Korean chinese face

The new chairman of Japan's national broadcaster NHK has expressed regret for defending the country's use of wartime sex slaves during remarks in which he also suggested he would toe the government line on key diplomatic issues. Katsuto Momii faced calls to resign over the comments, made at the weekend during his first press conference as head of NHK, and quickly drew criticism from South Korea, a victim of Japan's militarism in the first half of the 20th century. The furore also risks adding to the prime minister Shinzo Abe's diplomatic woes amid rising tensions with China and South Korea over territorial disputes and interpretations of Japan's wartime conduct. Momii said brothels were "common in any country at war" at the time, and described as "puzzling" criticism of Japan's enslavement of up to 200,000 mainly Korean, Chinese and Filipino women – euphemistically known as "comfort women" – in frontline brothels across Asia between 1932 and 1945. "Can we say there were … [Read more...] about Japan public broadcasting head regrets defending use of wartime sex slaves

The "crisis" on the 38th parallel has little to do with the two Koreas: it's about oil and gas for China, the prelude to an energy grab that will safeguard the expansion of the Chinese economy for decades to come. Six months ago Taiwanese and Japanese coastguard cutters were drenching each other in spray from water cannon, in footage now forgotten. The present pantomime, with hisses greeting North Korea as the villain, is not a replacement of the fountain show but its encore. The Senkaku islands, if you're Japanese – Diaoyu if you're Chinese – halfway between the two countries, and the fossil resources that underlie them, are the issue of contention, not the integrity of the Korean border. In the twilight of oil, long-term energy security is at the top of all great powers' agendas, but it has a highly personal dimension for those in power in China today. Two hundred dollars for a barrel of oil and 15% unemployment will lose a presidential election in America. In China, it … [Read more...] about Korea is the focus, but this is China versus Japan

The US and South Korean combined forces command in the South has stepped up surveillance of the North and added intelligence staff as the region prepares for an expected missile test. The joint command has increased its alert level one notch above the standard status, an unnamed military official told the South's Yonhap news agency, while Seoul's foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, told parliament the prospects of a launch were "very high". While tensions on the peninsula have escalated rapidly in recent weeks, with Pyongyang issuing a series of threats and withdrawing workers from a joint industrial zone, analysts believe the North is simply trying to exert pressure on other countries in the hope of a security guarantee and aid. "If history is any guide, in a few weeks' time things will calm down ... It does not make sense to credulously take their fake belligerence at face value and give them the attention they want now," Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University wrote on Wednesday. He … [Read more...] about North Korea: US and Seoul brace for missile test

As tensions between China, Japan and others in the region rise, observers could be forgiven for wondering which year this is, given the copious references to events dating back seven decades or more. Historical grievances have always played a role in regional tensions. But longstanding issues – particularly over Japanese wartime brutality in China – are being invoked increasingly frequently and explicitly. The news that Japan is considering revising its apology for enslaving Chinese and South Korean women in military brothels follows inflammatory remarks from public figures, including the head of the state broadcaster. Meanwhile, China has approved the establishment of national memorial days to commemorate the Nanjing massacre and Japan's defeat in the second world war. Chinese officials reportedly want President Xi Jinping's visit to Berlin next month to focus on the war - underlining Beijing's attempts to contrast German contrition with what it sees as Japan's lack of … [Read more...] about Rows between Japan and China draw on historical grievances