war would bring them nothing but self-destruction.
It was reported that the US and ROK held a meeting of the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of ROK and the US in Seoul on Dec 8 over a military attack on the DPRK under the pretext of "deterring provocation".
Tension on the peninsula increased after the exchange of artillery fire on Nov 23 between ROK and DPRK, which killed four people.
For both ROK and DPRK China Urges Calm Calm Calm/ China Daily
China urges 'calm, calm, calm' on the peninsula
By Wu Jiao and Uking (chinadaily.com.cn)
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun urged the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to show calm, restraint and not to take any action that may escalate the tension on the peninsula.
"The situation is highly complex and sensitive, and China is deeply concerned and worried. " Zhang said Saturday, in a latest call of talks, similar to the earlier statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
Zhang said China has made unremitting efforts recently to defuse the tension by sending State Councilor Dai Bingguo to visit the DPRK and ROK to exchange ideas candidly and also encourage the engagement and dialogues.
"To ease, not nervous, to dialogue, not confrontation, to peace, not war, is the strong desire and voice of the people in the region and international community. There should be no more escalation on the peninsula. China will resolutely oppose any actions that could lead to a deterioration and escalation in the situation and wreck regional peace and stability," Zhang said.
"China calls on both countries to be calm, calm and calm, restraint, restraint and restraint, give top priority to the safety of 70 million Koreans, give priority to the regional peace, and avoid any new military clash. China hopes relevant parties could seek solutions in a responsible and peaceful way"
"The situation also highlights the necessity and urgency of holding Six-Party Talks. China calls again all parties to return to the right path of dialogue."
By Wu Jiao and Uking (chinadaily.com.cn)
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun urged the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to show calm, restraint and not to take any action that may escalate the tension on the peninsula.
"The situation is highly complex and sensitive, and China is deeply concerned and worried. " Zhang said Saturday, in a latest call of talks, similar to the earlier statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
Zhang said China has made unremitting efforts recently to defuse the tension by sending State Councilor Dai Bingguo to visit the DPRK and ROK to exchange ideas candidly and also encourage the engagement and dialogues.
"To ease, not nervous, to dialogue, not confrontation, to peace, not war, is the strong desire and voice of the people in the region and international community. There should be no more escalation on the peninsula. China will resolutely oppose any actions that could lead to a deterioration and escalation in the situation and wreck regional peace and stability," Zhang said.
"China calls on both countries to be calm, calm and calm, restraint, restraint and restraint, give top priority to the safety of 70 million Koreans, give priority to the regional peace, and avoid any new military clash. China hopes relevant parties could seek solutions in a responsible and peaceful way"
"The situation also highlights the necessity and urgency of holding Six-Party Talks. China calls again all parties to return to the right path of dialogue."
CNN/ North Korea, the Tinderbox
Blitzer Dispatch: Richardson says it's a 'tinderbox'
By: CNN’s “The Situation Room” Anchor Wolf Blitzer
Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) - It's Saturday morning in Pyongyang and we're getting ready for another intense day. The situation here is very fluid right now and a lot of nerves are being frayed because of the tensions between North and South Korea. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is getting ready for important talks in the next few hours with Kim Gye Gwan, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, the man who invited him to Pyongyang.
Richardson is urging restraint everywhere he goes. He's really worried that this situation is, in his words, a "tinderbox" where one miscalculation could lead to all-out war. He says he's never seen the situation so tense in all his visits to North Korea over the years; he agrees it's the most serious crisis since the 1953 Armistice which ended the Korean War.
In my conversations with North Korean officials, they insist it's all the fault of South Korea and the U.S. They say they are being provoked and won't stand for it. Clearly though, they are anxious to send a message to the United States through Richardson and presumably through me and CNN as well.
On Friday, Richardson met with Ri Young Ho, the vice foreign minister for US affairs, and they talked about what can be done to ease the crisis. One event that's been added to Richardson's schedule Sunday is a meeting with top North Korean military officials, which is an important development.
On a personal level, all the North Koreans have treated me and my CNN photojournalist Miguel Castro with the utmost courtesy and respect. Still, we are restricted on where we can go, we don't have access to the internet or cell phones. The accommodations are very clean and nice, and the food is delicious, I can't complain about that. It is bitter cold outside, lots of snow on the ground, reminds me of my hometown of Buffalo, New York. North Koreans seem very energetic, you see people with shovels cleaning up the sidewalks, the streets, it's a massive operation but they're doing it all by hand.
That's all from Pyongyang for now. We'll see what happens in this big meeting over the next few hours with Kim Gye Gwan, who's been a major player in past negotiations with U.S. delegations.
By: CNN’s “The Situation Room” Anchor Wolf Blitzer
Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) - It's Saturday morning in Pyongyang and we're getting ready for another intense day. The situation here is very fluid right now and a lot of nerves are being frayed because of the tensions between North and South Korea. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is getting ready for important talks in the next few hours with Kim Gye Gwan, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, the man who invited him to Pyongyang.
Richardson is urging restraint everywhere he goes. He's really worried that this situation is, in his words, a "tinderbox" where one miscalculation could lead to all-out war. He says he's never seen the situation so tense in all his visits to North Korea over the years; he agrees it's the most serious crisis since the 1953 Armistice which ended the Korean War.
In my conversations with North Korean officials, they insist it's all the fault of South Korea and the U.S. They say they are being provoked and won't stand for it. Clearly though, they are anxious to send a message to the United States through Richardson and presumably through me and CNN as well.
On Friday, Richardson met with Ri Young Ho, the vice foreign minister for US affairs, and they talked about what can be done to ease the crisis. One event that's been added to Richardson's schedule Sunday is a meeting with top North Korean military officials, which is an important development.
On a personal level, all the North Koreans have treated me and my CNN photojournalist Miguel Castro with the utmost courtesy and respect. Still, we are restricted on where we can go, we don't have access to the internet or cell phones. The accommodations are very clean and nice, and the food is delicious, I can't complain about that. It is bitter cold outside, lots of snow on the ground, reminds me of my hometown of Buffalo, New York. North Koreans seem very energetic, you see people with shovels cleaning up the sidewalks, the streets, it's a massive operation but they're doing it all by hand.
That's all from Pyongyang for now. We'll see what happens in this big meeting over the next few hours with Kim Gye Gwan, who's been a major player in past negotiations with U.S. delegations.
Saturday 18 December 2010
The American Right is Wrong
The American Right is so opposed to abortion yet this bizarre sub-culture is in itself the most vicious aborter of decent human values on earth.
Friday 17 December 2010
The scale of horror regarding current US 'standard practice' in Iraq and Afghanistan
"The supposed horror of the unveiled secrets (in Wikileaks) does not begin to compare to the public and documented horrors of aerial bombing, the near-daily use of which has left the US' reputation tarnished and tattered in a way no piece of paper could hope to achieve." Philip Cunningham, Cornel University, NY.
The US and Wikileaks, from China Daily's Philip Cunningham
The power behind the US curtain
By Philip J. Cunningham (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-16
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains committed to sharing and publishing secret US diplomatic cables, despite condemnation from Washington and threats from outraged politicians.
From what documents have been made public to date, it looks like the messy work of diplomacy as usual. As veteran whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said on TV program Democracy Now, the material comes from a database which has been given a security classification so low in the hierarchy of US intelligence briefings that he wouldn't even have bothered to look at such cable summaries when he worked as a mid-level intelligence analyst, because of the priority accorded to truly secretive and sensitive documents.
That's not to say the data trove is irrelevant; it is the sort of raw material that makes diplomats cringe and historians rather intrigued. It is a random, grab-bag snapshot of official US thinking about friends and enemies, diplomatic challenges past and present. It has shed rather more humiliation than light, sort of like a bathroom stall being suddenly kicked open.
The unflattering material ranges from sordid to insightful, from Machiavellian finesse to blunt bullying, but it's the methods of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's State Department, which calls on diplomats to cull biometric data and engage in virtual stalking, that really raises eyebrows.
Much of the information is awkward but not at all secret, rather like transcripts of friends talking about friends behind their backs. Some of the "statecraft" described in the data has an odor of hypocrisy and deception, but what foreign ministry could survive without a certain amount of double-speak?
In due time, the sheer volume of data to come may help better determine whether the US government has so lost sight of its espoused ideals as to allow deception, petty thuggery and double standards to be the new norm.
The US State Department is quick to perceive skullduggery when dealing with others but it apparently cannot see the same in its own behavior.
What can be said about the US frittering away diplomatic goodwill and twisting arms to get allies like Belgium to accept token pariah prisoners from Guantanamo, or to pressure Germany to hush up and halt legal proceedings against illegal extraordinary renditions?
Is that the kind of wheeling and dealing the world's so-called beacon of democracy engages in? If it is so, it is not just petty but pathetic.
The supposed horror of the unveiled secrets does not begin to compare to the public and documented horrors of aerial bombing, the near-daily use of which has left the US' reputation tarnished and tattered in a way no piece of paper could hope to achieve.
What the data dump offers is a compelling view of the world as seen from Foggy Bottom, the State Department's home base in Washington. It's a Manichean view that reduces planet Earth to a giant game board of friends and enemies, informants and subjects.
Historians know well that the US has never been half as idealistic as it likes to see itself; it takes a certain amount of over-arching ego and sustained brutality to seize and secure a continental land mass, however sparsely populated it might have been when the great American experiment got started.
But the US was, and still is, in a much-diminished sense, a beacon for immigrants fleeing oppression or simply seeking economic opportunity. The spirit invoked by the Statue of Liberty, embracing the poor and huddled masses, still shines brighter than all the lights in New York City, but somewhere during the transition from an ordinary nation to an over-extended military power, the US lost touch with its better angels and set itself on the road to being the new Rome.
In doing so, the US lost what high moral ground it might have possessed after liberating Europe from Nazism and got stuck in a series of murky quagmires and armed interventions that have lead to the slippery slope it treads today.
There's a temptation to date the fork in the road to the back room machinations in 2000 that put George W. Bush in the White House, though the roots of imperial rot go back much further, back to bombs over Belgrade, bombs over Hanoi, bombs over Pyongyang and of course, back to the terrible juncture when the US, victory almost at hand, needlessly dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The massive leak of documents, only a portion of which is already in plain view, may one day be seen as a moment in Uncle Sam's imperial history akin to the denouement in the Hollywood classic, The Wizard of Oz, when little dog Toto pulls back the curtain on the control room, revealing that the Wizard is not only less omniscient and powerful than was previously believed, but is something of a sham.
The author is a visiting fellow in the East Asia Program, Cornell University, New York.
By Philip J. Cunningham (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-16
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains committed to sharing and publishing secret US diplomatic cables, despite condemnation from Washington and threats from outraged politicians.
From what documents have been made public to date, it looks like the messy work of diplomacy as usual. As veteran whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said on TV program Democracy Now, the material comes from a database which has been given a security classification so low in the hierarchy of US intelligence briefings that he wouldn't even have bothered to look at such cable summaries when he worked as a mid-level intelligence analyst, because of the priority accorded to truly secretive and sensitive documents.
That's not to say the data trove is irrelevant; it is the sort of raw material that makes diplomats cringe and historians rather intrigued. It is a random, grab-bag snapshot of official US thinking about friends and enemies, diplomatic challenges past and present. It has shed rather more humiliation than light, sort of like a bathroom stall being suddenly kicked open.
The unflattering material ranges from sordid to insightful, from Machiavellian finesse to blunt bullying, but it's the methods of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's State Department, which calls on diplomats to cull biometric data and engage in virtual stalking, that really raises eyebrows.
Much of the information is awkward but not at all secret, rather like transcripts of friends talking about friends behind their backs. Some of the "statecraft" described in the data has an odor of hypocrisy and deception, but what foreign ministry could survive without a certain amount of double-speak?
In due time, the sheer volume of data to come may help better determine whether the US government has so lost sight of its espoused ideals as to allow deception, petty thuggery and double standards to be the new norm.
The US State Department is quick to perceive skullduggery when dealing with others but it apparently cannot see the same in its own behavior.
What can be said about the US frittering away diplomatic goodwill and twisting arms to get allies like Belgium to accept token pariah prisoners from Guantanamo, or to pressure Germany to hush up and halt legal proceedings against illegal extraordinary renditions?
Is that the kind of wheeling and dealing the world's so-called beacon of democracy engages in? If it is so, it is not just petty but pathetic.
The supposed horror of the unveiled secrets does not begin to compare to the public and documented horrors of aerial bombing, the near-daily use of which has left the US' reputation tarnished and tattered in a way no piece of paper could hope to achieve.
What the data dump offers is a compelling view of the world as seen from Foggy Bottom, the State Department's home base in Washington. It's a Manichean view that reduces planet Earth to a giant game board of friends and enemies, informants and subjects.
Historians know well that the US has never been half as idealistic as it likes to see itself; it takes a certain amount of over-arching ego and sustained brutality to seize and secure a continental land mass, however sparsely populated it might have been when the great American experiment got started.
But the US was, and still is, in a much-diminished sense, a beacon for immigrants fleeing oppression or simply seeking economic opportunity. The spirit invoked by the Statue of Liberty, embracing the poor and huddled masses, still shines brighter than all the lights in New York City, but somewhere during the transition from an ordinary nation to an over-extended military power, the US lost touch with its better angels and set itself on the road to being the new Rome.
In doing so, the US lost what high moral ground it might have possessed after liberating Europe from Nazism and got stuck in a series of murky quagmires and armed interventions that have lead to the slippery slope it treads today.
There's a temptation to date the fork in the road to the back room machinations in 2000 that put George W. Bush in the White House, though the roots of imperial rot go back much further, back to bombs over Belgrade, bombs over Hanoi, bombs over Pyongyang and of course, back to the terrible juncture when the US, victory almost at hand, needlessly dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The massive leak of documents, only a portion of which is already in plain view, may one day be seen as a moment in Uncle Sam's imperial history akin to the denouement in the Hollywood classic, The Wizard of Oz, when little dog Toto pulls back the curtain on the control room, revealing that the Wizard is not only less omniscient and powerful than was previously believed, but is something of a sham.
The author is a visiting fellow in the East Asia Program, Cornell University, New York.
CNN and Wikileaks Julian Assange
16 December 2010 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is granted bail
Mr Assange is expected to be freed in the next hour after his paperwork is completed
The founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been granted conditional bail by a judge.
The 39-year-old was granted bail in London earlier this week but prosecutors objected to the decision and he remained in jail.
The Australian is fighting extradition to Sweden over sex charges involving two women. He denies the allegations.
His supporters have offered to put up a surety of £240,000 to guarantee he surrenders to bail.
The appeal was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London by Mr Justice Ouseley.
Earlier the judge made a ruling banning the use of Twitter to give a blow-by-blow account of Thursday's proceedings.
The ruling was made just before 1300 GMT but it is understood it may take up an hour to process his release paperwork.
'Politically motivated'
Mr Assange has received the backing of a number of high-profile supporters including human rights campaigners Jemima Khan and Bianca Jagger, and film director Ken Loach.
Wikileaks has published hundreds of sensitive American diplomatic cables, details of which have appeared in the Guardian in the UK and several other newspapers around the world.
Mr Assange's supporters claim the charges are politically motivated He has come under criticism in the US where former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said he should be hunted down like the al-Qaeda leadership.
Mr Assange argues the allegations against him are politically motivated and designed to take attention away from the material appearing on Wikileaks.
He is accused of having unprotected sex with a woman, identified only as Miss A, when she insisted he use a condom.
He is also accused of having unprotected sex with another woman, Miss W, while she was asleep.
Mr Assange is expected to be freed in the next hour after his paperwork is completed
The founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been granted conditional bail by a judge.
The 39-year-old was granted bail in London earlier this week but prosecutors objected to the decision and he remained in jail.
The Australian is fighting extradition to Sweden over sex charges involving two women. He denies the allegations.
His supporters have offered to put up a surety of £240,000 to guarantee he surrenders to bail.
The appeal was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London by Mr Justice Ouseley.
Earlier the judge made a ruling banning the use of Twitter to give a blow-by-blow account of Thursday's proceedings.
The ruling was made just before 1300 GMT but it is understood it may take up an hour to process his release paperwork.
'Politically motivated'
Mr Assange has received the backing of a number of high-profile supporters including human rights campaigners Jemima Khan and Bianca Jagger, and film director Ken Loach.
Wikileaks has published hundreds of sensitive American diplomatic cables, details of which have appeared in the Guardian in the UK and several other newspapers around the world.
Mr Assange's supporters claim the charges are politically motivated He has come under criticism in the US where former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said he should be hunted down like the al-Qaeda leadership.
Mr Assange argues the allegations against him are politically motivated and designed to take attention away from the material appearing on Wikileaks.
He is accused of having unprotected sex with a woman, identified only as Miss A, when she insisted he use a condom.
He is also accused of having unprotected sex with another woman, Miss W, while she was asleep.
Thursday 16 December 2010
Assange and the Little Twist of Perception
Even with the growing support for Julian Assange, it is interesting to note that this is mostly because he's a white guy. There is far more interest in him being either gaoled or freed than there is interest in bringing to judgement the monsters, the Great Molestors, employed by America to perform its systematic and ethnically focused tortures...and the vicious bombing of innocent peoples family homes...even though these continue today.
Resisting a Military Invasion is Not a Crime
I think one thing that defines the US & UK and Australia in the invasions of both Iraq and Afghanistan is that we have developed a sick righteousness where we believe that anyone who fights against us is a criminal/terrorist rather than a warrior fighting for their loved homeland against vastly superior and vicious forces. It is not a crime for people to fight against people who invade their country; it is far more of a crime not to.
Our sense of moral, cultural and racial righteousness blinds us to this fact and enables all kinds of tortures and incarcerations, deceits of self and others, and false-trials, simply to maintain this illusory righteousness as this 'buffer' enables us to feel comfortable in the face of inflicting terror on mostly children. The median age of Afghani people is 16. That's who are being killed for our 'vision'.
As for Iraq, well, a million indiscriminate deaths -men women and children-during the time of the continuing invasion. Somehow this is good for Iraqis? A million dead and for their own good? Those defending their nation butchered tortured and incarcerated as criminals. And why? To assuage the damage done on 9/11? To revenge it by killing these 'Arab' children en masse?
Many of us have lived long enough to know there is no 'great judgment' for good acts or evil ones; there is no karma like that in this world. We know that the idea related to treating each other as equals is basically a good one and it's an important one. Each nation has to work out its problems, as does each person, and hopefully without having to fight off invasions by bully-nations intent on their own 'vicious rights' revenge agenda.
Resisting an armed invasion by whatever means possible in any situation possible, in any place possible; is not a crime. We would do exactly the same to have any honour at all, and to have any good future at all.
Our sense of moral, cultural and racial righteousness blinds us to this fact and enables all kinds of tortures and incarcerations, deceits of self and others, and false-trials, simply to maintain this illusory righteousness as this 'buffer' enables us to feel comfortable in the face of inflicting terror on mostly children. The median age of Afghani people is 16. That's who are being killed for our 'vision'.
As for Iraq, well, a million indiscriminate deaths -men women and children-during the time of the continuing invasion. Somehow this is good for Iraqis? A million dead and for their own good? Those defending their nation butchered tortured and incarcerated as criminals. And why? To assuage the damage done on 9/11? To revenge it by killing these 'Arab' children en masse?
Many of us have lived long enough to know there is no 'great judgment' for good acts or evil ones; there is no karma like that in this world. We know that the idea related to treating each other as equals is basically a good one and it's an important one. Each nation has to work out its problems, as does each person, and hopefully without having to fight off invasions by bully-nations intent on their own 'vicious rights' revenge agenda.
Resisting an armed invasion by whatever means possible in any situation possible, in any place possible; is not a crime. We would do exactly the same to have any honour at all, and to have any good future at all.
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Australian Forces in Afghanistan
The only worthy and decent way to support our soldiers is to question the current madness of the war against Afghani children.
Australia and Our Great Friend in Afghanistan
The Taliban forces that the brave, well equipped, Australian soldiers are fighting every day in Afghanistan have a median age of 16 years old.
16 year olds, with many much younger.
They are killing kids running with scissors and feeling proud and patriotic about it, just like the Americans do.
16 year olds, with many much younger.
They are killing kids running with scissors and feeling proud and patriotic about it, just like the Americans do.
Julian Assange, Wikileaks, and the Problem With Dangerous Bullies
Julian Assange and the Problem with Bullies
by John Wang-Fitzpatrick
Having very rare skills in codifying and undoing cyphers, Julian Assange is a very remarkable Australian individual. That he chooses his own position of some honesty and honour rather than being owned by corporations or governments, makes him quite unique. He is obviously a threat to duplicitous systems and politicians everywhere.
He is an enemy of state-duplicity and an enemy of human torture.
He is being punished for being a bright, self-directed, individual world-person and very few politicians in Australia or elsewhere will rally to his defence, preferring a continuation of supporting and encouraging American territorial and sphere of influence agendas; preferring deception and torture as the best way forward 'for us'.
I noted that the leaked US admissions of systematic torture based upon ethnicity were not actually seen as a bad thing by the US Government at all; but rather what was an unforgiveable thing was that 'someone told on them.' An interesting morality. Australia could have much more genuine friends than these, if we deserved better.
The thing that amazes me is the notion that if America, England and Australia etc actually violently invade a country it suddenly becomes a crime for the people of that country to fight back... whereas the truth is that it's a crime if they don't fight back. It's their country and they have every right to get rid of such vicious invaders.
.
by John Wang-Fitzpatrick
Having very rare skills in codifying and undoing cyphers, Julian Assange is a very remarkable Australian individual. That he chooses his own position of some honesty and honour rather than being owned by corporations or governments, makes him quite unique. He is obviously a threat to duplicitous systems and politicians everywhere.
He is an enemy of state-duplicity and an enemy of human torture.
He is being punished for being a bright, self-directed, individual world-person and very few politicians in Australia or elsewhere will rally to his defence, preferring a continuation of supporting and encouraging American territorial and sphere of influence agendas; preferring deception and torture as the best way forward 'for us'.
I noted that the leaked US admissions of systematic torture based upon ethnicity were not actually seen as a bad thing by the US Government at all; but rather what was an unforgiveable thing was that 'someone told on them.' An interesting morality. Australia could have much more genuine friends than these, if we deserved better.
The thing that amazes me is the notion that if America, England and Australia etc actually violently invade a country it suddenly becomes a crime for the people of that country to fight back... whereas the truth is that it's a crime if they don't fight back. It's their country and they have every right to get rid of such vicious invaders.
.
DPRK Foreign Minister in Beijing for Talks/ Xinhua News
DPRK FM in Beijing for talks
www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-30 21:38:05
BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Paek Nam Sun, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived here Tuesday for talks with senior Chinese officials on issues of common concern.
"On issues that concern the interests of DPRK, China will keep communications with DPRK and step up mutual understanding and support," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in a meeting with Paek on Tuesday afternoon.
"Li and Paek exchanged views on Korean Peninsula nuclear issues," said a statement released by Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told the regular briefing Tuesday afternoon that Paek's talks with Chinese officials were "mainly about bilateral issues."
China and DPRK have conducted active exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and the bilateral relations have shown renewed vitality, the statement said.
Li reiterated that China would like to work with DPRK to continuously promote the bilateral ties.
"DPRK will try its best to advance its friendly cooperation with China, which is the unchanged guideline of the DPRK government," Paek said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also met with Paek on Tuesday afternoon, discussing bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
Paek is visiting China as a guest of his Chinese counterpart.
Paek's China tour came at a time when the six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue remained stalled since the last round of meeting was held in Beijing last November.
The last round of talks, involving China, DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, ended up with a Chairman's Statement, in which the parties concerned agreed to resume the talks as soon as possible.
But as Washington imposed financial sanctions on Pyongyang for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. Until now, there has been no signs that the talks will be resumed.
Christopher Hill, chief U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue, visited Beijing last week and said that there was no new progress on the six-party talks.
Experts said that Paek's talks with Chinese officials will not produce any substantial results on the resumption of six-party talks as he was not DPRK's chief negotiator to the nuclear talks.
"But Paek's visit could at least ensure the good communication between China and DPRK," experts said.
Paek will also tour Guangdong, a booming province in south China, where DPRK leader Kim Jong Il visited in January.
Spokesman Liu Jianchao said Paek's visit to Guangdong is helpful to enhancing mutual understanding and exchanging experience on economic development.
www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-30 21:38:05
BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Paek Nam Sun, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), arrived here Tuesday for talks with senior Chinese officials on issues of common concern.
"On issues that concern the interests of DPRK, China will keep communications with DPRK and step up mutual understanding and support," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in a meeting with Paek on Tuesday afternoon.
"Li and Paek exchanged views on Korean Peninsula nuclear issues," said a statement released by Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told the regular briefing Tuesday afternoon that Paek's talks with Chinese officials were "mainly about bilateral issues."
China and DPRK have conducted active exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and the bilateral relations have shown renewed vitality, the statement said.
Li reiterated that China would like to work with DPRK to continuously promote the bilateral ties.
"DPRK will try its best to advance its friendly cooperation with China, which is the unchanged guideline of the DPRK government," Paek said.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also met with Paek on Tuesday afternoon, discussing bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
Paek is visiting China as a guest of his Chinese counterpart.
Paek's China tour came at a time when the six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue remained stalled since the last round of meeting was held in Beijing last November.
The last round of talks, involving China, DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, ended up with a Chairman's Statement, in which the parties concerned agreed to resume the talks as soon as possible.
But as Washington imposed financial sanctions on Pyongyang for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. Until now, there has been no signs that the talks will be resumed.
Christopher Hill, chief U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks on Korean nuclear issue, visited Beijing last week and said that there was no new progress on the six-party talks.
Experts said that Paek's talks with Chinese officials will not produce any substantial results on the resumption of six-party talks as he was not DPRK's chief negotiator to the nuclear talks.
"But Paek's visit could at least ensure the good communication between China and DPRK," experts said.
Paek will also tour Guangdong, a booming province in south China, where DPRK leader Kim Jong Il visited in January.
Spokesman Liu Jianchao said Paek's visit to Guangdong is helpful to enhancing mutual understanding and exchanging experience on economic development.
Mr Assange and Wikileaks, a view from China Daily
WikiLeaks' ordeal tests Internet freedom
English.news.cn 2010-12-14 09:12:33
By Chen Weihua
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Government officials of the United States have been busy apologizing to countries around the world for the huge embarrassment and political damage caused by the confidential diplomatic cables released by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks two weeks ago.
One important explanation it owes to the world, however, is whether it was behind the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London last Tuesday on charges of alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
People are naturally questioning the timing of the arrest and the refusal of bail for Assange, although some $150,000 in surety has already been guaranteed.
Somewhere there must be a confidential US diplomatic cable that would shed light on this.
New York Congressman Peter King has called on the US government to go after Assange and to prosecute the New York Times, which published some of the cables. Senator Joe Lieberman has also suggested investigation into the New York Times and described its action as "an act of bad citizenship".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has depicted the leak as an attack on the fabric of responsible government. President Barack Obama has condemned the WikiLeaks' actions as "deplorable." The US government is considering legal action against WikiLeaks.
Under such pressure, Amazon.com, Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have all suspended their services to WikiLeaks. And the WikiLeaks website is no longer accessible in the US.
The US has also been trying numerous ways to press charges against Assange, including using the outdated World War I-era Espionage Act, although some cables suggest that some US diplomats should also be worried if that happens.
All these have been happening in a country, which loudly boasts of its First Amendment guaranteeing the freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Obama addressed Internet freedom in a town hall-style meeting in Shanghai in November 2009. Hillary Clinton also went on at great length about Internet freedom in her speech at the Newseum in Washington in January, pointing an accusing finger at China and several other countries.
But the Assange case reveals such rhetoric is just so much hypocrisy. It is apparent that when Internet freedom conflicts with self-declared US national interests, or when Internet freedom exposes lies by the self-proclaimed open and transparent government, it immediately becomes a crime.
The power of new media should never be underestimated. Even in China, many of the scandals, such as corruptions and coal mine disasters, are broken first by new media.
Up until recently, Obama must have loved new media and social media because they helped him raise funds and garner support to defeat John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign. Now, he may be having second thoughts.
The arrest of Assange has triggered widespread concern and protest both inside the US and around the world. In the US, academics and professionals have talked about its possible implications for a free press. In other parts of the world, people are protesting against the attacks on Internet freedom.
Censoring the Internet by pushing for charges against Assange would only inflict more damage on the US. While the leaked cables may have damaged some trust between the US government and foreign governments, the crusade against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange would destroy people's trust in the freedom of the press preached by the US.
Remember, Assange is a fellow journalist, or a citizen journalist in the age of new media, and uncovering the secrets of governments, corporations and interest groups is part of a journalist's job.
The author is deputy editor of China Daily US Edition.
(Source: China Daily)
Editor: Zhang Xiang
English.news.cn 2010-12-14 09:12:33
By Chen Weihua
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Government officials of the United States have been busy apologizing to countries around the world for the huge embarrassment and political damage caused by the confidential diplomatic cables released by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks two weeks ago.
One important explanation it owes to the world, however, is whether it was behind the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in London last Tuesday on charges of alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
People are naturally questioning the timing of the arrest and the refusal of bail for Assange, although some $150,000 in surety has already been guaranteed.
Somewhere there must be a confidential US diplomatic cable that would shed light on this.
New York Congressman Peter King has called on the US government to go after Assange and to prosecute the New York Times, which published some of the cables. Senator Joe Lieberman has also suggested investigation into the New York Times and described its action as "an act of bad citizenship".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has depicted the leak as an attack on the fabric of responsible government. President Barack Obama has condemned the WikiLeaks' actions as "deplorable." The US government is considering legal action against WikiLeaks.
Under such pressure, Amazon.com, Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have all suspended their services to WikiLeaks. And the WikiLeaks website is no longer accessible in the US.
The US has also been trying numerous ways to press charges against Assange, including using the outdated World War I-era Espionage Act, although some cables suggest that some US diplomats should also be worried if that happens.
All these have been happening in a country, which loudly boasts of its First Amendment guaranteeing the freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Obama addressed Internet freedom in a town hall-style meeting in Shanghai in November 2009. Hillary Clinton also went on at great length about Internet freedom in her speech at the Newseum in Washington in January, pointing an accusing finger at China and several other countries.
But the Assange case reveals such rhetoric is just so much hypocrisy. It is apparent that when Internet freedom conflicts with self-declared US national interests, or when Internet freedom exposes lies by the self-proclaimed open and transparent government, it immediately becomes a crime.
The power of new media should never be underestimated. Even in China, many of the scandals, such as corruptions and coal mine disasters, are broken first by new media.
Up until recently, Obama must have loved new media and social media because they helped him raise funds and garner support to defeat John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign. Now, he may be having second thoughts.
The arrest of Assange has triggered widespread concern and protest both inside the US and around the world. In the US, academics and professionals have talked about its possible implications for a free press. In other parts of the world, people are protesting against the attacks on Internet freedom.
Censoring the Internet by pushing for charges against Assange would only inflict more damage on the US. While the leaked cables may have damaged some trust between the US government and foreign governments, the crusade against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange would destroy people's trust in the freedom of the press preached by the US.
Remember, Assange is a fellow journalist, or a citizen journalist in the age of new media, and uncovering the secrets of governments, corporations and interest groups is part of a journalist's job.
The author is deputy editor of China Daily US Edition.
(Source: China Daily)
Editor: Zhang Xiang
Julian Assange and WikiLeaks
It's interesting that Julian Assange's bullied plight, as an Australian citizen, is of far more concern to democratically minded people all over the world than it is to the Prime Minister and Government of Australia. Prime Minister Julia Gillard's notion that he is a criminal because the Americans say so really defines us as good little servant-helpers without conscience or care for our own.
Tuesday 7 December 2010
Philosophy
'Oh young soul, so full of young soul; oh, to be so full again with the agitation of emptiness.'
Thursday 2 December 2010
Photo taken on Dec. 1, 2010 shows the aluminum-lithium alloy fore part of the airframe of C919 jumbo jet, which is manufactured by Hongdu Aviation Industry Group, in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province. The C919 is China's self-developed jumbo jet, 17-meter-long, 5.6-meter-high, 3.96-meter-wide, which is designed to accomodate 156-168 passengers. (Xinhua/Zhou Ke)
MOUTAI
China starts residents relocation to protect "national liquor"
English.news.cn 2010-12-01 13:03:16
GUIYANG, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Moving away from her house after living there for decades, Chen Liangying waved a long goodbye to Moutai, both the name of her hometown and China's "national liquor".
"It takes just three minutes from my house to get to the distillery. The mild fragrance of wine is even integrated into our lives," said Chen Liangying, 57, a resident of Moutai town, in the city of Renhuai in southwest China's Guizhou Province, which enjoyed a long history of wine making.
The local government relocated Chen and about 16,000 local residents in Moutai town to a new residential zone in Renhuai, to protect the unique environment of the beverage's high quality in the old town.
The distillery of Moutai occupies three-fifths of the old town area, which is five square kilometers. The micro-environment of Moutai, including the water source, microflora, vegetation and geological environment, all contributes to the unique taste and quality of the world famous wine.
In Moutai, the brewing plants and the office building of Kweichow Moutai were even merged among the randomly built residential houses.
"Some people from outside the area longing for the Moutai secret may have the first impression of 'fragrance Moutai Wine, dirty Moutai Town' when they walk in the town," said Wang Zhaoda, the chief official with the Moutai Town.
In fact, there are about 49,000 people living in the small old town, and 15,000 among them are living nearby or mingled in the brewery zone.
The climate and vegetation in the town of Moutai is quite unique, which contribute to the taste of the liquor. Moutai is classified as "sauce-fragrances" for it offers an exceptionally pure, mild and mellow soy sauce-like fragrance that lingers after drinking.
_________________________
Moutai Red Diamond: $20,000 a bottle
English.news.cn 2010-12-01 13:03:16
GUIYANG, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Moving away from her house after living there for decades, Chen Liangying waved a long goodbye to Moutai, both the name of her hometown and China's "national liquor".
"It takes just three minutes from my house to get to the distillery. The mild fragrance of wine is even integrated into our lives," said Chen Liangying, 57, a resident of Moutai town, in the city of Renhuai in southwest China's Guizhou Province, which enjoyed a long history of wine making.
The local government relocated Chen and about 16,000 local residents in Moutai town to a new residential zone in Renhuai, to protect the unique environment of the beverage's high quality in the old town.
The distillery of Moutai occupies three-fifths of the old town area, which is five square kilometers. The micro-environment of Moutai, including the water source, microflora, vegetation and geological environment, all contributes to the unique taste and quality of the world famous wine.
In Moutai, the brewing plants and the office building of Kweichow Moutai were even merged among the randomly built residential houses.
"Some people from outside the area longing for the Moutai secret may have the first impression of 'fragrance Moutai Wine, dirty Moutai Town' when they walk in the town," said Wang Zhaoda, the chief official with the Moutai Town.
In fact, there are about 49,000 people living in the small old town, and 15,000 among them are living nearby or mingled in the brewery zone.
The climate and vegetation in the town of Moutai is quite unique, which contribute to the taste of the liquor. Moutai is classified as "sauce-fragrances" for it offers an exceptionally pure, mild and mellow soy sauce-like fragrance that lingers after drinking.
_________________________
Moutai Red Diamond: $20,000 a bottle
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Monday 29 November 2010
Sunday 28 November 2010
on the ground in North China regarding Korea
a personal perspective on the current war-games the US and Korea are holding, from a correspondent in Northern China:
"So North Korean is putting its surface to surface missal aiming at south korean, once it happened, south korean capital city will be damaged, of course US and South Korean will fight back, but think about it: North Korean has no fear of being bombed, as it has nothing really, but South Korean is stupid to turn its land into a war field for US to show its power here."
"So North Korean is putting its surface to surface missal aiming at south korean, once it happened, south korean capital city will be damaged, of course US and South Korean will fight back, but think about it: North Korean has no fear of being bombed, as it has nothing really, but South Korean is stupid to turn its land into a war field for US to show its power here."
Saturday 27 November 2010
Bangkok Post regarding Korea
N.Korea stages artillery drill, warns of war
Published: 26/11/2010 at 04:00 PM
Online news: World
North Korea staged an artillery firing drill on Friday near the South Korean border and warned that planned US-South Korean naval exercises at the weekend would bring the peninsula closer to war.
A South Korean Marine displays rocket casings left after shells were fired by North Korea at a S.Korean island on November 23. North Korea staged an artillery firing drill on Friday near the South Korean border and warned that planned US-South Korean naval exercises at the weekend would bring the peninsula closer to war.
The shelling sent residents of Yeonpyeong island, targeted in a deadly North Korean bombardment on Tuesday, scrambling for air raid shelters, but Seoul said it appeared to be an exercise and that no shells landed on its territory.
The latest incident came as Seoul grappled with the domestic political fallout of Tuesday's attack after the defence minister resigned over criticism that the South's response to the bombardment had been too weak.
A defence ministry spokesman told AFP explosions were heard several times between noon and 3 pm (0300-0600 GMT) and appeared to have come from the North.
"We assume North Korea carried out firing exercises," he said.
A military source quoted by YTN television said there were about 20 shells which apparently landed on the North's side.
A YTN correspondent on Yeonpyeong island, which was hit by the bombardment Tuesday, said those residents who have not already fled for the mainland were rushing to air raid shelters.
Tuesday's shelling killed four people, injured 18 and set some 20 buildings and forests ablaze.
A US aircraft carrier battle group was heading for the Yellow Sea for the four-day drill starting Sunday, a show of force designed to deter the North after Tuesday's strike rang alarm bells worldwide.
The North, unrepentant over its earlier barrage, criticised "the US imperialists and south Korean puppet war-like forces" for what it called an exercise in "sabre-rattling".
"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again the war exercises targeted against the (North)," its official news agency said.
Pyongyang has used such language frequently in the past. It was unclear whether it would take any measures to try to disrupt the drill -- which has also been criticised by the North's sole major ally China.
The US military says the exercise is defensive and planned well before the North's "unprovoked artillery attack" but it demonstrates the US "commitment to regional stability through deterrence".
The North has said its firing Tuesday was retaliation, after South Korea had fired shells into its waters during an exercise. But South Korea expressed outrage at the first bombardment of its civilian areas since the 1950-53 war.
However its response to the attack was widely criticised as too soft and Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young resigned Thursday. The presidency said it was still screening candidates to replace Kim.
The South fired 80 shells at the North's coastal artillery positions Tuesday in response to the barrage, but says it did not call in air strikes to avoid escalating the situation.
Seoul military officials said that their firing had started fires and caved in trenches in the North. "We suspect the North also sustained considerable damage," one official said.
The South plans to send more troops and guns to five frontline islands and also said it would change the rules of engagement to let its military hit back harder in case of future attacks.
The North, in another statement Friday, vowed to stage such attacks if there is any further "provocation" by the South.
Accusing the South of confrontational tactics, it said the North is "getting fully ready to give a shower of dreadful fire and blow up the bulwark of the enemies if they dare to encroach again upon the (North's) dignity and sovereignty even in the least".
South Korea, the United States, Australia and other nations have pressed China -- the North's economic lifeline -- to rein in its unruly neighbour.
China has criticised plans for the US-South Korean war games but has failed to join international condemnation of the North's bombardment.
Parts of Yeonpyeong island resembled a war zone Friday, an AFP correspondent reported. Stray dogs in the streets begged for food after their owners joined an exodus of hundreds of villagers to the mainland.
Charred ruined buildings could be seen along streets littered with glass and household items and draped with loose power lines. A liquor store displayed hundreds of shattered bottles.
Some residents fled the island for fear of more shelling from the North when the joint naval exercise starts, said policeman Kang Sang-Beom.
"My mission is to prevent possible looting as the village is virtually deserted," Kang said. "We are also looking for any more dead."
World powers are struggling to draw up a response to the latest actions by a regime that has in recent years staged two nuclear tests and fired long-range missiles.
It is also accused of sinking a South Korean warship in March with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies.
Many observers believe the attack was meant to highlight the military credentials of heir apparent Kim Jong-Un, youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il.
Published: 26/11/2010 at 04:00 PM
Online news: World
North Korea staged an artillery firing drill on Friday near the South Korean border and warned that planned US-South Korean naval exercises at the weekend would bring the peninsula closer to war.
A South Korean Marine displays rocket casings left after shells were fired by North Korea at a S.Korean island on November 23. North Korea staged an artillery firing drill on Friday near the South Korean border and warned that planned US-South Korean naval exercises at the weekend would bring the peninsula closer to war.
The shelling sent residents of Yeonpyeong island, targeted in a deadly North Korean bombardment on Tuesday, scrambling for air raid shelters, but Seoul said it appeared to be an exercise and that no shells landed on its territory.
The latest incident came as Seoul grappled with the domestic political fallout of Tuesday's attack after the defence minister resigned over criticism that the South's response to the bombardment had been too weak.
A defence ministry spokesman told AFP explosions were heard several times between noon and 3 pm (0300-0600 GMT) and appeared to have come from the North.
"We assume North Korea carried out firing exercises," he said.
A military source quoted by YTN television said there were about 20 shells which apparently landed on the North's side.
A YTN correspondent on Yeonpyeong island, which was hit by the bombardment Tuesday, said those residents who have not already fled for the mainland were rushing to air raid shelters.
Tuesday's shelling killed four people, injured 18 and set some 20 buildings and forests ablaze.
A US aircraft carrier battle group was heading for the Yellow Sea for the four-day drill starting Sunday, a show of force designed to deter the North after Tuesday's strike rang alarm bells worldwide.
The North, unrepentant over its earlier barrage, criticised "the US imperialists and south Korean puppet war-like forces" for what it called an exercise in "sabre-rattling".
"The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again the war exercises targeted against the (North)," its official news agency said.
Pyongyang has used such language frequently in the past. It was unclear whether it would take any measures to try to disrupt the drill -- which has also been criticised by the North's sole major ally China.
The US military says the exercise is defensive and planned well before the North's "unprovoked artillery attack" but it demonstrates the US "commitment to regional stability through deterrence".
The North has said its firing Tuesday was retaliation, after South Korea had fired shells into its waters during an exercise. But South Korea expressed outrage at the first bombardment of its civilian areas since the 1950-53 war.
However its response to the attack was widely criticised as too soft and Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young resigned Thursday. The presidency said it was still screening candidates to replace Kim.
The South fired 80 shells at the North's coastal artillery positions Tuesday in response to the barrage, but says it did not call in air strikes to avoid escalating the situation.
Seoul military officials said that their firing had started fires and caved in trenches in the North. "We suspect the North also sustained considerable damage," one official said.
The South plans to send more troops and guns to five frontline islands and also said it would change the rules of engagement to let its military hit back harder in case of future attacks.
The North, in another statement Friday, vowed to stage such attacks if there is any further "provocation" by the South.
Accusing the South of confrontational tactics, it said the North is "getting fully ready to give a shower of dreadful fire and blow up the bulwark of the enemies if they dare to encroach again upon the (North's) dignity and sovereignty even in the least".
South Korea, the United States, Australia and other nations have pressed China -- the North's economic lifeline -- to rein in its unruly neighbour.
China has criticised plans for the US-South Korean war games but has failed to join international condemnation of the North's bombardment.
Parts of Yeonpyeong island resembled a war zone Friday, an AFP correspondent reported. Stray dogs in the streets begged for food after their owners joined an exodus of hundreds of villagers to the mainland.
Charred ruined buildings could be seen along streets littered with glass and household items and draped with loose power lines. A liquor store displayed hundreds of shattered bottles.
Some residents fled the island for fear of more shelling from the North when the joint naval exercise starts, said policeman Kang Sang-Beom.
"My mission is to prevent possible looting as the village is virtually deserted," Kang said. "We are also looking for any more dead."
World powers are struggling to draw up a response to the latest actions by a regime that has in recent years staged two nuclear tests and fired long-range missiles.
It is also accused of sinking a South Korean warship in March with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies.
Many observers believe the attack was meant to highlight the military credentials of heir apparent Kim Jong-Un, youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il.
Chinese FM talks with DPRK, ROK, U.S. diplomats on Korean Peninsular situation
English.news.cn 2010-11-26 22:00:26 FeedbackPrintRSS
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Chi Jae Ryong, Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to China, and held phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ROK Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on Friday.
They exchanged views on issues including the situation of the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement released Friday night by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Yang said China gives utmost attention to the exchange of fire between the DPRK and the ROK which happened days ago, and is very concerned about the development of the situation.
The DPRK and the ROK should exercise calm and restraint, engage in contacts as soon as possible, and solve problems through negotiations and dialogue, Yang said.
"The pressing task now is to put the situation under control and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents," he said.
Parties related should actively work for peace and facilitate talks, jointly safeguard peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula while adopting responsible attitudes, Yang said.
Parties involved should work together for an early restart of the six-party talks, and push forward denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula, Yang said.
The DPRK, the ROK and the U.S. sides elaborated on their views on the current situation, and expressed the importance they attached to China's stance and their willingness to maintain contacts with the Chinese side.
The ROK and the DPRK exchanged artillery fire Tuesday in waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, leaving four people dead.
China on Friday also voiced its opposition to any military acts in its exclusive economic zone without permission, days before a joint military exercise between United States and ROK on the Yellow Sea.
"We hold a consistent and clear-cut stance on the issue. We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement Friday.
Editor: Deng Shasha
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Chi Jae Ryong, Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to China, and held phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ROK Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan on Friday.
They exchanged views on issues including the situation of the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement released Friday night by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Yang said China gives utmost attention to the exchange of fire between the DPRK and the ROK which happened days ago, and is very concerned about the development of the situation.
The DPRK and the ROK should exercise calm and restraint, engage in contacts as soon as possible, and solve problems through negotiations and dialogue, Yang said.
"The pressing task now is to put the situation under control and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents," he said.
Parties related should actively work for peace and facilitate talks, jointly safeguard peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula while adopting responsible attitudes, Yang said.
Parties involved should work together for an early restart of the six-party talks, and push forward denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula, Yang said.
The DPRK, the ROK and the U.S. sides elaborated on their views on the current situation, and expressed the importance they attached to China's stance and their willingness to maintain contacts with the Chinese side.
The ROK and the DPRK exchanged artillery fire Tuesday in waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, leaving four people dead.
China on Friday also voiced its opposition to any military acts in its exclusive economic zone without permission, days before a joint military exercise between United States and ROK on the Yellow Sea.
"We hold a consistent and clear-cut stance on the issue. We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement Friday.
Editor: Deng Shasha
Friday 26 November 2010
The problem with Myanmar and the problem with Aung Saan Suu Kyi
For many years economic sanctions have been applied to Myanmar due to the presence of the Military Junta...which is not a government per se, just some individuals who make a lot of profit, don't manage or govern etc except through military threat and the usual methodologies.
Whilst UN sanctions have been appplied, Myanmar still exports huge stocks of oil and gas, timber and rubies every day to neighbouring countries. The oil and gas is bought 'under the counter' at very very low prices...the world oil-gas price 25 years ago. Very cheap energy on a massive scale. This oil and gas totally fuels quite a few SE Asian countries...their road transport, taxis, buses, etc and their mechanised farming, distribution etc as well as highly mechanised motor vehicle production plants, ship building concerns, high-rise development, school building, fuel for huge fishing fleets etc.
One of these countries is the world's largest rice exporter. What the sanctions, in effect, do is to provide a few countries with very very cheap oil and gas which keeps the production, distribution and export cost of rice, vegetables, fish, meat etc at a low price. These countries also produce cars for the world market: Toyotas and Hondas and most other brands.If the world rice price goes up, millions suffer...malnutrition and starvation, and the unit cost price of cars across the world goes up.
If Aung Saan Sui Kyi came to power leading a democratic government and all sanctions were removed, Myanmar could sell its products at world-parity prices and the world rice price would skyrocket and many millions would suffer. The SE Asian economies, many of them leading-light democracies, would dive as would the world economy, per se. Who on earth will pay quite a few highly-peopled nations massive ongoing compensation to enable Myanmar to be free? 50 million Myanmar folk benefit at the cost of 65 million Thais? How many Laotians? Cambodians? Chinese? Vietnamese? Malaysians? Pakistanis?
The probably well-intentioned sanctions make it in the neighbours' best interests that the military Junta continues in power in Myanmar. It also provides ongoing opportunity for neighbour states to bully the Junta to get the best prices possible.This is why the Junta can easily afford to free Aung Saan Sui Kyi now without any worry at all. She has been made powerless, in fact, by the very sanctions put in place to pressure the Junta to empower her. She doesn't matter anymore. It's business as usual. Business is business and South East Asia, as well as we in the West, depend upon this staus quo.
Whilst UN sanctions have been appplied, Myanmar still exports huge stocks of oil and gas, timber and rubies every day to neighbouring countries. The oil and gas is bought 'under the counter' at very very low prices...the world oil-gas price 25 years ago. Very cheap energy on a massive scale. This oil and gas totally fuels quite a few SE Asian countries...their road transport, taxis, buses, etc and their mechanised farming, distribution etc as well as highly mechanised motor vehicle production plants, ship building concerns, high-rise development, school building, fuel for huge fishing fleets etc.
One of these countries is the world's largest rice exporter. What the sanctions, in effect, do is to provide a few countries with very very cheap oil and gas which keeps the production, distribution and export cost of rice, vegetables, fish, meat etc at a low price. These countries also produce cars for the world market: Toyotas and Hondas and most other brands.If the world rice price goes up, millions suffer...malnutrition and starvation, and the unit cost price of cars across the world goes up.
If Aung Saan Sui Kyi came to power leading a democratic government and all sanctions were removed, Myanmar could sell its products at world-parity prices and the world rice price would skyrocket and many millions would suffer. The SE Asian economies, many of them leading-light democracies, would dive as would the world economy, per se. Who on earth will pay quite a few highly-peopled nations massive ongoing compensation to enable Myanmar to be free? 50 million Myanmar folk benefit at the cost of 65 million Thais? How many Laotians? Cambodians? Chinese? Vietnamese? Malaysians? Pakistanis?
The probably well-intentioned sanctions make it in the neighbours' best interests that the military Junta continues in power in Myanmar. It also provides ongoing opportunity for neighbour states to bully the Junta to get the best prices possible.This is why the Junta can easily afford to free Aung Saan Sui Kyi now without any worry at all. She has been made powerless, in fact, by the very sanctions put in place to pressure the Junta to empower her. She doesn't matter anymore. It's business as usual. Business is business and South East Asia, as well as we in the West, depend upon this staus quo.
From CNN regarding today's resignation of the South Korean Defence Minister
State-run North Korean broadcaster KCTV reported Thursday that South Korea had stated its plan to "fire towards our territorial waters with their Yeonpyeong-based artillery on November 22." The North said it asked "the puppet South" not to do so, but it persisted, and the North fired back in self-defense.
"If the U.S. truly wishes to ease the tension in the Chosun [Korean] peninsula, rather than protecting the puppet South, they should control the South, so the South will not hang on to maintaining the NLL [Northern Limit Line] by invading territorial waters and firing artilleries," KCTV said. "This incident shows that the acutal offender of the armistice is the puppet South and it is the U.S. which created tension in the Chosun west sea."
Earlier Thursday, state media said North Korea will launch additional attacks on South Korea if the South continues "reckless military provocation."
Pyongyang "will deal without hesitation the second and third strong physical retaliatory blow" if provoked, its KCNA news agency said.
As an example of provocation, it indirectly referred to a military drill that South Korea and the United States plan to hold in the Yellow Sea starting Sunday.
Meanwhile, South Korea said Thursday that it will strengthen and supplement its rules of engagement in the Yellow Sea, following the incident on Yeonpyeong Island.
South Korea was holding annual military exercises near North Korea when Pyongyang started shelling Tuesday. Shells from the South's exercises landed in North Korean waters, KCNA said.
KCNA on Thursday continued its verbal offensive against the South Korean-U.S. military drill.
"The U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces are foolishly contemplating an additional provocation aimed to orchestrate another farce and charade such as the 'Cheonan' case while kicking up rows and holding confabs one after another such as the declaration of a 'state of emergency' and 'a meeting of ministers in charge of security,' far from drawing due lesson from the recent shelling," KCNA said.
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington on Wednesday sailed toward the Yellow Sea for the drill, which was billed as defensive.
"It is a long-planned exercise," said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"That said, it is meant to send a very strong signal of deterrence and also work with our very close allies in South Korea," Mullen said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
"We're very focused on restraint -- not letting this thing get out of control. The South Koreans so far have responded that way. Nobody wants this thing to turn into a conflict."
On Thursday morning, Lee and his economic and security ministers met in Seoul.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for the Yeonpyeong victims. After the meeting, South Korea said it would boost its rules of engagement in the Yellow Sea.
South Korean marine forces based in five islands near North Korea and the disputed Northern Limit Line also will be reinforced, a government spokesman said.
The tense maritime border between the two Koreas has become the major military flash point on the Korean peninsula in recent years.
The Yeonpyeong attack also will lead to a plan for civilian safety on the five islands in the Yellow Sea, the government spokesman said. No details were immediately offered about the plan, but Lee on Wednesday ordered the strengthening of civilian shelters on the islands.
The islands include Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, off which the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk in March, killing 46 sailors. Seoul blamed Pyongyang for the torpedo attack, which the North has denied.
The Lee administration also will continue to closely monitor capital markets and foreign exchange rates, prepared to take preventative measures as needed, the spokesman said. The Yeonpyeong shelling sent ripples through South Korea's stock market, which has rebounded.
South Korea's economic and security ministries will cooperate closely, and the administration will publicize developments in real time to address major concerns and squelch rumors, the spokesman said.
The Yeonpyeong attack was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953.
"If the U.S. truly wishes to ease the tension in the Chosun [Korean] peninsula, rather than protecting the puppet South, they should control the South, so the South will not hang on to maintaining the NLL [Northern Limit Line] by invading territorial waters and firing artilleries," KCTV said. "This incident shows that the acutal offender of the armistice is the puppet South and it is the U.S. which created tension in the Chosun west sea."
Earlier Thursday, state media said North Korea will launch additional attacks on South Korea if the South continues "reckless military provocation."
Pyongyang "will deal without hesitation the second and third strong physical retaliatory blow" if provoked, its KCNA news agency said.
As an example of provocation, it indirectly referred to a military drill that South Korea and the United States plan to hold in the Yellow Sea starting Sunday.
Meanwhile, South Korea said Thursday that it will strengthen and supplement its rules of engagement in the Yellow Sea, following the incident on Yeonpyeong Island.
South Korea was holding annual military exercises near North Korea when Pyongyang started shelling Tuesday. Shells from the South's exercises landed in North Korean waters, KCNA said.
KCNA on Thursday continued its verbal offensive against the South Korean-U.S. military drill.
"The U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces are foolishly contemplating an additional provocation aimed to orchestrate another farce and charade such as the 'Cheonan' case while kicking up rows and holding confabs one after another such as the declaration of a 'state of emergency' and 'a meeting of ministers in charge of security,' far from drawing due lesson from the recent shelling," KCNA said.
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington on Wednesday sailed toward the Yellow Sea for the drill, which was billed as defensive.
"It is a long-planned exercise," said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"That said, it is meant to send a very strong signal of deterrence and also work with our very close allies in South Korea," Mullen said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
"We're very focused on restraint -- not letting this thing get out of control. The South Koreans so far have responded that way. Nobody wants this thing to turn into a conflict."
On Thursday morning, Lee and his economic and security ministers met in Seoul.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for the Yeonpyeong victims. After the meeting, South Korea said it would boost its rules of engagement in the Yellow Sea.
South Korean marine forces based in five islands near North Korea and the disputed Northern Limit Line also will be reinforced, a government spokesman said.
The tense maritime border between the two Koreas has become the major military flash point on the Korean peninsula in recent years.
The Yeonpyeong attack also will lead to a plan for civilian safety on the five islands in the Yellow Sea, the government spokesman said. No details were immediately offered about the plan, but Lee on Wednesday ordered the strengthening of civilian shelters on the islands.
The islands include Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, off which the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk in March, killing 46 sailors. Seoul blamed Pyongyang for the torpedo attack, which the North has denied.
The Lee administration also will continue to closely monitor capital markets and foreign exchange rates, prepared to take preventative measures as needed, the spokesman said. The Yeonpyeong shelling sent ripples through South Korea's stock market, which has rebounded.
South Korea's economic and security ministries will cooperate closely, and the administration will publicize developments in real time to address major concerns and squelch rumors, the spokesman said.
The Yeonpyeong attack was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since the Korean War ended in 1953.
Studying the Leadership in North Korea
The following site gives a good picture of the North Korean personalities at play in the present times: http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/kim-family/
Thursday 25 November 2010
Myanmar / Burma and Aung San Sui Kyi
Read Widely
The News Sources I usually use are: Xinhua China, SBS Australia, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, CNN, BBC and Radio France Internationale. These are my 'standard' info sources although the China Daily, The Bangkok Post and smaller info services from South East and North Asia are sometimes used, as are first-hand reports from people I know in SE Asia and in NE China. I'll usually mention the source.
Radio France Internationale regarding the rationale for the North Korean approach
Radio France Internationale - English Service This week's NKorean shelling came after Pyongyang's troops got jittery because of a US-SKorea military exercise, including four hours of live shelling, according to S Korean analyst Noh Jong-soon whose view varies from the predominant media coverage.
from Xinhua regarding the escalation between DPRK and ROK
DPRK accuses U.S. of misrepresenting shelling incident, warns of retaliation against S.Korea
English.news.cn 2010-11-25 12:03:59 FeedbackPrintRSS
PYONGYANG, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The military of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday blamed the United States for "misrepresenting" the shelling incident, warning of retaliations if there are more "military provocations" by South Korea.
"Korean People's Army will deal without hesitation the second and third strong physical retaliatory blow" in that case, the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army said in a notice sent to the U.S.forces in South Korea, according to the official KCNA news agency.
The KCNA blamed the United States for its attempt to misrepresent the shelling incident, "while thoughtlessly shielding the south Korean puppet forces who dared make a preempt shelling at the DPRK."
The exchange of artillery fire on Tuesday between the two sides killed four people.
In the notice, the DPRK army said the situation goes to prove that it is the South Korean forces "which actually violated the Armistice Agreement and it was none other than the U.S. which sparked off the conflict in the above-said waters."
The United States has publicly voiced support for South Korea after the shellings, pledging to protect South Korea and would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the Asian ally.
The shelling incident has escalated the already-tense situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Pyongyang and Seoul have blamed each other for setting off the artillery attacks.
In the notice, the DPRK military reiterated its claim that it's South Korea fired shells into DPRK territories without announcement while staging military exercises, straining the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea has reinforced the security forces in the area and ordered extra troops deployed on islands near the DPRK side on Thursday.
The latest clash was seen as an omen of further deterioration of the situation on the Peninsula following a longtime stall of the six-party talks and the sinking of a South Korean warship in late March.
English.news.cn 2010-11-25 12:03:59 FeedbackPrintRSS
PYONGYANG, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The military of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday blamed the United States for "misrepresenting" the shelling incident, warning of retaliations if there are more "military provocations" by South Korea.
"Korean People's Army will deal without hesitation the second and third strong physical retaliatory blow" in that case, the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army said in a notice sent to the U.S.forces in South Korea, according to the official KCNA news agency.
The KCNA blamed the United States for its attempt to misrepresent the shelling incident, "while thoughtlessly shielding the south Korean puppet forces who dared make a preempt shelling at the DPRK."
The exchange of artillery fire on Tuesday between the two sides killed four people.
In the notice, the DPRK army said the situation goes to prove that it is the South Korean forces "which actually violated the Armistice Agreement and it was none other than the U.S. which sparked off the conflict in the above-said waters."
The United States has publicly voiced support for South Korea after the shellings, pledging to protect South Korea and would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the Asian ally.
The shelling incident has escalated the already-tense situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Pyongyang and Seoul have blamed each other for setting off the artillery attacks.
In the notice, the DPRK military reiterated its claim that it's South Korea fired shells into DPRK territories without announcement while staging military exercises, straining the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea has reinforced the security forces in the area and ordered extra troops deployed on islands near the DPRK side on Thursday.
The latest clash was seen as an omen of further deterioration of the situation on the Peninsula following a longtime stall of the six-party talks and the sinking of a South Korean warship in late March.
Balance and Non-Intervention
I think the important thing with the current escalation of angst between the DPRK North and the ROK South of Korea is that this is old business between very angry brothers who have a long history of strife. Both sides look towards a future unification and perhaps this unification can only arise after some awful struggle. If the other players (US/Japan and China) keep some distance and just let these guys work things out, well, that would be best. The last time East-West got involved it just created a broken hateful situation which persists to this day. You don't unite by division. I hope the Koreans work this out -it's their job and it's their business, and no one elses.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Warning from Russia
MOSCOW, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia said Tuesday it was important to prevent any escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula following news reports on exchange of fires between Pyongyang and Seoul.
"Importantly, this should not escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula," an unnamed foreign ministry official was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
So far all related news reports were originated from South Korea, said the official, and one should wait until the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) makes official comments on the issue.
Earlier in the day, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the DPRK fired scores of artillery onto a South Korean island and also into waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula near a tense maritime border. Media reports said one South Korean soldier had been killed by the artillery fire, and South Korea fired back in response.
The exchange of fire came when South Korea was engaged in massive annual military exercises involving some 70,000 troops, launched Monday and scheduled to last through Nov. 30.
Editor: Xiong Tong
"Importantly, this should not escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula," an unnamed foreign ministry official was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
So far all related news reports were originated from South Korea, said the official, and one should wait until the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) makes official comments on the issue.
Earlier in the day, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the DPRK fired scores of artillery onto a South Korean island and also into waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula near a tense maritime border. Media reports said one South Korean soldier had been killed by the artillery fire, and South Korea fired back in response.
The exchange of fire came when South Korea was engaged in massive annual military exercises involving some 70,000 troops, launched Monday and scheduled to last through Nov. 30.
Editor: Xiong Tong
DPRK and ROK exchange fire
BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China has noticed reports about the allegedly exchange of fire between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Tuesday, urging related sides to do things conducive to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.
"We have noticed related reports and are concerned about the issue. The real situation needs to be confirmed," said spokesman Hong Lei at a regular briefing.
"We hope related parties to do things conductive to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula," Hong Lei said.
One ROK soldier was killed and 13 others were injured when the DPRK fired Tuesday scores of artillery onto a ROK island and also into waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula near a tense maritime border, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Reportedly fired at 2:34 p.m. local time, some shells landed on ROK's Yeonpyeong Island and local residents are currently moving to shelters.
ROK fired back in response, and the military is now put on a heightened alert, officials said. It also deployed fighter jets to the west sea, according to Seoul's Yonhap News Agency.
"We have noticed related reports and are concerned about the issue. The real situation needs to be confirmed," said spokesman Hong Lei at a regular briefing.
"We hope related parties to do things conductive to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula," Hong Lei said.
One ROK soldier was killed and 13 others were injured when the DPRK fired Tuesday scores of artillery onto a ROK island and also into waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula near a tense maritime border, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Reportedly fired at 2:34 p.m. local time, some shells landed on ROK's Yeonpyeong Island and local residents are currently moving to shelters.
ROK fired back in response, and the military is now put on a heightened alert, officials said. It also deployed fighter jets to the west sea, according to Seoul's Yonhap News Agency.
clash
real clash in north asia: brothers from north and south korea have begun to fight again. this can very easily change the whole world.
Monday 22 November 2010
Frogs
Some people seek to belong so much, so deeply, that they begin to live in small spaces that accommodate this desire completely.
The small minded frog in the dark well looking up at the sky says: 'This is all mine, so I belong here.'
The open minded frog who has escaped the narrow well by choice and suctioned action says: 'None of this is mine; so I belong anywhere I choose.'
Still, we are all frogs.
The small minded frog in the dark well looking up at the sky says: 'This is all mine, so I belong here.'
The open minded frog who has escaped the narrow well by choice and suctioned action says: 'None of this is mine; so I belong anywhere I choose.'
Still, we are all frogs.
Thursday 4 November 2010
Monday 1 November 2010
Information about the Communist Party of China
Organizations of the Communist Party of China
Political Bureau:
Members of Standing Committee of Political Bureau: Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xijinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, Zhou Yongkang.
Members of Political Bureau (alphabetically listed): Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, He Guoqiang, Hu Jintao, Hui Liangyu, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, Liu Qi, Liu Yandong (female), Liu Yunshan, Wang Gang, Wang Lequan, Wang Qishan, Wang Yang, Wang Zhaoguo, Wen Jiabao, Wu Bangguo, Xi Jinping, Xu Caihou, Yu Zhengsheng, Zhang Dejiang, Zhang Gaoli, Zhou Yongkang.
Central Military Commission: Chairman: Hu Jintao; Vice Chairmen: Xi Jinping, Jinping, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou; Members: Liang Guanglie, Chen Bingde, Li Jinai, Liao Xilong, Chang Wanquan, Jing Zhiyuan, Wu Shengli, Xu Qiliang.
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC: ?
Central Committee of the CPC
Total Members of Central Committee: 204 (Full List)
Total Alternate Members of Central Committee: 167 (Full List)
Total Members of Central Disciplinary Committee: 127 (Full List)
Total Members of CPC in 2007: 73.36 million (Among these members 71.8% under 35 years old, 31.9% are female members; 7.1% Ethnic Minorities, (Data collected in Oct. 2007)
The Major Organizations Under Central Committee:
International Liaison Department (Chief: Wang Jiarui)
United Front Work Department (Chief: DU Qinglin ) (website is in Chinese)
Organization Department (Chief: Li Yuanchao)
Propaganda Department (Chief: Liu Yunshan)
Party Central Academy (President: Zeng Qinghong)
Total Number of Branches: Over 3.3 millions (grass-roots branches)
Political Bureau:
Members of Standing Committee of Political Bureau: Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xijinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, Zhou Yongkang.
Members of Political Bureau (alphabetically listed): Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, He Guoqiang, Hu Jintao, Hui Liangyu, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, Liu Qi, Liu Yandong (female), Liu Yunshan, Wang Gang, Wang Lequan, Wang Qishan, Wang Yang, Wang Zhaoguo, Wen Jiabao, Wu Bangguo, Xi Jinping, Xu Caihou, Yu Zhengsheng, Zhang Dejiang, Zhang Gaoli, Zhou Yongkang.
Central Military Commission: Chairman: Hu Jintao; Vice Chairmen: Xi Jinping, Jinping, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou; Members: Liang Guanglie, Chen Bingde, Li Jinai, Liao Xilong, Chang Wanquan, Jing Zhiyuan, Wu Shengli, Xu Qiliang.
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC: ?
Central Committee of the CPC
Total Members of Central Committee: 204 (Full List)
Total Alternate Members of Central Committee: 167 (Full List)
Total Members of Central Disciplinary Committee: 127 (Full List)
Total Members of CPC in 2007: 73.36 million (Among these members 71.8% under 35 years old, 31.9% are female members; 7.1% Ethnic Minorities, (Data collected in Oct. 2007)
The Major Organizations Under Central Committee:
International Liaison Department (Chief: Wang Jiarui)
United Front Work Department (Chief: DU Qinglin ) (website is in Chinese)
Organization Department (Chief: Li Yuanchao)
Propaganda Department (Chief: Liu Yunshan)
Party Central Academy (President: Zeng Qinghong)
Total Number of Branches: Over 3.3 millions (grass-roots branches)
Mishima's Spring Snow.27 pages into Spring Snow, the first of Yukio Mishima's Cycle of Novels under the banner The Sea of Fertility. He's a lovely writer of the lost time and cultures he knew and loved so well. He shows the etiquette and form whilst also bringing through the underlying passions of the experience of 'being'. I'll comment more as time and pages go by.
Sunday 31 October 2010
Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
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| Congratulations to Hanoi: One Thousand Years Young; and Congratulations to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam |
Happy Birthday to Hanoi this week. A Great City for One Thousand Years.
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| United, Strong, Young, Ancient and Undefeated Photos from Internet |
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