How the U.S. is training China's military ? while inching toward conflict
By William Johnson July 23, 2015
Despite tensions between the United States and China over the South China Sea,
the two nations' militaries train together at a very high level. Current
"mil-mil" engagements are robust, with China participating in the world's
largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC 2014, which is hosted biannually
by the U.S. Pacific Command. The drills allowed China to learn a great deal
about U.S. tactics, techniques and procedures (in military shorthand, "TTPs").
* Cooperation between American and Chinese armed forces goes well beyond RIMPAC
and the counter-piracy efforts.
* Chinese and U.S. Naval personnel have also conducted joint training on
Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Response, and plan to conduct joint training
on search and rescue over the next couple of weeks.
末尾
As I have argued before, an aggressive approach to China in the South China Sea
is contrary to U.S. interests.
* The United States should dial down its public rhetoric against China, and
refrain from aggressive military action. Such actions are counter-productive
and short-sighted.
* The United States should enhance mil-mil cooperation, taking care to protect
its most sensitive tactics, techniques and procedures.
So long as there are no shots fired, we should leave the South China Sea to
the diplomats.
South Korea might need stronger medicine than QE
By Andy Mukherjee July 23, 2015
Boosting incomes and avoiding deflation would necessitate a weaker exchange rate.
The won has become a third pricier against trading partners since early 2009.
Japanese exporters are using a weak yen to cut prices, and invest more in product
development. That's a headache for Korean auto and electronics makers.
However, cutting interest rates to weaken the currency is like bringing a water
pistol to a fight with the Japanese monetary bazooka.
With the Bank of Japan buying about $50 billion in government bonds each month,
the Bank of Korea needs to raise its game, and expand its balance sheet.
Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan
Document published by Jordan Sand on Tuesday, May 5, 2015
This year presents an opportunity for the government of Japan to show leadership by
addressing Japan’s history of colonial rule and wartime aggression in both words and
action. In his April address to the US Congress, Prime Minister Abe spoke of the
universal value of human rights, of the importance of human security, and of facing the
suffering that Japan caused other countries. We applaud these sentiments and urge the
Prime Minister to act boldly on all of them.
The process of acknowledging past wrongs strengthens a democratic society and fosters
cooperation among nations. Since the equal rights and dignity of women lie at the core of
the “comfort women” issue, its resolution would be a historic step toward the equality of
women and men in Japan, East Asia and the world.
Description:
This statement emerged from an open forum held at the Association for Asian Studies annual
meeting held in Chicago during March 2015, and from subsequent discussions on line among
a wide range of Japan scholars. It represents the opinions only of those who have signed it
and not of any organization or institution.
Tsipras Says Greece Won ‘Crucial’ Commitment for Debt Relief
July 29, 2015 ? 7:02 PM KST Updated on July 29, 2015 ? 9:14 PM KST
“The Greek people were prisoners, who after they escaped prison were immediately
arrested and returned to an even smaller cell,”
Tsipras, who turned 41 on Tuesday, told an Athens radio station.
“What’s crucial is that we got a commitment for debt relief, which will take
place after the first review of the program, in November.”
“I don’t regret anything that’s happened over the past five months,”
Tsipras said.
“As for the economy, the situation is reversible.”
TIER 1
Countries whose governments fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.
TIER 2
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards,
but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those
standards.
TIER 2 WATCH LIST
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards,
but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those
standards AND:
a)
The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant
or is significantly increasing;
b)
There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms
of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or
c)
The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into
compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take
additional future steps over the next year.
TIER 3
Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are
not making significant efforts to do so.
Page54
TIER 1
AUSTRALIA
KOREA, SOUTH
TAIWAN
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TIER 2
JAPAN
TIER 2 WATCH LIST
CHINA (PRC)
TIER 3
KOREA, NORTH
Page199
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JAPAN:
Draft and enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking law prohibiting all forms of trafficking
consistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol;
significantly increase efforts to investigate and prosecute forced labor cases and punish
convicted traffickers with jail time;
enact the TITP reform bill;
increase enforcement of bans on excessive deposits, “punishment” agreements, withholding
of passports, and other practices that contribute to forced labor in the TITP;
implement the newly expanded victim identification procedures for front-line officers to
recognize both male and female victims of forced labor or sex trafficking;
enhance screening of victims to ensure potential victims of trafficking are not detained or
forcibly deported for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking;
set aside resources to provide specialized care and assistance to trafficking victims,
including designated shelters for trafficking victims;
aggressively investigate, prosecute, convict, and punish Japanese nationals who engage in
child sex tourism;
and accede to the 2000 UN Transnational Organized Crime Convention and the TIP Protocol.
July 24, 2015, 12:20 A.M. ET
Goldman: Why Won Is The Most Vulnerable
By Shuli Ren
Emerging markets currencies are having a bad week.
The Australian dollar slumped to a six-year low, the Korean won reached a three-year low,
and the Thai baht is heading for the biggest weekly drop in three months. China’s weaker-
than-expected July manufacturing data as well as a commodities slump contributed to the losses.
But according to Goldman Sachs, the Korean won is the most vulnerable, with another 12.6%
downside.
First, the Bank of Korea wants to loosen monetary policies but “the easing may most likely
come through a weaker KRW (given the reluctance to lower rates further because of high
domestic leverage),” wrote Goldman.
The Korean government last month unveiled a series of new measures, such as the new
“foreign equities investment fund” to encourage Korean households to trade overseas assets,
as a way to cool down the won. In the last year, the won has appreciated 6.8% against the
Japanese yen. Korea competes directly with Japan in the exports market. Meanwhile, the
central bank is reluctant to lower rates because Korean households are already over-leveraged
in the housing market.
Second, the won is highly liquid, which makes shorting it easy:
Among EM Asian currencies, KRW has the best combination of low bid-ask spread, low carry cost,
and high liquidity. This offers investors the benefit of separate implementation of the equity
and currency views.
Apart from asking us to buy the U.S. dollar against the won, Goldman suggests that we buy
6-month put on the iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (EWY) to hedge against large losses.
