From Fox News: 150,000 Witness North Korea Execution of Factory Boss Whose Crime Was Making International Phone Calls.

     SEOUL, South Korea —  A North Korean factory chief accused of making international phone calls was executed by a firing squad in a stadium before 150,000 spectators, a South Korean aid group reported.

     Public executions had declined since 2000 amid international criticism but have been increasing, targeting officials accused of drug trafficking, embezzlement and other crimes, the Good Friends aid agency said in a report on the North's human rights.

     In October, the North executed the head of a factory in South Pyongan province for making international calls on 13 phones he installed in a factory basement, the aid group said. He was executed by a firing squad in a stadium before a crowd of 150,000.

     And like all good reporters this one too feels the need to state something that is readily apparent due to the story itself.

     Most North Koreans are banned from communicating with the outside world, part of the regime's authoritarian policies seeking to prevent any challenge to the iron-fisted rule of Kim Jong Il.

Nah, you don't say.  Just one more reminder of what the Regieme in Pyongyang is all about, repression and agression.  I don't trust these ass holes even less than the ones im Beijing.

But somehow I find it hard to fear someone whose idea of style is bad boufant and a members only polyester jumpsuit.

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     As any regular readers know I hold no love for the People's Republic of China, as Mark Stein once said if your country's name includes the words People's Republic it is niether a republic nor answerable to the people.  The recent refusal of the PRC to allow US warships to call at Hong Kong is a fine reminder of that fact.  What is an even better reminder is that this is the second time in recent weeks this has occured, the first was a pair of minesweepers and a fleet oiler seeking refuge from a storm.  China is an enemy of the US, and the sooner we publicy admit that then the more effectively we can work to contain and if necessary defeat the PRC should it ever come to that.

From fox News: Navy Chief Surprised at China's Refusal of Port Visit for U.S. Ships.

     Two of the Navy's top admirals said Tuesday that China's refusal to permit a U.S. aircraft carrier to make a Thanksgiving port call at Hong Kong was surprising and troubling.

     "This is perplexing. It's not helpful," Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told reporters in a videoteleconference from his headquarters at Camp Smith, Hawaii.

     "It's not, in our view, conduct that is indicative of a country that understands its obligations as a responsible nation," he said, adding that he hopes it does not indicate a lasting blockage of port visits.

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The latest update to Minx caused all pictures posted as [thumbnail=.... to dissapear, so sorry for any confusion this may have caused.  I am chasing it down and should have all the posts sorted in a day or so.  Until then pleases bear with me.

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     The US policy toward Taiwan is still totally unacceptable to me, and we should be doing our utmost to back them in their endevours to be part of the international community of nations.  I respect Sceretary Gates, hell I have met the man, but I can not agree with the message, and by extension the position of the President ( Whom I voted for twice, and would do so again.) he delivered to Beijing.  The US should remind the PRC that they have a much weaker claim to any sort of political legitimacy than Taiwan and that they would be wise to copy their neighbors example and become a truly democratic society.

From the China Post: Gates reassures Hu on Taiwan.

     BEIJING -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday assured China's President Hu Jintao that the U.S. government is "categorically" opposed to any moves by Taiwan toward independence.

     Gates met with Hu in Beijing's Great Hall of the People after two days of talks -- characterized by both parties as "candid but friendly" -- that raised U.S. concerns about China's rapid military build-up and Iran's nuclear program.

     "I restated our position that we're categorically opposed to any efforts by anyone to unilaterally change the status quo," Gates told reporters after his talks with Hu.

     "I basically reiterated that the U.S. government has been quite clear in its messages to Taiwan not to change the status quo," he said, citing Chinese fears of "de jure independence" for Taiwan.[color]

    Heh, the last line in the quote is telling, Beijing is admitting that it has no control over Taiwan and is de facto an independant nation.  What difference then would it make if it is made official.  This kind of like objecting to having a wedding ceremony for two people that are allready married by common law, but not in the "offical" sense.  It has already happened and does in fact habe a basis in the law so one might as well make it "offical."

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Maybe its Just me but I'm confused.

     I have been following this story for a number of days and I can't seem to tell wether Ozawa is coming or going, but then agian niether does the DPJ for that matter.  To summarize at a meeting between PM Fukuda and Ozawa last week someone put forward the idea of a grand coalition government.  Ozawa accepted but was turned down by his party and as a result decided to step down.  Then over the weekend he vacilated until today when he decided to stay on.  The DPJ was seriously hurt by all this, and made to look, well rather incompetent.  Either this was the savviest political manuver in recent memory by Fukuda to marginalize his main opposiotn or just a gift dropped into his lap is unknown, but he benefits either way.

Analysis from the Japan Times: DPJ misses chance to come to the fore.

    
Last Friday when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, entertained a possible grand coalition, this sent shock waves through the political world only to be superseded by the chaos in the wake of Ozawa's abrupt offer Sunday to quit his party's helm.

     Up to last week, the DPJ had been on a roll, gaining political strength and repeatedly pushing Fukuda to dissolve the Lower House and call a general election as soon as possible. But now, political analysts think the DPJ's weakened state has foreclosed on this scenario.[color]

     The analysts agree Ozawa's mere consideration of joining hands with the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc and his offer to quit as DPJ chief after his colleagues scotched the coalition overture have severely damaged the DPJ's image as the largest opposition force.

     The later the election, "the more convenient it is for the LDP because it could spend those days regaining popularity and (erasing its) scandals," said Hidekazu Kawai, a professor of political science at Chubu University. "Meanwhile, the DPJ would be struggling to resolve its internal troubles."

And more from the Yomuiri Shimbun: Ozawa withdraws offer to quit / Decision to be confirmed at DPJ meeting.

     Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa said he would withdraw his resignation as party leader and instead remain in the post, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said Tuesday night.

     "I feel I've made an exhibition of myself, but I'd like to give it another go," Ozawa was quoted by Hatoyama as saying during a meeting in which Hatoyama and other party executives tried to persuade the him to stay on.

     Hatoyama told reporters that he had returned the letter of resignation Ozawa submitted to him.

     What will the DPJ do now?  Who knows, but it willbe very difficult for them to overcome this as they move forward with several key debates in the Diet in the coming weeks.  The extension of Japan's participation in Indian ocean operations and the DPJ's own counter proposal, the SDF dispatch law and various domestic issues remain to be tackled.  The coming days should be interesting indeed.

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From the Yomuiri Shimbun: Stable law on SDF dispatch overseas eyed.

     Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Thursday that the government is set to consider establishing a permanent law on the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces overseas.

     Speaking at the House of Representatives special committee on antiterrorism affairs, the government spokesman said the process should start as soon as possible after the Diet completes deliberations on a bill for a new antiterrorism law.

     Machimura also said it would be necessary for ruling and opposition camps to hold regular negotiations on the issue.

     The government has been making preparations for a permanent law on the dispatch of the SDF overseas, and Machimura's remarks made clear that the Fukuda administration intends to start the legislation process.

     This law is so over due that I am almost at a loss for words.  How the Japanese managed this long with thrown together laws authorizing each and every deployment of the SDF I will never know.  The simple reduction in wasted time to respond to a crisis or attack will make the defense of Japan and her interests much easier and effective.  This then is one more small, but important step for Japan to once again becoming a "normal" nation.  This should pass without much dificulty since just about everyone can see and agrees that such a law is needed and needed sooner rather than later.  

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