Latest News Clips 2013.05.06

                   

1.      China calls Japan-U.S. island drill "provocative"

Reuters – Wed, Apr 24, 2013

Reuters/Reuters - An aerial photo shows a Chinese marine surveillance ship Haijian No. 66 (C) cruising next to Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in the East China Sea, near known as Senkaku isles in Japan and …more 

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday that "provocative actions" would not sway it from defending its territory, after Japan confirmed it would conduct military drills with the United States amid tension between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands.

Japan said on Tuesday that the joint drill, scheduled for June off California, involved the recapture of an isolated island but was not aimed at scenarios involving a specific country, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said "foreign pressure" could not sway China from protecting its territorial sovereignty in the East China Sea.

"For any related provocative actions, the Chinese government will maintain a resolute response," Hua told reporters at a regular news briefing when asked about the drills.

"We have always upheld the same stance on issues related to the Diaoyu Islands: to appropriately solve, manage and control the relevant issues through bilateral dialogue and negotiations."

Beijing and Tokyo have both protested over an incident on Tuesday in which Chinese patrol vessels played cat-and-mouse with a flotilla of Japanese nationalists near the uninhabited islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

The Japanese government bought the islands near rich fishing grounds and potentially lucrative maritime gas fields from a private Japanese owner last year, sparking sometimes-violent anti-Japanese protests across China.

The issue has brought Chinese-Japanese relations to their lowest point since normalization of relations more than 40 years ago.

China also chastised Japan for Tuesday's visits by at least 168 lawmakers to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal along with Japan's war dead.

sway from: sway A from doing something
conduct military drills實行軍演
off California: off離開, 在此指加州外海的意思
uphold: defend and support
Senkaku :世界對釣魚台的稱呼
lucrative : 有利可圖的
spark:爆發(引起了)
chastise: 嚴厲譴責
convict:判...有罪

2.      Abe Uses First Russian Visit in Decade to Revive Peace Talks

The Bloomberg   April 29, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to revive stalled talks on a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities between the two countries.

The two leaders instructed their foreign ministries to accelerate discussions of “mutually acceptable options” and voiced “determination” to use bilateral talks to bridge differences and sign a peace accord, according to a joint statement issued to reporters in Moscow today.

Abe is using the first trip to Russia by a Japanese premier in a decade to break an almost seven-decade-long territorial dispute and win more access to energy resources. Putin said the two sides are “sincere” in seeking a diplomatic breakthrough and want to harness stronger economic ties to advance the talks.

“I’ll personally deal with this issue, which is the biggest unsolved question in relations between our countries, and will apply all my efforts to solve it,” Abe said in the Kremlin in remarks translated into Russian.

Abe met Putin in the Kremlin midway through a three-day visit to discuss energy, trade and investment. The countries’ relationship has been hamstrung by a dispute over islands known as the Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia that were seized by the Soviet Union in the final days of the war.

stall 陷入泥潭(停止)
hostility敵視
access取得
sincere: honest
harness :use利用
 A ties to B: 結合 
apply運用
hamstring阻礙
seize攻占

3.      Obama’s Mexico Trip Ties Immigration Debate to Economy

The Bloomberg   May 02, 2013

President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico today with a message that ties the immigration debate in the U.S. to economic growth on both sides of the border.

In his discussions with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Obama also will be conscious of his audience back home, where Congress next week resumes negotiating possible changes to immigration law. That debate will affect U.S. and Mexican businesses as well as the millions of Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally.

Obama and Pena Nieto are scheduled to meet for about an hour before holding a joint news conference at 4:10 p.m. local time.

The domestic debate is intertwined with the thorniest issues in U.S. relations with Latin America, including border security, drug trafficking and free trade.

“The White House is hoping to highlight the economic opportunities that would emanate from a modernized immigration system,” said Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist who met with Obama and other White House officials about the trip this week. “He doesn’t want security and violence issues to dominate this trip.”

Mexico’s economic expansion has been changing the dynamics of the U.S. immigration debate and opening opportunities for Obama to meet his goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of next year. The Mexican economy has grown at about twice the pace of the U.S. since the end of 2009, lessening the lure of the U.S. for Mexican workers. Net Mexican migration dropped to zero from 2005 to 2010, according to a Pew Research Center study released a year ago.

tie A to B:結合 A to B
 be conscious of 意識到
traffic, trafficked,trafficked,trafficking
dynamics 活力(複)

4.         Willem-Alexander sworn in as king of the Netherlands

BBC    30 April 2013 

Willem-Alexander has been sworn in as king of the Netherlands following the abdication of Queen Beatrix.

He became the country's first king since 1890 when his 75-year-old mother signed the abdication deed earlier on Tuesday after 33 years on the throne.

Huge crowds of orange-clad partygoers are in Amsterdam to pay tribute.

Now known as Princess Beatrix, the former queen maintained a recent Dutch tradition of monarch's handing over power to a new generation.

Wearing the royal mantle, the new king swore to uphold the constitution at a colourful enthronement ceremony in the Nieuwe Kerk, a decommissioned church, before a joint session of the Dutch parliament.

"I swear that I shall defend and preserve the independence and territory of the state with all my powers," he said.

"That I shall protect the general and individual freedom and rights of all my subjects and shall use all available means granted to me by law for preserving and promoting general and individual prosperity as I befitting of a good king.... So help me God almighty."

Crowds in the square outside cheered as the announcement of his inauguration was made from a balcony overlooking the square amid trumpet fanfare.

In the evening, the royal family will take part in a water pageant.

'Happy and grateful'

The queen had announced her intention to stand down in January, saying her son was ready to reign and that it was time for the throne to be held by "a new generation".

She formally relinquished the throne at a short ceremony in the Royal Palace on Tuesday, signing a statement transferring the monarchy to her son "in   accordance with the statutes and the constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands".

There were huge cheers from the crowds outside in Dam Square, who were watching the ceremony on giant television screens, as she, her son and his wife Maxima - a 41-year-old Argentine-born investment banker - signed the deed of abdication.

Shortly afterwards, the three royals emerged on a balcony above the square.

The visibly emotional Princess Beatrix told the crowds: "I am happy and grateful to introduce to you your new king, Willem-Alexander."

take part參加

inauguration就職典禮 
balcony 陽台
 amid  trumpet fanfare在一陣號響聲中
relinquish 交出

adbicate:辭職(王位權力)
resign、quit

5.      Alibaba Buys a Stake in China’s Twitter

The New York Times   Apr. 29, 2013

    

The Internet giant Alibaba was once known as China’s answer to eBay. Now it is forging closer ties to the country’s counterpart to Twitter.

Alibaba agreed on Monday to buy an 18 percent stake in the Sina Corporation’s Weibo, the most popular of China’s microblogging services, for $586 million. It has the right to raise its stake to 30 percent in the future.

The deal values Weibo at about $3.3 billion — equivalent to Sina’s entire market value as of Friday.

Alibaba and Sina also agreed to cooperate in improving ways to marry social networking with e-commerce, as microblogging services like Sina’s continue to grow in popularity. Sina Weibo said that last year it had more than 46 million daily active users, an increase of 82 percent from the period a year earlier.

That remains a fraction of Twitter’s user base, however. And a recent study of about 30,000 Sina Weibo users found that about 57 percent of the sampled accounts had no measurable activity or posts.

Alibaba continues to grow, most recently being valued by analysts at more than $55 billion. It has reshuffled its management ranks ahead of a much-anticipated initial public offering that could come as soon as this year.

The growth of social networking and its close ties to the continuing boom in mobile Internet usage have prompted a natural response: how to make money from the phenomenon. Sina and Alibaba expect their efforts to yield about $380 million in advertising and commercial revenue for the Weibo service over the next three years.

“We believe that the cooperation of our two robust platforms will bring unique and valuable services to Weibo users, as well as making the mobile Internet a core part of Alibaba’s strategy,” Jack Ma, the Alibaba chairman, said in a statement.

forge形成、遞造
marry with與什麼結合
 the period a year earlier去年同期
yield 產出