NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, July 26, 2004

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NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, July 26, 2004

NAPSNet Daily Report Monday, July 26, 2004

United States

II. Japan

III. ROK

Preceding NAPSNet Report

I. United States

1. DPRK on US Proposal

The New York Times (“NORTH KOREA SEEMS TO REJECT BUTTER-FOR-GUNS PROPOSAL FROM U.S.”, 2004-07-25) reported that the DPRK appeared Saturday to reject the Bush administration’s offer last month of a gradual lifting of sanctions and of economic aid from neighboring countries in return for a rapid dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program. But, as is often the case with the DPRK, it was far from clear that the government’s statement was definitive. On Saturday, through a Foreign Ministry spokesman, the DPRK said Mr. Bush’s plan, which was conveyed last month in Beijing, was “a sham offer” because it required the DPRK to disarm and submit to intrusive inspections before it could get the full benefits of economic concessions from the US, Japan, the ROK and Russia.

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2. Inter – Korean Relations

The Washington Post (“AS TENSIONS SUBSIDE BETWEEN TWO KOREAS, U.S. STRIVES TO ADJUST THAW STRAINS SOUTH’S ALLIANCE WITH WASHINGTON “, 2004-07-25) reported that three weeks ago, the loudspeakers that once blasted competing slogans fell silent, symbolizing the new spirit of amity between the DPRK and the ROK. “We, from one blood and using one language, can no longer live separated,” bellowed the last message from the North . “We must put the earliest possible end to the tragedy of national division.” “The South’s new relationship with the North has changed the nature of the South Korean-U.S. alliance, and we are still trying to figure out what the new one will look like,” said Bong Geun Jun, a former senior policy adviser in the ROK’s Unification Ministry. “The truth is, we have a better relationship now with the North and feel less threatened by them. That also means we feel less of a need to rely on the U.S.”

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3. DPRK Economic Development

Yonhap (“NORTH KOREANS BECOMING “MONEY-MINDED”: REPORT “, 2004-07-25) reported that DPRK citizens are beginning to become more money-oriented and trying to stand on their own feet instead of relying on state handouts, an aid expert said in a report made available Sunday. “The way of doing things is changing to a ‘money-minded approach’ and there was more freedom in terms of how to farm and what to plant, and responsibilities had been delegated to lower levels, with the focus on sub-work teams,” said Kathi Zellweger, who toured the DPRK from June 1 to 15, her 46th visit since 1995.

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4. DPRK – US Relations

The Associated Press (“NORTH KOREA ACCUSES U.S. OF SPY FLIGHTS “, 2004-07-25) reported that the DPRK on Sunday accused the U.S. military of conducting more than 1,200 spy flights over the DPRK from January to June and claimed that Washington was looking for a chance to launch an attack. The U.S. military used U-2, RC-135, and other reconnaissance aircraft for the flights, the DPRK’s official news agency KCNA said. “The fact clearly shows that the U.S. imperialists are looking for a chance to launch a pre-emptive attack on the DPRK while stepping up their preparations for a war behind the curtain of the six-party talks,” KCNA said.

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5. Japanese – DPRK Relations

Donga Ilbo (“JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE AIRCRAFT WAS NEARLY ATTACKED BY NORTH KOREAN MISSILE “, 2004-07-26) reported that Tokyo Shinbun reported on July 24 that a Japanese intelligence aircraft approached the skies of the Korean peninsula and were almost in danger of a missile attack from a DPRK fighter. According to an official from the Self-Defense Forces, as a Japanese intelligence and electronic warfare aircraft, an EP-3, approached the Korean Peninsula at around 10 a.m. last March 2, a DPRK MIG-29 fighter engaged and locked onto the aircraft. In response to this emergency situation, Japan scrambled two F-15 fighters, but the DPRK fighter quickly cancelled the aim of its missile. The U.S. revealed the situation at that time, but Japan hasn’t so far.

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6. US Food Aid to DPRK

US Department of State Press Release (“NORTH KOREA — U.S. FOOD DONATION”, 2004-07-23) reported that “the US will donate 50,000 metric tons of agricultural commodities through the World Food Program’s 2004 emergency feeding operation for the people of the DPRK. The US is providing food aid to help relieve the suffering of the DPRK people despite our concerns about the DPRK government’s policies. We remain committed to contributing food aid to help meet urgent humanitarian needs. The World Food Program informed us that, over the past six months, the DPRK has allowed an increased number of monitoring visits to distribution sites in the DPRK and more frequent evaluations of family food security conditions. However, the DPRK still fails to meet standards of humanitarian access that apply to and are accepted by other recipients of international food assistance. We plan to continue to discuss with the DPRK government officials the importance of allowing humanitarian access consistent with international standards.”

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7. ROK Food Aid to the DPRK

Yonhap News (“SEOUL TO BUY 100,000 TONS OF RICE FROM VIETNAM FOR NORTH KOREA “, 2004-07-26) reported that the ROK will purchase 100,000 tons of rice from Vietnam and send it directly to the DPRK to help ease its chronic food shortages, officials said Monday. The shipment is part of 300,000 tons of rice the ROK plans to buy overseas to be sent directly to the impoverished DPRK by ship.

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8. DPRK Refugees

Reuters (“N.KOREAN REFUGEES SAID TO BE GATHERING IN VIETNAM “, 2004-07-26) reported that about 300 refugees from DPRK have taken refuge in Vietnam, apparently after fleeing through the PRC, and could leave for the ROK as early as Monday, sources familiar with the issue said. Officials declined to comment on the reports. The ROK and Vietnam appeared to be aiming for utmost secrecy to ensure nothing goes awry with the operation through a communist country that has friendly ties with the isolated DPRK. “The North Koreans are being helped by some South Koreans here,” said a Vietnamese business woman with links to the ROK business community in southern Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. The refugees numbered about 300, she said.

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9. Inter – Korean Talks

Yonhap (“S. KOREA TO START PREPARATIONS FOR INTER-KOREAN MINISTERIAL TALKS “, 2004-07-26) reported that the ROK government will hold a series of meetings with relevant agencies this week to gear up for the next round of inter-Korean ministerial talks, a government official said on Sunday. However, it remains to be seen whether the talks, scheduled between July 3 and 6 in Seoul, will be held as planned with the DPRK remaining sulky over the ROK’s ban on civic activists from visiting Pyongyang for the anniversary of the demise of its founder Kim Il-sung.

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10. Inter – Korean Border Dispute

Agence France-Presse (“SOUTH KOREA AXES THREE-STAR GENERAL OVER NORTH KOREA LEAK”, 2004-07-26) reported that the ROK’s defense ministry has axed a three-star general for leaking sensitive information about a naval confrontation with the DPRK to the media. Lieutenant General Park Sung-Choon was fired from his job as head of the defense intelligence agency at the Joint Chiefs of Staff and will retire from the military, officials said. “The defense ministry has dismissed the director of the defense intelligence agency from the post,” ministry spokesman Nam Dai-Yeon said in a statement. It said Park would retire from the military “to take responsibility for causing trouble to the president and the entire military.”

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11. US – ROK Relations

The New York Times (“WITH SOUTH KOREA, U.S. TO MOVE TROOPS FROM SEOUL”, 2004-07-24) reported that the US and ROK reached a formal agreement on Friday on a plan to move all American military forces in downtown Seoul, the ROK capital, to bases south of the city as part of a major realignment of troops on the Korean peninsula, Pentagon officials said. The agreement on the status of about 8,000 US troops now in Seoul will not reduce their total number in the ROK. The relocation from Seoul is part of a broader plan to reposition US troops in the ROK away from the demilitarized zone along the border with the DPRK, and to withdraw most American troops from an urban headquarters that sits on some of the most valuable real estate in Seoul. Under the new plan, American forces now stationed at locations between Seoul and the demilitarized zone are to be consolidated before moving to permanent quarters south of the capital.

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12. ROK on US’s North Korea Human Rights Act

Chosun Ilbo (“URI PARTY EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT NK HUMAN RIGHTS ACT “, 2004-07-26) reported that the Uri Party decided on Monday to carefully consider a party-level response to the “North Korea Human Rights Act,” recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as certain quarters of the party point out that the bill could negatively influence peace on the Korean Peninsula. Rep. Yu Seon-ho, a head member of the Unification, Diplomacy and Trade Committee, said in a meeting briefing that, “We positively evaluate the bill as an expression of interest in the improvement of human rights in North Korea… There may be concerns, however, that the bill could have a negative influence on the six-party talks currently underway and intra-Korean relations.”

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13. ROK on US Elections

Yonhap (“BUSH REELECTION MAY LEAD TO MILITARY ACTION AGAINST N.K.: EXPERT “, 2004-07-26) reported that Washington may use a “military option” to deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs if U.S. President George W. Bush is reelected in November, even if six-party negotiations continue after the election, a U.S. expert here said Monday. “President Bush still has two options. He can either negotiate with Pyongyang or use his ‘military option’ to deal with North Korea,” Kenneth Quinones, former DPRK analyst for the U.S. Department of State, said in a briefing for ROK lawmakers.

Chosun Ilbo (“FORMER CLINTON ADVISOR WARNS THAT EVEN KERRY WOULD NEED TIME TO SOLVE NUCLEAR ISSUE”, 2004-07-26) Kenneth Quinones, the director of the Korean Peninsula Program of International Action, said Monday that negotiations on the DPRK nuclear issue might not be settled early even if the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate John Kerry wins the presidential election in November. Quinones said that the U.S.’ goal is to completely dismantle the nuclear program of the DPRK, regardless of who the U.S. president is.

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14. Working Group Talks on DPRK Nuclear Issue

Reuters (“N.KOREA ‘WORKING GROUP’ MAY MEET IN LATE AUG-REPORT”, 2004-07-25) reported that six-country “working level” talks on the DPRK’s nuclear programs could be held in late August, Japanese media said on Sunday, while the foreign minister said Japan hoped to hold bilateral talks with the DPRK next month. Such talks would be held before senior-level six-way talks, expected by the end of September. A focal point is a U.S. proposal offering multilateral energy aid to the DPRK as part of a solution to the nuclear crisis, the Nihon Keizai daily said. Participants have begun coordination aimed at holding the working-level talks in late August, the newspaper added.

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15. Abductee Reunion

The Associated Press (“ACCUSED DESERTER, U.S. COUNSEL COULD MEET”, 2004-07-26) reported that an accused U.S. Army deserter hospitalized in Japan after living in the DPRK for 40 years could meet with U.S. military defense counsel as early as this week, news reports said Monday. Charles Jenkins, 64, accused of abandoning his Army post in 1965 and defecting to the DPRK, came to Japan earlier this month for medical treatment. National broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News service reported Monday that a meeting this week between Jenkins and counsel affiliated with the U.S. military was being worked out.

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16. Japan on Human Cloning

The Associated Press (“JAPAN PANEL OKS HUMAN CLONING FOR RESEARCH”, 2004-07-25) reported that the government’s top science council has voted to adopt policy recommendations that would permit limited cloning of human embryos for scientific research in Japan, an official said. Japan banned human cloning in 2001, but has permitted researchers to use human embryos that aren’t produced by cloning. The recommendations, approved Friday, would let researchers produce and use cloned human embryos, but only for basic research, said Tomohiko Arai, an official at the Cabinet’s Council for Science and Technology Policy. The cloning won’t be allowed for use in treating human patients. Britain and the ROK allow therapeutic cloning. The US prohibits any kind of embryo cloning and has lobbied strongly against it.

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17. Cross Straight Relations

Reuters (“CHINA MILITIA HOLD EXERCISES OPPOSITE TAIWAN-MEDIA”, 2004-07-26) reported that the PRC militia staged a two-day weekend exercise off the southeastern coast, following up on drills by the People’s Liberation Army this month amid simmering tensions with arch-foe Taiwan, state media said on Monday. About 3,000 PRC officers, men, militia and paramilitary police took part in the two-day exercises off Fujian province that ended on Sunday and which involved militia boats providing front-line support at sea, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said. Xinhua did not say whom the exercises were aimed at but they came on the heels of week-long land, sea and air drills that simulated an invasion of Taiwan.

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18. US – Taiwan Arms Sales

The Associated Press (“CHINA TELLS U.S. TO END TAIWAN ARMS SALES”, 2004-07-23) reported that the PRC told the top US military commander for East Asia on Friday that Washington must stop selling weapons to Taiwan and end its military exchanges with the self-ruled island. The comments by Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to Adm. Thomas Fargo added to recent PRC pressure on the US to end military support for Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory. Li demanded that Washington “halt its arms sales to Taiwan and stop its relevant military exchanges aiming to upgrade (its) substantial relationship with Taiwan,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Li told Fargo that was the only way to maintain “steady development” of U.S.- PRC relations and that the US must “clearly understand the seriousness and sensitiveness of the Taiwan situation.”

Agence France-Presse (“TAIWAN HALTS VISIT BY US MILITARY DELEGATION”, 2004-07-26) reported that Taiwan has quietly cancelled a visit by a US military delegation due to growing domestic objection to a controversial plan to buy advanced US weaponry worth billions of dollars, it has been reported. The trip by the US military group, which was set to arrive in Taipei two weeks ago to discuss the massive arms sales plan, was cancelled on the eve of their departure, the China Times said, without identifying the source. “An evaluation showed it was not a good time for the visit before a consensus can be arrived at here,” the source was quoted as saying. “The arms sales must be handled carefully, or it might cause unnecessary problems,” the source added.

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19. Sino – US Relations

The Associated Press (“CHINA, U.S. AGREE TO EXPAND AIR TRAVEL “, 2004-07-24) reported that the PRC and the US signed an aviation agreement Saturday to expand flights in the booming market between the two countries and drop most restrictions on each other’s airlines. The pact will increase numbers of passenger and cargo flights allowed by PRC and U.S. carriers in stages over the next six years, rising from the current 54 per week to 249. “It’s just a smidgen away from being an ‘open skies’ agreement,” Mineta said before a signing ceremony with the PRCs aviation minister, Yang Yuanyuan.

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20. Sino – US Customs Incident

Reuters (“CHINA’S LI TALKS TO POWELL OVER BEATING “, 2004-07-26) reported that PRC Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged the US to make “serious and thorough” investigations into reports that U.S. customs officers at the U.S.-Canadian border attacked a PRC businesswoman last week. In a telephone call with Secretary of State Colin Powell Li demanded that “those responsible for the incident should receive legal punishment,” Xinhua news agency reported. Powell told Li he would investigate, it said. A U.S. customs officer was charged with civil rights violations on Friday after the beating on July 21 of 37-year-old Zhao Yan near Niagara Falls, the China Daily newspaper reported. The U.S. customs officer, Robert Rhodes, doused Zhao with pepper spray and struck her after confusing her with suspected drug smugglers, it said on Monday. Zhao’s lawyer said she would sue for $5 million in compensation, it said.

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21. PRC Hijacking Attempt

Reuters (“ATTEMPTED AIR CHINA FLIGHT HIJACK, MAN DETAINED “, 2004-07-26) reported that a PRC man with a history of mental illness tried to hijack a domestic Air China flight to ROK on Monday, but the airliner made an emergency landing in central PRC and police detained the would-be hijacker. Yang Jinsong, a 32-year-old librarian from southern Hunan province, tried to take over flight CA1343, a Boeing 737, en route from Beijing to the southern city of Changsha in Hunan minutes after it took off, Xinhua news agency reported. The flight, which a Beijing airport official said was carrying 108 passengers, made an emergency landing in the city of Zhengzhou. No one was injured. About 10 minutes after takeoff, Yang told the crew that he had companions on board carrying sulfuric acid that they would throw over passengers unless the plane headed for the ROK, Xinhua said.

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22. Sino – US Trade Relations

The Associated Press (“U.S. CONSIDERING HOSIERY MAKERS’ REQUEST “, 2004-07-23) reported that the U.S. government is considering a request from American hosiery makers to impose quotas on imports of socks from the PRC. In a statement seen Friday on its Web site, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Committee for Implementation of Textile Agreements announced it would examine the request and invited public comments on whether sock imports from the PRC are damaging the U.S. hosiery industry. A decision on the issue is expected in mid-October.

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23. PRC Media Control

The Associated Press (“HONG KONG NEWSPAPER RAIDS SPARK CRITICISM”, 2004-07-25) reported that anti-graft officials raided six Hong Kong newspaper offices over news reports that identified a protected witness, and media on Sunday accused authorities of threatening press freedom. The Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement that its officers searched several newspapers’ offices, seized some documents and talked to newspaper employees on Saturday, in relation to the corruption probe of a listed company. The ICAC didn’t name the newspapers. But the South China Morning Post, the Apple Daily, the Oriental Daily News, the Sun and the Sing Tao Daily splashed details of the raids on their newsrooms across their front pages Sunday. The Ta Kung Pao said it was also raided in a story on its back page. The Post said the ICAC raided the offices in response to local media reports that named a woman who was under the commission’s witness protection program. Identifying a protected witness without “lawful authority or reasonable excuse” is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison under Hong Kong law.

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24. PRC Domestic Economy

Reuters (“CHINA PUSHES NEW REFORMS, LOOKS TO MARKET “, 2004-07-23) reported that the PRC will cut state intervention in the economy and allow businesses to invest more freely, the government said Friday, revealing an ambitious reform plan to help sustain long-term growth. “The basic purpose of this reform is to give market forces full play in allocating resources, to separate government from enterprises and reduce administrative interference,” the China Securities Journal cited a cabinet circular as saying. The spokesman said that, instead of choosing between competing projects, the state would set rules that would apply equally to any firm seeking to enter an industry. Those rules would set technical standards — for example to limit pollution — and would ensure that the reforms did not fuel over-investment. The government, seeking more efficient use of capital, is already moving to reform the ailing banking system, which is saddled with more than $200 billion in bad loans due to decades of state-directed lending to loss-making state firms.

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25. Pro-Democracy Movement in Hong Kong

The Associated Press (“PRO-BEIJING PARTY MAKES DEMOCRACY PLEA “, 2004-07-23) reported that Hong Kong should aim for full democracy by 2012, the top pro-PRC political party said Friday in remarks that critics dismissed as a ploy to get votes. Hong Kong is polarized over the pace of political reforms, and voters are expected to punish Beijing’s allies by handing the pro-democracy side a big victory in September’s legislative elections. Pro-Beijing politicians from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, or DAB, said that Hong Kong people should be allowed to choose their leader and all lawmakers in just eight years, but only under conditions acceptable to the PRC. DAB Vice Chairman Ip Kwok-him said those conditions would include a sound economy, an acceptable number of qualified candidates and a good sense of PRC patriotism.

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26. Sino – Indian Relations

BBC News (“INDIA AND CHINA HOLD BORDER TALKS”, 2004-07-26) reported that India and the PRC have begun a new round of talks in Delhi on their long running border dispute. The two-days talks are being held between the Indian National Security Adviser, JN Dixit, and his PRC counterpart, Dai Bingguo. It is the third round of talks in just over a year, but the first since the new Indian government took power. Both sides claim the other is occupying parts of its land. While India accuses the PRC of occupying territory in Kashmir, Beijing lays claim to territory in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian officials have played down any expectation of a breakthrough. But reports suggest that the two sides may be coming to some kind of an agreement.

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27. PRC AIDS Issue

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA CONDUCTS ITS FIRST SURVEY ON HOMOSEXUALS AND AIDS”, 2004-07-26) reported that an unprecedented survey on homosexuals and homosexual HI carriers is being carried out in northeastern PRC, as the country struggles to contain an AIDS explosion. The Heilongjiang province Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has collected 1,300 questionnaires from the Internet, with the help of a website dedicated to AIDS issues, on the proportion of homosexuals and homosexual HIV carriers in society, Xinhua state news agency said Monday. It has also collected 270 urine and 50 blood samples from homosexuals. “Those HIV carriers found in the survey will be given timely treatment and care,” he said. The survey, part of a PRC-US program on the prevention and control of AIDS, is aimed at improving the monitoring, prevention and control of AIDS in the PRC.

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28. PRC Space Mission

Agence France-Presse (“CHINA LAUNCHES SECOND SPACE STUDY PROBE”, 2004-07-26) reported that the PRC successfully launched a probe on Sunday as part of a Sino-European partnership aimed at improved monitoring of magnetic storms and other space hazards, state media said. State television said the “Probe-2” satellite — the second in the “Double Star Program” — was launched at 3:05 p.m. from the center in Taiyuan in China’s northern province of Shanxi. The probe, launched aboard a Long March 2C/SM rocket, successfully gained orbit about 30 minutes, it said. The official Xinhua news agency said it would coordinate with an earlier probe on a mission to improve space mission safety, and also with European Space Agency satellites on joint research.

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29. PRC Energy Infrastructure

The Associated Press (“CHINA FARMERS GET DEATH FOR OIL THEFT “, 2004-07-25) reported that a PRC court has sentenced five farmers to death for stealing crude oil from a pipeline that ran through their county, the government said Sunday. They were convicted on charges of damaging a flammable and explosive substance, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It said 12 other farmers who helped steal the oil were given sentences ranging from three years to life in prison for the same charge. The farmers, from Puyang County in the central province of Henan, were caught drilling holes in the oil pipeline in late 2002 and early last year, Xinhua said. The People’s Intermediate Court in Jiaozuo found that the farmers stole 450 tons of crude oil worth $118,000, the agency said. The group also caused economic losses of $280,000, because oil transportation through the pipeline had to be suspended, it said.

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30. PRC Baby Trafficking

The Associated Press (“CHINA CONVICTS 52 OF BABY TRAFFICKING “, 2004-07-23) reported that a court convicted 52 members of a baby-trafficking gang Friday, sentencing the ringleaders to death or life in prison. The case included a highly publicized incident in March, 2003, in which 28 baby girls, none older than three months, were found hidden in nylon tote bags aboard a long-distance bus, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The convictions highlighted the scale of the PRC’s thriving black market in babies and came less than two weeks after police announced the arrests of 95 people in northern PRC in an unrelated baby-trafficking ring.

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31. PRC Drought

Reuters (“CHINA SEEDERS TRAIN SIGHTS ON SOGGY SKIES “, 2004-07-26) reported that cloud seeding is increasingly common in the PRC, where a chronic drought grips the North and hailstones ruin countless acres of crops nationwide every year. “Our main job,” he says with the focus of a seasoned field commander, “is the prevention of hail … If there is hail heading for Beijing, this is the last line of defense.” Li commands three installations like Xiangshan, or Fragant Hills, in northwestern Beijing where, when the clouds are thick and when he’s sure there are no planes overhead, he opens fire on the sky with special rockets to make it rain. The idea: make it rain during the dog days of summer to bring down the temperature and hopefully lower electricity consumption. Shanghai plans to give it a try, and the idea has been broached in Beijing but not yet pursued.

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32. Japan Domestic Dissent

The Japan Times (“RODNEY KING’-STYLE FOOTAGE: PEACE GROUP PROTESTS ACTIVISTS’ ARREST, BEATING BY COPS”, 2004-07-15) reported that an umbrella organization of 51 citizens’ groups that has staged peace marches in Tokyo lodged a protest over the arrests of three participants in one such walk in Shibuya Ward earlier this month, displaying video footage of one of them being repeatedly beaten by police. Failing to heed their commander’s repeated orders to stop, the police officers continued to assault the man even after he apparently lost consciousness. They finally lifted him waist high and smashed him to the ground. During a news conference, Ken Takada, head of World Peace Now, denounced the trio’s July 4 arrest for allegedly obstructing justice during a rally held near JR Shibuya Station, saying the action was aimed at scaring away peace activists and suppressing civic activism. Showing video footage of one of the trio being repeatedly beaten by more than a dozen police officers, lawyer Masatoshi Uchida, who heads the trio’s defense, said they plan to file a criminal complaint against the officers, alleging abuse of power. Takada said 200 police officers, mainly riot cops, showed up at the rally, in which 1,200 people took part. Police later searched the trio’s homes and the office of World Peace Now. The three are still being held at Shibuya Police Station.

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33. Japan Iraq Troops Dispatch

Kyodo (“IRAQI GOVERNOR DISAPPOINTED WITH GSDF”, 2004-07-13) reported that the governor of the southern Iraqi province where Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) troops are deployed has expressed disappointment over their limited activities, an Iraqi daily reported. It is the first time a top government official in the province has publicly expressed frustration over the GSDF troops, which have limited their work due to a deterioration in the security situation. “I am disappointed with Japan,” Mohammed Ali Hassan, governor of Al-Muthanna Province, said in an interview with the al-Sabaah, a leading daily in Iraq. Hassan was quoted as saying that GSDF activities have been limited to the reconstruction of some schools and hospitals.

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34. Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement

The Japan Times (“FORCES PACT SHOULD UNDERSCORE JAPANESE LACK OF RIGHTS: LAWYER”, 2004-07-15) reported that closed-door practices by Japanese police violate the fundamental rights of a suspect and are the reason the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) is needed, said the only licensed non-Japanese lawyer in Okinawa. Eddie-Callagain, former attorney for a US airman convicted in 2002 of raping an Okinawan woman, believes SOFA is vital for protecting the rights of service personnel suspected of committing crimes in Japan. She said the Japanese public tends to blame the presence of US bases for a number of social problems that involve service members. “The American issue is a social issue, but Japanese people prefer to think of it as a military problem. They are connecting everything to blame for the US bases,” she said. “The thinking of Japanese people often becomes so closed anytime the US military or SOFA is mentioned.”

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35. DPRK Domestic Dissent

Chosun Ilbo (“ANTI-GOVERNMENT GROUPS ACTIVE IN N. KOREA: DEFECTOR”, 2004-07-26) reported that Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reported Monday that several anti-establishment organizations opposed to the Kim Jong-il regime are active in DPRK. The paper quoted Kim Deok-hong, who defected together with former DPRK Workers Party secretary Hwang Jang-yop. In his interview with the Sankei, Kim said he was in contact with an organization engaged in anti-government activities in DPRK. Kim said, “The organization concluded that the Ryongchon Station Explosion in April was the work of the Kim Jeong-il regime itself… There are about 210 counties in DPRK, and the group has gotten word that leaflets revealing in detail how the Ryongchon explosion took place were distributed from most of these counties. Kim said, “The event was staged so Kim could claim there were forces out to kill him and launch a purge.’ He claimed, “There were defective missiles on board those trains that were to be exported to Syria, and the explosion gave Kim the chance to get rid of them, too.”

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36. ROK – DPRK Border Dispute

Chosun Ilbo (“TWO NORTH KOREAN BOATS VIOLATE NLL”, 2004-07-26) reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff officially announced Monday that two small DPRK fishing boats violated the West Sea Northern Limit Line (NLL) near Baengnyeong Island on Monday morning. The two craft returned DPRK after ROK speedboats that were mobilized broadcast warnings. The Joint Chiefs reported that two small 1~2 ton boats crossed 0.4 miles over the NLL at 8:30 a.m. and returned DPRK at around 8:47 a.m. after ROK speedboats broadcast warnings. It added, however, that since both PRC and DPRK fishing boats were operating in the area, it was not confirmed whether the violating boats were DPRK or PRC. ROK navy made three broadcasts — at 8:20, 8:25 and 8:28 — to DPRK warships as the boats approached the NLL, but there was no response from DPRK, said the Joint Chiefs. Another small boat crossed the 0.5 miles over the NLL at 10:29 a.m., but it turned out to be an unmanned fishing raft. Military authorities believe DPRK fishing boats may have intentionally violated the NLL and a! re minutely analyzing the circumstances of this latest incident.

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37. Taiwan Aborigines

The Associated Press (“TAIWAN ABORIGINES PROTEST REMARKS “, 2004-07-24) reported that about 2,000 Taiwanese aborigines in traditional dress protested in Taipei on Saturday, demanding the vice president apologize for saying they were not descendants of the island’s first settlers. The island has several aboriginal tribes totaling about 400,000 people. Outspoken Vice President Annette Lu said Friday that a vanished race of “black pygmies” – not the current tribes – were the first to live here 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. Lu earlier angered aborigines when she suggested that their farming practices might have contributed to flooding and landslides that killed 29 people in central Taiwan’s mountains earlier this month. She suggested that the aborigines should leave Taiwan and search for new land in Latin America. Lu has refused to apologize over her latest remarks, insisting they were taken out of context and were never intended to belittle the aborigines.