NAPSNet Daily Report 23 September, 2009

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NAPSNet Daily Report 23 September, 2009

Contents in this Issue:

Preceding NAPSNet Report

MARKTWO

I. NAPSNet

1. DPRK-Pakistan Nuclear Cooperation

The Korea Herald (“PAKISTAN SOLD NUKE SECRETS TO N.K. FOR $3M”, 2009/09/22) reported that a letter written by Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan to his Dutch wife in 2003 and revealed by the Times of London indicates that the Pakistan government might have approved the sales of nuclear secrets to Iran and several other countries including DPRK. “(A now-retired general) took $3 million through me from the N. Koreans and asked me to give some drawings and machines,” the letter states.

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2. PRC on DPRK Nuclear Program

Agence France Presse (“CHINA POSITIVE ON N.KOREA DEVELOPMENTS”, Brussels, 2009/09/22) reported that the PRC said on Tuesday tensions had eased on the Korean peninsula. “At present, the situation on the (Korean) peninsula… has taken a turn for the better,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

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3. US on DPRK Nuclear Program

Yonhap News (Hwang Doo-hyong, “U.S. PLEDGES PACKAGE OF INCENTIVES IN RETURN FOR N. KOREA’S DENUCLEARIZATION “, Washington, 2009/09/22) reported that the United States Tuesday reiterated that it will provide a package of incentives to the DPRK if it takes irreversible steps toward its denuclearization. “We’ve been very clear that if the DPRK takes irreversible steps leading to complete denuclearization and thereby upholds its commitments made in the joint statement of 2005, that we and our partners would be prepared to reciprocate in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, that we’d prepare to discuss some kind of package of steps that we could take,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

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4. DPRK Government

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (“NORTH KOREA SHUFFLES CABINET IN EFFORT TO BUILD A STRONG AND PROSPEROUS NATION “, 2009/09/22) reported that in order to meet the goal of building a ‘Strong and Prosperous Nation’ by the year 2012, DPRK authorities are reshuffling some positions within the Cabinet, which is its ‘Economic Headquarters’. During the first session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) last April, Kim Jong Il launched his third regime, and now less than 6 months later, is restructuring the Cabinet.

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5. DPRK-PRC Relations

Yonhap News (Sam Kim, “(LEAD) N. KOREA SENDS MILITARY DELEGATION TO CHINA AMID SIGNS OF THAW IN NUCLEAR TALKS “, Seoul, 2009/09/22) reported that the DPRK said it sent a military delegation led by a confidant of leader Kim Jong-il to the PRC on Tuesday, signaling a widening thaw in talks over its nuclear arms programs. “A military delegation led by Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces Pak Jae-gyong left Pyongyang to visit China,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a Korean-language dispatch.

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6. DPRK Food Security

Yonhap News (“N. KOREAN CORN CROP TO FALL BY 40 PERCENT: AGRONOMIST “, Seoul, 2009/09/22) reported that the DPRK ‘s corn yield this year is expected to fall by 40 percent due to a fertilizer shortage and bad weather, the head of a Seoul-based aid group said Tuesday after a survey in the DPRK. The forecast yield portends a severe food shortage in the country where corn is believed to make up 40 percent of the total food supply.   Seoul expects the DPRK will fall more than one million tons short of the 5.48 million tons of food needed to feed its population of 24 million this year.

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7. Inter-Korea Relations

Yonhap News (Tony Chang, “AID GROUPS SLAM GOV’T BAN ON NORTH KOREAN AID AS ‘COERCIVE’ “, 2009/09/22) reported that a group of private aid groups on Tuesday urged the government to fully reopen the door for humanitarian assistance to the DPRK, arguing that Seoul should not withhold private contributions as a means of leverage to pressure Pyongyang. “Our government is using the aid programs, upon which many lives in the North depend, as a political tool to coerce the North Korean regime. Such measures will only exacerbate problems between the two Koreas,” Rev. Park Chang-bin, chief operating officer of World Vision Korea, said at a press conference.

JoongAng Daily (Yoo Jee-ho , “PRESIDENT: POOR ECONOMY IN NORTH LIMITS UNIFICATION”, 2009/09/23) reported that ROK President Lee Myung-bak said the DPRK economy first has to improve before the two Koreas can consider unification, saying peace on the peninsula remains the first priority. Lee said it may be difficult for the divided Koreas to reunite because of the large economic chasm separating them. “Unification with North Korea is important, but it’s more important for the two Koreas to live in peace,” Lee said. “The economic gap is too substantial for unification now. One-third of North Koreans are starving. That’s why we’re prepared to help North Korea if it gives up on nuclear weapons.”

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8. ROK Defense

Agence France-Presse (“SKOREA LAUNCHES MISSILE BOATS TO GUARD NKOREA BORDER”, Seoul, 2009/09/23) reported that the ROK Wednesday launched two new high-speed patrol boats armed with missiles to guard the border with the DPRK. The defence ministry said the 400-ton boats — the Han Sang Guk and the Jo Cheon Hyeong — made their debut in the southern port city of Jinhae. They were named after soldiers killed in a 2002 naval clash with the DPRK and equipped with guided missiles with a range of up to 140 kilometres (84 miles).

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9. ROK Climate Change

The Korea Herald (” LEE PROPOSES BOLD PLAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE”, 2009/09/22) reported that President Lee Myung-bak yesterday proposed a new U.N. mechanism to encourage developing countries to join the fight against global warming and for the industrial world to provide financial and technological support. At the U.N. Climate Summit in New York, Lee called for the establishment of a registry of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, or NAMAs, of developing countries at the United Nations.

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10. Japan Climate Change

Kyodo News (“HATOYAMA PLEDGES ON WORLD STAGE 25% EMISSIONS CUT BY 2020”, 2009/09/22) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pledged on the world stage Tuesday to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, while proposing international mechanisms to offer technological and financial support to developing nations as part of efforts to tackle global warming.

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11. Japan Gender Equality

Asahi Shimbun (“U.N. TO JAPAN: GET SERIOUS ON GENDER EQUALITY”, 2009/09/22) reported that Japan again faces international criticism for its lack of progress in eliminating discrimination against women. A United Nations panel has recommended “immediate action” to correct a wide range of problems, from legal inequality and wage gaps to pornographic publications. Calling government efforts to address problems “insufficient,” the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) set a two-year time limit for Japan to act in such fields as Civil Code revisions.

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12. Japan-US Military Relations

Asahi Shimbun (“MIXED SIGNALS ON REPORT LED TO SECRET NUKE DEAL”, 2009/09/22) reported that a difference in interpretation of a diplomatic document in 1959 apparently led to a secret pact allowing Washington to bring nuclear weapons into Japan–and decades of denials from Tokyo, former officials said. The revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in 1960 introduced a “prior consultation” system between the two nations about nuclear weapons.

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13. Japan-Australia Relations

Agence France Presse (“JAPAN’S NEW GOVERNMENT STANDS BY WHALING”, 2009/09/22) reported that Japan’s new government urged Australia on Tuesday to help prevent violent attacks by activists on Japanese whalers as it stood by the country’s traditional support for whaling, an official said. “During the meeting, our minister called for Australia’s cooperation against groups like Sea Shepherd (Conservation Society), which resort to violent action,” a Japanese foreign ministry official said. Australian Foriegn Minister Smith stopped short of replying to the request, only saying Australia wants to resolve the dispute through dialogue to avoid straining relations.

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14. Sino-Japan Relations

Agence France Presse (Shingo Ito , “JAPAN PM PROPOSES EAST ASIAN COMMUNITY TO CHINA”, New York, 2009/09/22) reported that Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama made his global debut with a message of reconciliation to the PRC, asking President Hu Jintao to work together for an EU-style East Asian community. Hatoyama, who advocates an easing of Japan’s long prickly ties with its giant neighbor, told Hu that he intends to push a vision of an East Asian community to unify the region, possibly under a single currency. “I told (Hu) that I would like to form an East Asian community by overcoming differences,” Hatoyama told reporters.

Kyodo News (“HATOYAMA, HU AGREE TO WORK ON N. KOREA, GET GAS FIELD PROJECT MOVING”, ) reported that proposing forming an East Asian Community, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama agreed Monday with Chinese President Hu Jintao to deepen bilateral ties, work closely toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, and make progress on the disputed joint gas-development project in the East China Sea.

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15. Cross Strait Relations

Agence France-Presse (Amber Wang, “KADEER ACCEPTS INVITATION TO VISIT TAIWAN: GROUP”, Taipei, 2009/09/23) reported that exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer has accepted an invitation to visit Taiwan , supporters said Wednesday. “Kadeer expressed her thanks for the invitation and said she will certainly visit Taiwan,” said Marie Lin of the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps following a telephone discussion with Kadeer on Tuesday.

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16. PRC Tibet Issue

Associated Press (“CHINA SHUTS TIBET TO FOREIGNERS BEFORE ANNIVERSARY”, Beijing, 2009/09/22) reported that PRC has closed Tibet to foreign tourists and deployed soldiers armed with machine guns in the streets of Beijing — part of a raft of stringent security measures ahead of the 60th anniversary of communist rule. Even kite-flying has been banned in the capital.

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17. PRC Public Health

Reuters (“CHINA SAYS FIRST H1N1 FLU VACCINATIONS A SUCCESS”, Beijing, 2009/09/22) reported that the first batch of people to receive vaccinations against the new swine flu has reported no serious side effects, PRC officials said on Tuesday. The PRC began a mass vaccination program on Monday, with around 100,000 students in Beijing due to be given the shots initially. The PRC’s Health Minister Chen Zhu said public service providers and vulnerable groups in densely populated cities and travel hubs would be given priority.

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18. PRC Media

Reuters (Lucy Hornby, “CYBERATTACKS TARGET FOREIGN MEDIA IN CHINA”, Beijing, 2009/09/22) reported that foreign media in the PRC have been targeted by e-mails laden with malicious software in attacks that appear to be tied to the run-up to the National Day military parade. While spam and viral attacks are not uncommon, the latest wave is part of a pattern of increasingly sophisticated e-mails tailored to tempt foreign reporters, rights activists and other targets to open infected attachments.

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19. PRC-US Relations

Associated Press (“OBAMA SITS DOWN WITH CHINAS LEADER”, New York, 2009/09/22) reported that President Barack Obama and PRC President Hu Jintao offered each other diplomatic assurances Tuesday at a testy time in their nations’ complex relationship. “I’m committed to pursuing a genuinely cooperative and comprehensive relationship with China,” Obama said. “We need to make our relationship more dynamic and effective.” For his part, Hu said: “The Chinese side is willing to work with the United States to keep our bilateral relationship firmly along the right course.” He said that included finding a way to “properly handle sensitive issues.”

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20. PRC Climate Change

Associated Press (“UN CLIMATE SUMMIT PUTS CHINA, INDIA IN SPOTLIGHT”, United Nations, 2009/09/22) reported that PRC laid down a significant plan for curbing greenhouse gases on Tuesday, outlining ambitious goals of planting enough forest to cover an area the size of Norway and generating 15 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources within a decade.

Agence France Presse (“CHINA PLEDGES TO CURB CARBON EMISSIONS”, United Nations, 2009/09/22) reported that Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday pledged to curb the growth of PRC’s carbon dioxide emissions by a “notable margin” by 2020 from their 2005 levels. But Hu also did not put a figure on the cuts, telling the UN General Assembly that the curbs would be measured by unit of Gross Domestic Product, in line with PRC’s concerns about preserving its rapid economic growth .

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21. Sino-US Relations

Associated Press (Barry Schweid, “POLICY CENTER URGES DEEPER US-CHINA RELATIONSHIP”, Washington, 2009/09/22) reported that a  strategic think tank with close connections to the Obama administration is calling on the White House to develop better and broader relations with the PRC. The Center for a New American Security declared Tuesday that the first principle of PRC policy should be: “China should not be treated as a threat.” The United States, consequently, “should make a concerted effort to engage China as a major partner in confronting global problems.”

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22. Regional Public Health

(Hana Alberts, “ASIA PREPARES FOR SWINE FLU SECOND WAVE”, Hong Kong, 2009/09/22) reported that a health official in the region said the second wave of swine flu cases has come sooner than expected. “The level [of H1N1 cases in Japan and Korea] has already passed the threshold reached at the end of November or December or close to January,” said Takeshi Kasai, regional advisor in communicable disease surveillance and response for the World Health Organization (WHO). “It already happened in August or early September.”

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II. PRC Report

23. PRC Energy

China Metal Processing Online (“CHINA NUCLEAR POWER CAPACITY TO BE GREATLY INCREASED”, 2009/09/22) reported that by 2030, China’s nuclear power capacity will reach 134 million KW to the max, according to a report issued by World Nuclear Association on September 10 th . At present, there are 14 nuclear power stations in China, and the nuclear power capacity is 14 million KW. 

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24. PRC Civil Society

Sohu.com (“HAIER WON CHINA CSR PRIZE 2009”, 2009/09/22) reported that Haier Group, China’s famous electronic appliance company, has won China Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Prize recently. The Prize was awarded by China CSR Research Center, to encourage Haier’s contributions to the society.

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25. PRC Civil Rights

People’s Daily Online (“CHINESE GOVERNMENT PROTECTS CITIZEN’S RELIGION RIGHT “, ) reported that according to Information Office of the State Council today published “Development and Progress of Xinjiang” White Paper. The Paper pointed out that freedom of religion is enshrined in the constitution as a fundamental right of citizens. Xinjiang will fully implement this policy and promote the sound development of religion.