Zero Nuclear Plant in Japan for 42 Years-II

The Demo in Tokyo 

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p7fjenlZeI (access date: 8 May 2012).

Zero Nuclear Plant in Japan for 42 Years-I

Japan's last operating reactor of the nuclear power plant was taken offline on 5 May 2012.
Japan without atomic power for the first time in 42 years.  Let's count how many days we can survive in Japan without these power plants.

The demo in Tokyo Tower

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWPfeiW8nI (access date: 8 May 2012)

Wukan Election

On February 10, 2012, Wukan of Guangdoing Province, had a secret ballot election to choose the chief in the village. Since last December, Wukan has attracted global attention due to the corruption relating to the sale of land. By April 2012, the Chinese government has arrested the former village chief and his associates, according to the CCTV news. The village chief had ruled the village over 40 years; finally he was kicked out from the position in 2012. Among 6,500 people in the village chose their own representatives among 150 candidates. The Wukan election might become the fundamental base of the Chinese political reform in the future. Deng Xiaoping set up three small Special Economic Zone (SEZ) about 30 years ago, China today achieved the second economic power in the world. The Wukan election could be the Chinese political “SEZ” in the future.

Source: NHK News (access date: 23 March 2012) 

Source: democracyandsociety.com (access date: 1 May 2012)

The 10-Year-Old ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) was founded about the ten years ago. The purpose of ICC has found issued 20 arrest warrants and publicly indicted 28 people. Some military leaders or dictators, such as Thomas Lubango Dyilo and Laurent Gbagbo, have been found the guilty after being charged with murder, rape persecution and inhuman acts. Since 2002, more than 120 countries, have ratified the treaty, and three states: Israel, Sudan, and the United States, have not signed the Rome Statue (Japan Times, 1 April 2012). The problem is how to force the United States to following this Rome Statue. Who should take responsibility when over millions Iraqi that have been killed and injured? George W. Bush? Dick Cheney? Or Codolessa Rice?

Source: Logo of ICC (access date: 30 April 2012).

Suyan Rock/Ieodo Sino-South Korean Territorial Dispute

Suyan Rock in China, Ieodo in Korean, is located 149 km off southernmost island of Mara Island of South Korea and 247 km from the Chinese nearest island. While Seoul claims the islet based on median method of international law principle, Beijing argues that the reef is within its territorial waters based on exclusive economic zones of international law. The South Korean media warn that China appears to have the strategic goal of strengthening its control over the South and East China Sea (JoongAng Daily 12 March 2012). The fundamental problem is international law has limit meaning and many unclear definitions; many lawyers from many countries can interpret their own way of the international law.

Source: thethreewisemonkeys.com (access date: 20 April 2012).

Japan Failed to Lead at Nuclear Security Summit/Third-Class Politicians Only Provide Third-Rate Policy-XXI

Japan is a country that experienced nuclear weapons during WWII, experienced the nuclear power plants disaster, and now experiences how to deal with radiation with the ongoing nuclear crisis. The second Nuclear Security Summit was held in Seoul on March 26-27, gathering leaders from 53 countries, but Noda Yoshihiko failed to lead the agenda in the summit. He missed out Monday evening, skipping a working dinner that officially kicked off the two-day Nuclear Security Summit. Unlike American President Barack Obama, who visited the US troop in 38 degree military zone and Chinese President Hu Jintao, who held many bilateral talks with global leaders, Noda did not wait in Seoul until the summit wrapped up (Japan Times, 29 March 2012). In his mind, Noda has only one issue – pushing a consumption tax hike which is taking advantage of the 3.11 tragedy in Japan. Noda wants to raise the rate to 8% in April 2014 from the current rate of 3%, then to 10% in October 2015. This is Noda’s idea, but bureaucrat’s wisdom from Minister of Finance. Noda just merely accepts it. This shows how smart of the Japanese politicians are.

Source: energy.korea.com (access date: 19 April 2012).

China vs. USA: The BRICS’s Bank

On March 28-29, the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – gathered in New Delhi to hold its annual summit. This is second summit after South Africa joined the group in 2011. BRICS represents over 41 percent of the world’s population and contributes 20 percent of the global economy. In the economy front, BRICS discussed establishing its Bank to finance the global economy, against the Anglo-Saxon founded IMF and World Bank. In the political front, BRICS condemned the military threat against Iran and Syria. However, some experts have different views. “They don’t see eye to eye on many international issues. There is no common cementing principle among them. All the members in the group have problems with China. They have made all the right noises today at the summit, but each country will have to make its own calculations as to how far they can defy the United States,” stated by Lalit Mansingh, former Indian ambassador to the United States (Japan Times, 3 March 2012). You never know! About three decades ago, almost no one in the world will expect China will be the second economy today. BRICS might politically take over the US power three decades later.

Source: india.blogs.nytimes.com (access date: 20 April 2012)

Power Struggle in Beijing-II

During a trip to China in March, I was stunned when picked up by a friend in Suzhou who asked if I knew of the “coup” in Beijing and whether I knew anything about Bo Xilai because I just left Beijing a few days ago. My friend told me that it was reported over the internet that an army tank entered the city and that the Changan Road was shut down. “It is impossible,” I replied, having stayed in Beijing only a few days earlier.

            By April 1st, the Chinese government arrested 6 people who spread the rumor about a coup in Beijing (Sankei Shimbun 1 April 2012). Some western media and scholars have begun to comment; however, only a handful people are providing an accurate analysis of the situation. To understand Bo Xilai’s situation it is necessary to understand Chinese politics (what we know the facts):

1.  In order to get into the Standing Committee of the CCP (or core leaders in the CCP), the person must serve at the top of the CCP in one of the provinces or large cities. Bo Xilai was the Secretary of the CCP in Chongqing Municipality in 2007 (Basic knowledge of the Chinese politics).

2. Wang Lijun, the former police Chief, has recorded many conversations of top leaders visiting Chongqi(Mainichi Shimbun 22 March 2012).

3. Bo Xilai dispatched his police force to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to try to arrest Wang Lijun who sought “political” asylum in the American consulate. In the end, the central government police force took Wang to Beijing. Over 100 elite Chinese police have gathered in Chengdu (Wall Street Journal 13 March 2012, and the previous blog of Power Struggle in Beijing-I). 

4.  Bo Xilai inspected his father’s founding army as Hu Jintao was the trip in overseas (personal interview 23 March 2012).

5. As the top of the CCP in Chongqing, Bo publicly launched the “anti-mafia” movement, which many people flashed back the ten-years Cultural Revolution which violated basic human rights without any evidence. Some so-called “mafia” are merely targeted rich and powerful people in the city (Financial Times 17-18 March 2012).

6. Some of Bo’s friends in Dalian city, such as Xu Ming, and Wu Wenkan in Chongqing have been investigated by the central government. His wife attorney Gu Kailai, has been arrested because she involved the death of the British citizen Neil Heywood case (CCTV News 11April 2012; Japan Times 7 April 2012).

7. Bo launched the campaign “Red Song” movement in Chongqing in order to go back the old “Left” road (i.e., Cultural Revolution era) (Wall Street Journal 19 March 2012).

8. The “princelings” group is not necessary friendly to each other. For instance, kids of Hu Yaobang have not associated with any kids of “princelings.” Bo might not be “real” friend with Xi Jinping, who is also the kid of “princelings.”

9. Wen Jiabao has asked the CCP Politburo – 25 leaders to reexamine “June Fourth” movement in 1989. Each time, Bo was the person who strongly opposed reevaluation of the movement (Sankei Shimbun 23 March 2012).

Based on the above facts, the following conclusions can be drawn,

    First, Bo Xilai clearly is a strong candidate to be a member of the Standing Committee in the 18th CCP Party Congress this fall. If he does not do anything (not launching “red song” and “anti-mafia” movements in Chongqing, he will probably get into the Standing Committee. However, Bo launched many unnecessary movements in Chongqing. Many people suspect that he has been looking for taking over Xi’s position to become the number one position in Zhongnanhai, the place the Chinese core leader live in. If this is true, Bo, just like Li Biao, committed extremely serious mistake in Chinese politics.

    Secondly, Bo abused his power by sending police forces to Chengdu in order to arrest Wang Lijun. Bo does not have any jurisdiction in Sichuan Province. This mistake will kill his chance to get into the Standing Committee.

    Third, one of major reasons that Wang Lijun tried to escape to the American consulate in Chengdu was that Wang worried for his life because he knew very well about his boss Bo Xiliai and his ruthless way of dealing with human beings. Only when Wang got into the American consulate, could the central government will be able to save his life because it is dealing with “International Relations.” Probably, all information, such as corruption etc., brought by Wang into the US consulate is not important for the American government. However, it is very serious problem for member of the CCP because it is considered a “betrayal” of the party. 

    Fourth, Bo inspected military forces and ordered army forces to exercise, violating another serious power jurisdiction in Chinese politics. Bo is not a member of the military commission, nor a member of military elite. His father, Bo Yibo, certainly founded a group of Chinese army forces. However, Bo Xilai cannot inherit his father’s military force at all regardless his “princelings” position. This is an extremely serious issue which may result in him going to jail if the government found him guilty. 

    Lastly, Bo Xilai, unlike Xi Jinping, has not made a lot of friends among the top elites in Chinese political circle. Even among the “princelings” group, only few people, such as Zhu Chenghu, came to support him. Once he got into trouble, no one is willing to scarify their lives to help Bo Xilai.

Source: Reuters News (access date: 13 April 2012).

Power Struggle in Beijing-I

The US State Department confirmed that Wang Lijun, former police Chief in Chongqing City, had stayed an overnight in American consulate in Chengdu. No detail has been offered from both the US and China. The Chinese foreign ministry stated that Wang spent a day in the American consulate. As the top cop in Chongqing, Wang has followed his boss, Bo Xilai, the city’s Communist Party Secretary, for decades. According to the Japanese media Wang reported Bo’s corruption case in the US consulate (Sankei Shimbun 11 February 2012). Bo appointed Wang to clean up Chongqing’s corrupt police force and take on organized crime. Wang had been one of Chinese most celebrated policemen because his famous to assault gangs in the city (Japan Times 11 February 2012). Bo has been maneuvered for a seat on the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, which will appoint new members later this year as known the 18th CCP meeting. Bo probably will not be favor in the 18th CCP meeting. The power struggle in China might be begun a long time ago.

Source: telegraph.co.uk (access date: 7 March 2012). 

The Great Work of Galina Hale and Bart Hobijn/China Complex

In this information age, it is difficult to find great work from researchers. In 2011, two senior economists in the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Galina Hale and Bart Hobijn, wrote an wonderful article (title: The U.S. Content of “Made in China”) which published in FRBSF Economic Letter on August 8 (please access the following address of the article: http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-25.html). According to their analysis only 2.7% of U.S. personal consumption expenditure in 2010 accounted the Chinese goods and services. The rest went to U.S. businesses and workers transporting, selling, and marketing goods carrying the “Made in China” label. A total of 88.5% of U.S. consumer spending is on the items made in the U.S. (FRBSF Economic Letter). This analysis will make many Americans to wonder or rethink about “Made in China” label.

Source: frbsf.org (access date: 1 April 2012).

Freedom of Press in Japan/Problems of Japanese Journalists-II

Reporters Without Borders, the global nonprofit group, reported the freedom of press in 2011globally. As many expected, Japan placed 22nd out 179 nations, slipping from 11th the year before due to “excessive restrictions” on the Fukushima nuclear disaster (Japan Times 27 January 2012).Also on the list, the United States fell 27 places to 47th after many Occupy Wall Street protests were arrested. Meanwhile, some countries in the Middle East improved their ranks. Tunisia rose 30 places to 134th and Libya ranked 154th, improving their ranks dramatically.

Source: Japan National Press homepage (access date: 30 March 2012).

The End of the “Number One”/The First Trade Deficit

It is well-known that Japan has been one of trade surplus nations for over three decades. The year 2011 is significant year for the Japanese. That is, Japan has become the trade deficit since 1980. In addition, the 3.11 tragedy has put Japan into the financial crisis. In 2011, the exports went down by 2.7 percent from 2010, about 65.55 trillion yen. The imports grew by 12 percent, reaching 68.08 trillion yen. The total trade deficit is about 2.5 trillion yen (Japan Times, 26 January 2012). “Investor confidence in Japan could be rattled if the country cannot raise its consumption tax…. (Washington Post 25 January 2012). The “if” might or might not become reality, but Prime Minister Noda has a lot of explaining to do to tax payers.

Never Learning the Lesson

The Japanese government has decided to export nuclear plants to South Korea, Jordan, and Vietnam. How can Jordan which is located inside desert provide enough water to cool nuclear plants if the plants have similar nuclear accidents in Japan and Russia? By now, the government has worked out a revision of the law on the control of nuclear reactors. Unfortunately, the law has loophole, which allow the 40-year life span to expand to run 60 years (Japan Times, 19 January 2012). Neither the Japanese government nor pro-nuclear forces has learned any lesson from the March 11 disaster.

Source: Reuter News (access date: 25 March 2012)

How Rich is Romney?

The AP News (Japan Times 2 February 2012) published the article “how rich is Romney?” The article searched the wealth of American presidents since George Washington, who became the richest presidents with 14,000 hectares of land and more than 300 slaves. Mitt Romney, the Republican candidates for the president in November 2012, has somewhere $190 million to $250 million. That is 20 times richer than the 44^th President (Obama) who has his wealth between 2.2 million to $7.5 million. Then, the question is how rich is Romney? “Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you’re in Romney territory.” ….. He made $50,000 a day while not working last year. Romney can easily get into the top four among all American presidents.

Source: CNN News (access date: 5 March 2012).

Todai Shock?

The University of Tokyo (i.e., Todai) had drooped bombshell on 18 January 2012. A panel from the Todai has proposed that the institution shift undergraduate enrollment from April to the fall. The Todai decided to move its college calendar to the fall within the five years. Today, among 116 countries in the UN, only 3 percent of nations including Japan, along with other six countries including India, start their university in spring time, usually April; however, a majority of higher education in other countries begin in fall. Historically, Japan had the time starting in the fall in the college between 1872 to 1920. Due to receive subsidy from the national budgets and to be busy season for farmers in the fall, the government changed it to the spring (Weekly Gendai 11 February 2012). This has been bottleneck for Japanese universities to exchange and study with students and faculty from oversea for decades. “It’s not merely about schedule adjustment. It’s about speeding up the internationalization of (Japanese) universities and society (Japan Times, 21 January 2012),” said Hamada Junichi, Todai President. The Japanese government tried to change the system in 1987 and 2007, but it was never succeed. Well, the internationalization of Japan might be a little too late as Japan enters over two decades of the economic downturn.

Source: Todai Home page (access date: 20 March 2012).
 

The Royal Pockets in the European Countries Have Been Hit

The financial crisis has attacked not only normal citizens but also royal families in the European countries (Japan Times, 11 January 2012). In the U.K., British taxpayers in 2011 have spent 5.5 percent (32.2 million British dollar or $49.5 million) less than in the previous year for Buckingham Palace. In Spain, the royal palace had 8.4 million ($11 million) euro in 2011, cutting some 5 percent overall including palace employees. The king received up to a 15 percent salaries cut. In Netherlands, the budget for Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, was cut by 422,000 ($537,000) euro in 2011. The royal family in Belgium has become the latest royal family to be cut. King Albert II announced that he wanted to freeze the 10.8 million ($13.8 million) euro on 9 January 2011. Where is the Japanese? Year 2011 is difficult year for Japan too because triples disasters: earthquake, tsunami, and ongoing nuclear radiation, have made Japan in financial crisis.

Tokyo’s Transformation?/Third-Class Politicians Only Provide the Third-Rate Policy-XXI

The article (titling “Tokyo’s transformation”) is published in Foreign Affairs by Eric Heginbotham, Ely Ratner, and Richard J. Samuels. It should be a very interesting article for many because Samuels is well-known figure in the academy world. However, something does not make sense in the article.

(1) “By April 2010, when the United States made it clear that it objected to renegotiating the deal (and then Chinese provocation gave him more pause), Hatoyama had realized that reopening the negotiation had been a mistake (p. 143).”

It is not true that the Chinese provocation make Hatoyma Yukio to retreat from his pledge regarding the Futenma case which has been the issue over two decades. When Hatoyama took the office in September 2009, he launched the idea of the “East Asian Community (EAC),” which the US did not like because the EAC is too leaning to China. Thus, the White House has repeatedly rejected to meet him (even Japan has requested many times) and forced him out the office. In addition, American media working with the US government had called Hatoyama as “rube” publicly when he did not get to meet President Obama at the UN meeting. This led the reputation of Hatoyama at home (to the low approval rate). The Social Democratic Party (SDP) did not bring down Hatoyama administration because both SDP and DPJ had the same platform regarding the Futenma in the 2009 election – moving the base off Okinawa. In fact, DPJ had overwhelmingly majority in both houses when Hatoyama was in office. However, Hatoyama lacked his leadership and strategy to deal with the Futenma case. What Hatoyama should do is: to ask the Diet to approve the Futenma case. Probably he will get enough politicians to support his idea (just as the government of the Philippine kicked out American from its home bases). Japan could kick Americans out from the Futenma, Okinawa. Probably, by then, Obama might have to pick the phone to call Hatoyama regarding the Futenma case.

(2) “In 2010, Tokyo provided $3.3 billion to Washington for everything from utilities on U.S. bases to the construction of new facilities on Guama. The majority of these funds fall under the category of “host-nation support,” although most Japanese derisively refer to them as “the sympathy budget”.… (p. 145).” It is true that we as Japanese taxpayers have paid everything for the American bases including garbage, construction, water, and others, except American soldiers’ salary. It sounds like the host-nation should support these costs. However, the fact of the matter is that many other nations including Germany do not pay everything like Japan for the American utilities on the bases. Japan has idiotic politicians who have been taken advantage of by the US; we as the Japanese taxpayers have been suckers for decades for American bases.

Lee’ s FTA with China/ China vs. USA: TPP Case-I

Since last year, the US has been high-jacking the TPP framework from Singapore and three other countries that founded TPP. The US has persuaded Japan to participate to the TPP. After North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died in last December, the president of South Korea Lee Myung Bak visited Beijing on 9 January 2012. To get North Korean information is one thing, but the really purpose for his trip to China was to negotiate with China regarding an FTA. Since South Korea has already signed TPP with the US, it will be another victory if South Korea can bring China into the FTA negotiation table with China. According to Japanese media reportedly three countries: China, Japan, and South Korea will negotiate an FTA framework by May 2012 (Japan Times 10 January 2012). What will the US think about?

Source: koreaherald.com (access date: 6 March 2012).

Japan as “Asia’s Bridge to West”?

When a person becomes a well-known figure included as one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” one might sometimes make a bad judgment. Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, a typical example. Recently, Mahbubani published an article in the Japan Times (13 January 2012) titled “Japan told to be ‘Asia’s bridge to the West.’” I showed it to my students in my Japanese Politics class and asked their reactions. One of my students gave a negative reaction saying, “this idea will not work in the Asian region because Japan is historically not able to get alone with other countries, especially WWII.” Well done my student! As Mahnubani points out, “While Japan was sleeping, China was cultivating ASEAN.” In face, the problem is Japan, while Japan may look like it slept it never really slept at all. Because Japan has lacked the political leadership to lead the country since the economic bubble bust in 1989, more than 10 prime ministers (Miyazawa, Hosogawa, Hata, Murayama, Hashimoto, Mori, Koizumi, Abe, Fukuda, Aso, Hatoyama, Kan, and Noda) have been changed. Mahbubani either does not understood or lacks knowledge of Japanese history and political dynamics since the Meiji era; his silly theory that Japan will be Asian’s bridge to West will not work. The Asian region will not become EU because Japan unlike Germany has not cleaned its WWII dirty laundry.

Source: globaltimes.cn (access date: 4 March 2012)

China vs. USA: Syria Case-II/The 8th Veto by China/Doing Businesses in the Chinese Way-VII

On 4 February, 2012, a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, presented by Arab League (AU) and others, seeking to condemn Syria for use of force against civilians by asking to transfer power from President Bashar Assad to the vice president (CNN News; TBS News 5 February 2012). Once again, both Russia and China vetoed the resolution against Syria. This was China’s eighth veto at the Security Council. The US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice called the veto “disgusting,” and Secretary Hillary Clinton stated “a travesty” (Wall Street Journal 6 February 2012). Well, this is only the eighth of Chinese veto since China took the UN Security Council seat in the 1970s. Both Ambassador Rice and Secretary Clinton should ask themselves how many times has the US vetoed the resolutions relating to Israel in the UN Security Council? If the over 100 vetos at the UN Security Council by the US are not “disgusting” or “a travesty,” then what are they? The Western hypocrisy and double standards must stop before lecturing to someone else.

Source: TBS News, (access date: 12 February 2012).

Fukushima Nuclear Issue: BBC News 2012

BBC This World 2012 Inside the Meltdown 

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwBELPtVUCA (access date: 4 March 2012) .

Japan “as Number One”/Supercomputer-V

After seven years struggle, a Japanese supercomputer has become the number one again. The world fastest supercomputer is performing 8.162 quadrillion per second according to the 2011 International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg on 20 June 2011 (Daily Yomiuri 22 June 2011). This K computer is jointly developed by government-backed research institute RIKEN and Fujitsu Ltd. The second computer in rank is the Chinese supercomputer Taianhe-1A. 2012 is another fighting year between Japan and China regarding the supercomputer.

Source: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/06/20/new-top-500-champ-the-k-supercomputer/ (access date: 1 March 2012).

Kim Jong Un/China vs. USA: North Korea Case-I

When Kim Jong Il died the last December, Beijing probably received the information from Pyongyang in advance. Both South Korea and the US were totally surprised. Immediately after the official announcement by North Korea, all 9 Chinese leaders visited the North Korean embassy to pay their respect. The Chinese senior military general officially made the announcement that Beijing would stand with army of North Korea to safeguard the Asian region. The implication from Beijing is that no one (including Japan, South Korea, and the US) should mess with North Korea because China is ready to protect Kim Jong Un who is the transitional leader in Pyongyang. As Time states, “Telling Kim Jong Un and the decision makers behind him that the only way forward is economic reform on the Chinese model… (Time 9 January 2012).”

Source: Bloomberg News,  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-27/north-korea-may-fete-touching-drama-for-kim-funeral-ushering-power-shift.html (access date: 1 March 2012).

Ma Got the Second Term/China vs. USA: Taiwan Case-I/The Third United Front CCP-KMT-XV

Official comment from the White House is “welcome” when Ma Ying-jeou won his re-election on 15 January 2012. The fact of the matter is that the US might not really be happy that Beijing-friendly Ma got a second term in office. In his first term, Ma’s first priority was getting the economy moving again and creating a working economic relationship with China including the agreement ECFA (Economic and Cooperation Framework Agreement), a quasi FTA in 2010. On the other hand, Challenger Tsai Ing-wen from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not convinced the people of Taiwan to embrace a “one China” policy. In the final analysis, Ma received 51.6 percent of the votes, 45.6 percent for Tsai, and the rest for James Soong. In 2012, Ma may seek to negotiate with Beijing to resolve both political and military issues, in particular, meeting with Hu Jintao. The Third United Front CCP-KMT might come to be true, shocking to both Washington and Tokyo. However, Ma insists on three Nos: no ambition for unification, no pursuit of independence, and no use of the armed force. All these items express the will of the current people in Taiwan, deciding to go for stability and prosperity by the status quo.

Source: Reuters News, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e4b45bc-3eb3-11e1-9139-00144feab49a.html#axzz1nXmt0LG7 (access date: 26 February 2012).

Obama’s New Defense Strategy

The year 2012 is a very different year because many world leaders are facing re-election. Of course, President Obama is going to encounter the Republican candidate in November. On 5 January 2012, Obama laid down the US defense strategy, cutting $487 billion in defense spending over the next 10 years, about a 8 percent decrease. Still, American military spending remain the biggest worldwide, about eight times more than than its rival, China. The other point in Obama’s defense strategy is that the US will remain in the Asia-Pacific Region due to its national interests. Obviously, Obama’s rhetoric is focusing on the rising China.  A Xinhua News editorial warned the US that  is not the time to be “flexing its muscles” in the Asian region. Unfortunately, the US misunderstands the rising China. Will China attack the US?  Will Beijing send its troops to Canada or Mexico as the military bases? Will China dispatch its carrier fleets to the off of the US West Coast all time? The answer is “No.” However, the US has done all above items, by attacking Iraq, placing military bases in Japan and South Korea, dispatching carriers to the Chinese coasts. It is time for the US to rethink its national defense strategy again.

Source: AP News (access date: 5 January 2012).