The Japanese government is reportedly studying a compromise over the Diaoyu Islands issue, which would take into consideration China's position while insisting on Japan's "no sovereignty dispute" stance. According to Japanese media, whether the compromise is implemented or not will depend on China's future attitude.
We think there is no possibility of Japan making any substantial compromise with China over Diaoyu at this time. Chinese public opinion should have no such expectations. The so-called compromise proposed by Japan can only be a gesture aimed at tempering the tension and reducing the damage caused to the Japanese economy.
But this gesture also signals a new development in Sino-Japanese relations. Tokyo's arrogance has been dampened, while China is getting the upper hand in its tussle with Japan.
The mutually agreed principle of putting aside the dispute was broken when Japan sought to change the status quo. China was forced to become engaged in a struggle with Japan. International opinion hasn't linked China's response with its rise, which paves the way for long-term competition over the Diaoyu Islands through national strength.
Though Japan has announced its intention to nationalize Diaoyu, China has made more tangible progress by deploying regular maritime administrative vessels in the surrounding waters. This will create favorable conditions for further effective law enforcement in the area, and even actual control over the islands in the future.
Japan has learned a hard lesson through this round of competition. Clearly, China shouldn't be easily provoked. The offensives constantly launched by Japan toward China in recent years may reach a turning point.
China's current strength doesn't allow for an immediate solution to the Diaoyu issue. It also has no dominance in the expansive waters surrounding Diaoyu at this point. Besides securing its claim of sovereignty over the islands, the country has to conserve its resources to ensure its peaceful development. Now, the two tasks are more closely interlinked. China's growing strength will mean more advantages in solving the Diaoyu issue.
China used to be overly worried about how its diplomatic maneuvers would be perceived by others. Now it's clear it has ample room to make diplomatic moves. China can decide how to respond to Japan's compromise depending on its specific content. In the long run, it is almost inevitable that Japan will make a strategic compromise with China.
Source: Global Times
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Wal-Mart Labor Protests Grow, Organizers Say
Protests against Wal-Mart expanded on Tuesday, spreading to 28 stores in 12 states, a union spokesman said.
In an effort to increase pressure on the retailer as the holiday season approaches, 88 employees at the stores missed work, the spokesman, Dan Schlademan, said.
Mr. Schlademan, director of the union-backed Making Change at Walmart campaign, added that more than 200 employees were traveling to Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to stage a protest on Wednesday during the company’s annual meeting with financial analysts.
He warned that disgruntled Wal-Mart employees, joined by labor unions and community groups, might stage a combined protest and educational campaign the Friday after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.
Mr. Schlademan said the 88 employees who missed work on Tuesday were engaged in a strike that followed what union officials said was a strike by 63 Los Angeles-area Walmart workers last Thursday. They called that the first strike ever in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history.
Wal-Mart officials insisted that the protests were publicity stunts rather than strikes, carried out by a tiny fraction of the nation’s 1.4 million Wal-Mart workers.
Colby Harris, who earns $8.90 an hour after three years at a Walmart in Lancaster, Tex., said, “We’re protesting because we want better working conditions and better wages and because we want them to stop retaliating against associates who exercise their right to talk about what’s going on in their stores.”
Mr. Harris said he missed work on Tuesday to attend a protest by 50 workers and their supporters at his Walmart and at another one in Dallas. Afterward, he got on a bus to Bentonville.
David Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said Tuesday’s protest had not affected the company’s operations. “All 4,000 of our stores in the U.S. are open,” he said. “We are staffed adequately to serve our customers and, as always, we’re focused on meeting our customers’ needs.”
Mr. Schlademan said Wal-Mart employees had walked off the job in Dallas, Seattle, Miami, Sacramento and Orlando, Fla., and in the Chicago and Washington areas. Tuesday’s job actions were sponsored by the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart, a group of several thousand Walmart employees that is closely affiliated with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
“These leaders of OUR Walmart have engaged in a strike to protest Wal-Mart’s retaliation and to send a message to Wal-Mart and their co-workers that they have a right to speak out,” Mr. Schlademan said. “The idea that this is just a publicity stunt is inaccurate.”
He said this week’s events were aimed at pressing Wal-Mart to increase wages, stop cutting workers’ hours and treat employees with respect.
Mr. Tovar said: “We have some of the best jobs in retail. Our full-time average wage is $12.54 an hour, which is $5 above the federal minimum wage.” He said that 300,000 Wal-Mart employees had worked at the company for more than 10 years and that Wal-Mart’s turnover rate was lower than the industry average.
Mr. Tovar said those statistics showed that those who participated in the job action were not representative of Wal-Mart’s 1.4 million employees nationwide.
“It’s no secret that the unions want to organize our associates,” he said. “These protests are union-led and union-funded by unions that are trying to further their own political and financial agenda.”
Julius G. Getman, a labor expert at the University of Texas School of Law, said it can be hard to draw a line between what is a strike and what is publicity. He said the union and OUR Walmart were searching for ways to get Wal-Mart to improve wages and conditions when they see how hard it would be to unionize even a handful of Walmart stores.
“Wal-Mart has so much power — unions typically don’t win those kind of drives,” he said. “They’re groping, they’re planning to find a way to take on Goliath.”
Iceland’s Economy now growing faster than the U.S. and EU after arresting corrupt bankers
So Iceland decided not to follow the rest of the world by bailing out the bankers. Instead, they chose to arrest them. Now their economy is recovering faster than the EU and the United States. Hmmmm.
Remember when the United States government told the American people that immediate action was required to save the banks, and save our nation from complete collapse? An action in the form of Billions of dollars of National Debt? Yeah, we remember that! Now Trillions of dollars in National debt later, we are in the same position we were in 4 years ago, just more debt. As a matter of fact Federal Reserve Chairmen Ben Bernanke has called for yet another stimulus that will add more debt onto the mountain we already have.
At the start of the world wide 2008 economic collapse, Iceland was in worse shape than almost any other country in the world. Now they are one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Imagine what America would be like today if we bailed out the victims of poor banking practices, while punishing the bankers who were responsible?
After watching this video tell us what you think? Was Iceland off their rocker for sending the bankers to jail, or on to something that America should have done as well?
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