NAPSNet Daily Report 17 September, 2009

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NAPSNet Daily Report 17 September, 2009

Contents in this Issue:

Preceding NAPSNet Report

MARKTWO

I. NAPSNet

1. ROK on DPRK Missile Program

Yonhap News (Kim Hyun, “N. KOREA MUST GIVE UP NUKES FOR BETTER TIES WITH JAPAN, U.S.: SEOUL MINISTER “, Seoul, 2009/09/16) reported that the ROK supports the DPRK seeking better relations with the United States and Japan, but the communist state will not be rewarded with progress if it keeps nuclear weapons, Seoul’s unification minister said Wednesday. “Our government hopes for North Korea to normalize relations with the United States and Japan and pursue economic cooperation,” Hyun In-taek said in a seminar with journalists in Seoul. “North Korea needs those things,” he said. “However, the North cannot achieve them by skirting inter-Korean relations or without denuclearization.”

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2. NATO, Russia on DPRK Nukes

Bloomberg (James G. Neuger, “NATO SEEKS RUSSIAN ROLE IN FIGHTING NUCLEAR SPREAD (UPDATE1) “, 2009/09/16) reported that NATO’s chief sought closer cooperation with Russia in fighting nuclear proliferation, citing threats from Iran and the DPRK as risks to world stability. “North Korea already is nuclear and Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons capability,” Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a video posting today. “That kind of world is neither in NATO’s nor in Russia’s interest. We can do more to prevent it.”

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3. US on DPRK Missile Program

Korea Times (Ser Myo-ja , “U.S. REAFFIRMS 6-PARTY TALKS STRUCTURE “, 2009/09/16) reported that in an apparent move to preserve the international community’s cooperation in sanctioning the DPRK for its nuclear arms development, the United States said yesterday that any bilateral contact with Pyongyang is only a means to bring the regime back to six-party negotiations.  In a daily press briefing, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington had not shifted its policy by showing a willingness to meet one-on-one with the DPRK.  “We will not have any substantive bilateral talks with North Korea that’s outside of the six-party context, that our goal is to get North Korea to return to the six-party context, six-party talks,” Kelly said.

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4. US Sanctions on DPRK

Yonhap News (Hwang Doo-hyong, “U.S. NOT TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR N. KOREA FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING: WHITE HOUSE “, Washington, ) reported that the United States will withhold funding for teh DPRK and several other countries for their poor human rights record involving human trafficking, the White House said. In a memorandum, President Barack Obama said, “Consistent with section 110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, I hereby make the determination provided in section 110 of the act with respect to Burma, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Zimbabwe not to provide certain funding for those countries’ governments for fiscal year 2010 until such government complies with the minimum standards or significant efforts to bring itself into compliance as may be determined by the Secretary of State in a report to the Congress.”

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5. DPRK-PRC Relations

Reuters (Nick Macfie, “CHINESE ENVOY HOLDS TALKS IN NORTH KOREA”, Beijing, 2009/09/16) reported that an envoy to PRC President Hu Jintao held talks with DPRK officials in Pyongyang on Wednesday, the PRC Foreign Ministry reported, but it did not say if the DPRK’s controversial nuclear program was discussed. State Councilor Dai Bingguo held talks with DPRK First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Chu, discussing bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern, the ministry said.

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6. Inter-Korea Relations

Yonhap News (“KOREAS SIGN WAGE ACCORD ON JOINT PARK “, Seoul, 2009/09/16) reported that the ROK and DPRK agreed to a 5 percent wage hike at a joint industrial park on Wednesday, the Unification Ministry said, in the latest sign of inter-Korean projects returning to normal. The DPRK voluntarily withdrew its earlier demand for a 400 percent raise in monthly wages for its workers at the ROK-run park in Kaesong, just north of the border last week in a striking shift from its unyielding attitude in four rounds of negotiations from April to July.

Chosun Ilbo (“N.KOREAN FISHING FLEET TRESPASSES FOR 3RD DAY”, 2009/09/16) reported that scores of DPRK trawlers fishing for blue crab crossed the Northern Limit Line near Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea for three consecutive days from Sunday to Tuesday. Military authorities are at a loss how to respond. “They returned north after fishing for three to four hours until ROK high-speed patrol boats arrived,” military sources reported. On Tuesday afternoon, a DPRK patrol boat also crossed the NLL to keep watch over the fishing boats, the source added. Military authorities speculate that the trawlers are trying to fill the blue crab quota assigned to them during the “150-day struggle”.

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7. ROK-US Military

Korea Times (Jung Sung-ki, “OUTGOING COMMANDER BOLSTERS KOREA-US ALLIANCE”, 2009/09/16) reported that a  successful transition of operational control of ROK troops during wartime from the U.S. military to Korean commanders will serve as a barometer for the future strategic alliance between Seoul and Washington, the outgoing deputy commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) said. Gen. Lee Sung-chool, 60, who also serves as head of the CFC’s Ground Component Command, said any failure of the  transfer would give the wrong signal to the DPRK and destabilize the security of the Korean Peninsula. Both countries agreed to launch the new system on April 17, 2012, from when the two militaries are to run separate theater commands, with the U.S. military shifting to a naval- and air-centric support role.

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8. Japan Government

New York Times (“JAPAN’S NEW PRIME MINISTER TAKES OFFICE, ENDING AN ERA “, Tokyo, 2009/09/16) reported that Yukio Hatoyama, who led his party to a landmark victory in elections last month, took office as prime minister and named a cabinet of loyal allies on Wednesday, promising to bring change to a country mired in stagnation. Mr. Hatoyama has said the Democratic Party will reverse Japan’s long economic malaise, increasing social benefits and aligning policies more closely with the public’s needs rather than those of big business or the country’s bureaucrats. He has also spoken of redefining Japan’s relationship with the United States, its closest ally.

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9. Japan Defense

Kyodo News (“JAPAN SUCCEEDS IN TESTING BALLISTIC MISSILE INTERCEPTION”, Tokyo, 2009/09/17) reported that Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force successfully shot down a mock ballistic missile Wednesday in the country’s second test of a U.S.-developed Patriot ballistic missile interception system, the Defense Ministry said. The 1.3 billion-yen test using a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 guided missile was conducted in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A missile produced by a Japanese company in a licensing agreement was used for the first time. An ASDF unit detected and tracked the mock missile with radar before a PAC-3 missile successfully shot it down, the ministry said.

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10. Japan-US Military Relations

Associated Press (“OKADA ORDERS THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OVER JAPAN-U.S. SECRET PACTS”, 2009/09/16) reported that new Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said early Thursday that he has ordered the ministry’s top bureaucrat to investigate the issue of alleged secret pacts between Japan and the United States, including one on the handling of nuclear weapons, and to issue a report around the end of November. “I think there is a high probability that the secret pacts exist, but I do not have clear evidence,” Okada told reporters, noting that Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka has expressed his intention to comply with the order. Okada issued the order immediately after assuming his ministerial post Wednesday .

Kyodo (“CLINTON PRODS JAPAN INTO REALISTIC STANCE ON SECURITY ISSUES”, Washington, 2009/09/16) reported that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Japan’s new administration to adopt a down-to-earth policy stance on security issues. It was (former New York Mayor) Mario Cuomo who famously said, ‘You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose,”’ she told reporters, noting the United States has already begun ”intensive” talks with the new Japanese government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on issues of mutual concern. ”This is a new government for Japan. It’s a change, which is dramatic,” Clinton said. ”But I am very confident that the strength of our relationship and our alliance will stand the test of any political changes, although there will be new policies and new approaches. I think that’s only to be expected,” she said.

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11. Japan-US Relations

Washington Post Foreign Service (Blaine Harden, “NEW JAPANESE PM PUSHES CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT”, Tokyo, 2009/09/16) reported that Japan’s new prime minister said Wednesday that he intends to change his country’s “somewhat passive” relationship with the United States and to review the large American military presence there. Yukio Hatoyama said he wants to build a relationship of trust with President Obama, which would “create an environment where we can both frankly state our opinions.”

Kyodo News (“‘EAST ASIA COMMUNITY’ CONCEPT NOT INTENDED TO EXCLUDE U.S.: HATOYAMA”, Tokyo, 2009/09/16) reported that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday he does not intend to exclude the United States when he pursues the idea of creating an “East Asian Community” for stable economic cooperation and national security across the region. In his first press conference as prime minister, Hatoyama also said he hopes to “take time” in working on issues that could emerge as sticking points between Japan and the United States.

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12. PRC Civil Unrest

Agence France Presse (Susan Stumme , “POLICE FOIL ‘TERROR’ ATTACKS IN CHINA’S XINJIANG”, Beijing, 2009/09/16) reported that police in the PRC’s restive Xinjiang have detained six people suspected of plotting “terror” bombings officials said Wednesday. The six members of the alleged “terror gang” were detained on August 26 in the suburbs of the city of Aksu, 675 kilometres (420 miles) southwest of Urumqi, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement. A “large quantity” of materials and tools needed to make explosive devices was seized, the ministry said. An initial investigation revealed the group had built more than 20 devices in three Aksu workshops and “planned to carry out terrorist” attacks using motorbike, car and suicide bombs, it added.

EarthTimes (“XINJIANG NEEDLE ATTACKS ORGANIZED BY GROUPS, CHINA SAYS “, Beijing, 2009/09/16) reported that a spate of attacks with hypodermic needles in the PRC’s far-western Xinjiang region were organized by at least seven groups, state media said on Wednesday. The number of suspects held over the needle attacks had risen to 75, including groups in the regional capital, Urumqi, and six more areas of Xinjiang, the official China Daily quoted local police as saying. The attacks by members of the Uighur minority were “still haunting Urumqi residents,” especially members of the city’s Han Chinese majority, said Zhang Jun, deputy director of the Urumqi public security bureau.

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13. PRC Public Health

Associated Press (“DISCARDED FACTORY CHEMICALS KILL 3 IN EAST CHINA”, Shanghai, 2009/09/16) reported that three people have died and an additional 17 required medical treatment after they were exposed to bags of a toxic chemical illegally dumped by a factory in eastern PRC, the local government said Wednesday. Four of the people sickened were children who played near the chemical, 2,4-dinitrophenol — a poison used in scientific research and in manufacturing various chemicals, explosives and pesticides, according to a statement by the government in Dongyang.

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14. PRC Climate Change

Bloomberg (“CHINA MAY NEED EXTRA $249 BILLION ‘LOW CARBON’ SPENDING IN 2050 “, 2009/09/16) reported that the PRC, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, may have to spend an additional 1.7 trillion yuan ($249 billion) in 2050 to shift the country to a “low-carbon” model of economic growth. “China needs between 500 and 600 billion yuan annually to develop energy-conservation and low-carbon technologies, and the capital requirements are even greater in the reduction of carbon dioxide after 2020,” think-tanks led by the State Council’s Development Research Center said in their 2050 China Energy and CO2 Emissions Report distributed to reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

United Press International (“CHINA TERMS CARBON TAX PROTECTIONISM”, Beijing, 2009/09/16) reported that the PRC says a proposed carbon tax on imported goods from countries without stringent environmental laws would violate World Trade Organization rules. Expressing his government’s firm opposition to any such tax, PRC Assistant Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said it would amount to trade protectionism, China Daily reported.

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15. US on PRC Climate Change

Financial Times (Daniel Dombey , “CHINA AND INDIA WARNED OVER EMISSIONS”, Washington, 2009/09/16) reported that Todd Stern, the US’s climate change envoy, has warned countries such as China and India that they run greater risk of protectionist measures in the US Congress if they do not co-operate on international steps to hold down carbon emissions. Speaking to the FT, he added that the US would still have a solid bargaining position even if, as is widely expected, the Obama administration fails to push its own emissions legislation through Congress before December’s intergovernmental conference at Copenhagen.

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16. Sino-US Trade Relations

Real Time Traders News (“CHINA HAULS U.S TO THE WTO OVER TARIFFS ON TIRES “, 2009/09/16) reported that the PRC has lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against U.S. tariffs on PRC tires, deepening a trade row with Washington ahead of PRC President Hu Jintao’s visit. The PRC commerce ministry’s website quoted Chen Deming, the commerce minister, as saying that the U.S. protective measures against PRC tires announced Friday, was a violation of global trade rules and a “grave act of trade protectionism.” This is an abuse of special safeguard provisions and sends the wrong signal to the world, he said.

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17. US on PRC Defense

Bloomberg (Tony Capaccio, “CHINA’S NEW WEAPONS MAY THREATEN U.S. BASES, SHIPS, GATES SAYS “, Shanghai, 2009/09/16) reported that the PRC is developing new weapons that could threaten the U.S. military presence in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday. “We should be concerned less with their potential ability to challenge the U.S. — fighter-to-fighter or ship-to-ship — and more with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options,” Gates said. “Investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, and ballistic missiles could threaten American’s primary way to project power and help allies in the Pacific — particularly our forward bases and carrier strike groups,” Gates told the Air Force Association.

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18. Sino-India Relations

Bloomberg (James Rupert, “INDIA REJECTS CHINA’S OPPOSITION TO DALAI LAMA VISIT “, 2009/09/16) reported that India rejects the PRC’s opposition to a plan by the Dalai Lama to visit a northeastern Indian state claimed partly by the PRC, Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said. The PRC’s objection, voiced last week by its foreign ministry, has no merit, Krishna said Wednesday in an interview. While the government has not explicitly said the visit will be permitted, Krishna said the Dalai Lama “is free to go anywhere in India.”

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II. PRC Report

19. PRC Environment

Beijing Times (“BEIJING WASTE LANDFILLS HAVE ONLY 4-YEAR LIFE LEFT”, 2009/09/16) reported that Beijing waste landfills only have “4-year life left”. If new treatment facilities cannot be constructed in time, then Beijing will face a difficult situation of waste treatment, sources with Beijing Municipal Administration Committee said yesterday.

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20. PRC Civil Society and Cross Strait Relations

China News Net (“MAINLAND DONATED 968.9 MILLION RMB TO TAIWAN DISASTER AREA”, 2009/09/16) reported that as at now, China mainland has donated 968.9 million RMB of fund to Taiwan typhoon disaster area, among which 100 million has already been sent to Taiwan by various channels, said Yang Yi, spokesman of Taiwan Office of the State Council at a news conference this morning.

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21. PRC Civil Society

China Net (“CHINA CHARITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2009 ISSUED”, 2009/09/16) reported that China Charity Development Report 2009 was issued today in Beijing. For the first time, the Report describes the history and status quo of China charity industry, and is honored as the Historical Record (a famous Chinese history book) of China charity industry.