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INTERNATIONAL
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Japan, Russia leaders meet after islands row chills ties Russia calls on Japan to abandon emotional statements YOKOHAMA: The J apanese and Russian foreign ministers agreed to improve ties after tensions flared over disputed northern islands but Russia urged J apan to abandon its emotional stance on the issue and talk business instead. J apanese Prime Minister “Our president said that it is better to abandon emotional statements and diplomatic gestures because they do not help at all, but he proposed to change the approach and prioritise the economy,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a briefing in Tokyo. The diplomatic chill followed this month’s visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to one of the islands, Kunashir, or Kunashiri in Japanese, the first by a Kremlin leader. The visit ignited long-simmering tensions over the island chain north of Japan. Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told reporters that Kan told Medvedev his visit to Kunashir island was unacceptable. Lavrov said Russia reiterated its position on the issue. “The President decides himself which Russian region to visit. This is our territory and things will stay this way and I hope that our Japanese colleagues will take a more adequate approach to this,” Lavrov said.
Naoto Kan brought up the territorial dispute in a meeting w ith Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Community (APEC) leaders yesterday, officials on both sides said.
Political noise The Soviet Union occupied the four islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia, at the end of World War Two and the row has weighed on relations ever since, precluding a formal peace treaty. The dispute has added to domestic problems for Kan, who is grappling with a divided parliament and is under fire for what critics say was his mishandling of a separate territorial row with China. The quarrels have helped to push Kan’s support rating to its lowest since he took office five months ago. Lavrov said Medvedev invited Kan to visit Russia and Kan accepted the invitation. Russia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, wants to diversify trade away from Europe where demand is likely to stagnate, and turns its attention to the booming Asian region. Medvedev recently visited a number of Asian
countries. While in South Korea for the Group of 20 summit earlier this week, Medvedev said the region had serious potential for conflicts. Japan’s share in Russia’s trade fell to 3 percent in 2009 from 4 percent in 2008, amounting to $15 billion, while China’s share grew to 8.4 percent from 7.6 percent. China has become Russia’s largest trading partner in 2010. A number of Japanese companies, including Toyota Motor and Komatsu Ltd, opened plants in Russia. Oleg Deripaska, CEO of the world’s top aluminium maker UC RUSAL, said the spat had so far had no impact on the Russian-Japanese economic relationship, adding that Japanese companies were looking for contracts in Russia. “In today’s world Japan needs Russia and Russia needs Japan as a source for technology and a source of demand for our goods. This (dispute) is political noise made for domestic consumption,” Deripaska told reporters. — Reuters
North Korea builds light-water reactor
SLEMAN: Internally displaced children play on piles of donated clothes. Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano has killed 240 people since it began erupting late last month, with more than 4,00,000 people in makeshift camps, an official said yesterday. — AFP
Indonesia volcano toll rises to 240 KEPUHARJO: Indonesia’s most active volcano has claimed the lives of 240 people since it began erupting last month, sending almost 400,000 fleeing into makeshift camps, an official said yesterday. The authorities have warned people living in the temporary shelters not to return to their homes as Mount Merapi, which lies at the centre of Java island, remained highly active and unpredictable. “We don’t know and cannot predict the next big eruptions, so refugees still have to stay in makeshift camps until further evaluations,” government volcanologist Subandrio said. “Merapi activity is still high and it still has an alert status.” A disaster management official said the death toll had now reached 240 after rescuers recovered more bodies from the disaster zone, while about 390,000 people have fled their homes. Many of the dead were buried under fast-flowing torrents of boiling hot gas and rock that incinerated villages when the volcano exploded on November 5 in its biggest eruption in over a century. Mount Merapi, a sacred landmark in Javanese tradition whose name translates as “Mountain of Fire”, emitted more heat clouds late Friday for about an hour, reaching as far as 10 kilometers (six miles) away from the crater.
“It recently belched ash upward as high as 1,200 metres. Then the ash blew to the south and southwest of the volcano,” Subandrio said. The government has declared a danger zone that stretches as far as 20 kilometers from the volcano, which first started erupting in late October. Subandrio said several Japanese volcanologists were in the area to assist in monitoring the volcano’s activity and would be installing several “infrasonic sensors” that could monitor air pressure caused by the eruptions. “The sensors will be placed around 20 kilometers away from the crater. These devices will improve our ability to observe Merapi’s activity” Subandrio said. The airport serving the nearest city of Yogyakarta, which lies around 25 kilometers south of the volcano-has been closed until Monday because of ash clouds. Although there has been no report of volcanic ash clouding the area around Jakarta, 430 kilometers to the west, dozens of international flights were cancelled this week for safety reasons. The ash also forced US President Barack Obama to cut short his trip to the sprawling archipelago on Wednesday. Merapi killed around 1,300 people in 1930 but experts say the current eruptions are its biggest convulsions since 1872. — AFP
SEOUL: North Korea has begun building an experimental light-water reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, a news report said yesterday. The reactor will be able to generate about 25 to 30 megawatts of electricity, Siegfried Hecker, former director of the US Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, told reporters in Beijing after a trip to North Korea, according to Japan’s Kyodo News agency. Hecker said construction of the reactor has just begun and it is likely to take several years to complete, according to Kyodo. In March, North Korea said it would build a light-water power plant using its own nuclear fuel in the near future. Building a light-water reactor would give the country a reason to enrich uranium, which at low levels can be used in power reactors, and at higher levels in nuclear bombs. Recent satellite images of the Yongbyon complex have shown new activity there, the Institute for Science and International Security said in September. South Korea is aware of some movements at the nuclear complex and needs to further analyze North Korea’s intentions, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. Lee Byung-ryung, a South Korean nuclear expert who was involved in a now-canceled USled project to build two light-water reactors in North Korea, said a reactor of that size “doesn’t appear to be a meaningful source of electricity because it is small.” Under a 1994 deal to freeze North Korea’s atomic program, the US and other nations promised the energy-starved North two light-water reactors that would have be less likely to lead to nuclear proliferation. The deal collapsed in 2002 when the US accused North Korea of running a secret uranium enrichment program. After nearly seven years of adamant denials, North Korea announced last year that it was in the final stages of uranium enrichment - a process that would give it a second way to build atomic bombs in addition to its earlier plutonium program. There has been no recent sign of progress in restarting stalled talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear programs. North Korea carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and in 2009, drawing international sanctions each time. Just before the second test, North Korea quit the nuclear talks, but it has recently expressed a willingness to rejoin the negotiations, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. However, South Korea and the US have said North Korea must first take specific moves to demonstrate its sincerity. — AP
Macau moves against Nobel winner protest
TAIPEI: Taiwanese protester makes up like Na’vi clan and shouts slogan to voice their opposition to Taiwan government policy for petrochemical industry yesterday. — AP
MACAU: Authorities in the Chinese territory of Macau moved to thwart protests calling for the release of Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday. Immigration officials in the former Portuguese colony, now part of China, refused entry to a prominent opposition lawmaker from nearby Hong Kong, Albert Ho, who planned to join in the protests. Ho, chairman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, said he and four activists were stopped and briefly detained before being sent back to Hong Kong. “They said we would be causing a threat to internal security,” Ho told AFP. “I’m not surprised, but this shows the Macanese government is not respecting freedom of expression and opinion.” Another Hong Kong legislator, Lee Cheukyan, was also turned away by Macau immigration, local Hong Kong radio RTHK reported. Macau police stepped up security ahead of Wen’s arrival for a two-day economic forum, his first visit to the city as premier. About 200 protesters marched yesterday to the office of Macau’s chief executive Fernando Chui, calling for the release of the Nobel winner-who is serving an 11 year sentence on subversion charges-and for more affordable housing in the gambling hub where real estate prices have skyrocketed. “One of our protest organizers has been arrested by the police this morning and charged with endangering public safety,” one activist told reporters. “Is this not white terror on the police’s part?” The Chinese premier is meeting representatives from seven Portuguese-speaking countries, including Portugal’s Prime Minister Jose Socrates and officials from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and East Timor. Liu was jailed in December after co-authoring Charter 08, a petition calling for sweeping political reform that has been circulated online and signed by thousands. China has said Liu’s Nobel honour was tantamount to “encouraging crime” and warned European and other governments not to support the veteran activist. — AFP
NEW DELHI: Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters celebrate her release yesterday. — AP
Suu Kyi supporters ecstatic over idol’s release finally YANGON: It was the moment they had been hoping and praying for-the barricades came down, the crowd surged forward and then, finally, a small smiling figure appeared to a roar of cheers and applause. Thousands of supporters erupted in cries of joy yesterday as their heroine Aung San Suu Kyi finally greeted them after seven years of house arrest at the hands of the Myanmar military regime. People hugged each other, jumped around and chanted “May Suu Kyi be in good health!” as they packed the street leading up to the 65-year-old’s Yangon house, which had been sealed until moments before. Suu Kyi, who wore a flower in her hair given her by well wishers, looked happy and healthy. Onlookers jostled to take photographs of her with their mobile telephones. She appeared twice in front of the ecstatic crowds and gamely attempted to address them without a microphone while thousands of people roared with delight. “We are so glad. It is not only the release of Suu Kyi, but also the release of the people,” said one member of the democracy icon’s National League for Democracy (NLD) movement. After her appearance, many people stayed close to the house holding pictures of their heroine and clapping. Out on the streets, groups of strangers greeted each other with hugs and handshakes. Many people were wearing T-shirts
bearing the face of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, accompanied with the words “We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi”. Passengers on a passing bus, informed through the window of Suu Kyi’s release, cheered with joy. “She looks healthy and had her usual radiant smile,” said an Indian national who gave his name as Simon. “It’s a historic day, I am sure she will continue her struggle for democracy, I hope there will be peace in Myanmar.” British Ambassador Andrew Heyn, who was in the crowd, said the release was “long overdue”. “The people are very excited it shows how much hope Aung San Suu Kyi represents,” he said. “Suu Kyi can now speak to the Burmese people freely.” The scenes of open support were rare sights in a country where the military has ruled with an iron fist for nearly half a century and political dissent has often been met with brutal army crackdowns and long prison spells. Earlier, people had gathered with hope and fear at the barriers that blocked off Suu Kyi’s compound as undercover security personnel moved through the crowd with video cameras and police trucks patrolled the city. But when the police took down the barriers and news of her release spread, the crowd surged down her street. Their long wait was finally over. — AFP
YOKOHAMA: Protestors march holding Japanese national flags during a demonstration denouncing China during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) yesterday. — AFP
Japan, China leaders meet amidst protests YOKOHAMA: The leaders of Japan and China met on the sidelines of a Pacific Rim summit yesterday for their first formal talks since a territorial dispute erupted two months ago that badly strained ties between the Asian neighbors. The meeting between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is in Japan for the annual summit of 21 Pacific Rim countries and territories, was announced at the last minute and lasted less than a half hour. Thousands of flag-waving Japanese angry over the island dispute held a protest march just before the talks began. Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said Kan and Hu both expressed their positions on the island issue, and agreed developing strategic relations between the two countries would benefit not only the two sides but also the region and the world. Fukuyama did not elaborate on whether the two made any progress toward reconciling those positions, but said the two leaders did agree on other broad issues, including private-sector cooperation and exchanges. He said the fact the talks were held at all showed progress. “The formal bilateral talks mark a major step forward in improving Japan-China relations,” Fukuyama said. “This is a very important time for both of our countries.” Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been fraught after Japan arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain whose boat collided with two Japanese patrol vessels near disputed islands in the East China Sea on Sept 7. Japan released the captain, but Beijing demanded an apology and compensation, prompting Tokyo to demand that Beijing pay for damage to the patrol boats. The dispute sparked nationalism in both countries, with numerous demonstrations in Chinese cities in recent weeks. Just before Hu met Kan, thousands of Japanese protesters gathered for an anti-China rally near
the summit venue, waving Japanese flags and shouting “defend our territory” and “defeat Chinese imperialism.” Though the group that organized the protest is right-ofcenter, emotions have been high among a broad swath of Japanese who feel their country - which invaded and colonized parts of China during World War II - is being bullied by a China newly emboldened by its economic rise and swelling international clout. Japan is also dealing with a dispute with Russia, which claims islands to its north. In a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev right after the Hu summit, Kan protested a visit Medvedev made to one of the islands earlier this month. Some shoppers applauded as the march passed by Yokohama’s biggest train station. In the wake of the incident, Beijing cut off ministerial-level contacts with Japan, repeatedly summoned Tokyo’s ambassador to complain, and postponed talks on the joint development of undersea natural gas fields. China also quietly halted exports to Japan of rare earth metals, which are essential for making high-tech products. Kan and Hu had brief encounters on the sidelines of meetings in Brussels, Belgium, and Hanoi, Vietnam, but had not held a formal meeting before yesterday. Last week, a video showing the Sept 7 collisions was leaked on YouTube, prompting concerns about a fresh flare-up of tensions. A coast guard officer who admitted posting the video is being questioned by police. The video had been kept secret, other than an edited version shown to some legislators, angering some in Japan who thought it may be evidence of Chinese wrongdoing. The video shows the fishing boat ramming into a Japanese patrol vessel amid screams and wailing sirens. Fukuyama said the video did not come up in the talks. — AP