2007-09-05 00:21:10Miss YOU

IMTD Weekly Report on North East Asia 0904

在IMTD,多軌外交研究所,實習的我每個禮拜二在員工大會中都要做東北亞計畫及時事彙報,這是我第一個禮拜的小報告,看看吧!

*Project Progress
I am gathering some ideas for the dialogues now. I will do the Japan-Korea Dialogue in late September because the last dialogue was about China and Japan. The Cross-Strait Dialogue will be in October and the China-Japan Dialogue will be in November.

*News on North East Asia
Chinese Defense Chief Cao GangChuan visited Japan and his stay lasted 5 days. It is the first visit of the Chinese defense chief to Japan for almost 10 years. This visit symbolized the possibility of a better relationship between China and Japan after the controversial visits to Yasukuni Shine by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Japanese and Chinese defense chiefs agreed steps to ease military tensions. Both sides agreed to set up a study group for a military hotline and to arrange a naval exchange. Masahiko Komura, the Japanese defense chief, showed his concern about China’s rising military spending. China, meanwhile, has expressed concern about Japan’s plans for closer military co-operation with India, the United States and Australia.

*Key Issues*
History: Japan’s neighbours think it has not done enough to atone for wartime atrocities.
Trade: Bilateral trade is growing strongly.
North Korea: Japan often takes a tougher stance than China over the nuclear issue.
East China Sea: Beijing and Tokyo disagree over the boundary between their exclusive economic zones.
Security: Japan wants to revise its pacifist constitution, which concerns China. China’s military expansion concerns Japan.

As to the Japanese military activities, the navies of the United States, Australia, India, Japan and Singapore have begun a massive naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal. The five-national naval exercise is allegedly an attempt to contain China’s growing power although these countries deny this claim.

The UN spokeswoman Michelle Montas said on Monday that a Chinese general will head the United Nations mission in Western Sahara. Such appointment is the first for a Chinese military leader in UN peacekeeping operations. Major General Zhao Jingmin has been selected by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, which was deployed more than a decade ago to organize a vote on whether the territory should become a full-fledged state or be incorporated with Morocco. According to the spokeswoman, Zhao was chosen for the reason that China has contributed to UN peacekeeping operations but had never led one.