- Generational
Dynamics
- 29-Sep-10 News — The eclipsing of China’s Hu Jintao and Wen Jiaboa Anti-austerity sweep across Europe on Wednesday
The eclipsing of China’s Hu Jintao and Wen Jiaboa
My report yesterday described the increasingly belligerent actions of China in the recent confrontation with Japan indicates an astonishing change from a generally conciliatory foreign policy to a much more nationalistic and less compromising foreign population.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics this indicates a generational change: Decisions are made less often by the conciliatory generation of survivors of the bloody Communist Revolution crisis civil war, and increasingly are made by the younger and much more confrontational younger generations, corresponding to America’s Boomers and Generation-X.
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China’s President Hu Jintao (R) and Premier Wen Jiabao in 2008 (Source: Xinhua)
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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has “scheduled” a generational change, in a way. The 18th CCP Congress will be held in 2012. At that time, the generation of war survivors, led by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, are expected to step down and give way to the next generation, born after the war.
The incident with Japan gives us a first glimpse of what things will be like after that generational change, and makes us wonder whether the younger generations will even wait until 2012 to take power.
Although nationalism has always been a big part of China’s policies, as is true of any country, it’s in the past couple of years that we’ve been seeing the signs of really aggressive Chinese nationalism.
The world financial crisis has been a big motivator, as most Chinese people, especially young people, blame America for the crisis, and for any suffering that it’s caused in China. Furthermore, the Chinese people felt enormously humiliated by the worldwide condemnation of their actions in Tibet. (See “Chinese embarrassment and anger grows over Tibet and Olympics.”)
A big turning point in public attitudes was the publication in March 2009 of a highly popular, highly nationalistic and highly anti-American book, as described in “New book, ‘Unhappy China,’ stokes Chinese nationalism and anti-Americanism.”
In that report, I quoted one summary of the book as saying: “The authors … denounce Western influences and specifically deride the United States for being “irresponsible, lazy, and greedy, and engaged in robbery and cheating.” They blame the United States for causing the current global recession. The authors urge the Chinese people to “conduct business with a sword in hand.” They call for the emergence of a group of heroes to “lead our people to successfully control and use more resources, ridding [the world of] of bullies and bringing peace to good people.””
In March, 2009, those were loudly stated opinions of the authors, and widely adopted by many Chinese in their thinking. What we’re seeing now, with the Japan incident, is that those opinions and thoughts are becoming national policy. The “bullies” are countries like Japan and the U.S., and China’s retaliation, and threats of further retaliation, for the boat captain jailing were just the first step in ridding the world of bullies and bring peace to good people. The implication is that no one should ever compromise or give concessions to bullies.
Is China afraid of its own people?
A new article from Foreign Policy magazine examines the change in policy from a different angle. The title of the article is, “Is China afraid of its own people?” This caught my attention because it’s a subject that I’ve written about many times for a totally different reason.
China’s history is full of major rebellions — the White Lotus rebellion around 1800, the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s, and Mao’s Communist Revolution, that began with the Long March in 1934 and climaxed with his victory in 1949, are the most recent examples. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, China is due for a new one, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders are well aware that rebellion is in the air.
According to the article, China conducts its foreign policy in fear of a widespread nationalistic backlash:
“Apart from the party leadership’s well-known tradition of undemocratic governance, the main reason behind “black-box diplomacy” is to avoid taking responsibility for failing to stand up to foreign powers such as the United States or Japan. Despite the relative efficacy of the Great Firewall of China, fast-growing numbers of nationalists have frequently been able to use the Internet to express their views, including negative ones about Beijing’s foreign and security policies. These increasingly vocal nationalists generally believe that rising China has become a mature power and deserves a place in world affairs to match its burgeoning economic clout.It is out of fear of a nationalist backlash that China’s negotiations with the United States and other countries regarding its accession to the World Trade Organization for instance, were wrapped in secrecy. Beijing apparently worried that should ordinary Chinese learn about the considerable concessions that it had made in areas including tariff reductions, senior cadres including former Premier Zhu Rongji would be labeled “traitors” by WTO opponents. …
President Hu Jintao and then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda reached a theoretical accord in mid-2008 to settle sovereignty disputes over the East China Sea. The agreement was largely based on the principle of “seeking joint development while shelving sovereignty.”
Again, Beijing made no efforts to explain to its citizens the rationale behind the potentially win-win solution. When the East China Sea accord was announced a couple of weeks after Hu left Tokyo, Chinese netizens expressed massive disapproval, even on official websites. Since then, Chinese diplomats have dragged their feet in negotiations on transforming the Hu-Fukuda theoretical agreement into a formal treaty.”
It’s out of fear of a backlash spinning out of control that the CCP has discouraged anti-Japanese protests in the current incident — the opposite of what happened after an incident in 2005.
I would restate the last sentence in the quoted paragraph much less optimistically: With the generational changes in China in recent years, the opportunity of signing a formal agreement is lost for good. It will not be possible to resolve sovereignty of the islands except by war.
And it won’t just be war between China and Japan.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara in New York and said that the United States would be obligated to obligated to intervene militarily against China if China moved to take control of the Senkaku Islands, the islands under dispute.
Hillary Clinton referred to a 1960 treaty between the U.S. and Japan that obliged the U.S. to defend Japan against any attack on a territory under Tokyo’s administration, according to AFP. Clinton spokesman Philip Crowley later confirmed what she said: “We do believe that, because the Senkaku islands are under Japanese jurisdiction, that it is covered by the US-Japan security treaty. That said, we also stressed that we don’t take a position on the sovereignty of the Senkaku islands.”
And so the Senkaku Islands (called the Diaoyu Islands by the Chinese) now have the same status as Taiwan. China claims both as their sovereign territory, and we’re obligated to go to war with China to defend either of them.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, war with China is inevitable and unavoidable. The eclipsing of conciliators like the people in Hu Jintao’s and Wen Jiaboa’s generation, and their replacement by aggressively nationalistic people in their children’s generation, means that war will approach more quickly.
Additional links
Earlier this month, China’s president Hu Jintao met with a White House delegation and said, “China looks positively on the fresh progress made in China-US relations, and we are willing to work together with the United States in promoting the advance of healthy and stable China-US relations.” These kinds of conciliatory remarks from Chinese leaders are increasingly in the past. AFP
By contrast, an article in state-run Xinhua says that Japan is “sinisterly harboring two ulterior motives,” by adopting an “Ostrich Policy” domestically, and by hyping a “China Threat Theory” in foreign policy. People’s Daily
China and Japan have been in a kind of competition to find historical documents to prove that their side has sovereignty over the Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands. The Japanese claim to have found an article in the People’s Daily of January 8, 1953, that says that the Senkaku Islands are part of Japan’s territory. Japan Times
China is increasingly being accused of being the “new colonizer” of Africa, and is looking for ways to encounter that impression. One effort is by archeologists who are searching for a 15th century shipwreck off the coast of Kenya, to show that China beat white explorers in discovering Africa, and to demonstrate a long history of African-Chinese trade. Asia Times
China’s foreign policies may be changing, but domestic politics are changing as well. Strikes and labor unrest are still rare, but are more frequent, and are being dealt with sympathetically by the state-controlled press and the security forces which formerly arrested strike leaders. Current incidents of labor unrest have increased because of a wave of suicides among young workers of Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., which manufactures electronic computers and gadgets sold by western companies. South Asia Analysis Group
The first congress of the Workers’ Party of [North] Korea in 30 years has, as previously speculated, elevate president Kim Jong-il’s third son, Kim Jong-un, to an official status and positioned to succeed his father as president. He was made a general, and was named vice chairman of the party’s military commission. CS Monitor
Anti-austerity protests and strikes are sweeping across Europe on Wednesday, with major demonstrations in Greece, Spain, Ireland and Brussels. Associated Press
Pakistan is reeling in the wake of a devastating flood, rampant militancy, bad governance and a crisis between the executive and the judiciary. All it might take to trigger military intervention is one incendiary incident, possibly a clash between the judiciary and the government. Asia Times
Pakistan’s military is pushing for a change of government, because they’re angered by the governments inept handling of the country’s devastating floods, and alarmed by the collapse of the economy. NY Times
While Americans blame the bankers for the economic crisis, and the Chinese blame the Americans, the many Europeans are blaming immigrants, leading to xenophobic responses. Europe’s boom years were kept going by cheap migrant labor, but now foreign workers are being accused of petty crimes and of driving wages down. The Age (Australia)
Germany will make its last reparations payment for World War I on Oct. 3, settling its outstanding debt from the 1919 Versailles Treaty. That date is also the 20th anniversary of German reunification. Der Spiegel
The disadvantaged Russian minority in Estonia is panic-buying buckwheat, because of Russia’s ban on export of buckwheat, even though Estonia does not really face a shortfall. AFP
I’ve often joked that young American college students know so little geography that they couldn’t find China on a map. Apparently the same kind of thing is true in Israel, where young students don’t know what continent Israel is on, and some think that Napoleon Bonaparte is Israel’s chief of staff. Palestine Chronicle
A female Toronto judge has struck down all of Canada’s prostitution laws, saying that they “force prostitutes to choose between their liberty interest and their right to security of the person as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” Government lawyers will have 30 days to appeal, before all prostitution laws are invalidated. Toronto Star
Will the snuggle suit kill off the slanket? Telegraph
(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 29-Sep-10 News — The eclipsing of China’s Hu Jintao and Wen Jiaboa thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (29-Sep-2010) Permanent Link
- 28-Sep-10 News — China becomes more belligerent over disputed islands
- Kazakhstan willl ban the export of buckwheat and oilseed
Japan demands compensation as China becomes more belligerent
Japan attempted to turn the tables on China on Monday, by demanding that China pay for repairs to two Coast Guard vessels that were damaged during the confrontation with a Chinese fishing boat on September 8, according to Bloomberg.
The Chinese boat had been fishing in waters surrounding uninhabited islands claimed by both China and Japan. During the confrontation, the Chinese boat collided with the Japanese Coast Guard vessels, causing some damage.
Japan arrested the boat captain, and faced a storm of retaliatory threats from China. China cut off shipments of rare earth metals to Japan, and then arrested four Japanese consultants working in China.
Japan released the boat captain within a few days, in order to improve relations between the two countries, and both Japanese and American officials fully expected the whole conflict to simmer down at that point.
But that hasn’t happened. Much to everyone’s surprise, Japan’s acquiescence to Chinese demands has resulted in even greater belligerence by the Chinese. China treated the returning boat captain as a national hero, and demanded an apology and monetary compensation from Japan.
China used to say that disputes over these islands should be resolved by negotiation, but now the Chinese are saying that the disputed islands belong to China unequivocally, and that no compromise of any kind is possible. China is also increasing its use of its own patrol boats in the disputed waters, according to Yomiuri.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, it appears that a significant generational change of some kind has occurred.
I’ve written several times in the past that China’s leaders, including president Hu Jintao and premier Wen Jiaboa, grew up during Mao’s Communist Revolution crisis war. Like America’s Silent Generation, they grew up in the midst of enormous human suffering, and they experienced a kind of generational child abuse that makes them put compromise and conciliation ahead of everything else when they’re adults.
This stunning change from a generally conciliatory foreign policy to a much more nationalistic and less compromising foreign policy indicates to me that Hu and Wen and their entire generation are losing influence rapidly, and that people from younger generations are beginning to make all the important decisions.
Of course we won’t know for a while, if ever, what’s going on in China’s government, and how the decision making process is changing. But analysts who expect this level of Chinese nationalism and belligerence to be a one-time event should prepare to be surprised.
Additional links
Kazakhstan will join Russia and other former Soviet republics in banning the export of buckwheat and oilseed. The Russian export is blamed for this year’s surging world food prices. Bloomberg
France remains on high alert, as new terrorist attacks are threatened. Washington Post
Israel’s Navy is closely watching a new “freedom flotilla” boat with Jewish activists that left Cyprus on Sunday with the goal of breaking the Gaza blockage, and says it will use force to stop it. Haaretz
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs is implementing educational programs to Imams and preachers to encourage moderation in sermons. Media Line
Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, will appointed by the United Nations to head UNOOSA, the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. In case aliens ever land on earth and say “Take me to your leader,” it will be her responsibility to meet and greet them. At first I thought this story was a joke, but apparently it isn’t. Australian
(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 28-Sep-10 News — China becomes more belligerent over disputed islands thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (28-Sep-2010) Permanent Link
- 27-Sep-10 News — Iran’s nuclear plant attacked by Stuxnet computer virus
- Mideast peace talks extended one more week as settlement freeze expires
Stuxnet computer virus attacks Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant
A major computer virus attack has spread to the Windows computers at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, according to the Telegraph. However, the project manager at Bushehr said that the major systems at the plant have not been damaged.
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Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant
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Stuxnet is not an ordinary, garden variety computer virus, like the ones that erase your hard drives, steal your bank accounts, or send your browsers to porn sites.
In fact, experts aren’t completely sure what it is, or what it’s trying to do. One thing they’re sure of: This virus wasn’t concocted by some hacker sitting at a computer in his basement. This virus MUST have been created by some government or government-level group, using a well-financed highly organized team of programmers, with access to plenty of specialized resources.
This conclusion is reached because of the complexity and large numbers of components in the virus, and because it makes use of stolen encryption certificates and secret technical information that would be available only to high-level intelligence agencies.
Thus, it appears that Stuxnet was designed by one nation to target facilities in another nation, as a kind of guided missile. It’s not known which two nations are involved, but the unconfirmed speculation is that the virus was designed by Israel to target Iran.
Here’s what is known. Stuxnet has spread virally, around the world. And like any ordinary virus, it installs itself in Windows computers as a so-called “rootkit.” Once a virus gets installed in that way, it can do pretty much anything it wants to your computer, and is completely invisible to the computer operator. But Stuxnet doesn’t harm most computers.
Stuxnet then searches your computer for a certain kind of software — industrial control software (ICS) that’s used in pipelines or factories or chemical or power plants, according to Symantec.
If this kind of ICS software is on your computer, it then looks to see what kind of factory or plant the software is controlling.
Large factories and plants of this kind are generally not controlled directly by Windows computers. Instead, each device in the plant has its own computer that runs a special kind of software program known as a “programmable logic controller” (PLC). So, the Stuxnet virus looks for Windows software that’s communicating with a device running a PLC — specifically, certain kinds of PLCs made by the giant German company Siemens AG.
Finally, once the virus identifies the right kind of factory or plant, it installs yet another virus into the plant’s PLC software. From that point on, the attacker can invisibly control the entire plant or factory.
Whether the target is Bushehr is just a guess. Experts have attempted to reverse engineer the virus to determine what it’s doing, but these attempts have been only partially successful. All that’s known is that the virus is targeting one or more factories or power plants or pipelines or similar installations that satisfy certain unknown parameters.
Once it finds its target (or targets), it’s expected to issue a series of commands that will destroy the plant, according to PC World. This might happen, for example, by making the plant overheat, by making crucial machinery suddenly spin rapidly out of control, or by making dangerous chemicals get dispersed.
The larger picture here is that this is a new kind of warfare — cyber warfare — that will become increasingly prevalent. The military is now treating cyber as the “fifth domain,” after the other domains — land, sea, air and space. The bad news is that very few people in the U.S. military are trained to deal with this kind of warfare, but the good news is that the same is true of other countries.
So expect to see stories of this type more frequently. Inasmuch as a virus of this type can effectively destroy an entire factory or power plant, the results could be as spectacular as the detonation of a bomb. And there would be no trace of the bomber, or any way to find out who it is. There may yet be such an outcome from the Stuxnet virus. No one knows.
For the individual Windows computer user, there are a few lessons to be learned here. First, make sure that you subscribe to a computer anti-virus service. Second, make sure that you turn on the option that automatically installs all the regular Windows updates from Microsoft. The Stuxnet virus is able to infect computers because of vulnerabilities in Windows software that the automatic updates are now repairing.
Additional links
The Mideast peace talks will be extended for one more week, as the 10-month moratorium on Israeli settlement building in the West Bank ended on Sunday evening at midnight. Some settlement building began as the ban was ending, but not a great deal yet. The next crucial date will be October 4, when the Arab League meets, and decides whether to approve continued peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Jerusalem Post
A senior minister in Pakistan’s government has been forced to resign after accusing the army of being responsible for the deaths of Benazir Bhutto and some other high profile figures. This entire subject area is a super no-no for discussion in Pakistan, since the army leaders are mostly Sunni Muslims and Benazir Bhutto is from one of Pakistan’s leading Shia Muslim families. AP
A new “peace flotilla” has set sail from Cyprus with the intention of breaching Israel’s sea blockade of Gaza. This time, the passengers are Jewish activists. Earlier this year, a major international incident was triggered when nine Turkish citizens on a similar flotilla boat were killed in a confrontation with Israel’s army. That incident led to a continuing rift between former allies Turkey and Israel. BBC
The recent sea incident and subsequent legal battle between China and Japan over Japan’s jailing of the captain of a Chinese fishing trawler in disputed waters is straining relations with China’s neighbors, who fear similar treatment, as China becomes more nationalistic and belligerent. The result is improved relations between the U.S. and Asian countries. Bloomberg
(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 27-Sep-10 News — Iran’s nuclear plant attacked by Stuxnet computer virus thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (27-Sep-2010) Permanent Link
- 26-Sep-10 News — China turns the screws on a humiliated Japan
- Mideast peace talks may collapse Sunday over moratorium issue
China turns the screws on a humiliated Japan
China gloated and sought to consolidate and enhance its diplomatic victory over Japan, after Japan’s capitulation on Friday, saying they would accede to China’s demand that the fishing trawler captain be released and sent back to China.
China is demanding that the Japanese issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the arrest. This demand has infuriated the Japanese, according to the NY Times, and Japan has firmly rejected the demand.
China is holding four Japanese nationals that it seized on Thursday, probably in retaliation for the Japanese arrest of the boat captain. It’s not known whether the release of the boat captain will have any effect on the status of the Japanese nationals, according to the Japan Times.
China is taking another form of revenge as well. China has unofficially begun an embargo on shipments of rare earth minerals to Japan, needed in the manufacture of electronic gadgets, according to Reuters.
An analysis by the Chinese government publication Global Times indicates that China’s foreign policy is becoming less conciliatory and more nationalistic, and that this incident is an example of that change. The article quotes a Chinese international expert as saying,
“A tougher stance would deter other countries from jeopardizing the nation’s maritime interests. China’s demand for an apology and compensation is to make it clear that China will never compromise on sovereignty. “China has sufficient military capabilities to secure its maritime territory, but resorting to war is absolutely not the optimal solution to maritime territorial disputes with Japan or Southeast Asian nations.”
This increasingly belligerent Chinese attitude is occurring as the survivors of Mao’s Communist Revolution all die off, and are replaced by young officers who feel completely unrestrained, and correspond to America’s Generation-X. I included the following in yesterday’s posting, but it’s worth repeating here:
“China’s military spending is growing so fast that it has overtaken strategy,” says a China expert from Singapore. “The young officers are taking control of strategy and it is like young officers in Japan in the 1930s. They are thinking what they can do, not what they should do. This is very dangerous. They are on a collision course with a US-dominated system.” Presumably, the ‘young officers’ correspond to America’s Generation-X. Telegraph
Additional links
Israel’s moratorium on building West Bank settlements is due to expire on Sunday, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has taken a hard line, saying that negotiations will end unless the moratorium is extended. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also taken a hard line, saying that the moratorium will not be extended. The Americans are frantically running around, trying to get everyone to compromise on some kind of partial moratorium, so far without success. Haaretz
India’s prime minister Manmoham Singh has announced an eight-point initiative to quell the violence in Indian-held Kashmir, which has a majority Muslim population. This will “begin the process of sustained dialogue” with the Kashmiris. Prisoners will be freed, and schools will be reopened. The Hindu
This week, the North Korean Workers’ party will hold its first conference since 1980. North Korean élites are jostling for power, and analysts outside of Korea are trying to figure out what’s going on. It’s possible that the increasingly frail president Kim Jong-il will announce that his successor will be his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. This transition of power into the hands of a young boy will certainly cause a powerful struggle with uncertain outcome. Guardian
(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 26-Sep-10 News — China turns the screws on a humiliated Japan thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (26-Sep-2010) Permanent Link
- 25-Sep-10 News — Japan kowtows to China over trawler captain
- Sarkozy declares victory over striking labor unions
Japan kowtows to China over arrest of fishing trawler captain
Denying that he’s been pressured by the government in Tokyo, a Japanese prosecutor announced on Friday the decsion to release a Chinese fishing boat captain who had been held for two weeks
He said the decision came after “careful consideration of future Japan-China relations” and the repercussions caused by the incident, according to the Japan Times.
However, it also came a day after the Chinese arrested four Japanese contractors in China. The Japanese have had no contact with the abducted contractors, according to Yomiuri (Japan).
A survey by the Mainichi Times (Japan) indicates, not surprisingly, that many foreign media outlets are saying that Japan is bowing to China’s pressure.
According to the official Chinese news service Xinhua, Japan has not yet done enough to atone for its action. The demand from China’s Foreign Ministry is that the Japanese must apologize and pay compensation for the incident. “Such an act seriously infringed upon China’s territorial sovereignty and violated the human rights of Chinese citizens. Japan’s detention, investigation or any form of judiciary measures for the Chinese trawler and fishermen are unlawful and invalid.”
The Japanese had arrested the fishing trawler captain because his boat was fishing in waters surrounding the Senkaka Islands (called the Diaoyu Islands by the Chinese), and those waters are claimed by both countries. The statement from China’s Foreign Ministry claims that the Diaoyu Islands and surrounding islets have been “China’s inherent territory since the ancient time and China possesses undisputable sovereignty over the islands.” It adds, “The stance of the Chinese side has not and will not change.”
A new statement by Japan’s Foreign Ministry indicates that a new confrontation may be close by. The Wall Street Journal (Access) reports that Japan’s new Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara has warned China against starting drilling in a gas field near the disputed islands, saying that Japan would take countermeasures if evidence of Chinese gas extraction work is confirmed.
Aerial photographs taken by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces revealed that the Chinese had transferred some “equipment” to the gas field, according to the article.
In my opinion, this whole situation is a really big deal.
Sarkozy declares victory over striking labor unions
A bill to raise France’s legal retirement age from 60 to 62 triggered nationwide strikes by France’s public service unions on Thursday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy claimed victory after government estimates indicated the size of the protest was smaller than a similar protest staged on Septeber 7, according to the Telegraph. However, the unions disputed this finding, and claimed that the protests were in fact larger.
The next two days of strikes and demonstrations will be October 2 and October 12. According to Bloomberg, the unions chose the Oct 2 date because it’s a Saturday, and will therefore permit more people to participate in the demonstrations and protests.
This whole situation has become something of an international joke because French labor unions are demanding that the retirement age remain at 60, while other European countries have increased their retirement ages to 65 or even 67.
Additional links
“China’s military spending is growing so fast that it has overtaken strategy,” says a China expert from Singapore. “The young officers are taking control of strategy and it is like young officers in Japan in the 1930s. They are thinking what they can do, not what they should do. This is very dangerous. They are on a collision course with a US-dominated system.” Presumably, the ‘young officers’ correspond to America’s Generation-X. Telegraph
Friction is rising between China and its Asian neighbors, with the result that the United States is beginning to look better and better to the neighbors. NY Times.
Three people — two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut — were stuck in space on Friday, when a Russian space craft that was supposed to bring them all back to earth failed to undock from the International Space Station. It’s believed that the problem is in a sensor, and they will try again over the weekend. Ria Novosti
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with Palestinian and Israeli leaders to try to prevent total collapse of the Mideast peace talks when the settlement freeze expires on Sunday. Reuters
Britain is facing a new terrorism threat: A revival of Irish-related terrorism by dissident republican groups trying to copy the Provisional IRA (Irish Republican Army). However, this threat is not as great as the threat from international terrorism. BBC
The United States and South Korea will hold a new round of joint naval exercises, to last for five days. The exercises will emphasize anti-submarine warfare. VOA
(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 25-Sep-10 News — Japan kowtows to China over trawler captain thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (25-Sep-2010) Permanent Link
Violence in Haiti is so bad that American charity workers are fleeing for their lives and several nations are considering removing their UN contingents.
Latino MMA fans celebrating Velasquez victory with racial animosity. The new UFC heavyweight champion has “Brown Pride” tattooed on his chest and boasts of being “100% Mexican” despite being born in California. His title match took place in Anaheim where Latino fans waved Mexican flags and signs saying “Brown Pride.”
