IV. International
(12-/01-07)
.
Southeast Asian leaders
adopted a blueprint aimed at transforming the region
into a European Union-style economic bloc that can
counter the growing influence of India and China.
.
Women are more affected by climate change than men, says
the latest study by a coalition of developmental and
environmental groups on the impact of global warming in
Asia.
.
It takes 5 to 10 days for the pollution from China’s
coal-fired plants to make its way to the US, like a
slow-moving storm. Along the way, it contributes to acid
rain in Japan
and South Korea and health problems from Taiyuan to the
United States.
.
Prime Minister John Howard, one of GWB’s staunchest
allies in Asia,
suffered a resounding loss after 11 years in power. The
change in government marks a generational shift in
Australia.
. China
is looking for university students between 18-25 years
old, between 5’6’ to 5’10’ tall, beautiful with good
figures to serve as hostesses for award ceremonies at
next year’s Beijing Olympics.
. China’s
State Council, or Cabinet, has ordered all central
organs to use “economic, energy-saving,
environment-friendly and domestic-brand” automobiles.
. Vanguards
of the Chinese engineering units arrived in the Western
Sudanese region of Darfur to take part in the hybrid
peacekeeping force of the United Nations, the African
Union (AU). The 135 Chinese peacekeepers were warmly
welcomed by UN, AU and Sudanese officials at Niyala
International
Airport.
. Japan’s
whaling fleet left port
two weeks ago for its biggest-ever whale hunt in the
South Pacific, the government’s fishery agency said.
The whalers have orders to kill up to 50 humpback
whales., the first-known large-scale for the species
since 1963 moratorium put humpbacks under international
protection.
. Japan needs
to sort its politics in a way that it can play a larger
regional and global role, said Richard Haas, president
of the Council of Foreign Relations, calling the
country an underachiever at the moment in the region and
the world. He added that the political climate does not
allow Japan
to play a larger role commensurate with its resources
and capacity.
.
Japanese are marrying less and buying fewer rings,
cutting demand in the second-biggest platinum jewelry
market 9n the world (Tokyo) to the lowest in at least 33
years, said a refiner in London.
.
China is
North Korea’s
largest trading partner and its principal supplier of
food, consumer electronics, clothing and fuel.
Trade is booming, with Chinese businesses rushing this
year to cash from an improved relation between
North Korea and the US.
.
China-North Korean trade grew 16.7% in the first 8
months of this year, reaching $1.35 billion, according
to the Chinese customs agency, the Asia Times
reported last month. The Council on Foreign Relations,
based in NY, last year estimated Chinese trade and
investment in North Korea at $2 billion per year.
.
Those living along the southwest coast can often listen
to South Korean radio and television, using affordable
electronic equipment from China. Tapes & DVDs are much
easier to come by in areas near the Chinese border.
.
For years defection from
North to South
Korea
amounted to just a trickle. Most of those coming to
South Korea were men in their 30s and 40s who held
positions that made fleeing relatively easy, such as
diplomatic work abroad or border duty with the military.
.
The number of defectors to South Korea was only 41 in
1995, but nearly every year since then the number has
risen, enhanced by networks of brokers and agents that
sprang up. More than 2k North Koreans have settled in
South Korea last year, according to the government in
Seoul.
.
Seoul-based broker accept payment on installment, with
little or no money upfront. Once the defector gets to
Seoul and receives $47,700 from South Korea, brokers
demand far more than their basic fee.
.
A bomb explosion at the
Philippine House of Representatives in
Manila
killed 4 people, including the suspected target. Rep.
Wahab Akbar, a former Muslim rebel who backed operations
against an alleged terrorist group. He was former
governor of Southern Basilan province and supported
military operations against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
. An
anti-corruption group asked the World Bank for
transparency and to publicly disclose the report of one
of its investigating unit on alleged irregularities
found in Philippine projects the international financial
institution has canceled funding.
.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government
(PCGG) wants the “behest” loan (because 45% of its
outstanding principal belonged to Marcos and
Philippine Export Guaranty agreed to grant the $120
million loan, being a foreign currency loan) case of
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. revived after he failed to
comply with his July 1988 agreement with the agency to
pay back the $120 million loan his firm, Landoil
Resources Corp, obtained in the 1970s.
.
Pres. Yudhoyono of
Indonesia
backed his VP
Jusuf Kalla and urged Temasek Holdings of
Singapore to respect a ruling by Indonesia’s
anti-monopoly agency (KPPU). He pointed to US
anti-monopoly verdict against software giant Microsoft
as an example.
.
PT International Nickel
Indonesia
(Inco) president director (Arif Sinegar) said this
year’s production remained on track despite a strike at
the company’s mine in South Sulawesi.
.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European
Commission (EC), on official visit to Indonesia, said
last week the commission would send another verification
team to speed up review of air safety in the country.
.
The 1975-79 Khmer Rouge
government was blamed for the deaths of about 1.7
million people from starvation, disease, overwork and
execution. Many Cambodians have voiced their
concern that surviving Khmer Rouge leaders might die
before being brought to justice. Its movement’s leader
(Pol Pot) died in 1998.
.
A Cambodian court charged a former Khmer Rouge head of
state with crimes against humanity. French-educated
Khieu Samphan is accused of war crimes but denied
knowledge of any atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge
during the 1975-79. He is the latest of Pol Pot’s inner
circle to face a trial next year.
.
Laos and Cambodia condemned western economic sanctions
imposed on Burma after the junta’s brutal crackdown on
democracy protests, calling on fellow members of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc
to stay out of one another’s affairs.
.
Six political activists,
including US, French & Thai citizens, were arrested by
Vietnamese police, according to a US-based group
that opposes the country’s one-party rule.
. Vietnam’s
trade deficit will more than double to $10.5 billion in
the first eleven months of the year, as imports jump by
one-third at $54.1 billion, said a local newspaper. Even
though it’s Southeast Asia’s 3rd largest
producer of crude oil, it could still have to spend
$6.55 to buy refined oil products during the first 11
months, a rise of 20%, as it lack refineries.
.
New regulations
requiring opening of bank accounts for stock market
markets and capitals gain tax on securities sparked
debate at a Vietnam Assn. of Securities Business
(VASB) seminar in Ho Chi Minh City.
. India’s
ruling coalition launched a fresh campaign to push a
controversial nuclear deal with the US, a day after its
Communist allies revived hopes for a pact they had
strongly opposed.
.
Faced with setbacks in their former stronghold, India’s
Maoist insurgents have responded with a new war strategy
that favors large-scale attacks on police forces and
high-profile target killings.
.
Intelligence agencies are reported to be on the lookout
in the UP blasts for a suspect named Shamim, who
underwent training in Pakistan. He is reported to be a
close friend of the Sankat Mochan temple and cantonment
railway station blasts that struck Varanai in March last
year.
. Indian
police rescued a Malaysian businessman (a restaurateur
from Kuala Lumpur), kidnapped last week, and arrested
three Indian nationals linked to the crime.
.
Is Benazir Bhutto the
savior of democracy in
Pakistan?
Humbug! The reality is that she is the beneficiary of
current emergency rule in the country. She changes
colors faster than a chameleon. While she was hashing
out a deal to share power with Gen. Pervez Musharraf
last month, now she wants him to step down and make a
deal with his opponents because the situation has
changed.
.
Her political posturing is sheer pantomime. Her
negotiations with the military and her unseemly
willingness until just recently to take part in
Musharraf’s regime have signaled to the growing legions
of fundamentalists across South Asia
that democracy is just a guise for dictatorship.
.
She lost her government on grounds of massive
corruption. She and her husband, known in Pakistan as
“Mr. 10%”have been accused of stealing $1.5 billion from
Pakistan’s treasury. She is appealing money-laundering
conviction by the Swiss court involving about $11
million. Corruption cases against them in UK& Spain are
ongoing.
.
Oil-rich Sad Arabia led
relief effort for cyclone victims in
Bangladesh,
pledging $100 million in aid as US ships powered to the
disaster zone with dozens of helicopters for evacuation.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference
has called on governments and civil bodies in its 57
member states to send urgent assistance.
.
According to Red Cross,
the final toll could go up between 5k to10k.
Bangladesh’s top disaster management official told AFP
that several nations, including US, UK,
Canada,
Australia,
Sweden & Japan. But where are the other Muslim/Arab
countries besides Saudi Arabia, e.g., Kuwait, Libya, UAE,
etc.?
.
Food stocks, crops, livestock and drinking water sources
as well as entire stretches of roads were washed away by
20-foot high tidal wave which engulfed coastal villages.
World Food Program has already started relief
work in the disaster areas. The Red Cross estimates that
900k families are affected, a figure that accounts for
around 7 million people.
