http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/07/pm-noda-will-nationalize-senkaku-island.html
SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012
PM Noda Will "Nationalize" Senkaku Island, No Matter What China or Taiwan Says
After planning to lower the retirement age for the Japanese to 40 to compete with developing countries on wages, now he says he will nationalize the islands disputed by Japan, China, and Taiwan.
Why? He thinks that will win him the next election. Absolutely tone-deaf, harebrained move by the prime minister who seems to be rather popular in the US and UK (particularly among the financial media) for his resolute moves to combat fiscal deficit by raising taxes and cutting social welfare for the hapless citizens.
The move may give more headaches for the Chinese Communist Party who has been battling the unrest cropping up in the country, and cause the Chinese government to appease the angry public by instituting some anti-Japanese measures.
As the Nikkei article below indicates, Noda's move is to prop up support for him and his party in the next Lower House election. By appearing tough, he thinks he can get the right-wing votes, I suppose.
From Nikkei Shinbun (7/8/2012; part):
尖閣国有化、慎重論押し切った首相 弱腰批判を回避
In nationalization of Senkaku Islands, Prime Minister overcame the faction that preached prudence, to avoid criticism of being weak
政府が尖閣諸島の国有化に向けて動き始めた。尖閣購入に先に乗り出した東京都の石原慎太郎知事に触発され、野田佳彦首相が政府内の慎重論を押し切った。次期衆院選に向けて「弱腰」批判をかわし、領土保全で毅然とした姿勢を印象付ける狙いがある。中国の反発は覚悟のうえで、日中関係悪化という火種を抱える決断となった。
The national government is moving toward nationalizing Senkaku Islands. Inspired by Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara, who has already to purchase the islands, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda overcame the faction inside his government who are more cautious. The purpose is to deflect the criticism of "being weak-kneed" and to create an image of a resolute leader protecting the national border, in preparation for the next Lower House election. The prime minister [and his supporters, if any?] is prepared for the opposition from China. This decision may worsen the relationship between Japan and China....
玄葉光一郎外相は７日、外務省内で記者団に、中国と台湾が事実関係の説明を求めてきたことを明らかにした。７日は日中戦争の発端となった盧溝橋事件から75周年にあたり、中国外交筋は「最悪のタイミングだ」と語る。
Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Genba told the press corp at the Ministry on July 7 that China and Taiwan had contacted his ministry to explain the situation. July 7 marked the 75th anniversary of Marco Polo Bridge Incident [in 1937) that triggered the [Second] Sino-Japanese War. Chinese diplomatic sources say "It's the worst possible timing."
Shintaro Ishihara says his purchase plan with donation money is still in place. As of July 5, 2012, he has collected 1.325 billion yen (US$16.6 million) from nearly 90,000 entities.
Japan claimed these uninhabited islands as its own in 1885, having determined by several surveys that the islands did not belong to any country. During the occupation period after the World War II, the islands were administered by the United States as part of Okinawa. China and Taiwan started to claim Senkaku Islands as their territories after a survey done by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in 1969 indicated a potential of huge oil and natural gas reserves under the sea. (From Japanese Wikipedia)
and.....
PM Noda Will "Nationalize" Senkaku Island, No Matter What China or Taiwan Says
After planning to lower the retirement age for the Japanese to 40 to compete with developing countries on wages, now he says he will nationalize the islands disputed by Japan, China, and Taiwan.
Why? He thinks that will win him the next election. Absolutely tone-deaf, harebrained move by the prime minister who seems to be rather popular in the US and UK (particularly among the financial media) for his resolute moves to combat fiscal deficit by raising taxes and cutting social welfare for the hapless citizens.
The move may give more headaches for the Chinese Communist Party who has been battling the unrest cropping up in the country, and cause the Chinese government to appease the angry public by instituting some anti-Japanese measures.
As the Nikkei article below indicates, Noda's move is to prop up support for him and his party in the next Lower House election. By appearing tough, he thinks he can get the right-wing votes, I suppose.
From Nikkei Shinbun (7/8/2012; part):
and.....尖閣国有化、慎重論押し切った首相 弱腰批判を回避
In nationalization of Senkaku Islands, Prime Minister overcame the faction that preached prudence, to avoid criticism of being weak
政府が尖閣諸島の国有化に向けて動き始めた。尖閣購入に先に乗り出した東京都の石原慎太郎知事に触発され、野田佳彦首相が政府内の慎重論を押し切った。次期衆院選に向けて「弱腰」批判をかわし、領土保全で毅然とした姿勢を印象付ける狙いがある。中国の反発は覚悟のうえで、日中関係悪化という火種を抱える決断となった。
The national government is moving toward nationalizing Senkaku Islands. Inspired by Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara, who has already to purchase the islands, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda overcame the faction inside his government who are more cautious. The purpose is to deflect the criticism of "being weak-kneed" and to create an image of a resolute leader protecting the national border, in preparation for the next Lower House election. The prime minister [and his supporters, if any?] is prepared for the opposition from China. This decision may worsen the relationship between Japan and China....
玄葉光一郎外相は７日、外務省内で記者団に、中国と台湾が事実関係の説明を求めてきたことを明らかにした。７日は日中戦争の発端となった盧溝橋事件から75周年にあたり、中国外交筋は「最悪のタイミングだ」と語る。
Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Genba told the press corp at the Ministry on July 7 that China and Taiwan had contacted his ministry to explain the situation. July 7 marked the 75th anniversary of Marco Polo Bridge Incident [in 1937) that triggered the [Second] Sino-Japanese War. Chinese diplomatic sources say "It's the worst possible timing."Shintaro Ishihara says his purchase plan with donation money is still in place. As of July 5, 2012, he has collected 1.325 billion yen (US$16.6 million) from nearly 90,000 entities.
Japan claimed these uninhabited islands as its own in 1885, having determined by several surveys that the islands did not belong to any country. During the occupation period after the World War II, the islands were administered by the United States as part of Okinawa. China and Taiwan started to claim Senkaku Islands as their territories after a survey done by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in 1969 indicated a potential of huge oil and natural gas reserves under the sea. (From Japanese Wikipedia)
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/07/independent-journalist-ryuichi-kino.html
FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2012
Independent Journalist Ryuichi Kino Banned from TEPCO Press Conference, Kino Accuses TEPCO of Censorship
after he transmitted TEPCO's shareholders meeting via audio using his smartphone on June 27, 2012. At that meeting, the company officially became the ward of the state (well, "effectively"), and the state that "effectively" took over is in turn barely sustained by the taxpayers in Japan, now and the future.
Ryuichi Kino has been attending the TEPCO press conferences since March 17, 2011, asking questions which often didn't even occur to the reporters at established media outlets and TEPCO managers alike. He wrote a book with Kazuo Hizumi, who also attended the TEPCO press conferences from the beginning despite his terminal gallbladder cancer which finally took him in June this year, detailing their efforts to wrestle information out of TEPCO on the Fukushima accident.
To summarize Kino's blog entry on July 4, 2012:
-
Kino has been barred from attending TEPCO's press conferences since June 27, 2012. The emergency emails to Kino from TEPCO for the journalists who cover the Fukushima accident have also stopped.
-
The reason is that Kino was transmitting the audio of the shareholders' meeting on June 27. TEPCO had explained that the recording of audio and video at the shareholders' meeting would be prohibited, and that anyone who violated that rule would not be allowed to attend the press conference any more. So accordingly TEPCO banned Kino after finding out about his transmitting the audio of the shareholders' meeting.
-
Kino had asked TEPCO before about netcasting the shareholders' meeting. On June 26, TEPCO's Matsumoto said in the regular press conference that the company had no intention of making the shareholders' meeting public because it was the place to discuss [issues] with TEPCO's shareholders. Chairman Katsumata declined to vote on the motion [last year?] to allow NHK and Nico Nico to do a live broadcast/netcast, saying he didn't think it was necessary. Kino takes these to mean that this so-called "rule" is not a legally-binding prohibition, but it simply says TEPCO doesn't think it's necessary to make the shareholders' meeting public.
-
Kino thinks TEPCO is exercising media censorship.
It seems Kino was fully aware of this TEPCO's private rule and deliberately disobeyed the rule. Why?
Kino asks, "Does it make sense?"
Kino continues in his blog (I am paraphrasing to take his meaning):
Does it make sense for TEPCO to have the shareholders' meeting closed to the public, when close to 1 trillion yen worth of taxpayers' money, aka public fund, has already been given to the company, and in July another 1 trillion yen will be poured by the government to effectively take over the company by controlling the majority?
Any information related to TEPCO now affects the entire nation. Shouldn't such information be made readily available to the public? As part of that information, I believe the shareholders' meeting, which will significantly affect the operation of the company, should be broadcast live, just like the regular press conferences.
I cannot agree more. Besides, many ordinary people may be indirect owner (=shareholders) of TEPCO through mutual funds, through the holdings by the municipal governments (like Tokyo Metropolitan government who is one of the largest shareholders of TEPCO). Yet many more may be stakeholders through the bonds and bond funds that they own, as TEPCO's corporate bonds had been considered one of the best, safest investments until March 11, 2011.
Kino sounds a bit crest-fallen. To add insult to injury, it has turned out:
-
Reporters from the mainstream media either secretly video-recorded the meeting proceedings or obtained the secretly recorded footage and broadcasted on the TV news, but TEPCO says the company either doesn't know about it or cannot identify the individuals, and therefore no action will be taken. (OurPlanetTV report)
-
TEPCO's PR manager under Matsumoto had the temerity to thank Kino for having attended the press conferences for such a long time, after TEPCO told Kino that he wasn't allowed at the press conference any more.
I have been following Kino's reporting via Twitter, IWJ live feed, and personal communication. I have written on this blog what he reports from TEPCO's press conferences. Without people like Kino, we would have probably been still in the dark regarding the Fukushima accident. Please, if you will, support Kino by:
-
Tweeting your support to @kinoryuichi;
-
Visiting his blog (Japanese) at http://kinoryu.cocolog-nifty.com/ and write a comment of support; and most importantly
-
Calling/emailing TEPCO to tell the company it must allow Kino back at the press conference: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/other/contact/contop-e.html
-
Spreading this post.
Perhaps a sign of the slowly changing times, Asahi Shinbun has an article about this incident. Tokyo Shinbun's article says it is unconscionable what TEPCO has done to Kino, and even if Kino broke TEPCO's rule, the shareholders' meeting of a company that is being effectively nationalized should be made public, as well as any information concerning the company.
Some comments at Kino's blog post are nastier than the mainstream media reports. Agents hard at work, some say in the same comment section.
and.....
Independent Journalist Ryuichi Kino Banned from TEPCO Press Conference, Kino Accuses TEPCO of Censorship
after he transmitted TEPCO's shareholders meeting via audio using his smartphone on June 27, 2012. At that meeting, the company officially became the ward of the state (well, "effectively"), and the state that "effectively" took over is in turn barely sustained by the taxpayers in Japan, now and the future.
Ryuichi Kino has been attending the TEPCO press conferences since March 17, 2011, asking questions which often didn't even occur to the reporters at established media outlets and TEPCO managers alike. He wrote a book with Kazuo Hizumi, who also attended the TEPCO press conferences from the beginning despite his terminal gallbladder cancer which finally took him in June this year, detailing their efforts to wrestle information out of TEPCO on the Fukushima accident.
To summarize Kino's blog entry on July 4, 2012:
- Kino has been barred from attending TEPCO's press conferences since June 27, 2012. The emergency emails to Kino from TEPCO for the journalists who cover the Fukushima accident have also stopped.
- The reason is that Kino was transmitting the audio of the shareholders' meeting on June 27. TEPCO had explained that the recording of audio and video at the shareholders' meeting would be prohibited, and that anyone who violated that rule would not be allowed to attend the press conference any more. So accordingly TEPCO banned Kino after finding out about his transmitting the audio of the shareholders' meeting.
- Kino had asked TEPCO before about netcasting the shareholders' meeting. On June 26, TEPCO's Matsumoto said in the regular press conference that the company had no intention of making the shareholders' meeting public because it was the place to discuss [issues] with TEPCO's shareholders. Chairman Katsumata declined to vote on the motion [last year?] to allow NHK and Nico Nico to do a live broadcast/netcast, saying he didn't think it was necessary. Kino takes these to mean that this so-called "rule" is not a legally-binding prohibition, but it simply says TEPCO doesn't think it's necessary to make the shareholders' meeting public.
- Kino thinks TEPCO is exercising media censorship.
It seems Kino was fully aware of this TEPCO's private rule and deliberately disobeyed the rule. Why?
Kino asks, "Does it make sense?"
Kino continues in his blog (I am paraphrasing to take his meaning):
Does it make sense for TEPCO to have the shareholders' meeting closed to the public, when close to 1 trillion yen worth of taxpayers' money, aka public fund, has already been given to the company, and in July another 1 trillion yen will be poured by the government to effectively take over the company by controlling the majority?
Any information related to TEPCO now affects the entire nation. Shouldn't such information be made readily available to the public? As part of that information, I believe the shareholders' meeting, which will significantly affect the operation of the company, should be broadcast live, just like the regular press conferences.I cannot agree more. Besides, many ordinary people may be indirect owner (=shareholders) of TEPCO through mutual funds, through the holdings by the municipal governments (like Tokyo Metropolitan government who is one of the largest shareholders of TEPCO). Yet many more may be stakeholders through the bonds and bond funds that they own, as TEPCO's corporate bonds had been considered one of the best, safest investments until March 11, 2011.
Kino sounds a bit crest-fallen. To add insult to injury, it has turned out:- Reporters from the mainstream media either secretly video-recorded the meeting proceedings or obtained the secretly recorded footage and broadcasted on the TV news, but TEPCO says the company either doesn't know about it or cannot identify the individuals, and therefore no action will be taken. (OurPlanetTV report)
- TEPCO's PR manager under Matsumoto had the temerity to thank Kino for having attended the press conferences for such a long time, after TEPCO told Kino that he wasn't allowed at the press conference any more.I have been following Kino's reporting via Twitter, IWJ live feed, and personal communication. I have written on this blog what he reports from TEPCO's press conferences. Without people like Kino, we would have probably been still in the dark regarding the Fukushima accident. Please, if you will, support Kino by:
- Tweeting your support to @kinoryuichi;
- Visiting his blog (Japanese) at http://kinoryu.cocolog-nifty.com/ and write a comment of support; and most importantly
- Calling/emailing TEPCO to tell the company it must allow Kino back at the press conference: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/other/contact/contop-e.html
- Spreading this post.
Perhaps a sign of the slowly changing times, Asahi Shinbun has an article about this incident. Tokyo Shinbun's article says it is unconscionable what TEPCO has done to Kino, and even if Kino broke TEPCO's rule, the shareholders' meeting of a company that is being effectively nationalized should be made public, as well as any information concerning the company.
Some comments at Kino's blog post are nastier than the mainstream media reports. Agents hard at work, some say in the same comment section.and.....
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/07/democratic-party-member-the-center-of-gov-is-getting-scared-of-the-protest-they-will-start-blocking/
Democrat member “The center of gov is getting scared of the protest. They will start blocking.”
Posted by Mochizuki on July 7th, 2012 · 2 Comments
Some of the Democratic party members joined the protest, and one of them, a member of the house of councilors tweeted like these below,
<Translate>
Called the key person of Cabinet Committee about the interruption of police. Trying to have him pressure police. He promised me, and I will check too.
<End>
<Translate>
The center of the government is getting scared, they are starting to interrupt the protest, I think. In short, the demonstration is starting to work. I received “advice of the good will” too. It’s going to be the long way but let’s walk together.
<End>
Some of the Democratic party members joined the protest, and one of them, a member of the house of councilors tweeted like these below,
<Translate>
Called the key person of Cabinet Committee about the interruption of police. Trying to have him pressure police. He promised me, and I will check too.
<End>
<Translate>
The center of the government is getting scared, they are starting to interrupt the protest, I think. In short, the demonstration is starting to work. I received “advice of the good will” too. It’s going to be the long way but let’s walk together.
<End>
SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012
#Radioactive, Idiosyncratic Japan: Fukushima People Protest Against Nuke Plant, Miyagi Fish with 3,300 Bq/kg Cesium, PM Noda Wants To Lower Retirement Age to 40
Last post of the day (or night, whatever), a collection of small news pieces that I saw in the past hour or so:
Independent journalist Ryusaku Tanaka tweets he's at Fukushima Prefectural Government Building in Fukushima City. People gathered there are shouting "We don't need nuke plants!" Prime Minister Noda is visiting the governor of Fukushima at his office there today.
Meanwhile, the general manager of the antenna shop in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo that sells agricultural produce from Fukushima says he will drive the sales as hard as he can, paying close attention to quality, according to Jiji Tsushin. Uh huh. The Jiji article did say he asked the wholesalers to conduct the test for radioactive materials last year. No word about this year. And we know how the wholesalers' testing goes.
Miyagi prefectural government announced on July 6, 2012 that 3,300 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from black seabream caught off the coast of Higashi Matsushima City in Miyagi. That is extremely high, even compared to last year. Miyagi's governor continues to ship disaster debris outside the prefecture even when his own Assembly says the debris should stay inside Miyagi, and he continues to support fishermen without spending much or doing much on testing the catch for radiation.
Nikkei Shinbun says the government committee on national strategy (chaired by Prime Minister Noda) has compiled the report on the government's long-term strategy called "Frontier Plan". What's in the "Frontier"? Japan is indeed going where no one has gone before. Noda and his people want to make the retirement age at 40, with the retirement money of 1 to 2 years worth of salary. Why? To make employment more mobile, to compete with developing nations. They want to eliminate the distinction between contract workers and full-time employees - i.e. cutting the benefits for full-time employees. In their mind, this somehow will translate into (hold your breath).... birthrate increase.
How will an extremely insecure employment with the developing country-level wage lead to the increased birthrate? It won't, except in Noda and his experts' minds it will.
Oh, and the baby Panda is male, says NHK.
I can't take it any more for the day. Signing off...
and...
#Radioactive, Idiosyncratic Japan: Fukushima People Protest Against Nuke Plant, Miyagi Fish with 3,300 Bq/kg Cesium, PM Noda Wants To Lower Retirement Age to 40
Last post of the day (or night, whatever), a collection of small news pieces that I saw in the past hour or so:
Independent journalist Ryusaku Tanaka tweets he's at Fukushima Prefectural Government Building in Fukushima City. People gathered there are shouting "We don't need nuke plants!" Prime Minister Noda is visiting the governor of Fukushima at his office there today.
Meanwhile, the general manager of the antenna shop in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo that sells agricultural produce from Fukushima says he will drive the sales as hard as he can, paying close attention to quality, according to Jiji Tsushin. Uh huh. The Jiji article did say he asked the wholesalers to conduct the test for radioactive materials last year. No word about this year. And we know how the wholesalers' testing goes.
Miyagi prefectural government announced on July 6, 2012 that 3,300 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from black seabream caught off the coast of Higashi Matsushima City in Miyagi. That is extremely high, even compared to last year. Miyagi's governor continues to ship disaster debris outside the prefecture even when his own Assembly says the debris should stay inside Miyagi, and he continues to support fishermen without spending much or doing much on testing the catch for radiation.
Nikkei Shinbun says the government committee on national strategy (chaired by Prime Minister Noda) has compiled the report on the government's long-term strategy called "Frontier Plan". What's in the "Frontier"? Japan is indeed going where no one has gone before. Noda and his people want to make the retirement age at 40, with the retirement money of 1 to 2 years worth of salary. Why? To make employment more mobile, to compete with developing nations. They want to eliminate the distinction between contract workers and full-time employees - i.e. cutting the benefits for full-time employees. In their mind, this somehow will translate into (hold your breath).... birthrate increase.
How will an extremely insecure employment with the developing country-level wage lead to the increased birthrate? It won't, except in Noda and his experts' minds it will.
Oh, and the baby Panda is male, says NHK.
I can't take it any more for the day. Signing off...
Oh, and the baby Panda is male, says NHK.
I can't take it any more for the day. Signing off...
and...
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