NAPSNet Daily Report Thursday, May 31, 2007
- 1. PRC-US Talks on DPRK Frozen Funds
2. Japan on Russian DPRK Sanctions
3. ROK Iraq Mission
4. Japan on ROK War Claim
5. Japan and Cross Strait Relations
6. PRC Rural Poverty
7. PRC Environment
8. PRC Press Freedom
I. NAPSNet
1. PRC-US Talks on DPRK Frozen Funds
Voice of America (“US ENVOY WRAPS UP MEETINGS IN CHINA ON NORTH KOREA BANKING ISSUE”, 2007-05-31) reported that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is heading back to Washington after a day of meetings with Chinese officials to try to find a solution to the transfer of Macao funds to the DPRK. Hill would not elaborate on what options the PRC and the United States were exploring or when he thought the issue could be resolved. He says the transfer is a complex governmental issue also involving talks with the private sector.
2. Japan on Russian DPRK Sanctions
Bloomberg News (“WORLD MUST WORK TOGETHER TO SANCTION NORTH KOREA, SHIOZAKI SAYS”, 2007-05-31) reported that Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said the DPRK “must respond properly” to Russia’s sanctions. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week issued a presidential decree imposing sanctions on the DPRK in line with a United Nation Security Council resolution unanimously approved last October.
3. ROK Iraq Mission
Yonhap (“S. KOREA REMAINS UNDECIDED ABOUT ITS TROOPS IN IRAQ”, 2007-05-31) reported that the Defense Ministry denied reports that it was leaning towards extending the stay of troops in Iraq, saying it has still to make a decision on whether to retain the troops, called the Zaytun Division, and is in the process of examining public opinion. “The government remains unchanged in its position that a bill on the termination of the Zaytun’s mission in Iraq will be presented to the National Assembly by the end of June,” presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said.
4. Japan on ROK War Claim
The Associated Press (“JAPANESE COURT REJECTS SKOREAN WAR CLAIM”, 2007-05-31) reported that a court rejected appeals by seven ROK women who were denied compensation for slave labor performed at a Japanese factory during World War II. Kyodo News said Judge Kunio Aoyama rejected their appeals because individual ROK nationals lost their right to seek compensation under a 1965 agreement between Japan and the ROK.
5. Japan and Cross Strait Relations
The Associated Press (“CHINA WARNS JAPAN ON EX-TAIWAN LEADER”, 2007-05-31) reported that the PRC issued a stern reminder to Japan that it considers a visit to Tokyo by former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to be politically motivated and suggested the trip could damage relations between the two sides. PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the purpose of Lee’s visit was to push for Taiwanese independence and undermine PRC-Japan relations.
6. PRC Rural Poverty
International Herald Tribune (“CHINA BUILDING GIGANTIC CITIES TO OFFSET RURAL POVERTY”, 2007-05-31) reported that the swift rise of Chongqing represents a departure: the fruits of a major push by the government in Beijing to spread the fruits of the PRC’s economic boom to the country’s vast interior, home to three Chinese in four. A consensus has emerged among Beijing’s leadership that the way to ease poverty in the interior is to encourage people by the tens of millions to abandon the land for the cities. “This is the path every developed country has taken,” said Tang Jun, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “To ask whether China wants urbanization is like asking whether a person needs to eat.”
7. PRC Environment
The Associated Press (“CHINA CITY SUSPENDS CHEMICAL PLANT WORK “, 2007-05-31) reported that a PRC city has halted construction of a chemical plant after residents sent more than 1 million mobile phone text messages protesting possible pollution dangers, news reports said. The $1.4 billion facility being built by Tenglong Aromatic PX (Xiamen) Co. Ltd to produce the petrochemical paraxylene was planned for the booming southeastern port of Xiamen, the Xinhua News Agency and newspapers said. “The city government has listened to the opinions expressed and has decided, after careful deliberation, that the project must be re-evaluated,” a deputy mayor, Ding Guoyan, was quoted as saying.
(return to top) Reuters (“CHINA’S CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN DUE AHEAD OF G8 SUMMIT “, 2007-05-31) reported that the PRC will release its first national plan to tackle climate change next week, seeking to rebut international criticism that it is not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. They said the blueprint was tentatively due to be published on June 4, two days before President Hu Jintao attends a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Germany at which global warming will be high on the agenda. (return to top)
8. PRC Press Freedom
Kyodo (“CHINA DOES U-TURN ON PRESS FREEDOM PLEDGE, SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH”, 2007-05-31) reported that an international human rights group accused the PRC government of going back on promises to relax restrictions on foreign journalists working in the PRC in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. Human Rights Watch also says there is evidence that the PRC authorities are attempting to tighten their control over the domestic media through increased censorship and by stopping sources such as lawyers and court officials from talking to journalists.