US, Japan Seek Calm With China on Island Dispute - BusinessWeek

October 30, 2010, 4:32 PM EDT By Daniel Ten Kate and Nicole Gaouette

(Adds Clinton meeting with Dai in the sixth through 10th paragraphs.)

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Japan sought to ease tensions with China fueled by territorial disputes in waters off its coast that have hindered talks on currency and trade policies before a Group of 20 summit next month.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters he met for 10 minutes yesterday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao after a spat over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea scuttled more formal talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered to host a meeting to mediate between the two sides while repeating a U.S. obligation legally to defend Japan’s claims.

“We’ve encouraged both Japan and China to seek a peaceful resolution of any disagreement,” Clinton said in a speech in Hanoi yesterday, where she attended a regional summit with Wen, Kan and 15 other Asia-Pacific leaders. “It’s in all of our interests to have stable, peaceful relations” between China and Japan, she said.

The conflict has distracted Asian leaders as they prepare to iron out a global deal on currency policy for the G-20 meeting in Seoul. Clinton “made very clear we want the temperature to go down,” a U.S. official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said after Clinton met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. “The stakes are so high.”

Return to Talks

Hours after her remarks in Hanoi and a meeting there with Japan’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Clinton landed on China’s Hainan Island for talks with State Councilor Dai Binguo, who outranks Yang.

In the course of a two-hour meeting, Clinton touched on tensions over the island chain, North Korea and the U.S.-China relationship. She encouraged Dai to get North Korea to return to talks about dismantling its nuclear program and reviving ties with South Korea, according to a U.S. official.

Clinton also told Dai that the U.S. expects China to ensure that North Korea in no way takes provocative steps during the G- 20 that South Korea will host next month.

In her talks with Dai, Clinton stressed the U.S. desire to see tensions between Japan and China ease. The two leaders also discussed a “roadmap” for the U.S.-China relationship, including steps that will lead to the resumption of military-to- military ties and a possible visit to China by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the official said.

Disputed Islands

While the frequency and level of U.S.-China meetings have increased, Clinton also suggested that U.S. and Chinese officials meet informally more often, a proposal Dai agreed with.

Japan ruined the atmosphere for talks between Wen and Kan by giving “untrue” media statements, the state-run Xinhua News Agency cited Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue as saying Oct. 29. China’s foreign ministry also expressed “deep dissatisfaction” with Clinton for saying the disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, fall within the Japan-U.S. security alliance, Xinhua said in a separate report.

Yang told Clinton yesterday that the U.S. should respect China’s sovereignty and not make any “irresponsible remarks,” Xinhua reported.

A sea collision between a Chinese fishing boat and Japanese Coast Guard vessels near the disputed islands last month soured relations and reportedly prompted Beijing to cut exports of rare-earth minerals. Wen pledged a steady supply of the minerals during an Oct. 28 meeting with Kan and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak. Both Yang and Dai repeated those vows to Clinton yesterday.

National Interest

The U.S., Japan and several countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations continued to push China to agree to a set of rules at sea at the three days of meetings in Hanoi. Clinton said yesterday she was “encouraged” that another round of working-level talks on a sea code involving Asean and China, which have been stalled since 2002, will take place in December.

“The United States has a national interest in the freedom of navigation and unimpeded lawful commerce,” Clinton told the summit. “When disputes arise over maritime territory, we are committed to resolving them peacefully based on customary international law.”

In July, Yang said Clinton’s assertion that the U.S. had a “national interest” in the South China Sea was “virtually an attack on China.” U.S. Defense Secretary Gates said Oct. 12 that China’s actions in the seas are “clearly on everybody’s mind” and fall within the sphere of maritime security.

A Rising China

The issue came up at the East Asia Summit, a forum of 16 nations that the U.S. and Russia joined for the first time yesterday. Rocky outcrops in the South China Sea that may contain oil and gas reserves are claimed in whole or in part by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

“The region fears being dominated by a rising China,” said Ernest Bower, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “The solution? Invite the Americans to join. This gives the rest of Asia the balance they want.”

China has aimed to keep its territorial disputes with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines off the agenda at regional meetings, preferring one-on-one negotiations.

U.S. allies in the region include Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Australia. Washington has boosted its naval presence in Singapore and is increasing cooperation with the Indian navy in the Pacific Ocean, Clinton said on Oct. 28.

She denied that increased military ties with Asian countries were aimed at containing China, saying the U.S. supports the country’s growth. Last night she visited China’s Hainan Island, home to a naval base with quick access to the South China Sea.

--With assistance from Bomi Lim and Giang Nguyen in Hanoi. Editors: Sylvia Wier, Mark Rohner

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Hanoi at dtenkate@bloomberg.net Nicole Gaouette on Hainan Island, China at ngaouette@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Austin at billaustin@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe at ptioghe@bloomberg.net

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'Sanity' rally draws tens of thousands - USA Today

By Douglas Stanglin and Jessica Durando, USA TODAYWASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of people turned out on the sun-splashed National Mall on Saturday to hear comedian Jon Stewart proclaim "reasonableness" as the norm in American life and to jab the cable news media for being purveyors of fear and division."The country's 24-hour politico-pundit-perpetual-panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder," said Stewart in a speech that wrapped up the event.

The three-hour "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" mixed comedy and music with a message that was non-partisan, yet deeply political.

Stewart, using the Capitol behind him as a physical and rhetorical backdrop, hammered home a simple message — that most people go about their lives trying to solve their day-to-day problems, even in the worst of conditions.

"The truth is, we work together to get things done every damn day," he said. "The only place we don't is here, or on cable TV — but Americans don't live here or on cable TV."

The host of The Daily Show spoke directly to the audience at the close of the program, noting that as a comedian he may well be breaking some unwritten rules of the punditocracy. "I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow how I violated them," he said, in a reference to commentators who have questioned his place on the political landscape.

Later, Stewart underscored his disdain for how some of the media operates when he was asked how he thought they would react to his barbs: "Don't care."

"Our currency is not this town's currency," he said to reporters at the National Press Club after the rally. "We're not running for anything. We don't have a constituency. We do television shows for people who like them."

Still, Stewart said, "We're proud of ourselves" for actually pulling off the rally and putting on a good show.

Crowd sizes are notoriously hard to judge, but Comedy Central, which broadcasts The Daily Show, estimated the crowd at 250,000.

The rally started out as a response to the "Restoring Honor" rally by conservative commentator Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial this summer.

Katie Tackett, 32, of Washington, D.C., attended the rally because she saw it as a cultural phenomenon, rather than a way to send America a message. "I don't think having a rally by a satirical comedian is the best way to get out a message," she said.

At the end of the event, Stewart took the stage, somewhat puzzled by what it all meant.

"So what exactly was this?" he asked as the rally wound down. "I can't control what people think this was, I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism, or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument, or to suggest that times are not difficult and we have nothing to fear. They are and we do."

The rally's purpose, he said, was to show that there is more that unites Americans than divides them, and that the nation should not let others use fear and bombast to undermine that.

"I'm a little bit choked up after listening to Jon Stewart talk," said Hy Alvarah, 28, who works for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. gay civil rights organization. "He covered all the things we're missing in life, not just sanity and reasonableness. I was moved to tears. You expect that from politicians and preachers, not a comedian."

While the remarks were sometimes pointed and stinging, the rally was notable for its lack of partisanship. No one noted from the stage that midterm elections will be held on Tuesday.

The tone struck an important chord with many in the audience. Pat Reynolds, 76, said she came from Florida for the opportunity to "get some reasonableness."

"I was tired of the yelling and the screaming. I believe sanity is reality," Reynolds said. "We've got to put the best men in government that can compromise and that work for the American people."

That theme played out during the three-hour rally as Stewart, using fellow comedian Stephen Colbert's bombastic character as a foil, handed out awards for "reasonableness" to Colbert's awards for "fear."

To counter Colbert's call that Muslims should be feared, Stewart said, "There are a lot of Muslim people who you might like."

He then brought out basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was way too tall for the two to high-five.

Abdul-Jabbar made the point, "No matter whatever religious position someone plays, we're all on the same team."

The audience came prepared to play along. Many brought signs to underscore the message of reasonableness, or just to be funny.

Among them:

•"I'm somewhat irritated about extreme outrage."

•"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — and spiders"

•"Stand united against signs"

"I'm really glad this is an optimistic rally. All the other ones are serious. We can just laugh and realize that things aren't so bad," said Brian Steele, 19, a student at George Washington University.

Onstage, the comedy was both high and low. At one point, Stewart gave an award to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper's tight, black T-shirt, which Cooper has worn covering natural disasters.

Kid Rock performed, as did Sheryl Crow, Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples. Ozzy Osbourne got in a mock dispute with mellow folk singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens.

Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, arranged for buses to transport about 10,000 rally-goers from New York for free. She took issue with news organizations that wouldn't allow their employees to participate in the rally because they considered it political.

"It doesn't make any sense to be agnostic about sanity," said Huffington. "The rally is not political. It's not partisan. Contrived objectivity does not serve journalism."

Huffington also said the rally "helps us recognize we can have big disagreements as a country without demonizing opponents."

Contributing: Lindsay Deutsch, Marisa Kendall, Sara Newman, Bruce Schwartz

Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.

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Australian Security Will Screen All Cargo Coming From Yemen, Gillard Says - Bloomberg

Australia will screen all cargo coming from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, the three transit points for passengers flying from Yemen, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, after an attempt to send parcel bombs from Yemen to the U.S. was foiled.

Police in Yemen yesterday arrested a woman suspected of attempting to send two parcel bombs to synagogues in Chicago via air-cargo services, after authorities in Dubai and the U.K. intercepted the packages on Oct. 29. Authorities are investigating whether the shipments were staged as rehearsals for a future attacks, a U.S. official said.

“There are no direct flights from Yemen to Australia, so any cargo that originated in Yemen would come through one of those three locations and there will be 100 percent screening as a response,” Gillard said in Hanoi yesterday, according to a transcript of her comments e-mailed today.

Gillard said she will take any “further advice arising from this incident” when it becomes available.

The prime minister, who is in the Vietnamese capital for the East Asia Summit, said she has been pushing hard to formalize the participation of the U.S. and Russia in future gatherings.

The two nations, which will join the summit from 2011, attended as special guests this year.

Regional Forum

“Prior to this there was no regional forum that brought together the U.S., China, the countries of our region, working comprehensively across the economic, strategic, political and defense relationships,” Gillard said. Such a forum “is important for our future, for the future of China and its role in our world.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit Melbourne for the Austrialia- United States Ministerial meeting, a forum between the two nations, on Nov. 8.

Gillard said she plans to visit China next year after Premier Wen Jiabao invited her when they met in Hanoi yesterday.

The Australian prime minister, who also met with leaders of India, Laos and the Philippines, will travel to Indonesia and Malaysia from Hanoi, according to local media reports.

Stock Exchange Merger

Gillard, who also met with Singapore Prime Minister Hsien Loong Lee during her trip, said her counterpart had raised Singapore Exchange Ltd.’s bid for ASX Ltd.

“We both agreed there’s a clear process to be gone through,” Gillard told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview. “From the Australian point of view, from the Foreign Investment Review Board, and that process will be gone through.”

Singapore Exchange, part-owned by the city-state’s central bank, on Oct. 25 offered to buy the owner of Australia’s stock exchange for cash and shares in a deal worth A$8.1 billion ($8 billion), according to Bloomberg’s calculations based on Singapore Exchange’s closing price of S$8.80 on Oct. 29.

The transaction requires an amendment to Australia’s Corporations Act, approved by parliament, which prohibits anyone from owning more than 15 percent of ASX. Singapore Exchange needs the support of the minority Labor government, which hasn’t decided its stance on the deal, and at least four other legislators in the lower house of parliament to approve the bid.

Australian lawmakers including two Greens party members, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey and two independents said they oppose Singapore Exchange’s bid, saying it’s unlikely to be in the best interests of Australians.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nichola Saminather in Sydney at nsaminather1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net

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