Global News Post: East Asia

CHINA EXPECTS NEXT WORLD BANK HEAD TO PROMOTE GOVERNANCE STRUCUTRE REFORM

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">BEIJING (NNN-XINHUA) -- China expects the next president of the World Bank to promote governance structure reform, says Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin.</span></div><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Liu made the remarks at a routine press briefing here Wednesday while commenting on the election process for the next World Bank president, as the three candidates for the position have been undergoing interviews.</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">China hopes the next president will further enhance developing countries' rights to speak and represent themselves at the World Bank, and, therefore, make contributions to global poverty reduction and development, he added.</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Liu said the election of the next World Bank president had been following the open, transparent and merit-based process for the first time. The process reflects the consensus of the group of 20 (G20) leading developed and emerging nations on international financial institutional reform and its substantive progress.</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are three candidates vying to become the next president of the World Bank -- Jim Yong Kim. a university dean from the United States, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Jose Antonio Ocampo, a former finance minister of Colombia.</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The US has always held the position since the Bank was founded at the end of World War II but there has been increasing pressure in recent years for the next head of the Bank to be from a developing nation. -- NNN-XINHUA</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: justify;"></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; text-align: justify;"></table></div>

CHINA EXPECTS NEXT WORLD BANK HEAD TO PROMOTE GOVERNANCE STRUCUTRE REFORM

BEIJING (NNN-XINHUA) -- China expects the next president of the World Bank to promote governance structure reform, says Chinese Foreign Mini...

China’s Top Official in Tibet Orders New Media Clampdown

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">China's top leader in Tibet is urging local authorities to clamp down on Internet and mobile phone use in the region, as Beijing prepares to open its annual National People's Congress and Tibetans honor those who have died protesting Chinese rule.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The state-run Tibet Daily quotes regional Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo as saying that maintaining stability in the Himalayan region “means everything. Unstable elements must be nipped in the bud and all work at maintaining stability must be deepened.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He also said security forces “must crush hostile forces” led by the Dalai Lama — the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who is widely revered outside China, while accused by Beijing of fomenting rebellion in Tibetan regions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">China has flooded Tibetan areas with thousands of troops and police in recent weeks, in a push to prevent Tibetan activists from setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese presence in their territories.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The latest crackdown call — just days ahead of the anniversary of deadly unrest in 2011 and 2008 — has reached all the way to Beijing. There, outspoken Tibetan writer-poet Tsering Woeser said Wednesday that security police prevented her from receiving a cultural award from the Dutch ambassador.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">China's showcase annual legislative session begins next week, and authorities in past years have sought to portray national unity by squelching any and all signs of public dissent in the capital.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For Tibetans, March 17 marks the first anniversary of a widely-reported self-immolation by a young monk whose death triggered the current crackdown.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">March 17 is also the fourth anniversary of a larger and deadly Chinese crackdown in Tibetan areas, and the 53rd anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape to northern India, after a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

China’s Top Official in Tibet Orders New Media Clampdown

China's top leader in Tibet is urging local authorities to clamp down on Internet and mobile phone use in the region, as Beijing prep...

Ethiopia Sentences Swedish Journalists to 11 Years in Prison

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">An Ethiopian court has sentenced two Swedish journalists to 11 years each in prison for supporting terrorism in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and entering the country illegally.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Addis Ababa</st1:place></st1:city> handed down the sentence Tuesday, nearly a week after convicting investigative reporter Martin Schibbye and photojournalist Johan Persson.  Each had faced up to 18 years in prison.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A judge said last week it was not likely the journalists were trying to gather news when they entered <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region> in July with the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which the African nation has designated as a terrorist group.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists rejected the idea that the journalists were supporting terrorism.  In an interview with VOA, spokesman Tom Rhodes said the journalists were simply doing their jobs and he expressed fear the court case signals eroding press freedom in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The journalists admitted to entering the country illegally, but the Swedish government and rights groups have criticized <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, saying the two men were conducting legitimate work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed 'serious concern' saying that while recognizing the Ethiopian judicial process, they hope that the two journalists can be released as soon as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Ethiopia</span></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> sharply restricts journalists and humanitarian aid workers in accessing the Ogaden region, which borders <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Somalia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The ONLF has been fighting for regional independence from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region> since 1984.  The rebels accuse <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region> of atrocities against the region's largely ethnic Somali population.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Human rights and aid groups have accused both the ONLF and pro-government forces of numerous rights violations during the conflict.  Both sides have denied the charges.<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"> ---VOA News</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Ethiopia Sentences Swedish Journalists to 11 Years in Prison

An Ethiopian court has sentenced two Swedish journalists to 11 years each in prison for supporting terrorism in Ethiopia and entering the...

11 Chinese Sailors Killed in River Boat Attack

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dmxMPqTMjt52vBCRgUjN1suPNjLNSfkfCl-Glx3Vc5aXEdjzvDF2Z6aqTkTNNl4yCtpCVVeW2pMzGoQfAl01-0A4fjzyNCdnEk1OLBkQewvwGq4LStdwKD-ssUUujCP0fqHaqhHJ0B4/s1600/Mekong-River-Map21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dmxMPqTMjt52vBCRgUjN1suPNjLNSfkfCl-Glx3Vc5aXEdjzvDF2Z6aqTkTNNl4yCtpCVVeW2pMzGoQfAl01-0A4fjzyNCdnEk1OLBkQewvwGq4LStdwKD-ssUUujCP0fqHaqhHJ0B4/s1600/Mekong-River-Map21.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 8pt;">Mekong</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 8pt;"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Chinese officials said Sunday at least 11 Chinese were killed and two are missing after their boats were attacked in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Mekong</st1:placename>  <st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place> by suspected drug traffickers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Chinese Foreign Ministry officials told the Xinhua news agency that two cargo boats were attacked Thursday in the Golden Triangle area of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Mekong</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">River</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Bangkok Post newspaper said Thai forces engaged the drug traffickers soon afterward and recaptured the boats, which had 900,000 methamphetamine tablets on board.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Thai forces said the bodies of the Chinese crews were found in the river, blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Thai army told the Post that a gang run by Nor Kham, a Shan drug trafficker, is thought to be behind the killings. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

11 Chinese Sailors Killed in River Boat Attack

Mekong River Chinese officials said Sunday at least 11 Chinese were killed and two are missing after their boats were attacked in the...

Death toll in east China train collision rises to 35

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70mO-fQXn3aOhzSYGS_rqqwm_0_Fj4rV7wbXTb5yJ7fKc2D7P19lZnEbAaZjo_0aZNkQ6TaaWddhdaqGcgguYsPT-MVLz8E5Z4ejnoBfVKh9gHZLjKy8Okz3N44IbpjBpXyBmtC1pvXY/s1600/chinabullettrain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70mO-fQXn3aOhzSYGS_rqqwm_0_Fj4rV7wbXTb5yJ7fKc2D7P19lZnEbAaZjo_0aZNkQ6TaaWddhdaqGcgguYsPT-MVLz8E5Z4ejnoBfVKh9gHZLjKy8Okz3N44IbpjBpXyBmtC1pvXY/s320/chinabullettrain.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">  </span><div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://flic.kr/p/885UtY"><span style="color: #5f5f5f;">©flickr/ivanwalsh</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;">  </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">MOSCOW (RIA Novosti)- The death toll in a collision between two high-speed trains in east China's Zhejiang province has risen to 35 people while the number of those injured in the incident stands at 210, official news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, referring to rescuers. </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Earlier reports said the train collision killed 32 and injured 100 people.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Video footage</b><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KVrRfFFninU" width="425"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The collision occurred on Saturday afternoon Moscow time, when the first train, en route from the city of Hangzhou to Wenzhou was struck by lightning and later hit from behind by another train, travelling from Beijing to Fuzhou in eastern China. </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Six coaches of the two trains derailed as a result and two more fell from a 20-meter viaduct.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>  <span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Safety of high-speed trains in China have come into spotlight in the past few weeks after at least three trains on a newly launched Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail link were delayed due to power failure or lightning strikes.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></div>

Death toll in east China train collision rises to 35

©flickr/ivanwalsh MOSCOW (RIA Novosti)- The death toll in a collision between two high-speed trains in east China's Zhejiang prov...

Clinton Welcomes South China Sea Guidelines

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By David Gollust from Bali, Indonesia<o:p></o:p></span></b>  <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday welcomed a draft agreement between China and ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, aimed at defusing tensions over disputed waters of the South China Sea. Clinton met her Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, on the sidelines of the ASEAN regional forum in Bali.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The draft agreement committing the rival claimants to a peaceful resolution of the South China Sea dispute is vaguely worded. But U.S. officials are expressing relief over the accord, which they say should ease tensions between China and several ASEAN member states including U.S. defense treaty ally, the Philippines.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, beginning a round of consultations on the sidelines of the ASEAN forum, welcomed the agreement at a bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart, a meeting she said would also focus on the Korean nuclear issue.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">"I want to commend China and ASEAN for working so closely together to include implementation guidelines for the declaration of conduct in the South China Sea, and of course we will discuss our mutual desire for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” said Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">China has been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with four ASEAN members - the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam - along with Taiwan over the South China sea and its vital shipping lanes and potential energy resources.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Seated across the table from Clinton, Foreign Minister Yang said Beijing, which has made by far the largest claim in the region, wants to see a peaceful settlement.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“I do believe that the conclusion of the guidelines is of great significance, and it will go a long way to maintaining the peace and stability and good-neighborliness in this region. And this will also provide favorable conditions for the proper handling and the settlement of the disputes among the claimants,” Yang said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The guidelines were also welcomed earlier by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, who said the accord - though preliminary - has already improved the political climate in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">“We welcome this. It’s an important first step," said Campbell. "I think it has lowered tensions. It has improved atmospherics. But clearly it is just that, a first step. And we are going to need to see some follow-on interactions between China and ASEAN.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A senior State Department official who spoke to reporters welcomed reported diplomatic contacts on the margins of the ASEAN forum between North and South Korea. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The United States Thursday vigorously denied Japanese press reports of a possible U.S.-North Korean meeting here and the senior official said such a meeting was “unthinkable” in the absence of substantial progress in the troubled north-south Korean relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The senior official said Assistant Secretary Campbell met in Bali earlier this week with Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and laid out clear guidelines on what the new nominally-civilian Burmese government needs to do to improve relations with Washington.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The official said the results of outreach by the Obama administration to the former military government were “quite disappointing” and said the new authorities need to take “decisively different” action if Burma is to end its political isolation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He said Clinton, in a statement at the ASEAN forum Saturday, would lay out terms for better relations, including the release of Burmese political prisoners, dialogue between the new government and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an end to military action against ethnic minorities, and a halt to any Burmese trade with North Korean banned by U.N. resolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">He said despite some early “glimmers of possibility” from the new leadership, U.S. officials have not seen anything consequential and that “time is running out” for improved ties.VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></b></div></div>

Clinton Welcomes South China Sea Guidelines

By David Gollust from Bali, Indonesia U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday welcomed a draft agreement between China and ASEAN,...