China's Jan HSBC services PMI falls to 50.7, lowest in 2.5 years

China's services sector grew at its slowest pace in almost 2-1/2 years in January after firms secured a smaller volume of new business, a private survey showed, adding to growing signs of slackening in the Chinese economy.

The HSBC/Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) retreated to 50.7 in January, a low last seen in August 2011 though still above the 50-point level that demarcates growth and contraction. December's PMI was 50.9.

The index is the last of China's four monthly PMI releases, which all showed growth in the world's second-largest economy moderating in January on softer local and foreign demand.

Friday's PMI showed new business growth hit a seven-month low in January, an outcome that may prolong a debate among economists on whether the weak demand last month was mostly caused by the January 31 start of Lunar New Year holidays, as many firms closed shop early for celebrations.

Qu Hongbin, an HSBC economist, said slower growth in the services sector stemmed from a cooldown among China's factories and the country's efforts to curb extravagant state spending.

"We expect services growth to bounce back a little in the coming months," Qu said, but noted that a marked improvement depends on stronger manufacturing growth and the government's efforts to expand the services sector through reforms.

Analysts polled by Reuters believe China's economy will grow 7.4 percent this year, far ahead of other major economies but still its worst performance in 24 years.

Fears of a sharper than expected loss of momentum in China were believed to be a contributing factor in a global financial market selloff in late January, with emerging markets hit particularly hard.

Some economists say a further cooldown will be inevitable this year as officials hunker down for difficult reforms.

Source: Reuters

Asian shares gain on hopes for U.S. jobs growth

Asian shares regained a measure of stability on Friday, stepping further away from five-month lows after a strong night on Wall Street and hopeful signs an upcoming crucial U.S. jobs report will put to bed some of the global growth concerns.

In early trade, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent, a day after the index posted its biggest gains in over two months.

The index bounced 1.6 percent from a five-month low hit on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei also rose 1.8 percent.

A drop in applications for U.S. unemployment insurance and strong earnings helped Wall Street shares post their best day of the year on Thursday while European shares also jumped.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits declined 20,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 331,000, below economists' forecast of 335,000.

While the data has no direct bearing on January's employment report, as it falls outside the survey period, it buoyed the mood after the recent rout in emerging economies raised fresh concerns about the global growth outlook.

Eonomists expect a payroll increase of 185,000 in January. An inline number should help sooth worries over global growth momentum as China's economy slows down and some emerging economies remain vulnerable due to a flight of capital.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering of its massive stimulus has been one of the factors driving capital out of developing markets as investors seek higher returns in rising U.S. Treasury yields.

The 10-year Treasuries pushed up, yielding 2.704 percent, off a three-month low of 2.570 percent hit on Monday.

The euro held near one-week high against the dollar after the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's comment that the euro zone is not plagued by deflation.

Still, he also cautioned the currency bloc's economy remain skewed to the downside and put markets on alert for a possible move in March, acknowledging that emerging-market turbulence could hit the euro zone.

Source: Reuters

Partial Transcript of a Press Briefing by Gerry Rice, Director, Communications Department, IMF

Excerpts

"QUESTIONER: Emerging markets have been hit with rampant inflation, and some of that inflation seems to be bleeding into countries that previously didn’t suffer from that. How are those inflation pressures changing the IMF’s forecast for emerging markets, if at all? And secondly, are those inflation pressures based on structural problems, fundamentals, or are they based on the weakening currencies?

MR. RICE: You know it’s a situation we’re obviously monitoring closely, and we did issue a statement on this some days ago. I think what I would say in response to your question is that the turbulence that’s ongoing underscores the challenging situation that many emerging economies face as a result of tighter external financing conditions, including softer commodity prices in the context of tapering and initial steps towards normalizing U.S. monetary policy; and to differing degrees, slower growth and higher inflation. As you know, several emerging countries have responded forcefully in recent days while many countries also have solid fundamentals with high reserves, fiscal space, and inflation under control. The turbulence highlights the need for coherent macroeconomic and financial policies, good communication, and in some cases, the need for urgent policy action to improve fundamentals and policy credibility. The turbulence also underscores the need for vigilance in the central banks over liquidity conditions in international capital markets.

QUESTIONER: So you’re saying that more action in some countries is needed to tame inflation, urgent action?

MR. RICE: What I’d say is that the recent increase in market turbulence does not necessarily point to weak fundamentals in all countries affected, and a number of countries have taken measures to strengthen policies, reduce vulnerabilities, and shore up confidence. Other countries, though, need policy action to improve the fundamentals. And I think tangible signs of such efforts will help reduce current market volatility and vulnerabilities to future shocks. So I think it’s country by country.

QUESTIONER: Are the actions in the systemic countries right now -- Turkey, Brazil, South Africa -- enough? Are the actions that central banks are taking, sufficient enough in India, or do they need to be doing more? Are they behind the curve?

MR. RICE: So are you asking specifically now about India?

QUESTIONER: Yes, India, Turkey, South Africa, and Brazil.

MR. RICE: Okay, you’re asking about them all. This could take a while. We can go one by one if you like, but policy responses to market pressures have obviously varied across countries. Some countries have tightened monetary policy to rein in inflationary pressures, which was your question; others strengthened their fiscal policies. In many cases foreign exchange intervention focused on reducing volatility and important structural reforms are underway in a number of countries to raise their potential growth. So, again, I think the renewed turmoil that we’ve seen in late January highlights the need for strong policies, but those policies vary across different countries".

Reuters: Gas emissions turned into usable form of plastic

After more than a decade of research, a pair of young entrepreneurs in Costa Mesa, California, say they have found a way to turn air pollution into a usable form of plastic

Automotive:The 2014 F1 season is all about hybrid diets and personalized nose jobs

Formula 1 teams have been redesigning and re-engineering their race cars in order to meet the first major regulation changes since 2009. New aerodynamic rules, odd noses, clipped wings and a completely new hybrid powertrain are part of the mix waiting for teams in the 2014 F1 season.

As Gizmag reported last week, Formula 1 is going through a significant powertrain evolution. With the introduction of mandatory new hybrid technology in the form of both kinetic and thermal Energy Recovery Systems, as well as smaller, twin-turbocharged engines, teams like Ferrari, Lotus, Scuderia Toro Rosso, McLaren, Sauber, Mercedes and Williams were literally having to start from scratch. Well actually, most teams have been working on the revised racers for the last two years or so.

Ferrari’s new F14-T, for instance, will carry the same 1.6 liter, turbocharged V6 as the rest of the pack, but where things get interesting is in how each team treats new nose design and other restrictions in their race-ready products. Ferrari’s F14-T, the Italian’s 60th car to participate in Formula 1, features some rather unique aesthetic treatments. The trunk-like design of the nose, for example, is a direct result of F1’s newest regulations requiring teams to lower both the chassis and the car’s nose in the interest of driver safety. In the event of a t-bone collision, the new design is intended to hit below the waistline and be less likely to impale the other driver.

Ferrari’s nasal treatment offers up the Italian’s own personal interpretation of how to deal with revised height regulations, but as witnessed in the gallery, the design language of the various teams ranges from elephant to phallic, and forklift to proboscis monkey.

Ferrari has had to redesign its car’s front suspension so it would fit into the leaner and lower monocoque. The all-important front and aft wings also took a regulation scolding. Front wings on all cars must now be 75 mm (3 in) narrower per side, translating into a forward wing surface that is 150 mm (6 in) skinnier than its predecessor. According to Ferrari, the problem with narrowing out the wings is that endplates, traditionally in place to improve downforce over the wheels, were now less effective. The changes meant Ferrari, like the other teams, had to completely redesign the wings for the 2014 season.

The big wing out back also received a significant makeover. Thanks to three regulatory changes, teams had to incorporate a revised Drag Reduction System (DRS), a rear wing with less depth and the removal of the beam wing.

According to Ferrari, the majority of changes to the 2014 car actually occurred under the skin. With the smaller V6 engine, components like the engine and water radiators shrunk down proportionally, but when items like the intercooler, turbocharger systems and various ERS elements were added, the issue of cooling became a concern. This concern is still being voiced by team managers as a primary issue to watch during the season.

Braking systems, as a result of added forces generated by the ERS, also needed to be redesigned for the F14-T. Smaller calipers on the back were developed to compensate for increased braking while a new "Brake-by-Wire" system was implemented to help drivers deal with changing brake dynamics during the race.

For Ferrari and the other teams, dealing with heat while fitting key engine components into tighter spaces, and meeting leaner spatial regulations, required some deft engineering and adaptation from all corners. The common concern of many teams is not how to deal with the new hybrid configuration, but how can they keep the untested systems running at optimal levels during an actual race. Expect some interesting results the first half of the year as teams get used to the new systems, and for major modifications to come on line in the second half of the season.

Source: Gizmag

Automotive: Rolls-Royce offers first glimpse of Phantom Drophead Coupé

Rolls-Royce is so closely associated with luxury cars that it's often easy to overlook the fact that the badge has also graced everything from jet engines to nuclear reactors. As a reminder of the company’s history, Rolls-Royce gave us a hint on Tuesday of its new Bespoke Waterspeed Collection, with the release of a sketch of its Phantom Drophead Coupé. The car features a special design to honor the achievements of land and water racing legend, Sir Malcolm Campbell.

The early decades of the 20th century were an interesting time for Rolls-Royce. When it wasn't making cars that merely “failed to proceed” (as opposed to breaking down), the company was building engines for some of the most famous land, sea, and air competitions of the day. In the 1920s and ‘30s, Rolls-Royce built the engine for the Supermarine S.6B seaplane, which won the Schneider Trophy and would in a few years evolve into the legendary Spitfire. In addition, it also built the R-Type V-12 engine used by Sir Malcolm Campbell in his Campbell-Railton Blue Bird, which set land speed records at Daytona Beach in 1935.

This same engine was also installed in Sir Malcolm’s record-setting speedboat, the Blue Bird K3. Designed by Fred Cooper and built by Saunders Roe Ltd, the Blue Bird K3 was a single-step hydroplane hull made out of plywood and doped aircraft canvas, and got its name for its Lloyds K3 unlimited rating.

On September 1, 1937, Sir Malcolm used the Blue Bird K3 to challenge the United States, which had held the water speed record for five years. On that day, he drove the boat on Lake Maggiore on the Swiss-Italian frontier, where he set a new record of 126.32 mph (203.29 km/h). Dissatisfied by the craft’s performance, he tried again the next day, when he pegged 129.5 mph (208.41 km/h).

According to Rolls-Royce, the limited edition Phantom Drophead Coupé is intended to echo the cutting-edge technology of the original Blue Bird K3, as well as its design cues. With its open-top design, Maggiore Blue and brushed-steel finish, hand-crafted wood, and white trim, the Phantom Drophead Coupé certainly is a strong visual reminder of its model while remaining distinctly a Rolls-Royce. However, it will only be in the coming months that we’ll get a better look at the final product.

According to Rolls-Royce, the run of the Phantom Drophead Coupé will be limited to 35 cars.

Source: Rolls-Royce

Japan Diet enacts 5.5-t.-yen extra budget to sustain growth

The Diet, Japan's parliament, enacted a fiscal 2013 supplementary budget on Thursday designed to minimize the negative effects of a planned consumption tax hike in April.

The extra budget, which involves general-account spending of 5,465.4 billion yen, passed the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, with the support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its New Komeito ally.

Source: Jiji Press

Sony to fall into red in FY 2013 with net loss of 110 bil. yen

Sony Corp. said Thursday it is expecting a group net loss of 110 billion yen for the year through March, against an earlier projected profit of 30 billion yen, due to disposal costs for its personal computer business and sluggish television sales.

In stepped-up restructuring efforts, the electronics maker announced the sale of its Vaio computer business to Tokyo-based investment fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc. and a spinoff of its television business into a wholly owned unit from July.

The company now projects a full-year operating profit of 80 billion yen, against 170 billion yen in profit forecast in October, on unchanged sales of 7.7 trillion yen.

Source: Kyodo

Soft price and gift-giving boost gold sales in China

Low prices and the tradition of gift-giving help boost gold sales in China during the Spring Festival. As we wrap up the holiday season, let’s take a look at how the gold market has fared during the break.

The hustle and bustle only illustrates how popular the yellow metal is. Welcoming the Chinese new year, the little nuggets gained much steam among Chinese gift givers, especially those in the shape of the four-legged animal, marking the year of the horse.
The week-long holiday break suspends domestic gold trading, putting the retail price at the same level as when trading closed, and luring many buyers to take advantages.

Experts say lack of investment channels and demand for gifts during the holiday season healped boost gold sales. But when it comes to which direction the price would move in 2014, analysts are divided. At least for now, with the glistening bling bling around people’s necks and wrists, everybody seems happy.

Source: CCTV

Hong Kong stocks open 0.35 pct higher

Hong Kong stocks moved up 74.96 points, or 0.35 percent, to open at 21,498.09 on Friday.

Source: Xinhua

China stocks open lower Friday

Chinese stocks opened lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opening 0.53 percent lower at 2,022.32 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.76 percent to open at 7,515.09 points.

Source: Xinhua

China's major cities report booming holiday tourism

China's major cities have reported significant rises in tourism income during the week-long Spring Festival holiday from last Friday through Thursday, local authorities said.

The capital city of Beijing reported two-digit increases in tourism revenue as well as number of sightseers.

In the first week of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the capital city earned 4.384 billion yuan (723 million U.S. dollars) of tourism income, up 13 percent from the same period of last year, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development said in a press release Thursday.

Beijing welcomed an estimated 9.75 million sightseers during the holiday week, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, it said.

The sightseers included Beijing residents as well as domestic and international travelers, said Zhou Zhengyu, chief of the commission.

The majority of the local sightseers visited Beijing's traditional temple fairs, or crowded Spring Festival gatherings that feature acrobatic shows, song and dance performance and stalls selling snacks and souvenirs, Zhou said.

The temple fair hosted at Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth in the northeast of Beijing's city proper, received 1.14 million visitors during the holiday week, up 11.4 percent year-on-year, according to the document.

Nearly all other temple fairs reported surges in the number of tourists, too, it said.

The temple fair at Longtan Park in the southeast of Beijing received 757,000 tourists, up 3.2 percent year-on-year, and that at Yuanmingyuan Park in the northwest of Beijing drew 416,000 sightseers, up 13.2 percent from the same period of last year.

Tourist destinations in Beijing's rural areas received nearly 700,000 sightseers and earned 68.24 million yuan in tourism revenue, thanks to a special policy that exempts nationwide expressway toll fees on public holidays, said Zhou.

The neighboring Tianjin municipality reported 3.584 billion yuan of tourism revenue during the week-long holiday, an all-time high, according to figures released by the city's statistical bureau Thursday.

Tianjin hosted an estimated 4.3 million sightseers over the past week, of whom 1.4 million were travelers from other parts of the country or international tourists.

Meanwhile, over 4.4 million travelers passed the customs checkpoints in Shenzhen during the holiday week for sightseeing or shopping tours in Hong Kong, averaging 600,000 people daily, according to figures released by Shenzhen customs.

Source:Xinhua

China to allow private investors to establish rural commercial banks

China will allow private investors to establish rural commercial banks to inject more funds into the countryside and boost rural development, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

Private investors have long been shareholders in rural commercial banks, but they have not been allowed to start them.

The CBRC said China is committed to financial innovation in rural areas to better serve agricultural development.

China had a variety of small and medium-sized financial institutions in rural areas by the end of 2013, including 468 rural commercial banks, 1,803 rural credit cooperatives and 1,071 village or town-level banks.

Experts said the move will also boost competition in the financial sector and deepen China's financial reform.

Source: Xinhua

China Xinhua: NHK massacre denier "historically shortsighted"

 The official of Japan's public broadcaster who claimed the Nanjing Massacre never happened should not be "historically shortsighted and ignorant to such an extent," a senior Chinese expert on the massacre has said.

Naoki Hyakuta, a member of the NHK board of governors, said in a speech this week that the Nanjing Massacre never happened, claiming that the massacre is a "propaganda" by the Chinese side and is ignored by other countries.

In a signed article titled "Historical Ignorance or Malicious Mishap" in Thursday's Xinhua Daily, a Nanjing-based paper, Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, said Hyakuta's remarks not only disavowed the rightful judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East but also induced fresh insult and injuries for those survivors of the atrocities and the relatives of the victims.

"For whom does Hyakuta root and make such madcap uproar?" Zhu wrote, adding that Hyakuta made the comments while campaigning for Tokyo gubernatorial candidate Toshio Tamogami, former Air Self-Defense Force chief and also a renowned anti-China activist.

According to Zhu, during the Japanese occupation of Nanjing, then known as Nanking, foreign journalists including F. Tillman Durdin with the New York Times and Archibald T. Steele with the Chicago Daily News stayed in the city, gaining first-hand experiences on the massacre.

Immediately after leaving Nanjing, Steele telegraphed his article to his headquarters about the Japanese troops killing ten thousand people. Steele became the first person breaking the Nanjing Massacre to the world, Zhu said, adding that Steele later released more articles on the massacre.

Durdin also reported major issues during the massacre including the murder of civilians, the execution of Chinese soldiers and the attack on the U.S. embassy, Zhu added.

According to Zhu, as Nanjing fell, people of foreign nationalities including the United States, Britain, Germany and Denmark who stayed behind jointly established the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone to provide refuge for locals who weren't fast enough to escape.

In less than two months, members of the committee were said to have submitted 428 reports on violent acts committed by the Japanese troops as well as 60-plus official letters to the Japanese military and the Japanese Consulate to protest the atrocity, Zhu said.

Zhu mentioned that Rosen, who then worked at the German embassy in Nanjing, reported to the German Foreign Ministry about the Nanjing Massacre. These reports, including accounts that bodies of those in civilian clothes piled up like a mountain in Nanjing's suburb, were kept in German Archives until 1990 when they were recovered.

Meanwhile, Lewis S. C. Smythe, a member of the Nanking International Relief Committee, surveyed the atrocities committed by the Japanese troops in Nanjing between December 1937 and February 1938 and wrote a reportage that claimed about 90 percent of houses in urban and rural Nanjing were looted and damaged, Zhu said.

In addition, H. J. Timperley, who worked for the Manchester Guardian when he was reporting in China around the 1930s, compiled and edited the book "What War Means: Japanese terror in China" based on various reports and letters detailing the massacre at the time, according to Zhu.

American missionary John Magee even filmed and pictured the brutal acts by the Japanese troops in Nanjing with his camera, Zhu added.

According to Zhu, based on abundant testimonies and material evidence, the Tokyo tribunal described the atrocities committed in Nanjing as an unprecedentedly brutal record in modern history.

Zhu said the 1200-plus-page judgment report confirmed that the occupation of Nanjing was premeditated; Japanese invaders brutally murdered civilians and captives; their large-scale massacre lasted for six weeks; they committed killing, raping, looting and burning both in groups and individually; the criminal acts by the middle and lower-level Japanese soldiers were officially tolerated and supported by the Japanese side; sentences were imposed on those involved.

Citing Hyakuta as saying that it was unreasonable that the number of the massacre was put at 200,000 initially and later changed to 300,000, Zhu explained the Tokyo judgment specified that those killed by Japanese troops in the first six weeks after occupying Nanjing amounted to 200,000 but it excluded a huge number of bodies that had been burned or thrown in rivers.

An account of a then Japanese officer put the number of bodies burned or thrown away at 150,000, and the two figures combined was well above 300,000, Zhu said.

According to Zhu, the statistics also corresponded with the judgment of the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal which said that those killed and burned by the Japanese troops were estimated at 190,000 and additional bodies left scattered around amounted to 150,000 by the count of charity groups.

"Hyakuta and his likes now dream of overturning the history, but their efforts won't be popular and will end up in vain," Zhu added.

Source: Xinhua

China Xinhua: U.S. official's unfounded criticism over China's ADIZ ignores real threat to the region

 A senior U.S. security official, in an interview with Kyodo News, has warned that the announcement of another air defense identification zone (ADIZ) by China would trigger an expansion of U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific.

However, the warning of Evan Medeiros, senior director for Asian affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, is unfounded as he might have not realized that the real threat to the region comes from Japan, not China.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his right-leaning government are the source of surging tensions and hostility in the region.

In his 2014 State of the Union address, U.S. President Barack Obama said his country will continue to focus on the Asia-Pacific and support its allies in the region. But if the United States continues to spoil trouble-making Japan, more provocative actions are expected from Tokyo. As a result, the regional situation would turn messier to a point that regional security and economic interests of various countries would be jeopardized.

China's establishment of ADIZ in the East China Sea, as a defensive measure to safeguard national air security, is in line with international law and practice, and does not affect the freedom of civil aviation. No one is in a position to point a finger.

Nevertheless, the Japanese government is trying to fabricate "China threat" as an excuse to revise its pacifist constitution so that Japan can wage war.

Thus, it is high time for the Obama administration to see through Abe's political tricks and to cage the trigger-happy elements in Japan.

To pamper an ambitious ally that refuses to reflect on its own history of aggression and that is eager to challenge the post-war world order will wreck havoc in the region and the world as a whole.

Source: Xinhua

China,Xinhua: Philippine leader's senseless attack against China smells of amateurish politician

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III, who has taken an inflammatory approach while dealing with maritime disputes with China, has never been a great candidate for a wise statesman in the region.

But his latest reported attack against China, in which he senselessly compared his northern neighbor to the Nazi Germany, exposed his true color as an amateurish politician who was ignorant both of history and reality.

He also joined the ranks of disgraced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who created great controversy after comparing Japan-China relations to those between the United Kingdom and Germany in the run-up to the First World War last month at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

For starters, China's claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea has a sound historical foundation.

More importantly, China, instead of bullying its smaller neighbors as Manila has claimed, also seeks to resolve the issue through dialogue and consultation on an equal basis.

The Philippine leader conveniently chose to ignore the very fact that it is his government that has adopted a confrontational approach by trying to snatching islands and waters that have long been an unalienable part of Chinese territories since ancient times.

It is very unfortunate that the Philippine leader is still trying to create animosity with China even after China has successfully reached critical common ground with regional countries such as Brunei and Vietnam over the issue in the past year.

Territorial disputes are always sensitive issues. No one expects them to be resolved overnight. Thus it is important for political leaders to sound rational and reasonable when they address them.

Relations between China and the Philippines have improved to some extent after the Chinese people extended a helping hand to the southeast Asian country in the wake of a devastating typhoon.

Aquino's latest attack against China may very much have squandered this unique opportunity to further improve relations with China.

Despite lame comparisons by Philippine and Japanese leaders, the international community cannot ignore the fact that China has long chosen a path of peaceful development.

China's future is tied with its regional neighbors and global partners. Military adventurism has never been a policy option.

The Philippines itself is an example that shows how Chinese neighbors can benefit greatly from expanding trade and investment ties with Beijing.

Instead of coming up with lame historical comparisons, a professional and mature Philippine leader could do more good to his country by seeking to resolve the territorial disputes with China through dialogue and consultation.

After all, the Philippines can enjoy even greater benefits from a peaceful and prosperous China when bilateral relations are anchored by steady hands.

Source: Xinhua

China Daily: Abe doesn't deserve the trust he seeks

With Shinzo Abe at the forefront, Japanese politicians are trotting the globe on sympathy-seeking trips, peddling the innocent Japanese image as a peace-loving country stuck in a hostile neighborhood.

As if Japan had done nothing wrong, now or in the past.

As if Japan were unfairly blamed for what was not of its making.

As if it is victims' intolerance, rather than Japan's own lack of repentance for past sins, which has caused the current impasse.

The Japanese prime minister has many ear-pleasing words on his lips these days when it comes to tensions in the neighborhood, one of which is "trust".

Whatever he does, be it "nationalization" of China's Diaoyu Islands or a pilgrimage to the Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni shrine, he wants "understanding", "respect", and "trust".

Yet trust is the last thing Shinzo Abe and his men deserve.

The culture of shamelessness they embody is a warning sign of a dangerous rightist orientation in Japanese politics.

If Japanese politicians were once shy of revealing their rightist propensities in public, things are strikingly different under Abe.

Naoki Hyakuta, a governor of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK handpicked by Abe, was the latest to showcase that shamelessness.

In a Monday stump speech while campaigning for a right-wing candidate in the Tokyo gubernatorial election, the NHK governor claimed the Nanjing Massacre "never happened".

Intruding Japanese troops killed 300,000 Chinese, mostly civilians, in the 1937 carnage. Solid historical evidence, from eyewitness accounts to public and private documents, from both China and Japan, among whom were Japanese soldiers and third-country citizens, have ascertained the nature and scale of the heinous atrocities. The massacre was an important legal basis for the war crimes prosecution at the Tokyo trial.

However, since atrocities were committed by all sides in wars, Hyakuta argued, there is no need to teach such things to Japanese children.

Even inside the NHK, Hyakuta is not alone in repeating such denials and whitewashing. At a Saturday news conference, Katsuto Momii, the new NHK leader, defended the Japanese military's use of sex slaves during World War II as a practice common in any country at war, describing international indignation as "puzzling".

As always, in spite of furious resonance from victim communities, such brazen utterances have the support of the Abe administration. Hyakuta's remarks were personal views that "do not violate the Broadcasting Law". Momii, too, "made the comment as an individual", not as NHK chief, said Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet spokesman of Japan.

Outside the NHK, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said on Monday the "comfort women" system was "necessary" for giving Japanese soldiers a chance "to rest".

In France, Japanese ambassador Yoichi Suzuki "deeply regrets" that an international comic book festival there displayed South Korean comics featuring "comfort women", which he said promoted "a mistaken point of view".

Festival organizers shut down a Japanese booth displaying revisionist WWII content and swastika images.

On Tuesday, the Japanese city of Minamikyushu submitted an application to UNESCO for 333 items left behind by Kamikaze pilots, including letters and suicide notes, to be enshrined as a Memory of the World.

It is an outright insult to human conscience to even think of putting such items side by side with the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen" and "The Diary of Anne Frank".

Japan under Abe is undergoing a profound transition to the right. Abe's personal attempts to rewrite history and rebuild Japanese military potential are the mere tip of a dangerous nostalgia for the country's imperialist past.

A Japan with a morbid view of history is anything but a normal country to be trusted or respected.

Source: China Daily

Do meat substitutes have a future?

The Vegetarian Butcher sells meat; but their chicken chunks and fried minced meat might not be exactly what they look like. Can these meat substitutes replace real meat in the future?

While the worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent in just the last 10 years, a small Dutch company seems to have found a growing market for meat replacers.

And that could be a good thing, because the meat production comes with a prize tag. This large-scale industry has serious implications for the world's climate. The world's growing appetite for meat is one of the biggest reasons greenhouse gas emissions are still growing rapidly.

"Meat consumption is not very sustainable," Atze Jan van der Goot, food process engineer at the Wageningen University told Xinha. "Growing food for animals requires a lot of water and land. It takes about 6 kilograms of wheat flower to cultivate one kilogram of meat," van der Goot said.

"So it would be better to consume plant proteins directly, especially here in the western world, where we consume a lot of animal based products," he added.

But instead of encouraging people to become vegetarian, the Vegetarian Butcher has done something different: They imitate the taste of meat.

"We make products that have the exact same taste, texture and nutrition value as meat," Paul Blom, manager product innovation at the Vegetarian Butcher explained to Xinhua.

The idea of making meat replacers however is not very new. When entering any supermarket, consumers find a whole range of meat substitutes in the shelves. And the offer is growing.

But according to food expert Irma Kromhout-van Kapelle most of these meat substitutes are not as healthy as they look like. "I always discourage my clients to eat them. They are full of salt and e-numbers. Eating a real vegetarian dish with a variety of legumes is definitely preferable."

According to Kromhout-van Kapelle, the products of the Vegetarian Butcher have a better quality, although not every product is entirely free of animal based products. "Besides, the products are a bit too expensive for me. I would only buy them on special occasions."

Van der Goot thinks products from the Vegetarian Butcher are still a luxury product. "If it would compete with very cheap meat products, that would make it easier for consumer to make the switch," van der Goot told Xinhua.

Another challenge is that consumers don't easily give up their old habits. And that could stand in the way of the success of meat replacers, van der Goot thinks.

"I think the main issue is consumers are a bit addicted to meat. Maybe that is because meat is associated with happiness, with health, with something to celebrate. It is still seen as a very healthy product, so giving it up is very difficult for people," van der Goot said.

Source: Xinhua

Music: Jimmy Hendrix, Little Wing

                                           Thanks to IINAOHH.

                                           We can enjoy Jimmy playing Little Wing in HD.

Music: Joni Mitchel: Woodstock

                                          Music & Lyrics by Joni Mitchel

Love You Joni ,your song is so inspired and deep that it turns me
so nostalgic and emotional

   

Chinese WeChat users sent out 20 million cash-filled red envelopes to friends in family within two days

Last week WeChat, the popular Chinese messaging app, launched a feature letting users based in China gift money to friends and family.

The feature went viral in China, and yesterday parent company Tencent disclosed to Chinese media that during the first two days of Spring festival, over five million users participated in the scheme, exchanging over 20 million envelopes. At its apex, over 121,000 envelopes were sent within a five-minute stretch, during with 585,000 attempts were made by users to snatch one up.

Specifically, after binding one’s bank card to the app, users can send cash-filled virtual red envelopes (a traditional gift for the Lunar New Year) one of two ways. Individuals can send cash directly to a recipient, or, if you want to spice things up, senders can put up a set sum of cash that’s then distributed randomly among a specified group of friends.

For example, I might instruct WeChat to gift $25 to Paul, Steven, Terence, and Gwen. WeChat then allots this money randomly to my four colleagues, leaving lucky Paul with $15 dollars, Steven with $6, Terence with $3, and poor Gwen just $1 dollar.

Of course, while it’s all New Year’s fun and games for gifters and giftees, for Tencent, the red envelope scheme marked a successful attempt to get users to bind their bank cards to WeChat. While the app originated as a messaging app and social network, it’s quickly evolving into a a catch-all solution for e-commerce, gaming, and even consumer banking. WeChat might have hundreds of millions of users texting friends every day, but once those users clip their bank account to the app, they’ve opened their pocketbooks to Tencent.

A gift that keeps on giving

5 million registered users would be cause for celebration for most app developers. WeChat, meanwhile, just won 5 million bank accounts in two days. For rough comparison’s sake, Alibaba’s mobile payment service Alipay Wallet has 10 million registered users.

Tech In Asia has closely followed Tencent’s rivalry with Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant that dominates in e-commerce but hasn’t yet made a hit social app in China. Whereas WeChat’s users likely open the app every day, Alibaba’s best bet for an equally oft-used app is Alipay Wallet. In an effort to move purchases for ordinary goods onto the app, the Alipay team has developed China’s offline-to-offline payment infrastructure by helping convenience stores and movie theaters complete transactions on the company’s own technology.

After Alibaba chairman Jack Ma publicly declared he would delete his WeChat account in an effort to promote Laiwang, the company’s latecomer messaging app, the two have introduced competing products tit-for-tat, and a petty war-of-words between the firms emerged on Chinese social media.

Now, months after Ma ditched WeChat, the red envelope scheme has led Jack Ma to once again rally his troops on social media. Last week, in the thick of the gifting frenzy, Ma posted a message on Laiwang describing WeChat’s red envelope scheme as a “Pearl Harbour Attack” on Alibaba. The post reads (partial translation ours):

… Almost overnight, everyone under the sun suddenly believes that Alipay has been beaten because of WeChat’s red envelopes… It was really impressive! This year’s “Pearl Harbour attack” was indeed beautifully planned and executed. Thankfully Chinese New Year is almost over, and the days are long ahead. But we definitely learned a lesson.

In addition to Laiwang and Alipay Wallet, Alibaba’s other mobile offerings include a fledging casual game series that officially hit smartphones last month. While the company lags behind Tencent in the social side of mobile, it still dominates the country’s e-commerce sector. Tmall and Taobao are both the the country’s largest business-to-consumer retail websites (the latter also has consumer-to-consumer sales), while last years Single’s Day sales blitz (the “Chinese Cyber Monday” so to speak) saw the company earn$5.1 billion in sales revenue, 21 percent of which came from mobile purchases.

Source: TechInAsia

Vietnam’s biggest telco wants to acquire KakaoTalk for $5 billion

According to an article in VNExpress today, the vice president of Viettel, Vietnam’s biggest telco, wants to acquire Korea-based messaging app KakaoTalk for $5 billion.

VNExpress reporter Anh Quan claims to have sat in on a board of directors meeting at Viettel where Nguyen Manh Hung, the telco’s vice president, made the announcement about a planned acquisition. Hung reportedly said:

 

We are talking with each other about buying KakaoTalk. One option is to buy the whole company or the second option is to buy into 70 percent of the company.

KakaoTalk – which has over 100 million registered users, mostly in South Korea but with about three million in Vietnam – could be useful to Viettel as a mobile and social service that’s already established and grown into a platform for many web services, such as social gaming and web publishing.

However, KakaoTalk co-CEO Sirgoo Lee told Tech In Asia this afternoon that the Korean startup has not heard of such a deal and they are currently not in any talks.

Lack of mobile services innovation

Viettel, which posted $6.6 billion in revenue in 2012 and is projected to earn about $8 billion in revenue once 2013 figures are revealed, is currently the market leader among telcos in Vietnam. Its biggest rival, VNPT, is close behind with $6.2 billion in revenue for 2012. Unlike Thailand’s telcos that work with and incubate startups, Vietnam’s carriers hasn’t been as adept at fostering innovation with value-added services for subscribers.

Such a deal would put Viettel on the map in the consumer space. Viettel has long been ambitious aboutexpanding outside of Vietnam with its telco services and acquiring KakaoTalk would allow them to access the large user-base on the chat app platform spread across Asia.

But this is all up in the air at this point until there’s a deal on paper.

Source: TechinAsia

Apple resurrects the discontinued iPhone 4 just for India, Indonesia, and Brazil

Apple will resume manufacturing of the iPhone 4 specifically for sale in India, Indonesia, and Brazil, according to sources cited by India’s Economic Times.This is the first time for Apple to restart production of a discontinued iPhone.

The Times estimates an additional 50,000 to 60,000 iPhone 4 units were made by Taiwan-owned Foxconn to be sold this quarter for about Rs 20,000 ($320) each in India. The devices reappeared on store shelves in India within the past 10 days and show a December 2013 manufacturing date.

Apple’s decision to reinstate the iPhone 4 seems to coincide with its October move to slow down production of the iPhone 5C, further highlighting the not-quite-cheap-enough model’s inability to make an impression worldwide.

The iPhone 4 was phased out of all markets last year before the 5S and 5C were released. Apple holds two percent of smartphone market share in India, and growth slowed in the country last year after the latest generation hit shelves. Overall, Apple sold about 250,000 iPhones (all models) last quarter there.

Samsung sits at the top with 32 percent market share, but even it is slowly losing ground to local brands like Micromax, which holds 21 percent.

As for Indonesia, the iPhone 5S and 5C just officially launched there last month, but fans were shocked to find out the phones cost $150 and $100 more than in neighboring Malaysia, respectively. For unlocked versions, that’s a whopping $860 for the cheapest 5S and $713 for the 5C. Minimum wage in Indonesia is less than $200 per month.

Source: The Economic Times

JOHN MAYALL - High Pressure Living. Album Moving On. Jazz and Blues II

                                      Second Album John Mayall Jazz and Blues Fussion. Moving On

WSJ: U.S. Stocks Hold Broad Gains

     The Wall Street Journal Reports,"the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied, on pace for its biggest gain of 2014, after an upbeat reading from the labor market helped ease concerns about faltering economic growth.

Stocks got a strong start and coasted to session highs in afternoon trading. The Dow rose 167 points, or 1.1%, to 15607, while the S&P 500 tacked on 20 points, or 1.1%, to 1771. The Nasdaq  Composite Index advanced 43 points, or 1.1%, to 4055".

Thursday's advance followed a report showing the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits posted a larger-than-expected decline of 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 331,000.

The employment report helped soothe some anxiety that has roiled stocks in recent weeks, and lifted optimism for Friday's closely watched January jobs report, traders said.

Market players attributed some of Thursday's gains to short-term traders repositioning ahead of the jobs report, cutting bearish positions in case the jobs number comes in better than expected.

Thursday's rally was broad, with consumer-discretionary stocks leading nine of the S&P 500's 10 sectors higher. Only telecommunications stocks fell.

Art and Design: Chinese Dance【8】Ink Rhyme

                             
                                      A short dance full of surprises. The dancer at the front  stage, on the background
                                    a subdivided screen,like a multi-tryptic painting, that keeps changing. And on the                                           right foreground an ink painter. And at each dance movement the appropiate sound                                       or music.
                                     An accomplished expression of Eastern Art.
                                     Extraordinaire!