Unharmonious Canada-China relation kills Harmony Airways?

Harmony Airways first casualty of Ottawa's anti-China policy?

"The Conservatives are not giving priority to China -- they're turning their backs on it." - Former manager

CP, CBC, FP, CIV - Faced with empty seats and soaring costs, tiny Harmony Airways is headed for a forced landing early next month.

Harmony has had high hope in opening up more routes between Canada and China. However, the indefinite delay of the signing of the ADS (approved destination status) agreement between the two countries has crushed Harmony's hope to stay afloat.

The privately owned boutique carrier announced Tuesday it is ending its scheduled flights to Toronto on Friday and all other scheduled flights by April 9. Peter Buecking, a member of Harmony's advisory team, said the airline was not bankrupt and is restructuring as a going concern.

The four-plane, Vancouver-based carrier served popular U.S. holiday destinations such as Maui, Las Vegas and Palm Springs, Calif., and San Francisco.

But its expansion ambitions, including plans to fly into China, stumbled and billionaire Vancouver businessman David Ho, who founded Harmony in 2002, was unwilling to keep funding the operation.

Former manager: Ottawa's cold relations with China to be blamed

In May, 2005, Harmony received federal permission to fly code-share routes to China just months after Ottawa signed an agreement-in-principle with Beijing on giving Canada approved destination status.

A full agreement with Canada appeared imminent, and it looked like the perfect time for Harmony to begin flights to China -- especially after Australia saw its Chinese traffic explode by 80% almost overnight after it was added to the approved destination list.

But the Asia plans have since stumbled, both for Harmony and Canada, which still has not received approved-destination status.

In a letter to the Hotel Association of Canada this January, Pacific Gateway Minister David Emerson said, "The issues surrounding the negotiations are complex, and there are a number of matters that need to be resolved."

And Harmony has not yet been cleared to fly to China. The airline waited until last September to submit a request to the Canadian Transportation Agency for a required licence to code-share with China Eastern Airlines to Beijing and Shanghai. The agency then asked Harmony to provide additional paperwork proving that it is Canadian-owned, and has the proper insurance, safety clearances and financial resources to fly the route.

The airline missed a January deadline for those documents but, according to a spokesman for the Canadian Transportation Agency, was granted an extension until May 6.

The company has also reached an impasse with Ottawa after nearly two years of trying to secure permission to fly its own planes to Asia, said a Harmony manager who recently quit the company.

The manager blamed the delays on an impasse with Ottawa.

"It's a bit of a Catch-22 situation -- in order to get to China, [Harmony] needs long-range planes, but they don't want to commit to getting these long-range planes until they know they can get there," said the former employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity and said part of the blame lies with the new federal government.

"The Conservatives are not giving priority to China -- they're turning their backs on it."

The uncertainty over China has added to internal fears, said the former manager.

"That got a lot of people wondering. There was a lot of optimism there a year and a half ago, but they're still waiting to hear from Ottawa on [China] and I think until that's resolved there's some questions. The goal was always to go to China, and I think still is. But is that issue ever going to be, when is it going to be resolved, I think is a big question."

Neither Ho nor acting president Kirk Henderson, who replaced previous CEO Gary Collins in December, were at a news conference announcing the shutdown.

It was left to Buecking, an airline industry veteran who joined the company three weeks ago, to explain that Harmony would maintain full service until the last flight and issue full refunds for any bookings past its shutdown dates.

Most of the airline's 350 employees, who are non-union, will be laid off but given generous severance packages and strong recommendation letters, he said.

Rumblings at Harmony surfaced last week when it confirmed it was not renewing the lease on one of its Boeing 757 jets.

In an era of no-frills carriers such as Westjet and a restructured Air Canada, Harmony prided itself on offering passengers full-service flights.

Buecking said it became clear Harmony's business model could not be economically scaled up to an efficient size.

"It was a case of a full-service airline in a marketplace where it's difficult to price at a premium when you don't have the scale," he said. "It's possible to provide full service but you really need a big network, in my view."

Harmony also needed to attract a lot of profitable business travellers but did not fly to popular business destinations or offer frequent-flyer perks, he added.

Harmony had a clientele of about 10,000, said former general manager Brent Statton, who retired two weeks ago.

Its load factors ranged from more than 80% on its popular holiday flights to 20% on the Toronto run. Meanwhile, costs continued to rise, including a doubling of fuel prices since the airline was launched in November 2002, said Buecking.

WestJet vice-president Bob Cummings called Harmony's situation "sobering" and expressed sympathy for its employees.

It also announced it was extending seat sales to Honolulu, Maui and Las Vegas, Harmony destinations, and increasing its Vancouver-to-Vegas service.

Meanwhile, Air Canada CEO Monte Brewer touted its new, fuel-efficient Boeing 777 to shareholders at its annual meeting in Montreal, saying the long-range jet would allow it to expand its international service.

Harmony joins the list of defunct Canadian airlines, including Jetsgo, Canada 3000 and CanJet, which rose from Canada 3000's ashes but stopped scheduled service last fall and is restructuring as a charter carrier.

Airline industry analyst Warren Gill of Simon Fraser University said this announcement underscores the brutal nature of airline competition.

"Airlines are not generally profitable," he said. "You've seen the bloodthirsty competition of the truck carriers for the last 15 or 20 years."

The delay in Canada receiving approved-destination status from the Chinese government also cramped its plan for a partnership with a Chinese carrier to serve Beijing and Shanghai.

"It's an important reason," said Buecking. "I can't say it's the major reason."

Collins, former B.C. finance minister and onetime flying instructor, joined Harmony in December 2004 to oversee the airline's expansion. He quit last December to pursue other opportunities and later joined a private investment firm.

Analysts considered Harmony's plans risky at the outset and Buecking seemed to confirm that.

"This was a niche airline that if the operating costs in the environment were lower and there wasn't as much capacity put in by the competitors, it's possible it could have grown, particularly if it could have exercised its right to China . . ."

Buecking said Harmony will hang on to two of its planes while it considers various options, including resurfacing as a charter carrier or a provider of aircraft - crewed or uncrewed - to other airlines.

He declined to discuss specifics, saying Harmony wants to spent the next two weeks focusing on serving its remaining customers.

Buecking also declined to discuss Harmony's financial situation because it is a private company. He did say it dismissed the idea of seeking court protection from its creditors, mainly because Ho himself is the main creditor.

An heir to the Hong Kong Tobacco Co. fortune, Ho also owns a Vancouver luxury car dealership and a golf course.

He launched Harmony in 2002 as My Airways, named in honour of his mother, then changed it to HMY and finally Harmony.

Tags: harmony airways, david ho, vancouver, china, canada, ottawa, ADS, anti-china policy, airlines

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Japan PM considers China visit

AP - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, under fire for his comments that Japan did not force women to work as sex slaves during World War II, said Tuesday he might visit China and wants more support from Beijing on Tokyo's push to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

Abe, speaking at a news conference marking the passage of this year's budget, also said he does not intend to reshuffle his Cabinet ahead of parliamentary elections in July.

The prime minister, who visited Beijing shortly after he assumed office in September, said he is considering returning to China and he believes relations between the two countries have significantly improved in recent months. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to visit Tokyo next month.

Abe noted the two nations jointly pushed for progress in multilateral talks earlier this month aimed at getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

"We worked together well to reach an agreement," he said, but added, "We want more support on our effort to become a permanent member of the Security Council."

Abe took office amid a major rift between the two neighbors over territorial disputes and anger over former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo war shrine.

Though Abe had worked to calm emotions, he sparked protests in Asia and in the U.S. earlier this month by saying there was no evidence that Japan's military forced Asian women into sexual slavery.

Historians say as many as 200,000 women, including many from Korea and China, worked in Japanese military brothels across Asia in the 1930s and '40s.

Abe did not discuss that in his news conference Tuesday, which focused primarily on his desire to visit China and on domestic political issues.

On Monday, Abe offered his clearest apology yet to women who suffered in the country's military brothels, but he did not bow to international pressure to acknowledge that Tokyo forced thousands into sexual slavery.

Tokyo for decades refused to acknowledge any role in the wartime prostitution, but changed its official line after a historian caused a stir in the early 1990s with strong evidence of government involvement. That led to an official — though carefully worded — apology in 1993 and the establishment of a non-governmental fund to pay the women limited reparations.

The Japanese government's involvement in providing prostitutes for its troops during World War II is well documented.

Papers declassified soon after the war detail the army's role in running brothels. Brothels were attached to specific units, their customers were limited to military personnel who paid with military vouchers, and the women had access to military doctors.

But Abe, and many conservatives in the ruling party, argue that although the military was involved in running brothels and procuring women to work in them, it did not force them into sexual slavery. They argue the women were paid and that most chose to work as prostitutes.

On the war shrine issue, Abe reiterated his policy that he will not comment on whether he has gone or intends to go to the Yasukuni Shrine. Since becoming prime minister, he has not visited the shrine that many see as a symbol of Japan's pre-1945 militarism.

Tags: japan, china

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Only 10% Canadian companies will further Asian investment: survey

Canadian Companies Bullish on Asian Investment with Focus on Growing Asian Markets Says Annual Investment Intentions Survey from Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada

APF press release – Canadian companies continue to buck the trend seen in the United States to shift production of goods and services destined for the domestic market to low-cost economies in Asia. The latest Asian Investment Intentions Survey, undertaken by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, found that the target market of the majority of Canadian companies that are planning additional investment in Asia is the region itself. Only 10% are considering further investment in Asia to maintain their competitiveness in North America, unchanged from the level in last year’s survey.

The focus on growing Asian markets, rather than on outsourcing, is confirmed by the 63% of companies that reported their current activities in Asia are aimed at supplying Asian customers. Only 15% are operating in Asia to supply the Canadian market, up only slightly from last year’s level.

Commenting on the survey results, APF Canada President and Co-CEO Yuen Pau Woo said, "Overall, companies are very bullish on Asian investment. The 85% of respondents expecting to boost their Asian holdings substantially or moderately in the next five years is the highest in the eight years the Foundation has undertaken the survey. Most of these, 69%, expect to add to their investment during the next 12 months, the same level as last year. Not one of the companies surveyed expected that they would reduce their Asian activities over the next five years."

The results of the 2007 Asian Investment Intentions Survey are considered especially reliable as companies participating in the survey already have a physical presence – factories or sales offices – in at least one Asian country and are well-informed on economic prospects in the region.

The importance of China to Canadian companies operating in Asia shows up in the responses to several questions. Just under 21% of all the operations of companies surveyed are in China (31% if Hong Kong is included), and 20% of additional investments are likely to be in that country (27% if Hong Kong is included). All these figures are down a little from last year’s results, but are far ahead of those for any other market or region. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as a region are next most favoured as geographic targets for new investment with 11%, unchanged from the level in the 2006 survey.

One interesting finding is that 58% of the Asia-focused companies surveyed reported that they had a formal strategy for increasing business with China. This is well above the 42% of companies based in Canada, but doing business with China, that reported having a formal China strategy in a survey carried out last year jointly by APF Canada and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.

The largest proportion of likely new investment will go into facilities, either new plant and equipment or expansion of existing facilities. However, the likely takeover of - or merger with - other companies is on the rise again, with 33% of respondents favouring this path to growth, reversing a declining trend that set in after a spurt in Canadian mergers and acquisitions in Asia around the turn of the millennium.

The 2007 Investment Intentions Survey is based on the Foundation’s unique database of Canadian corporations -- Canadian Companies Doing Business in Asia -- that have a physical presence in Asia Pacific. It was carried out in January and February this year with a response rate of 18% from the 524 companies that received the survey. The comparison is with a similar survey carried out a little over a year earlier.

This year’s survey was carried out before last week’s Federal budget which announced the elimination of the tax deductibility of interest on borrowings for overseas investments which could affect the offshore investment plans of some Canadian companies.

Tags: asia, trade, canada, USA, investment, asia pacific foundation of canada

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Hong Kong's Kwok brothers to reshape Richmond's waterfront

Richmond announces sale of Oval Riverfront Lands

Richmond City press release - The City of Richmond announced today that it has reached agreement to sell and lease the 18.6-acre Oval Riverfront Lands to ASPAC Developments Ltd. for a total of $141 million.

The Oval Riverfront lands will become the site of a world class urban waterfront development surrounding the Richmond Oval, home of long track speed skating for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

According to the Vancouver Magazine:

Walter, Raymond and Thomas Kwok (Owners, Aspac Developments Ltd.) The Kwok brothers prefer to keep a low profile, even if their city-changing buildings don’t. A joint-venture partnership in 1993 with Marathon Developments, the real estate arm of CP Rail, is developing the coveted former railway lands in Coal Harbour.

Under this agreement, Aspac co-owns the land and 100 percent of the residential developments. The recently completed five-tower Waterfront Place is the first phase of the project. The second, Harbour Green Place, will consist of three towers, with suites selling from $1 million to $6 million. The skyline-defining buildings will contain more than 1,000 units.

Local accomplishments are dwarfed, however, by the Kwoks’ interests in Asia. Named 42nd on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people, the three brothers have an estimated worth of $6.6 billion.

Their public company, Sun Hung Kai Properties, just completed the tallest building in Hong Kong, an 88-storey office, shopping, entertainment and hotel complex. They’ve recently made ground in mainland China with office and shopping centres and also own an Internet provider, mobile phone services, toll roads, a franchised bus operation, port business and airport-related projects. SHKP was recently named Asia’s best developer by Finance Asia.

The Oval development will include 12 to 14 mid-rise residential towers. It will be the largest master planned neighbourhood in Richmond and will include commercial residential, recreational and open park space along the banks of the Fraser River's Middle Arm.

"This is a momentous day for the City of Richmond," said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. "This agreement will provide untold benefits for countless generations of Richmond residents as it will allow us to reinvest in our community's future. We look forward to working with ASPAC to create a highly livable new neighbourhood. It will be a showcase for outstanding and sustainable design and become a destination of choice for visitors from around the world."

Established in 1993, ASPAC is best known as the developer of Coal Harbour, transforming a former industrial site into an internationally-recognized waterfront neighbourhood popular with both residents and visitors.

"Working with Richmond, we will create a world class legacy that is worthy of this unique riverfront site," said Raymond Li, Senior vice president of ASPAC. "The Oval Riverfront Lands will be a high-quality, sustainable, residential neighbourhood, with diverse commercial amenities, extensive open space, and enhanced public access to the area's most prominent assets, the Fraser River and the recreational facilities created by the Richmond Oval."

The City required $43 million from the Oval lands agreement proceeds to support the completion of the Richmond Oval project. This agreement exceeds that requirement and fulfils Council's commitment that no borrowing or property tax increase would be used to fund the construction of the Oval.

Council is considering options for the investment of the remaining proceeds from the agreement. It is considering a proposal that the bulk of the funds will be invested in a series of Community Legacy Funds, which will preserve the principal and use investment proceeds to fund a variety of initiatives.

"The Oval Riverfront Lands are the last remaining portion of the Brighouse Estates, which was purchased by the City more than 40 years ago," noted Mayor Brodie. "That wise investment provided for many of the civic amenities we enjoy today and helped guide the development of our City Centre.

The legacy of the Brighouse Estates gave us the opportunity we have today and we need to make a new investment in our community that will also pay dividends for future generations."

ASPAC will purchase five of seven parcels contained within the 18.6 acres and sign a 60-year lease on the remaining two parcels. Four of the parcels at the west end of the site are designated for high density residential, while the remaining three, adjoining the Richmond Oval are designated for commercial or mixed use development.

ASPAC was selected through a Request For Proposal process initiated in the spring of 2006. In addition to its financial commitment, ASPAC's proposal met or exceeded the RFP requirements by:

- ensuring no net loss of public open space and extending the waterfront through "green fingers" from the dyke to the new River Road;

- increasing the publicly accessible open space within the privately- owned development area;

- improving and maximizing river views within and through the site;

- creating additional pedestrian friendly commercial activities along the entire west side of the Oval Lands; and - committing to achieve LEED Silver standard for environmentally sustainable building design.

ASPAC will begin work immediately on detailed site planning. ASPAC's design team will be led by acclaimed architect James Cheng. An initial parcel at the northeast corner is expected to be developed by 2009. While marketing and some construction is expected to be launched over the next two years, most site development will occur after 2010.

The City has retained a half acre site adjoining the Oval Riverfront Lands, which has been designated for a future affordable housing development.

Tags: richmond, ASPAC, walter kwok, raymond kwok, thomas kwok, the kwok brothers, hong kong, watefront, development project, oval, olympic, 2010 winter olympic, speed skating venue

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Can't find a job, immigrants turn to business

Vancouver Sun - From his base at Admiralty Centre, "a Chinese mall in Richmond," Samir Shah has seen firsthand a slew of small businesses spring to life, only to vanish quickly.

"There is substantial turnover of these businesses started by immigrants," he said. "Many only last two years at most because there is no volume of sales ... You can't sell 20 leather jackets a year. You just can't survive on that."

Skilled and professional immigrants who arrive in Canada often get stymied by the local job market. Sometimes they are forced to change tack and start their own businesses, only to find a whole new set of frustrations.

There is no shortage of examples. Shah is a well-educated architect from Chennai, India. When his credentials from the respected School of Architecture, Ahmedabad weren't enough to get him beyond entry-level design positions here, he dabbled with part-time paper routes and working as a bank teller.

Then he turned to buying and selling leather jackets. "The easiest business is to sell something tangible," he said. His company, AVC International Trading, now sells some 3,000 corporate promotional items -- bags, T-shirts, watches -- sourced in Asia, to U.S. companies.

James Jung's story is similar. He arrived in North Vancouver four years ago from Seoul, where he was a project manager for Lucent Technologies, a big U.S. company selling multi-million-dollar voice-messaging systems to Korean telcos. The computer analyst did a short stint as a customer-service rep at a call centre here, but "discovered that this kind of promotion was not for me."

He quit and started his own company, exporting a line of cosmetic lotions, creams and gels made from wild Pacific salmon collagen. He sources the products in North Vancouver and markets them in Korea. At the same time, he is planning to import Korean gas masks and sell them to B.C. companies that make emergency kits.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S., the local immigrant aid agency, offers a variety of courses to guide budding entrepreneurs. There are some 30 seminars. Most are free and typically cover introductory topics in an afternoon. Some might discuss the retail industry or talk about providing services.

However, the most popular offering by far is a 24-hour course that focuses on the nitty-gritty of import-export trade, according to Thomas Tam, who has directed these programs for nearly a decade.

"It is taught usually in Mandarin and occasionally in Korean. The contents include stuff from the very beginning, how to identify a market, to logistics knowledge such as letters of credit, shipping and forwarding," said Tam.

Tam estimates that about two-thirds of students who take these import-export courses enrol after winging it first and failing. It means that when they later gather and pool their experiences, there is an instant set of case studies to consider.

"A lot of new immigrants are very naive. They sometimes ship a container of cheap products without knowing the size of the market, so the stuff has to be put into a warehouse," said Tam. "They just see a big price difference and think 'I can buy this for just 10 yuan in China, but sell it here for 10 Canadian dollars.'

"They are very excited about that, but don't know the market here and the cost of doing business. In the end, some barely can cover the cost of renting storage."

Negotiating and talking with long-established local manufacturers and suppliers is another challenge for some of these businesspeople. "In Asia, products are very different. It's very consumer-geared, mostly clothes, shoes, watches, things that are easy to understand. You can master product knowledge quickly," said Tam.

"In Canada, it's more about high-tech products or commodities, like sulphur or wood. It takes time to learn about these. There is a lot of terminology for even something like lumber."

However, "entrepreneurs from Asia (in particular) are used to learning new things every day and (hopping) from product to product. So sometimes manufacturers don't feel comfortable talking to them," said Tam.

Conflicting business cultures also clash when it comes to closing deals. "Asian business is very price sensitive. In Canada, quality and market demand are also considered. So when they two sides come together, they might be talking about two different things and very soon, the 'Canadian' side closes the door," said Tam.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. also offers programs and tailored seminars for some 200 small and medium established companies. "It doesn't do much just to help one side," said Tam. "We work closely with these to educate them about [other] business cultures and companies.

Shah thinks that training like this is helpful. Jung actually took one of the courses. "It gave me information in terms of trading regulations and Canadian customs rules. I met people," he said.

All sorts of clouds loom, however, back in the practical real world of breaking into Canadian business, whether you are buying or selling. Sales can be paltry and the pace molasses-like no matter what the approach.

Said Shah: "American customers will take a $1-million order instantly if they can see it is a superior product and a better price. But in Canada, things move much more slowly. I have contacts that are now friends because I have been regularly visiting them so often over the years. We have even gotten to know each other really well outside of so-called business, but there has actually been no business."

Tags: vancouver, immigrants, immigration, bc, richmond, employment, job

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Majority in BC say 'buy home now', survey finds

RBC homeownership survey — Homebuying intentions in British Columbia are holding steady, according to RBC Royal Bank's 14th Annual Homeownership Survey.

The poll found that 11% of B.C. residents said they are "very likely" to purchase a home in the next two years, on par with last year and two points higher than the national average.

According to the RBC poll, 22% of those looking to purchase a home in the next two years are likely to do so within the next 12 months, and B.C. residents are among the most likely in Canada (59%) to say buy now, rather than wait until next year. Of those who plan to buy in the next two years, 80% said they will likely purchase a resale home and almost half (49%) plan on buying a home larger than their current residence.

"A general expectation of higher housing prices and a concern about interest rate increases may explain why British Columbians are strongly in favour of buying over waiting," said Kevin Lutz, regional manager, Mortgage Specialists, RBC Royal Bank.

"Perhaps due in part to the hot housing market of the past few years, we're also seeing residents of B.C. estimating a higher average market value of their homes than any other region of the country."

The poll found that 65% of B.C. residents expect housing prices will be higher by this time next year and a majority (55%) said they are concerned about interest rate increases in 2007. 45% stated they expect to see mortgage rates higher in a year's time.

On average, B.C. homeowners estimate the value of their homes at $373,489, well above the national average of $227,862. They also estimate that the value of their home has increased by an average of 35% over the last two years. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of British Columbians continue to see great value in homeownership, with 93% saying that buying a house or condominium is a "good" or "very good" investment.

Also according to the poll, British Columbian homeowners are among those most likely in Canada to have a mortgage on their home (65%). On average, B.C. mortgage holders have $153,544 outstanding on their mortgages – the largest average in the country.

These are some of the findings of an RBC poll conducted by Ipsos Reid between January 18 and 22, 2007. The online survey is based on a randomly selected representative sample of 2,404 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within ±2.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error for residents of British Columbia is ±5.3% (N=342) and the margin of error for British Columbia homeowners is ±6.7% (N=215).

The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the population. These
data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

RBC 2007 HOMEOWNERSHIP SURVEY RESPONSES
	Cda	BC	AB	SK/MB	ON	QC	AT
Own a home	61%	62%	68%	66%	63%	52%	66%
Percentage of homeowners who have a mortgage	63%	65%	58%	52%	65%	64%	57%
Homeowners who will likely choose a fixed rate when they next renew their mortgage	54%	58%	59%	69%	53%	42%	66%
Are very likely to purchase a home in the next two years	9%	11%	12%	10%	9%	6%	10%
Believe mortgage rates will be higher in one year's time	43%	45%	46%	43%	44%	38%	49%
Believe housing prices will be higher in one year's time	59%	65%	68%	63%	62%	47%	58%
Homeowners who have borrowed against the equity in their homes	39%	40%	46%	46%	42%	28%	33%
Homeowners who have refinanced their home in the last 12 months	28%	29%	29%	30%	27%	25%	29%
Plan to buy a bigger home	48%	49%	43%	51%	47%	59%	37%
Plan to buy resale home	77%	80%	76%	84%	76%	78%	70%

Tags: bc, vancouver, homeownership survey, RBC, canada, real estate, housing market

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BC recreational property market

78% of Canadians, who are likely to purchase or planning to purchase a recreational property in the next three years, are under 49 years old.

From "Recreational Property Market 2006" by Royal LePage

Big White

Big White, located just 45-minutes from Kelowna, continues its shift from resort community to year-round vacation destination. Prices have remained stable year-over year and an influx of supply is expected to satisfy pent-up demand this season.

Mountain base chalets currently sell in the range of $350,000 to $600,000; unchanged from 2005. Mountain base condominiums have also held steady in the $230,000 to $375,000 range. However, standard condominiums 30 minutes from the mountain have risen to $150,000 to $175,000 up from $110,000 to $130,000 in 2005.

“Buyers are purchasing chalets and condos to use themselves as well as rent out when vacant,” said Brian Perry, sales representative, Royal Le Page Kelowna. “However, it is also common to see families sharing properties with siblings or even other families to offset the cost of more expensive properties.”

Snow conditions and the expansion of trails at Big White, as well as a $7-million dollar project to construct Canada's largest six-person chairlift, has helped to attract buyers from Kelowna, Vancouver, Calgary, England and Scotland.

Overall, American investment has diminished slightly due a strengthening dollar, but interest from European residents remains steady.

Granite countertops, slate and hardwood floors, high-end stainless steel appliances and Jacuzzis overlooking the mountain characterize sought-after features in Big White.

Kimberley

In Kimberley, the development of new condominiums has helped to satiate demand and temper price increases for recreational properties. Situated 30 minutes from Cranbrook and four hours from Calgary, this region is popular with buyers who are looking for reasonably priced all-season properties.

Standard chalets within 30 minutes of the mountain range from $150,000 to $200,000 in 2006, a slight increase from $125,000 to $250,000 in 2005. The average price of a standard chalet at the mountain base ranges from $350,000 to $400,000.

The majority of purchasers in the Kimberley region are Albertans, aged 30 to 40. International buyers from the United States and United Kingdom have also been active in this area. A new airport is slated to open with direct flights starting in 2007, which should continue to attract out-of-town purchasers to the area.

Timber frame construction, exposed beams, high vaulted ceilings, open concept floor plans and properties over 2,000 square feet have emerged as popular features. Buyers in the area have shown increased interest in four-season properties with luxury finishes, rather than in the traditional one-season vacation spot.

“Younger buyers are interested in investing in a second property and are taking advantage of being able to use or rent their property year-round,” explained Philip Jones, broker/owner, Royal LePage East Kootenay Realty, Cranbrook. “Kimberley’s offering of four-season recreational activities, beautiful lakes, and ski hills continue to attract buyers to the area.”

Vernon

Vernon is quickly becoming a resort community geared to year-round living, attracting purchasers from Vancouver, as well as from Alberta and foreign buyers from Australia. The average price of an apartment style town home located at the mountain base ranges from $225,000 to $400,000.

“The quality and consistency of winter conditions in Vernon are among the best in Canada, appealing to both visitors and athletes alike,” said Riley Twyford, broker/owner, Royal LePage Downtown Realty. “Best of all, with our mild temperatures, you can often ski Silver Star Mountain in the morning and golf in the afternoon.”

Standard Cottage – Three bedrooms, 1,000 square feet on a 100 foot-lot
Standard Chalet – Detached, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, 1,100 square feet
Standard Condominium – Two bedrooms, one and half bathrooms, 800 square feet

Tags: recreational property, real estate, BC, royal lepage

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Though apologizes, Abe still refuses to accept state involvement in recruiting comfort women

NYT — Facing increasing criticism for denying that Japan coerced women into sex slavery during World War II, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe repeatedly refused Monday to acknowledge state responsibility in recruiting the "comfort women," but offered them an apology.

In a debate in Parliament, under intense questioning by an opposition lawmaker, Abe refused to withdraw a recent statement in which he said there was no evidence that the military had forcibly recruited women to work in brothels established throughout Asia.

But Abe chose his words carefully on Monday to avoid repeating his earlier denial, saying only, "What I said about coercion during the news conference, all of it became news, so that's the way it was."

When Haruko Yoshikawa, a Communist member of Parliament, asked Abe whether he considered as proof of coercion the testimony given by former sex slaves in the United States House of Representatives recently, Abe said he had no comment on their testimony.

The House of Representatives is considering a nonbinding resolution that would call on Japan to unambiguously acknowledge its wartime slavery and apologize for it.

Prompted by Ms. Yoshikawa to make a statement toward surviving sex slaves, who are now mostly in their 80s, Abe said, "I express my sympathy for the hardships they suffered and offer my apology for the situation they found themselves in."

Abe said he would adhere to a 1993 government spokesman's statement that acknowledged Japan's role in managing the wartime "comfort stations," as well as in forcibly recruiting sex slaves. But his repeated denial of coercion contradicted the 1993 statement, Ms. Yoshikawa said. The State Department urged Japan to take responsibility for its role in the wartime sex slavery, though on Monday it described Abe's apology as a "step forward."

"But I think this is a very difficult issue, and we certainly would want to see the Japanese continue to address this and to deal with it in a forthright and responsible manner that acknowledges the gravity of the crimes that were committed," said Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman. That kind of critical language is rarely used against Japan by Washington, which has tried to stay clear of the history-related problems that have roiled East Asia in recent years.

Abe has been under pressure from his right-wing base to revise or reject the 1993 statement. At the same time, his denial of coercion has sparked outrage in Asia and the United States.

Abe's ratings have slid drastically since he became prime minister in September, and his comments about the sex slaves have risked undermining his initial success in improving relations with China and South Korea.

His denial of state coercion has drawn charges of hypocrisy, because Abe won his popularity by championing the cause of 17 Japanese allegedly abducted by North Korea.

But Abe told reporters that the abductions were "a completely different matter" from the sex slavery matter.

Tags: japan, comfort women, sex slaves, history, war, wwii, war crimes, denial, shinzo abe

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Toronto area home prices JAN-FEB 2007

	AVG PRICE	MED PRICE
EAST DISTRICT
ALL	$285,840	$265,000
DETACHED	$363,670	$343,980
CONDO APARTMENT	$191,097	$189,056
CONDO TOWNHOUSE	$220,089	$218,900
WEST DISTRICT
ALL	$338,983	$302,000
DETACHED	$445,292	$413,498
CONDO APARTMENT	$201,748	$189,908
CONDO TOWNHOUSE	$243,335	$236,648
CENTRAL DISTRICT
ALL	$485,968	$329,000
DETACHED	$911,671	$779,689
CONDO APARTMENT	$330,189	$276,286
CONDO TOWNHOUSE	$417,864	$398,237
NORTH DISTRICT
ALL	$386,648	$350,000
DETACHED	$431,666	$397,520
CONDO APARTMENT	$291,065	$276,009
CONDO TOWNHOUSE	$212,482	$211,071

ALL DISTRICT SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING PRICES

2006	NO. OF SALES	AVG PRICE
January	4,587	$332,687
February	6,756	$353,928
March	8,707	$353,134
April	8,361	$366,683
May	9,434	$365,537
June	8,730	$358,035
July	7,082	$342,034
August	6,976	$338,192
September	6,622	$349,142
October	6,876	$356,423
November	6,281	$355,727
December	4,447	$336,217
Total	83,084	$351,941
2007
January	5,173	$353,724
February	6,772	$368,687
Year-to-Date	11,855	$362,003

SOURCE: TORONTO REAL ESTATE BOARD

Tags: toronto, canada, real estate, property, house prices, housing prices

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Intel announces US$2.5b project in China

Xinhua - U.S. computer chip giant Intel Corp. said on Monday it will build a 2.5-billion-U.S.-dollar semiconductor plant in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The plant, to be located in a high-tech zone north of Dalian's city proper, will become part of Intel's network of eight factories worldwide that produce 300-millimetre integrated wafers after it becomes operational in the first half of 2010.

Construction of the plant will start before the end of this year, Intel said in a press release.

The new project will make Intel "one of the largest foreign investors in China" and raise its total investment in the country to nearly US$4b, said Paul Otellini, Intel's president and chief executive officer, at Monday's press conference at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

Code naming the project Fab 68, Otellini says the the number is "auspicious" which he hopes will bring further prosperity.

"Our goal in China is to support a transition from 'manufactured in China' to 'innovated in China'," he said.

The plant will use the "most advanced technology that the U.S. government has licensed for export," said the CEO.

Otellini says Intel chose Dalian over a dozen other sites, including cities in Israel and India, because China is Intel's fastest growing market and the cost of production is lower.

Infrastructure, education, adequate power, water and logistics in Dalian were all factors in securing the deal, said Otellini.

It took Intel and the Dalian government three years of negotiations before the deal was sealed.

Intel required Dalian to answer more than 1,000 questions and the city required the company to meet high environmental standards, said Dai Yulin, Vice Mayor of Dalian.

Dai said that a range of support facilities are to be built for the project. Construction of the export processing zone has already been completed.

Intel has invested US$1.3b over the past two decades in assembly, test and research and development facilities in China.

The company has assembly and test operations in the eastern municipality of Shanghai and Chengdu in the southwest.

As one of the largest China-U.S. cooperation projects in recent years, the new plant will reinforce Intel's leading role in the global semiconductor manufacturing industry while bolstering the growth of China's integrated circuit industry, said Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The new plant will use 90-nanometer technology, an advanced method of computer chip making that measures its work 90 billionths of a meter.

Compared with the 200 mm integrated wafers that are prevalent on the market now, the 300 mm wafers will provide chips with improved performance of semiconductor components and cut costs. The larger-sized wafers also use 40 percent less energy and water during their production, Intel says.

The company has seven other factories producing 12-inch wafers in the United States, Ireland and Israel.

The Dalian plant will help promote economic growth in China's northeast, a former heavy industry base that has suffered a decline following China's state sector reforms over the past decades, said Xia Deren, mayor of Dalian.

The city government estimates the new plant will provide about 1,700 jobs and the plant and the economic spin offs it creates in training, logistics and other services, will be worth $120b yuan (US$15.4b).

Tags: china, intel, chip, computer, investment, dalian

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US ethnic media's reactions to Abe's apology

Japanese PM's Apology For WWII Sex Slaves: What Next?

New America Media - Japanese Prime Minister Abe's reluctant apology for Japan's war crimes against Asian women in the Second World War have many Asian Americans saying more needs to be done to repair the damage. Aruna Lee monitors the Korean press for New America Media.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent apology for his country's involvement in the abduction of thousands of Asian women for use as prostitutes during World War II has drawn a swift response from Asian Americans. The issue has been a point of tension between Japan and its neighbors for decades, and many here question Abe’s sincerity.

Kai Ping Liu, editor at the Chinese-language the World Journal in San Francisco, says the apology is not enough. "Japan's imperial forces killed more than 35 million Chinese over the course of eight years, atrocities that should never be forgotten." He says if Japan is sincere in its regret, it should sponsor the construction of a memorial to the victims of Japanese aggression similar to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Tae Soo Jung, editor at the Korean-language daily Korea Times in Oakland, Calif., questions the timing of Abe's apology. He says it reflects Japan's overwhelming concern with Western opinion and its disregard of the opinion of neighboring Asian countries. "Abe's actions seem to be a gesture towards the West to avoid bad press there more than a sincere apology to Japan's neighbors." Like Liu, Jung says more needs to be done, including the payment of reparations and the revision of Japanese history textbooks that currently omit the country's wartime past. comfort women

Asian media in the United States has followed the issue closely, as many here have relatives who were affected by the war. Chinese and Korean media covered protests in Seoul and Taipei, where former South Korean and Chinese comfort women gathered at the Japanese embassy to denounce Abe's earlier statements. In the United States, more than 70,000 Korean Americans signed a petition in support of a House bill calling for Abe to apologize for Japan's wartime atrocities, according to the Korean-language Korea Daily.comfort women

The non-binding resolution, sponsored by California Congressman Mike Honda, a Japanese American, urges the Japanese government to offer an official apology for the forced sexual enslavement of thousands of Asian women during WWII. In an interview with the Nichi Bei Times, Honda said it was important for Japan to reconcile with her neighbors. "Out of the 200,000 women victimized there are only about 300 left. Every day is a day that we lose an opportunity to get them an apology."comfort women

Harry Bang is a Korean American who has been working in conjunction with community groups in the Bay Area around the issue of comfort women. He says Abe's apology might be a move to stop the resolution sponsored by Congressman Honda from passing. As far as what Japan must do now, Bang says Abe's statements should be made official by the Japanese Parliament, which should then vote to pay compensation to the families of the victims.

Seattle resident Chizu Omori, a columnist for Nichi Bei, said because most of the surviving victims are in their 80s and 90s, Japanese politicians believe time is on their side. "They think the problem will just go away in a few years," she says, "but they are misjudging the temper of the times."

Los Angeles resident Kyu Sang Won, 77, scoffs at Japan's earlier denials. He says he remembers seeing Korean women forced into the sex trade by Japan. "I saw them with my own two eyes, and I remember when they came back after the war. Their lives were ruined." Won says an apology won't be enough and agrees that Japan must offer reparations in the name of its victims.

Won's sentiments are echoed across the Asian American community. Sung Park is a Korean student studying Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine in Berkeley, Calif. She calls Abe's previous denials humiliating, saying, "Like the holocaust, the memory of what Japan did cannot be wiped away."

Shinzo Abe, who was born after the war, is Japan's youngest prime minister ever. Masahiro Miyata, 37, a Japanese living in the United States, says Abe's earlier denials are a reflection of his generation’s understanding of WWII. Miyata says he himself did not learn about the sex slave issue until coming to the U.S. "History classes in Japan don't mention things like this." He says that education is key to a better understanding between Japan and her neighbors.

In addition to Chinese and Koreans, victims of Japanese abuses included many Filipino women taken as sex workers for the Japanese military. An editorial in the Philippine News says that while Abe's apology may not be enough, it is a start. Referring to the Philippines' own history under the military dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s and 80s, the author writes that Japan's wartime activities should serve as a reminder to the present generation of the dangers of a militarized state.

"That regime which lasted all of two decades was capable of committing heinous crimes against its own citizens. History should teach us lessons so that the sins of the past may never be repeated."

Hye Rin Seok is a Korean woman who has lived in Tokyo for the past 20 years. She says the issue of sex slaves during WWII tends to be ignored by the Japanese government and the press there, and that people follow suit. Those aware of the issue insist Japan has already apologized, and that no further action is necessary.

Peter Schurmann, a student at the Univ. of California, Berkeley in Asian Studies, says the issue goes beyond Asia and World War II. “As conflicts erupt in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and parts of Africa, women are at the front lines of the violence. They are abused by opposing sides, inciting further hatred.” Schurmann says Japan must play a part in advocating for women’s rights today if it wants to show its sincerity.


See also:
U.S. says Japan should be more forthright, responsible on comfort women
ALPHA's reaction to Abe's apology
Japan PM apology on sex slaves
Chan believes comfort women motion would pass
MacKay covers for Japan
Chinese Canadians should target Japan, not my government: Harper
Canada quick to defend Abe's war crimes denial
Japan's uncomfortable history
Communities, MPs demand Ottawa to condemn Japan's war crime denial
Chinese-Canadians ask Ottawa to denounce Abe's comments
Olivia Chow calls on Canada to rebuke Japan PM's sex slave denial
Abe's Violent Denial: Japan's Prime Minister and the 'Comfort Women'
Raymond Chan blasts Abe for denying comfort women
Abe says no apology on comfort women even pressed by US congress
Comfort women denial aims to show independence from U.S.
China demands Japan to face up to wartime sex crimes
Japan's amnesia
Japan PM now says 'comfort women' not coerced

Tags: japan, war, canada, war denial, asian holocaust, comfort women, wwii, atrocities, human rights, history

[Read More....]

U.S. says Japan should be more forthright, responsible on comfort women

Yonhap - The United States on Monday urged Japan to act more responsibly in addressing wartime sexual enslavement it called a crime.

"We appreciate that the apology was made," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's remarks on "comfort women." Casey's comments are one of the most resolute reactions on the issue to come from the U.S. government, whose relations with Japan bloomed under Abe's predecessor.

Abe earlier Monday apologized to the women who suffered at frontline brothels during World War II in what was his clearest expression of apology yet. "I apologize here and now as prime minister," he said.

But he still refused to admit that the women were coerced, a stance he took earlier this month, causing international furor.

Tens of thousands of comfort women were put in wartime brothels to provide sex to Japanese soldiers, and most of them were Koreans, whose country was colonized by Japan from 1910 to 1945. Many victims have publicly said they were kidnapped or lured into the brothels.

"It is a step forward," Casey said of Abe's statements.

"But I think this is a very difficult issue," he said.

"We certainly want to see the Japanese continue to address this and to deal with it in a forthright and responsible manner that acknowledges the gravity of the crimes that were committed."

John Negroponte, during his Tokyo visit earlier this month soon after he was sworn in as deputy secretary of state, had called the comfort women's ordeals "deplorable" and urged that it be resolved among countries affected.

U.S. Rep. Michael Honda, a Californian Democrat of Japanese descent, submitted a resolution in January demanding Tokyo unequivocally admit to its role in operating the brothels and have its prime minister apologize in his official capacity.

The resolution awaits a floor vote, most likely after Abe's Washington visit next month.

The South Korean foreign minister is expected to raise the issue when he meets his Japanese counterpart for bilateral talks this weekend.

Critics, including the U.S. media, have accused Tokyo of double standards, saying Japan refuses to accept responsibility for comfort women while pushing North Korea to answer to its past abductions of Japanese citizens.

Pyongyang has acknowledged that it kidnapped Japanese citizens and had them train North Korean spies. Japan demands that North Korea account fully for each of the abductees before it will agree to establishing ties. North Korea walked out of diplomatic normalization talks with Japan this month when Japan pushed the abduction issue.

Casey said before the briefing that it was up to Tokyo and Pyongyang to work out how they will address the comfort women and abduction issues.

But he reaffirmed Washington's support for Japan on the kidnappings.

"The Japanese have long held that this (abductions) was certainly a major issue that needed to be addressed if you were to have normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea," Casey said.

"And as you know, our longstanding position is to support that."

See also:
ALPHA's reaction to Abe's apology
Japan PM apology on sex slaves
Chan believes comfort women motion would pass
MacKay covers for Japan
Chinese Canadians should target Japan, not my government: Harper
Canada quick to defend Abe's war crimes denial
Japan's uncomfortable history
Communities, MPs demand Ottawa to condemn Japan's war crime denial
Chinese-Canadians ask Ottawa to denounce Abe's comments
Olivia Chow calls on Canada to rebuke Japan PM's sex slave denial
Abe's Violent Denial: Japan's Prime Minister and the 'Comfort Women'
Raymond Chan blasts Abe for denying comfort women
Abe says no apology on comfort women even pressed by US congress
Comfort women denial aims to show independence from U.S.
China demands Japan to face up to wartime sex crimes
Japan's amnesia
Japan PM now says 'comfort women' not coerced

Tags: japan, war, canada, war denial, asian holocaust, comfort women, wwii, atrocities, human rights, history

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New opportunity in B.C. for foreign-trained engineers

CBC - Immigrant engineers with foreign credentials will get the chance to gain on-the-job experience in B.C.'s booming energy sector, thanks to a pilot project being launched in Vancouver.

Vancouver immigrant services group SUCCESS has teamed up with the private company Spectra Energy to offer a 16-week work experience and orientation program.

The Immigrant Engineering Orientation Program is designed to match qualified people with jobs in an industry that's desperately short of workers.

The engineers will divide their time between a Vancouver classroom and Spectra job sites in northeastern B.C.

"People will actually have a chance to demonstrate what they know in a field situation," said Tung Chan, CEO of SUCCESS.

Twelve engineers will be enrolled in the program, with the hope it will lead to jobs for half of them.

Chan said he also hopes to extend the program to other occupational groups.

"If this model works, we can expand to other than engineering. We can go into other fields such as accounting or even health professionals."

The immigrant engineers will begin their training next month with language and workplace culture courses.

Tags: engineers, immigration, immigrants, BC, SUCCESS, tung chan, employment, job

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City Archives signs agreement with Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC

The City of Vancouver Archives and the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia have signed an agreement to cooperate on the identification and appraisal of archival records that document the history of Vancouver's Chinese community.

This partnership should help the Archives preserve and make available more of the community's history to the public.

The City Archives already houses a number of collections documenting Vancouver's Chinese community's past. Significant records include those of the Yip family, including Wing Sang Co. and Yip Sang Ltd.; the Sam Kee Company; and the Kuo Kong Silk Company. Holdings date from 1888 to 1989. The collections comprise photographs, financial records, correspondence, catalogues, and from the Kuo Kong Silk Company, silk samples.

The Archives also has 1,700 photos, 22 videos and committee records for Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden Society.

The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia will be encouraging members of Vancouver's Chinese community to donate their archival records to the City's Archives.

Tags: chinese canadian, history, city archives, vancouver

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ALPHA's reaction to Abe's apology

From Thekla Lit, President of B.C. ALPHA Co-chair of Canada ALPHA (Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in Asia)

Abe apologized to “comfort women” in the Japanese parliament on Monday 26 March 2007. It’s clear that this is the result of the international criticism for Abe’s denied earlier this month saying that there was any evidence that the women were coerced into sexual service.

But we should be very cautious about this so-called “apology” by Abe as he did not acknowledge the responsibility of the Japanese military nor the government for the military sexual slavery system. Neither did he withdraw his support to the proposed investigation initiated by 120+ MPs to find evidence to overturn the 1993 Kono apology statement.

Until an apology & compensation resolution is to be passed in the Diet and denial of Japanese atrocities will become criminal, all these PM or government official’s apologies are at best empty words and at worse are just playing some kind of word games.

We should really still step up the pressure to urge the Japanese government to bring a proper closure to their dark chapter of history. If you are a Canadian, please call or write you MP immediately to urge them to support MPs Olivia Chow & Dawn Black’s motion. Thank you.

See also:
Japan PM apology on sex slaves
Chan believes comfort women motion would pass
MacKay covers for Japan
Chinese Canadians should target Japan, not my government: Harper
Canada quick to defend Abe's war crimes denial
Japan's uncomfortable history
Communities, MPs demand Ottawa to condemn Japan's war crime denial
Chinese-Canadians ask Ottawa to denounce Abe's comments
Olivia Chow calls on Canada to rebuke Japan PM's sex slave denial
Abe's Violent Denial: Japan's Prime Minister and the 'Comfort Women'
Raymond Chan blasts Abe for denying comfort women
Abe says no apology on comfort women even pressed by US congress
Comfort women denial aims to show independence from U.S.
China demands Japan to face up to wartime sex crimes
Japan's amnesia
Japan PM now says 'comfort women' not coerced

Tags: japan, war, canada, war denial, asian holocaust, comfort women, wwii, atrocities, human rights, history

[Read More....]

Japan PM apology on sex slaves

BBC - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has apologised in parliament for the country's use of women as sex slaves during World War II.

The apology comes after Mr Abe was criticised by Asian neighbours for previous comments casting doubt on whether the women were coerced.

Mr Abe told parliament: "I apologise here and now as prime minister."

This appears to be part of a concerted bid to reduce the fall-out of earlier comments, a BBC correspondent says.

Mr Abe said, during a debate in parliament's upper house, that he stood by an official 1993 statement in which Japan acknowledged the imperial army set up and ran brothels for its troops during the war.

"As I frequently say, I feel sympathy for the people who underwent hardships, and I apologise for the fact that they were placed in this situation at the time," he said.

His statement has gone a little further than similar attempts to clarify his position two weeks ago, but is unlikely to satisfy all his critics abroad, the BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says.

The row over his comments have compounded the difficulties facing Mr Abe. His six-month premiership has already been rocked by a series of scandals and gaffes.

An opinion poll on Monday found public support for him - Japan's youngest ever prime minister - had shrunk to just 35%.

US resolution

Mr Abe provoked an angry reaction earlier this month after questioning whether there was any proof that the Japanese military kidnapped women to work as sex slaves during the war.

Mr Abe's comments drew sharp criticism from China and South Korea in particular, where many of the women came from.

Many historians believe Japan compelled up to 200,000 women - who also came from the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan - to become sex slaves during the war.

But some Japanese conservatives argue that the women were professional prostitutes who had been paid for their services, and any abuses were carried out by private contractors rather than the military.

Mr Abe's comments about the use of coercion were made as the US Congress began considering a non-binding resolution, which calls for Tokyo to make an unequivocal apology for the so-called comfort women.

Officials in Japan reject the idea that the prime minister should be told how to apologise by politicians from overseas, our correspondent says.

They say the draft resolution does not recognise the efforts that have been made to compensate the former comfort women.

Mr Abe's latest remarks in parliament have been made to clear up any misunderstanding and not as a result of outside pressure, they stress.

See also:
MacKay covers for Japan
Chinese Canadians should target Japan, not my government: Harper
Canada quick to defend Abe's war crimes denial
Japan's uncomfortable history
Communities, MPs demand Ottawa to condemn Japan's war crime denial
Chinese-Canadians ask Ottawa to denounce Abe's comments
Olivia Chow calls on Canada to rebuke Japan PM's sex slave denial
Abe's Violent Denial: Japan's Prime Minister and the 'Comfort Women'
Raymond Chan blasts Abe for denying comfort women
Abe says no apology on comfort women even pressed by US congress
Comfort women denial aims to show independence from U.S.
China demands Japan to face up to wartime sex crimes
Japan's amnesia
Japan PM now says 'comfort women' not coerced

Tags: japan, war, canada, war denial, asian holocaust, comfort women, wwii, atrocities, human rights, history

[Read More....]

Chan believes comfort women motion would pass

Liberal MP Raymond Chan believes the comfort women motion will get enough support from all parties to get through the parliament.

NDP MP Olivia Chow has tabled a motion to ask Ottawa to rebuke Japan's denial of coercing women into sex slaves during WWII. The motion is scheduled to debate in a parliament sub-committee on Tuesday.

The motion asks:

“That, in the opinion of the House, the government should urge the Prime Minister and the Parliament of Japan to: (a) pass a resolution in the Diet to formally apologize to the women who were coerced into military sexual slavery during the Second World War and were euphemized as "comfort women" by the Japanese Imperial Army; and (b) to provide just and honorable compensation to these victims.”

When asked how he and the Liberals would vote, Raymond Chan said yesterday that he would vote for the motion and believed his party would do the same.

"Among all other MPs I've spoken to, no one has said no. Even for the Tories, as they claim they fight for human rights, are not believed to vote against this motion on human rights," Chan said.

Chan suggests Chow to lobby party leaders to gather their support.

However, even the house passes the motion, it remains to be a "statement". Whether the Tories would translate it into action to demand Japan to admit to history through Canada's foreign affairs ministry is another thing, Chan said.

See also:
MacKay covers for Japan
Chinese Canadians should target Japan, not my government: Harper
Canada quick to defend Abe's war crimes denial
Japan's uncomfortable history
Communities, MPs demand Ottawa to condemn Japan's war crime denial
Chinese-Canadians ask Ottawa to denounce Abe's comments
Olivia Chow calls on Canada to rebuke Japan PM's sex slave denial
Abe's Violent Denial: Japan's Prime Minister and the 'Comfort Women'
Raymond Chan blasts Abe for denying comfort women
Abe says no apology on comfort women even pressed by US congress
Comfort women denial aims to show independence from U.S.
China demands Japan to face up to wartime sex crimes
Japan's amnesia
Japan PM now says 'comfort women' not coerced

Tags: japan, war, canada, war denial, asian holocaust, comfort women, wwii, atrocities, human rights, history

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Canada seen as most positive country, China ranks 5th, above US

Angus Reid Global Monitor - Adults in 27 nations express satisfaction with two countries, according to a poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes. 54% of respondents think Canada and Japan have a positive influence in the world.

The European Union (EU) is second with 53%, followed by France with 50%, Britain with 45%, China with 42%, and India with 37%. More than 50% of respondents believe the United States, Iran and Israel have a negative influence in the world.

Canadians renewed the House of Commons in January 2006. The Conservative party—led by Stephen Harper—received 36.3% of the vote, and secured 124 seats in the 308-member lower house. Harper leads a minority administration after more than 12 years of government by the Liberal party.

In September 2006, Shinzo Abe became the new leader of the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan’s 90th prime minister. Abe vowed to "make Japan into a country full of vitality, opportunities and kindness."

On Jan. 31, former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark discussed his country’s current standing in global affairs, saying, "The connection between the Harper government and the White House is obviously close. Taken alone that could be an advantage to Canada."

Polling Data - Views of country’s influence

	Negative	Positive
Canada	54%	14%
Japan	54%	20%
European Union	53%	19%
France	50%	21%
Britain	45%	28%
China	42%	32%
India	37%	26%
United States	30%	51%
Russia	28%	40%
Venezeuela	27%	27%
North Korea	19%	48%
Iran	18%	54%
Israel	17%	56%

Source: Program on International Policy Attitudes

Tags: canada, china, japan, USA, united states, european union, poll, survey, positive country, positive influence

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Shinzo Abe's double talk: Washington Post editorial

He's passionate about Japanese victims of North Korea -- and blind to Japan's own war crimes.

Saturday, March 24, 2007; Page A16, Washington Post

THE TOUGHEST player in the "six-party" talks on North Korea this week was not the Bush administration -- which was engaged in an unseemly scramble to deliver $25 million in bank funds demanded by the regime of Kim Jong Il -- but Japan. Tokyo is insisting that North Korea supply information about 17 Japanese citizens allegedly kidnapped by the North decades ago, refusing to discuss any improvement in relations until it receives answers. This single-note policy is portrayed as a matter of high moral principle by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has used Japan's victims -- including a girl said to have been abducted when she was 13 -- to rally his wilting domestic support.

Mr. Abe has a right to complain about Pyongyang's stonewalling. What's odd -- and offensive -- is his parallel campaign to roll back Japan's acceptance of responsibility for the abduction, rape and sexual enslavement of tens of thousands of women during World War II. Responding to a pending resolution in the U.S. Congress calling for an official apology, Mr. Abe has twice this month issued statements claiming there is no documentation proving that the Japanese military participated in abducting the women. A written statement endorsed by his cabinet last week weakened a 1993 government declaration that acknowledged Japan's brutal treatment of the so-called comfort women.

In fact the historical record on this issue is no less convincing than the evidence that North Korea kidnapped Japanese citizens, some of whom were used as teachers or translators. Historians say that up to 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines and other Asian countries were enslaved and that Japanese soldiers participated in abductions. Many survivors of the system have described their horrifying experiences, including three who recently testified to Congress. That the Japanese government has never fully accepted responsibility for their suffering or paid compensation is bad enough; that Mr. Abe would retreat from previous statements is a disgrace for a leader of a major democracy.

Mr. Abe may imagine that denying direct participation by the Japanese government in abductions may strengthen its moral authority in demanding answers from North Korea. It does the opposite. If Mr. Abe seeks international support in learning the fate of Japan's kidnapped citizens, he should straightforwardly accept responsibility for Japan's own crimes -- and apologize to the victims he has slandered.

Tags: japan, war, wwii, atrocities, history, comfort women, sex slaves, north korea

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Census 2006: population density, BC select cities

Vancouver's population density is catching up that of Hong Kong!

Population per square kilometre
BC select cities

Vancouver	5,039
Victoria N. Van. City	3,965 3,812
New West.	3,799
White Rock	3,633
Langley City	2,309
Burnaby	2,275
Port Coquitlam	1,826
Richmond	1,354
Surrey	1,245
Port Moody	1,074
Coquitlam	941
Delta	526
N. Van. District	514
W. Vancouver	483
Abbotsford	345
Langley Township	305
Chilliwack	266
Maple Ridge	259
Pitt Meadows	244
Belcarra	124
Bowen Island	67

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

In comparison:
The average population density of the GVRD is 735 people per square kilometre.
Hong Kong’s population density of about 6,500 per square kilometre.

See also:
Census 2006: BC population by select cities
Census 2006: population density, BC select cities
Census 2006: Canada population by provinces
Census 2006: BC population passes 4 million mark

Tags: vancouver, hong kong, BC, census 2006, population, population density

[Read More....]

Canada's loose extradition laws make it a haven for fugitives, scam artists

The Washington Post - The Chinese government has been trying to get Lai Changxing for seven years, repeatedly demanding that Canada hand over the man who tops China's most-wanted list.

Lai does not want to go. The once-rich businessman, alleged by China to have run a vast bribery and smuggling empire, is unsure what would happen if he returned. "I don't know if I will be dragged around and shot, or beaten, or poisoned," he mused in an interview.

So while lawyers argue his case, Lai stays, biding time in a Vancouver apartment. He has company: The city is home to a wide cast of people who are either wanted by the law somewhere on white-collar charges or trying hard to avoid such attention.

Vancouver prefers to revel in politically correct politics, a squeaky-clean environmental image, and a laid-back mood fostered by persistent melancholy rain. But it also is a haven for some of the most wanted fugitives in the world and for con men working scams in the shadow of the law.

"Grifters tend to gravitate to the end of the line. Vancouver is kind of the end of the line," said David Baines, a veteran reporter for the Vancouver Sun who writes about stock schemes and white-collar crooks in this westernmost province.

Eight years ago, Forbes magazine described Vancouver as the "scam capital of the world." Authorities have cleaned up some of that and closed the largely unregulated Vancouver Stock Exchange, which did a Wild West trade in problem stocks. But Baines said the legacy remains.

"There was a cadre of facilitators -- accountants, lawyers, brokers -- that someone has called an 'infrastructure of chicanery.' It remains," Baines said.

Much of this centers on penny stocks, often worthless financial paper traded on the U.S. over-the-counter market. These stocks are sold by salesmen in high-pressure boiler-room telephone or Internet solicitations.

When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced "Operation Spamalot" this month, stopping trading of 35 companies at the center of spam e-mail promotions, one-third of them had connections to British Columbia, the province where Vancouver is located.

Authorities here estimate that 500 of approximately 4,000 companies traded on the U.S. over-the-counter bulletin board and another penny stock listing service called the "Pink Sheets" can be traced back to Vancouver and British Columbia. The companies variously claim to have huge car inventories, hot mining prospects, technological breakthroughs, medical miracles, valuable real estate and other exciting assets, which often are inflated in value or nonexistent.

Their promoters operate here in part to take advantage of the border, said Martin Eady, director of corporate finance for the British Columbia Securities Commission. Canadian regulators rarely get complaints from victims, because most of them are in the United States. And U.S. regulators are wary of trying to crack down on companies based in Canada.

"It becomes inherently more difficult to investigate and to prosecute when it is cross-border," Eady said. "It lengthens everything by a factor of at least 100 percent."

Though the scams are often small-scale, they can give Vancouver a bad reputation for all business dealings, he said. "These perpetrators should not feel they can reside in one place, victimize people in other places, and get away with it."

But they do. The gathering of suspect characters in Vancouver is encouraged by Canada's lengthy legal procedures concerning deportation, which can forestall expulsion for years.

Lawyer Gary Botting, author of two textbooks on extradition, said Canada's lengthy process is intended to ensure that people are not sent to sham trials, execution or torture. He defends the system, but acknowledges that wealthy fugitives can delay their expulsion for long periods through exhaustive appeals.

"There's a lot of money involved in the high-profile cases," he said. "There's definitely a different system for the rich who can afford counsel to explore every loophole."

Lai, for example, chose to flee to Vancouver when he heard that Chinese prosecutors were about to swoop down on him and his family in 1999. Chinese authorities say he ran an expansive smuggling operation generating many millions of dollars and bribed local officials in Xiamen, in the southeastern province of Fujian.

A special prosecuting unit in China has obtained 14 convictions and death sentences concerning the alleged scheme, eight of which have been carried out. Lai's brother died in a Chinese prison after Chinese agents had brought him to Vancouver in an unsuccessful bid to lure Lai back to China.

Lai's continued presence has been uncomfortable for the Canadian government, which wants improved trading relations with China. The government there regularly demands his return, along with several other Chinese fugitives, bank officials who also fled to Vancouver. China has pledged not to impose the death penalty on Lai, but his attorney, David Matas, said Canada should not trust promises from a country where legal safeguards are absent.

"The problem here is not the Canadian system. It's the Chinese system. If they were not torturing people and executing people, he'd be back in a shot," Matas said.

Lai, 48, listened through an interpreter. He said he is living off the contributions of friends and has lost all of the riches he once enjoyed. But he acknowledged that the laws here have let him avoid a forced return to China.

In coming to Vancouver, he said, "I think I made the right choice."

Tags: lai changxing, lai cheongsing, china, canada, fugitive, embezzle, gao shan

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U.S. groups call on lawmakers to pass resolution on comfort women

Xinhua - A coalition of over 100 groups on Thursday called on members of the U.S. Congress to support, co-sponsor and pass a resolution on "comfort women," which urges Japan to make an official and unequivocal apology and take responsibility for the Japanese forces' role in enslaving hundreds of thousands of girls and women of Asia during World War II.

The coalition, led by Korean American groups and consisting of mainly Asian American organizations, said in a statement that House Resolution 121, "is a matter of human rights, women's rights, truth and reconciliation."

The resolution, introduced in late January by Representative Mike Honda, a Democrat from California, calls upon the Japanese government to make an official and unequivocal apology, taking responsibility for the Japanese army's role in enslaving thousands of girls and women of Asia, including those of European descent, as "comfort women" during World War II.

So far over 50 House members have co-sponsored the resolution, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold hearings on the issue next week, said Dr. Ok Cha Soh, president of the Washington Coalition of Comfort Women Issue.

During World War II, about 200,000 girls and women of Asia were enslaved by the Japanese army and were exploited as "comfort women." They were systematically raped and tortured by Japanese soldiers at the so-called "comfort stations," which were established and maintained by the Japanese government, according to the statement.

The coalition called upon Japanese citizens to learn the truth about their history and not allow their government to deny "the shameful aspects of its past."

"To many around the world, denying the truth about the Japanese government's role in organizing 'comfort stations' is profoundly painful, representing both a disregard for their suffering and a repression of historical memory of an event that should take its place alongside the great atrocities of the 20th century," the coalition said.

Despite testimonies of survivors and historic documentation, the statement said, Japan has made only vague apologies and has never taken full responsibility for this crime. "Right now, Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe and the Japanese government are engaged in a campaign to deny any responsibility and to claim there is no evidence of rape."

The coalition called on Abe and the Japanese government to stop the campaign to deny the truth about the Japanese government's role in organizing "comfort stations."

"Lasting stability in East Asia cannot be achieved until Japan openly confronts the abuses of its militarist past," it said.

The U.S. House International Relations Committee adopted a resolution in September last year calling on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and accept responsibility on the issue of "comfort women," but the legislation was not able to reach the House floor for further action during the Republican-controlled 119th Congress.

Tags: japan, war, wwii, atrocities, comfort women, sex slaves, USA, congress, politics, history

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Japanese more trusted than blue-eyed, blonds in Mid East: Japan FM

Aso might have forgotten that his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice doesn't have blond hair and blue eyes.

And, he might also have forgotten that Japan too is doing something the US can't do in Asia, where Japan has a deep history of exploitation.

This guy has gone crazy because of his ultra ego. Delusional disorder.

AP - Japan's outspoken foreign minister said "blue-eyed, blond" Westerners probably would not be as successful as the Japanese in Middle East diplomacy, media reported Thursday.

Taro Aso made the remarks Wednesday during a speech in southwestern Japan, business daily Nikkei reported. National newspaper Mainichi carried a similar report.

"Japan is doing what the Americans can't do. The Japanese are trusted. It's probably no good with blue eyes and blond hair," he was quoted as saying by the papers, referring to projects in Jordan River Rift Valley initiated by Japan.

"Luckily, we have yellow faces. We have no history of exploitation there or ... fired a machine gun for once," Aso said, according to the reports.

Takashi Sasaki, one of Aso's aides, confirmed the minister gave a speech to a group of local assembly members in Nagasaki on diplomacy including Japan's policy on Middle East, but refused to confirm the exact wording of the speech.

Japan, which wants to deepen its engagement with the Middle East, hosted a confidence-building conference in Tokyo earlier this month attended by officials from Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan.

The conservative minister is known for making gaffes. Aso has irked China with provocative remarks such as calling the country a military threat and attributing Taiwan's high educational standards to Japanese colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century.

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Japan still abuses women today, North Korea says

UPI - When it comes to encouraging gender equality, it seems that even North Korea wants to boast of having higher standards than Japan. What's more, there are growing concerns in Japan that its leader's denial of the military forcing Chinese and Korean women into prostitution during World War II is driving a wedge between Japan and the world at large at best, and making it ironic for Japan to pester North Korea about its own human-rights abuse at worst. And for Pyongyang today, creating a schism between Japan and the other countries in negotiating nuclear disarmament may be to its advantage.

For now, there is no doubt that Pyongyang wants to highlight Japan's transgressions and use them to its advantage. At the United Nations' Human Rights Council earlier this week, the North Korean delegation accused Japan of subjugating women even today as it did during World War II. Specifically, it cited a comment made by Japanese Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa in January that women are 'child-bearing machines' and warned that the country has essentially remained unchanged on its stance toward women more than 60 years on.

'The Japanese government and military turned girls from the Korean peninsula and other Asian countries into sex slaves. Under the previous Human Rights Council, the United Nations sought to persecute its responsibility, but the Japanese government was backward-looking, and is even trying to deny this problem,' the North Korean delegation stated. It added that 'as you can see from the current health minister's statement that 'women are child-bearing machines,' there is the threat that Japan can repeat the same crime.'

For their part, the Japanese media have interpreted North Korea's comments as one of a number of ways it is seeking to isolate Japan from the six-party talks that seek to denuclearize Kim Jong-Il's regime. For instance, one of the country's most influential dailies, Asahi Shimbun, reported that Pyongyang has been going out of its way to highlight how Japan's interest in the talks is different from those of South Korea, China, Russia and the United States, most notably in its demand for more information on the abduction of Japanese nationals to Pyongyang, in a bid to drive a wedge between Japan and the other countries.

Japan has insisted that unless North Korea becomes more open about the abductions, it will not take part in the initial energy aid package offered by the other members of the six-party talks in return for the regime to be more open about its nuclear capabilities. The irony of Japan calling for more transparency about the abductees even as it tries to sweep its own past under the rug appears to have been lost, at least for now. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has retaliated by saying it does not need Japan's help and instead wants Japan to apologize for its war past.

But while the Japanese media may argue that Pyongyang is deliberately trying to isolate Japan from the six-party talks, it is more likely that Japan is actually shooting itself in the foot as it clamors for more information about those 17 or so individuals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s on the one hand, while brushing aside the issue of forced wartime prostitution on the other. For one thing is clear: Both North and South Korea continue to be united when it comes to criticizing Japan for its past, most notably on the issue of women largely from China and the Korean peninsula forced into prostitution by the Japanese military during World War II, who are still referred to as 'comfort women' in Japan.

Certainly, the fact that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told lawmakers earlier this month in a parliamentary session that there was 'no evidence' that the military forced foreign women into prostitution has made matters only worse. Japan's militaristic past, particularly its endorsement of institutionalized rape, has remained a major obstacle for the country in furthering diplomatic ties with its neighbors, particularly in China and the Korean peninsula, where the pains of Japanese occupation were felt the deepest. But the fact that Abe denied that as many as 200,000 women were forced to become prostitutes for Japanese soldiers, and that the prime minister's office subsequently released a statement last week supporting his claims, has further fanned the flames of anger across the East Asia region.

The problem is likely to remain when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Tokyo next month and will most likely be an issue of major concern when Abe goes to Washington at the end of April for a meeting with President George W. Bush.

Tags: japan, china, korea, south korea, north korea, USA, war, wwii, war crimes, comfort women, sex slaves

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Worldwide survey: Business can no longer afford to ignore Chinese market

Troy Media press release - A survey of over 700 business leaders, government officials, leading academics and futurists from across 60 countries and five continents warns that, for business to thrive in the changing global economy, China must become a key element in all future business strategies (executive summary here).

The study – conducted by Global Futures and Foresight (GFF) and Fast Future - is the first worldwide survey to gather views and expectations of China’s global impact over the period to 2020.

Fast Future’s Rohit Talwar, author of the study, said that the findings in The Future of China’s Economy, The Path to 2020 – Opportunities, Challenges and Uncertainties “is a ‘wake up call’ to the Western business world. To thrive in today’s changing global economy, he writes, business must including China in all future business decisions. But, he added, while businesses in Europe and North America fear the impact China will have on their businesses, they are ill-prepared to act and lag behind their Asian counterparts on their ambitions for the China market.

“Many still seem to hope the ‘China issue’ will go away – but hope is not a strategy. Western businesses need to recognise the opportunities that this powerful market presents and face up to the challenges. Business leaders are clearly worried about the impact China will have in their own markets and on western business practices. However fear of the unknown, a lack of market knowledge, language barriers, limited cultural understanding and concerns about corruption and bureaucracy are leading to hesitancy and inertia. The way forward is to start developing true market insight, take the first steps and learn by doing. “

David Smith, Joint CEO of GFF said: “Even if you don’t believe there are opportunities for you in the Chinese market, you have to be prepared to respond to China’s growing global footprint. Chinese firms have increasingly ambitious overseas expansion plans and want to prove themselves in global markets. At the same time your competitors may be sourcing or manufacturing in China and taking advantage of the cost savings to compete with you in your domestic markets. Businesses of all sizes need to be clear on how they will respond.” The message, he added, is clear: Western businesses can no longer afford to ignore the Chinese market.

Key Findings

There are few doubts in the business world that China will become a dominant global economic force.

• 30% believe China’s Economy will overtake that of the US by 2025 and 73% believe it will happen by 2035
• 89% of respondents think international companies will consider it essential to be listed on a Chinese stock market
• 78% believe that the Chinese stock market will overtake the New York Stock Exchange in size
• 60% believe Chinese companies could become the largest grouping amongst the Fortune Global 500 by 2040
• There is a clear expectation that China’s market power will transform the way the West does business
• 45% of respondents think Chinese culture and business practices will enter western corporate life
• 48% believe key industry and market decisions will be taken in China
• 70% of respondents believe it will be considered normal for US and European workers to be employed by Chinese owned companies by 2030

Europe and North America are lagging behind their Asian counterparts in their plans for the Chinese market:

• 65% of respondents claim to have had no direct Chinese business experience
• 65% of respondents receive no revenues or profits from China
• 5% of respondents expect China to increasingly become the launch market for new products and services
• 43% of Indian respondents were already generating revenues from the Chinese Market compared to only 25% from North America and 34% from Europe
• By 2020, 25% of Indian respondents expect to earn over 40% of profits from China compared to just 8% of Europeans and only 12% of North Americans

Tags: china, business, economy, trade

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Former Taiwanese comfort women demand apology from Japan

China Post - Three former comfort women forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers in World War II tried to present a letter of protest yesterday to Japan's quasi embassy in Taiwan -- the Interchange Association's Taipei office -- but Japanese officials refused to see them.

Accompanied by workers from the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, the three elderly women, who are all in their eighties, tried to deliver the letter to the Interchange Foundation, urging the Japanese government to face the historical facts recognized in 1993 by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono that Japan did force women from Asian countries into sex slavery for its soldiers during World War II.

They also demanded that the Japanese government apologize to all comfort women and make compensation for their sufferings.

However, the elderly women were unable to gain entry to the Interchange Foundation, and Japanese officials refused to come out to accept the letter from them.

Unable to stand for long in front of the Interchange Foundation, they threw the letter on the ground and trampled it in protest before leaving.

Kao Hsiao-fan, executive director of the Taipei Women Rescue Foundation, pointed out that the campaign of former comfort women in Taiwan to seek compensation from Japan has entered the 15th year, and that of the 58 victims who survived when the campaign was first launched, only 27 are still living.

Kao said the protest in Taipei was part of synchronized global actions, including protests in Korea and the United States against Japan's attempts to distort historical facts and avoid responsibility.

Although Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said recently that the Japanese government will continue to honor the Kono statement, acknowledging that Japan did recruit women from other Asian countries to work as sex slaves for its soldiers during World War II, he refused to make a fresh apology.

Abe had previously disputed historians' assertions that Tokyo forced at least 200,000 comfort women from Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines into sex slavery.

Japanese documents unearthed by historians in 1992 showed that Japanese military authorities played a direct role in working with contracted recruiters to forcibly procure women for the military brothels.

Accounts of abuse by the military have been supported by witnesses and former Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese government set up a private fund in 1995 to compensate former comfort women, but most of them have refused to take the compensation. The fund is due to expire March 31.

Tags: japan, war, wwii, comfort women, sex slaves, atrocities, shinzo abe, war crimes

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10-year-old transcript carries Japan PM's denial of comfort women, saying women are lying

Hankyoreh - Records have resurfaced that show Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo has long denied Japanese military involvement in forcibly rounding up women to be sex slaves during World War II.

Statements made by Abe and his cabinet last week said World War II-era documentation provided "no evidence" that foreign women were forcibly recruited into being so-called "comfort women" for the Japanese military. Up to 200,000 of such women, most of them ethnically Korean, were made to serve as sex slaves during the war. The Japanese government has never issued an official apology despite increased international pressure.

Abe’s statements made ten years ago on the subject were printed in a record of a 1997 lecture and question-and-answer session sponsored by conservative members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The record, titled Doubts About History Textbooks and published in December 1997 by Tendensha Publishing, includes quotes from Abe in his capacity as the conservative group’s general secretary.

Following a lecture in April 1997 by former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobuo Ishahara, Abe, speaking about Korean comfort women, says, "They claim it was because of Confucianism that they were forced to maintain their silence for 50 years, but I doubt that is really true."

"Korea has gisaeng houses," Abe is quoted as saying, or places where men go to watch traditional female entertainers and in some cases arrange sexual meetings on the side, similar to the Japanese geisha tradition.

In that effect, Abe goes on to call the idea that comfort women were forcibly recruited as "something that could just never happen." Abe then refers to the allowance of the existence of gisaeng as "something that had permeated life [in South Korea] to a considerable degree."

Abe is quoted as saying, "If [the women] had really been forcibly dragged away, you would expect their families or others close to them would have known about it, so I have to really wonder why nothing was mentioned [about the comfort women] at the time of the signing of the 1965 Korea-Japan treaty, when [the two countries] were in such a state of harsh confrontation," he said. "Many of the people who say they were comfort women and are making demands are lying."

Speaking about the Kono Statement, issued on August 4, 1993 and the fullest admission to date by a government official that the Japanese military coerced females into being comfort women, Abe said the statement "recognized there was direct involvement by the military and officialdom, based on interviews with only 16 individuals and without providing any physical evidence." He went on to say the Kono Statement was "less about facts and more about diplomacy" between Korea and Japan at a time when the two countries had a good "atmosphere" between them.

Regarding references to the comfort women in Japanese textbooks, he said that "rape is clearly sexual violence, but that’s entirely different from what is referred to as ‘comfort women.’ It is farfetched to say that we should teach about comfort women as a means of teaching about sexual violence."

Tags: japan, war, wwii, comfort women, sex slaves, atrocities, shinzo abe, war crimes

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Abe's denial prevent supporters to move past history debate: scholars

Ironically, many in the United States and Asia agree that it is time to stop dwelling on the past, that today's Japan should be judged by its postwar history. Unfortunately, Abe's comments -- like his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine -- make it impossible for even Japan's supporters to move past the history debate.

Starbulletin - WHAT WAS he thinking? That is the question most Japan-watchers grappled with following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's fumbled questions about the imperial Japanese government's role in recruiting "comfort women" during World War II. His responses came close to undoing the progress he had made in restoring relations with China and South Korea and threatened to drive a wedge between Tokyo and Washington.

The controversy began March 1 when Abe was asked about a Liberal Democratic Party group that wanted the government to revisit the 1993 statement by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono. Kono acknowledged that the "Japanese military was, directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women" and that "in many cases they were recruited against their own will, through coaxing coercion , etc., and that, at times, administrative/military personnel directly took part in the recruitments."

Conservatives object to two related points: the role played by the military and the degree to which it actually "coerced" women. Abe said that the meaning of coercion was unclear and the accuracy of the statement depended on how the word was defined. (Ignored was his comment that either way, his government stood behind the 1993 statement.)

The readiness to challenge the conclusion that the government had "coerced" the women unleashed a firestorm of controversy, not least because the U.S. House of Representatives -- during hearings on a resolution that called on Japan to apologize for its actions -- had days before heard testimony from former comfort women that seemed to confirm the charge. Abe's response sparked fierce condemnation from leading U.S. and foreign newspapers and seriously undercut those arguing against the resolution.

Why did Abe fan the flames, especially when it threatened to undercut diplomacy that promised "a new start" for Japanese foreign policy and had offered such promise for the new administration?

First, it should be noted that Abe wasn't volunteering for controversy; he was responding to questions triggered by the actions of others (the LDP group and the U.S. hearings). This does not excuse or fully explain the response, however.

One explanation is that Abe, like many other conservatives, genuinely believes that the Kono statement was wrong. They challenge the factual basis for the conclusion that the government was involved in coercion. This argument rests on the definition of the word "coercion," a legal distinction that is jarring given the long-standing insistence that Japan is not a "legalistic culture" and operates according to more flexible principles. It also attempts to trump a moral argument with a legal one. Whether the army actually coerced the women or left that job to independent contractors (as one legalistic argument asserts), there is little doubt that women were forced into servitude at the army's behest.

This argument also rests on a sense of nationalism. Many conservatives still chafe at the judgment of the Tokyo Tribunals. The Kono statement implies that Japanese behavior was somehow different from that of other countries and Tokyo must apologize for things that other governments have not.

Underlying that conclusion -- and obliging Abe to defend it -- is domestic politics. The prime minister believes that Japan should be a more assertive country, one that is judged by its record of the last 60 years rather than for the sins of its forefathers. His domestic political base agrees, and they both resent being told what to do by any country.

Ironically, many in the United States and Asia agree that it is time to stop dwelling on the past, that today's Japan should be judged by its postwar history. Unfortunately, Abe's comments -- like his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine -- make it impossible for even Japan's supporters to move past the history debate.

The phenomenon drives home the rising significance of domestic politics in Northeast Asia and the transition that all countries are experiencing as the international environment evolves and a new generation comes to power. While the U.S.-Japan relationship has been strengthened in recent years, both countries must still be acutely sensitive to developments in the other and ready to challenge assumptions about how the relationship works.

FOR EXAMPLE, the presumption that a House of Representatives judgment on Japanese history would be above challenge is plainly wrong. Gaiatsu (outside pressure) no longer works, even when it comes from Tokyo's closest ally.

Yet the Japanese assumption that the alliance would counterbalance domestic politics in the United States is equally mistaken. The usual group of alliance handlers didn't -- or couldn't -- quash this tempest.

Abe is not the first politician to put the need to appeal to his domestic base above his country's international image or long-term national interest, but it could not come at a worse time. As the first Japanese prime minister to be born after the war, Abe had an opportunity to pursue a forward-looking agenda. Instead, he and his more conservative colleagues have forced us once again to dwell on the past. Does this really serve Abe's -- or Japan's -- interest?

Ralph A. Cossa and Brad Glosserman are president and executive director, respectively, of the Pacific Forum CSIS (pacforum@hawaii.rr.com), a Honolulu-based nonprofit research institute affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and senior editors of Comparative Connections, a quarterly electronic journal.

Tags: japan, war, wwii, comfort women, sex slaves, atrocities, shinzo abe, war crimes

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Who loves Japan more - Honda or Abe?

OhMyNews - Two ethnically Japanese leaders have quite a different opinion on the coercion of "comfort women" by the Japanese military during World War ll. Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and his cabinet council denied the coercion by Japanese military in recruiting comfort women, while United States Congressman Mike Honda, who is a Japanese-American, proposed a resolution that Japan should acknowledge and apologize for the coercion of comfort women.

In this case does Abe love Japan more than Honda? Is Abe a patriot for Japan? Is Honda a traitor to Japan, his ancestral motherland?

The Japanese invasion of Korea, China, and other Asian countries is a historical fact. The coercion of comfort women by Japanese military during the war is also truth. Comfort women were forced to serve as sex slaves for the pleasure of Japanese soldiers.

There are many documents and testimony providing evidence of the coercion. Even former Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono Yohei stated that administrative and military personnel directly took part in the recruitments of comfort women, who lived in misery at comfort stations under a coercive atmosphere.

The recent opinion of the Japanese cabinet council is that there was some coercion in the comfort women stations, but not by the Japanese military in the recruitment of comfort women. Even if that were true, comfort women were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, and were not freed from the cruel sex stations for a long time. What is the difference between no coercion in recruitment and the coercion in the comfort stations, which deprived comfort women of human rights? The Japanese cabinet council is playing with words.

Only Japanese human rights important?

This is not the first case of ignorance of historical facts by Japanese high officials. Their foolish words have continued for the last 60 years. Their statements are intended to justify the tyranny by Japanese imperialism. One of them said that the invasion of Korea helped modernize Korea. Those kinds of statements enrage Koreans. Many Koreans are doubtful whether the Japanese officials have a scrap of conscience.

Defending human rights is the number one value in every country. If Japan ignores the human rights of comfort women, Japan will be shunned by citizens of the world. Japan is insisting that North Korea should free 17 men and women who had been kidnapped by North Korea, or it would not participate in economic aid for North Korea that was agreed to at the six-party talks.

The human rights of 17 Japanese people, of course, should be respected. But what about the human rights of 200,000 comfort woman from Korea and other Asian countries? North Korea leader Kim Jong-il acknowledged the kidnapping of the Japanese. Why won't Abe acknowledge and apologize for the coercion of comfort women?

The Nazis of Germany also did wrong during World War ll. However Germany acknowledged, apologized, and compensated for their wrongdoing. That is the reason why Germany has succeeded in becoming a leader of the world.

Japan is the number two country in economic power, next to the United States. However, nobody agrees that Japan is the number two world leader. For example, Japan is making constant efforts to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, but the attempts failed. One of the reasons for the failure may be because Japan does not behave like a great power.

Abe's statement is a good example. He said that even if the U.S. House of Representatives passed Honda's bill, he would not accept it. Clinging to egoism will never make Japan a leader of world. Japan is not worthy of the number two economic power in the world. There is a good term for Japanese politicians to learn, "noblesse oblige."

Nationalism could bring another tragedy

A leader should lead the general public to encourage human rights, justice, and peace. However Japanese government leaders seem to aim at nationalism trying to maintain or win popularity. The nationalism by the Japanese government leaders for the extreme right-wing may break the peace in Asia.

Rather than cultivating nationalism, Japanese leaders should acknowledge the truth of comfort women and Japanese imperialism. That is the way to make Japan a great power and beautiful country, which is what Abe says he is trying to do.

However Japanese government leaders are going the other way. They are misleading Japanese people defending themselves as if Japan did not any wrongdoing to comfort women, in the same way as their predecessors beautified Japanese imperialism. This way of misleading Japanese people makes them insensible to shame about what the Japanese military did wrong during World War ll.

The worst thing is that Japanese people may feel proud of Japanese imperialism, and even of their wrongdoing. If this is what Japanese government leaders try to do, it will be a big mistake. The tragedy of Hiroshima and Nakasaki was the result of misleading Japan by Japanese war criminals.

Congressman Honda is trying to stop this kind of misleading by Japanese government leaders and to correct the misunderstanding of Japanese people about the coercion of comfort women. In this way he believes that Japan will become a peacemaking state and number two world leader. The Honda bill reads that Japan should acknowledge, apologize, and accept the responsibility for comfort women by the prime minister of Japan and educate current and future generations about the cruel history.

Japanese government leaders seem to be political tacticians to maintain their power, while Honda is trying to help Japan to be a true world leader. Honda really loves Japan, his ancestral motherland, more than the Japanese politicians.

Tags: japan, war, wwii, war crimes, comfort women, sex slaves, atrocities, shinzo abe, michael honda, history, human rights

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Japan's cabinet reiterates Abe's sex slave denial

AFP, Taipei Times Saturday, Mar 17, 2007 - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government said yesterday it did not believe there was proof Japan forced women into World War II brothels, reiterating remarks that caused an uproar earlier this month.

"The government did not find evidence showing forced recruitment by Japanese military authorities or bureaucrats," Abe's Cabinet said in a policy statement in parliament responding to a question by an opposition lawmaker.

It said, however, that the Cabinet would not change a landmark 1993 apology that the Japanese government issued to former sex slaves.

The 1993 apology "was not endorsed by the then Cabinet of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa but successive Japanese Cabinets have inherited it," the statement said.

Abe, known for his conservative views on history, caused outrage earlier this month when he said there was no evidence that so-called "comfort women" were forced into sexual slavery "in the strict sense of coercion."

He later elaborated, saying he was talking about physical coercion, such as kidnappings of women by Japanese soldiers to put them into brothels.

After an uproar, Abe has said repeatedly that he stands "sincerely" by the 1993 apology.

Abe's remarks have provoked a furor in Asian countries that were invaded by Japan and in the US, where the US Congress is considering a bill that would demand Japan make an outright apology to comfort women.

South Korean lawmaker Yoo Ki-hong yesterday visited Tokyo to demand a "forward-looking settlement" to the comfort women row.

"The grudge and hatred of about 200,000 comfort women mobilized from Korea, China, the Philippines, Australia, etcetera, are being revived now," Yoo said in a statement he handed to Japanese government officials.

"We strongly ask the prime minister to pay attention to and sincerely listen to the voice of the world," said the statement by Yoo, a member of South Korea's ruling Uri party.

"Abe, as the prime minister of Japan, should come face to face with the victims of sex slavery and see the historical truth," the statement said.

Historians say up to 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea but also from Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and China, were forced to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels.

The 1993 statement, issued by the top government spokesman at the time, apologized to comfort women and said the Imperial Army was involved "directly or indirectly" in their recruitment and in the management of the brothels.

In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday rebutted the Japanese government's claims that "no hard evidence" exists proving that the Japanese military forced scores of women into prostitution during World War II.

"Japan should face its history more squarely," said ministry spokesman David Wang (王建業), adding that Japan should take a broader perspective on the phenomenon of "comfort women," who are generally believed to have sexually serviced Japanese servicemen against their will during the war.

"To dismiss the phenomenon because of a lack of evidence in a few, single cases is to ignore a historical happening that was broad and pervasive," Wang said.

The Japanese government should also offer material retribution, or closure, to those who suffered under Japan's practice of sex slavery in World War II, or their families.

"They deserve justice," he said, referring to the victims and their families.

Tags: japan, war, wwii, comfort women, sex slaves, atrocities, shinzo abe, war crimes

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Dutch govt seeks Janpanese explanation on "comfort women" issue

Xinhua - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, on Friday, talking on the subject of Tokyo's assertion that the government found no evidence of the Japanese military forcing women to work in military brothels during World War II was an "unpleasant surprise," and demanded an explanation from the Japanese side on the issue.

Speaking to Japan's Ambassador to the Netherlands, Kyoji Komachi, by phone on Friday evening, Verhagen said it would be "a very unpleasant surprise if the report is true," and sought an explanation for the reported government statement, according to Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Herman van Gelderen.

The Japanese Cabinet on Friday approved a position paper, which said there is no direct evidence that Japan's military authorities or government officials were involved in forcing women into sex slavery during World War II.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on March 1 that "there is no evidence to prove there was coercion" exercised over "comfort women", forced into prostitution in military brothels during World War II. His remarks immediately drew international criticism.

On March 5, Abe reiterated that Japan would abide by the Kono statement. And six days later, he made an unfeigned apology to "comfort women" in an appearance on national television.

An estimated 200,000 women worked in brothels serving Japanese forces during World War II. Most of the women came from countries invaded by Japan at the time.

In 1993, the then Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono issued the so-called Kono statement, officially acknowledging and apologizing for the fact that Japan forced women from other Asian countries to be sex slaves for its troops in the 1930s and 1940s.

Tags: japan, war, war crimes, wwii, atrocities, comfort women, POW, sex slaves, Dutch

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China, Japan can't reconcile on history, joint project disrupted

Japan Times - Historians from China and Japan have given up cowriting a single history of Sino-Japanese relations in a joint study project sponsored by the two governments because of the apparent huge gaps in their views and time constraints, Japanese participants said Tuesday.

"We have never thought of (cowriting a single history) given the time frame. It's impossible," said University of Tokyo professor Shinichi Kitaoka, head of Japan's team.

Instead, the scholars agreed each side will separately write its own versions of bilateral history texts and exchange written comments if they disagree on controversial points, Kitaoka told reporters.

The project kicked off in December as part of government efforts to narrow perception gaps in history between Japan and China. The scholars -- 10 from China and 10 from Japan -- will try to finish their joint study by June 2008 and later compile and publish a series of essays on bilateral relations, Kitaoka said.

The historians also agreed on a list of major historical events that must be discussed in each chapter, including the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and a 21-point demand Japan made on China in 1915.

The "comfort women" issue was not included in the agreed list. But each writer can discuss the topic in their essay if they want to do so, Kitaoka added.

"Comfort women" is Japan's euphemism for women forced into sexual servitude at Japanese military brothels during the 1930s and 40s. Some Japanese lawmakers claim they were not "sex slaves" as publicly testified by many of the victims, drawing criticism from China, South Korea and elsewhere that claim such denials are an attempt to whitewash Japan's wartime misdeeds.

See also:
Nanjing Massacre, Yasukuni Shrine included in history talks
Japan, China to hold second round of joint history study
Chinese provoked Sino-Japanese War: right-wing think-tank
Poll: Majority of Japanese agree to reflect on past
Japan's sincerity over history talks questioned by ALPHA
China refuses to dilute Japan's war crimes
History talks merely camouflage, Japanese prof says
Japan Times' editorial on Sino-Japanese history project
Japan, China begin talks to narrow history gap
First Sino-Japanese history talks "frank and friendly"
Historians from Japan, China meet to meld views on history
China, Japan to study history jointly

Tags: japan, wwii, war, war crimes, china, history, atrocities, nanjing massacre, nanking massacre, rape of nanking, yasukuni shrine

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Chinese Canadian Profile 1: Chinese Canadian population over 1 million; few have religion

Statistics Canada recently released a report profiling the Chinese Canadian population.

Canadians of Chinese origin make up the largest non-European ethnic origin in Canada. In fact, the Chinese community is the 5th largest of any ethnic origin in Canada other than English or French. In 2001, there just over one million people of Chinese origin living in Canada. That year, they represented approximately 4% of the total Canadian population.

	Ttl pop. (in thousands)	% of ttl Cdn pop.
Scottish	4,157.20	14
Irish	3,822.70	12.9
German	2,742.80	9.3
Italian	1,270.40	4.3
Chinese	1,094.70	3.7
Ukrainian	1,071.10	3.6
Dutch	923.3	3.1
Polish	817.1	2.8
East Indian	713.3	2.4

The Chinese community in Canada is also growing considerably faster than the overall population. Between 1996 and 2001, for example, the number of people who said they had Chinese origin rose by 19%, while the overall population grew by 4%. As a result, the proportion of Canadians of Chinese origin increased from 3% to 4% of the total population of the total population in this period.

The large majority of people in Canada of Chinese origin say they only have Chinese origins. In 2001, 86% of all those who reported Chinese origin said they had only Chinese roots, while 14% said they also had other ethnic origins. In contrast, almost 40% of the overall Canadian population has multiple ethnic origins.

	People of Chinese origin			Total Canadian population
	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total
Total pop. (in thousands)	529.4	565.3	1,094.70	14,564.30	15,074.80	29,639.00
% chg 1996- 2001	18	19.5	18.8	3.7	4.1	3.9
% immigrant	70.3	73.6	72	18	18.7	18.4
% Cdn citizenship	80.4	80.1	80.2	94.9	94.5	94.7

The majority are foreign-born

A substantial majority of the Chinese population living in Canada was born outside the country. In 2001, 72% of Canadians of Chinese origin were born outside of Canada, compared with 18% of all Canadians. Close to 45% of foreign-born Canadians of Chinese origin were born in the People's Republic of China, while approximately 30% were born in Hong Kong and almost 10% were from Taiwan.

The majority of immigrants of Chinese origin arrived in Canada relatively recently. In 2001, 52% of ethnic Chinese immigrants had arrived in the previous decade and another 25% had arrived between 1981 and 1990. In contrast, only about 5% had arrived in the 1960s, and just 2% came to Canada before 1961.

Most live in two provinces

The Chinese community in Canada is highly concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia. In 2001, 82% of people who reported Chinese origin lived in one of these two provinces. Ontario was home to 47%, while another 34% lived in British Columbia.

That year, there were over a half a million people of Chinese origin living in Ontario, while another 374,000 resided in British Columbia. At the same time, there were smaller Chinese communities in other provinces including almost 110,000 in Alberta and 63,000 in Quebec.

Chinese people account for a particularly large share of the population in British Columbia. In 2001, Canadians of Chinese origin accounted for 10% of the total population of British Columbia. The same year, they represented 5% of Ontario 's population and 4% of that in Alberta. In all other provinces and territories, the Chinese community represented 1% or less of the total number of residents.

Most live in Vancouver or Toronto

The large majority of Canadians of Chinese origin lives in either the Toronto or Vancouver census metropolitan areas. In 2001, 72% of all Chinese people lived in one of these two urban areas. That year, Toronto was home to 436,000 Chinese Canadians, while another 348,000 lived in Vancouver. In fact, the Chinese community represents a large proportion of the total population of these two cities. In 2001, people of Chinese origin made up 18% of all Vancouver residents and 9% of those in Toronto. At the same time, they made up 6% of residents of Calgary, 5% of those in Edmonton, 4% of those in Victoria, and 3% of those in the National Capital Region. In contrast, in other Canadian cities, people who reported Chinese origin made up 2% or less of the total population.

	Ttl Chinese pop. (in thousands)	% of province	% of total Chinese pop. In Canada
Alberta	108.1	3.7	9.9
BC	373.8	9.7	34.1
Manitoba	14.2	1.3	1.3
New Brunswick	2.1	0.3	0.2
Newfoundland	1.1	0.2	0.1
NW Territories	0.3	0.8	0
Nova Scotia	3.7	0.4	0.3
Nunavut	0	0.2	0
Ontario	518.6	4.6	47.4
PEI	0.2	0.2	0
Quebec	63	0.9	5.8
Saskatchewan	9.3	1	0.8
Yukon	0.3	1	0
Canada	1,094.70	3.7	100

The trend for Chinese people to concentrate in Toronto and Vancouver is also likely to continue in the future as recent immigrants have tended to settle in these two census metropolitan areas. For example, Toronto and Vancouver CMAS accounted for over 80% of the growth in the Chinese population in Canada between 1996 and 2001.

A young population

Canadians of Chinese origin are somewhat more likely than the overall population to be young adults in their prime working years, while they are somewhat less likely to be either seniors or approaching retirement age.This reflect the fact that a large proposition of Canadians of Chinese origin are relate with recent carnival in Canada. In 2001, 33% of the Chinese community was aged 25 to 44, compared with 31% of the total Canadian population. At the same time, 15% of the Chinese community, versus 13% of those in the overall population, were aged 15 to 24. In contrast, seniors aged 65 and over made up only 10% of the Chinese community, compared to 12% of all Canadians. Similarly, 22% of the Chinese community were aged 45 to 64, about 2% less than the figure for the overall population.

Age distribution (%)
% aged less than 15	20.3	18.9	19.6	20.2	18.6	19.4
% aged 25 to 44	32.4	34.4	33.4	30.4	30.6	30.5
% aged 65 and over	9	10	9.5	10.9	13.4	12.2

Slightly more women than men

As with the overall population, there are slightly more women of Chinese origin living in Canada than men. In 2001, 51.7% of the Chinese community were female, compared with 50.9% of all Canadians. As well, like their counterparts in the overall population, women over the age of 65 make up a substantial majority of seniors of Chinese origin. That year, 54% of people aged 65 and over of Chinese origin were women. In the overall population, women made up 56% of seniors.

Most do not report a religious affiliation

The Chinese community is significantly different from the rest of the population when it comes to religion in that the majority of Canadians of Chinese origin reports that they have no religious affiliation. In 2001, 56% of Chinese people aged 15 and over said they had no religious affiliation, compared with 17% of the overall population. As a result, Canadians of Chinese origin represented 13% of all Canadians who are not affiliated with any religion, whereas they made up 4% of the overall population. Among Canadians of Chinese origin with a religious affiliation, 14% were Buddhist, another 14% were Catholic and 9% belonged to a Protestant denomination.

Most can converse in an official language

The large majority of Canadians of Chinese origin can converse in one of Canada 's official languages.2 In 2001, 85% could carry on a conversation in at least one official language, while 15% could not converse in either English or French. Most, 78%, could converse in English, while1% could converse in French, and 6% could carry on a conversation in both English and French.

While most Canadians of Chinese origin can speak at least one official language, the large majority have a mother tongue3 other than English or French. In 2001, 85% of the Chinese community said that their mother tongue was a non-official language. In almost all cases, they said their mother tongue was a Chinese-origin language such as Cantonese and Mandarin. In fact, Chinese, including all dialects, is the third largest mother tongue in Canada after English and French.

The majority of Canadians of Chinese origin also speak a language other than English or French at home. In 2001, 63% of people who reported Chinese origin said that they spoke only a non-official language in their home, while another 4% said that they spoke another language in combination with either English or French at home.

At the same time, almost one in five Canadians of Chinese origin who are employed speaks a language other than English or French on the job. In 2001, 18% of all Canadians of Chinese origin with jobs spoke a non-official language at work most often. Another 4% regularly used a non-official language combined with English or French on the job. At the same time, though, 77% of employed people of Chinese origin spoke only English at work, while 2% spoke either French only, or both English and French.

Family status

Canadians of Chinese origin are more likely than other Canadians to be married. In 2001, 56% of people aged 15 and over in the Chinese community were married, compared with 50% of all Canadian adults. In contrast, people of Chinese origin are much less likely to live in a common-law relationship. That year, 2% of adults of Chinese origin were living common-law, compared with 10% of all Canadian adults.

Canadians of Chinese origin are also less likely than other Canadians to be lone parents. In 2001, 4% of adults of Chinese origin were lone parents, compared to 6% of adults in the overall population. In both the Chinese and overall populations, the large majority of lone parents are women. In the Chinese community, women represented 82% of all lone parents in 2001, while the figure in the overall population was 81%.

Few live alone

Canadian adults of Chinese origin are much less likely than other Canadian adults to live alone. In 2001, just 5% of the Chinese community aged 15 and over lived alone, compared to 13% of all adult Canadians. Seniors of Chinese origin are especially unlikely to live alone. That year, only 10% of people of Chinese origin aged 65 and over lived alone, compared with 29% of all seniors in Canada. On the other hand, seniors of Chinese origin are more likely than other seniors to live with members of their extended family. In 2001, 16% of seniors of Chinese origin lived with relatives, such as the family of a son or daughter, while only 5% of all Canadian seniors lived with relatives.

Over one in four has a university degree

More than the quarter of Canadian adults of Chinese origin have a university degree. In 2001, 27% of Canadians of Chinese origin aged 15 and over had either a bachelor's or post-graduate degree, compared with 15% of the overall adult population.

Canadians of Chinese origin are particularly likely to have a post-graduate degree. In 2001, adults of Chinese origin made up 3% of the overall Canadian population, but represented 9% of all those with a Doctorate and 7% of those with a Master's degree.

	Chinese community (%)			Total Canadian pop. (%)
	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total
Less than high school	27.9	32.2	30.1	31.4	31.1	31.3
High school graduate	10.5	12.4	11.4	13.1	15.1	14.1
Some postsecondary	12.9	11.6	12.2	10.7	11	10.8
Trades certificate/diploma	9.7	3.8	4.4	14.1	7.8	10.9
College graduate	10.2	12	10.9	12.5	17.3	15
University certificate/diploma below bachelor's degree	3.4	4.2	3.8	2.1	2.9	2.5
Bachelor's degree	20.3	18.1	19.1	10.6	10.6	10.6
Post-graduate degree	10.2	5.9	7.9	5.4	4.2	4.8
Total with university degree	30.5	23.9	27.1	16	14.9	15.4
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100

Canadians of Chinese origin also represent a high proportion of those with degrees in highly technical fields. In 2001, people of Chinese origin made up 6% of all university graduates in Canada, while they represented 12% of those with degrees in mathematics, physics or computer science, and 11% of those in engineering or applied science.

As in the overall population, men of Chinese origin have somewhat more education than women of Chinese origin. For example, 31% of men of Chinese origin had a university degree in 2001, compared to 24% of their female counterparts. However, women of Chinese origin are considerably more likely then other women to have a university degree. In 2001, 24% of women of Chinese origin were university graduates, compared to 15% of all Canadian women.

Young people of Chinese origin are more likely than other young Canadians to be attending school. In 2001, 76% of the Chinese community aged 15 to 24 were enrolled in a full-time educational program, compared to 57% of all Canadians in this age group. Among young people of Chinese origin, men and women are equally likely to attend school full-time. This contrasts with the overall population, in which young women aged 15 to 24 were more likely than young men to be in school in 2001.

Most feel a sense of belonging to Canada

According to the Ethnic Diversity Survey, a large majority of Canadians of Chinese origin feel a strong sense of belonging to Canada. In 2002, 76% of those who reported Chinese origin said they had a strong sense of belonging to Canada. At the same time, 58% said that they had a strong sense of belonging to their ethnic or cultural group.

Canadians of Chinese origin are also active in Canadian society. In 2002, 64% of those who were eligible to vote reported doing so in the 2000 federal election, while 60% said they voted in the last provincial election. At the same time, about 35% reported that they had participated in an organization such as a sports team or community association in the 12 months preceding the survey.

At the same time, though, over one in three (34%) Canadians of Chinese origin reported that they had experienced discrimination or unfair treatment based on their ethnicity, race, religion, language or accent in the past five years, or since they arrived in Canada. A majority (63%) of those who had experienced discrimination said that they felt it was based on their race or skin colour, while 42% said that the discrimination took place at work or when applying for a job or promotion.


See also:
Chinese Canadian earnings less than average Canadians

Tags: chinese canadian, population, canada, chinese, census, religion

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Chinese Canadian Profile 2: Chinese Canadian earnings less than average Canadians

According to Census 2001 data, here, unemployment rates among labour force participants of Chinese origin similar to those for the general population. In 2001, 8.4% of Chinese labour force participants were unemployed, compared with 7.4% of those in the overall population.

As in the overall population, young people of Chinese origin are more likely to be unemployed than older adults. This is especially true for young men. In 2001, 18% of male Chinese labour force participants aged 15 to 24 were unemployed, compared with 14% of all young Canadian men in this same category. At the same time, 15% of young female Chinese labour force participants were unemployed, compared to 13% of their counterparts in the general population.

Incomes

In 2000, the average income from all sources for Canadians of Chinese origin aged 15 and over was about $25,000, compared to almost $30,000 for all Canadian adults.

Average incomes of the Chinese community and overall Canadian population, by age group and sex, 2000
	Chinese community			Total Canadian population
	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total
15 to 24	8,113	7,789	7,955	11,273	9,046	10,182
25 to 44	34,357	24,790	29,340	40,450	26,306	33,308
45 to 64	36,577	23,969	30,191	46,955	26,767	37,026
65 and over	21,293	15,647	18,247	30,775	19,461	24,437
Total	29,322	20,974	25,018	36,865	22,885	29,769

As in the overall population, women of Chinese origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. In 2000, the average income for adult women of Chinese origin aged 15 and over was just under $21,000, while for men it was $29,000. However, the income gap between women and men of Chinese origin is somewhat smaller than the gap in the overall population. That year, the average incomes of Chinese women were 72% those of their male counterparts, whereas the figure in the overall population was 62%.

Canadian seniors of Chinese origin also have relatively low incomes. In 2000, the average income from all sources for Canadians of Chinese origin aged 65 and over was $18,000, about $6,000 less than the income for all seniors, whose average income was $24,400. As with all seniors in Canada , women aged 65 and over of Chinese origin have lower incomes than their male counterparts. That year, the average income for senior women of Chinese origin was $15,600, compared with $21,000 for senior men of Chinese origin.

Canadians of Chinese origin receive about the same share of their income from earnings as does the overall population. In 2000, Canadians of Chinese origin aged 15 and over said that 79% of their income came from earnings, compared with 77% for all Canadian adults. At the same time, Canadian adults of Chinese origin received slightly smaller proportion of their total income from government transfer payments than other adults. That year, 10% of the income of Canadians of Chinese origin aged 15 and over came from government transfers, while the average for all Canadian adults was 12%.

Employment trends

Canadian adults of Chinese origin are somewhat less likely to be employed than adults in the overall population. In 2001, 56% of adults of Chinese origin aged 15 and over were employed, compared with 62% of all Canadian adults.This reflects in part the fact that a relatively large proportion of the Chinese population in Canada are recent arrivals who in many cases are still adjusting to life in this country. Indeed, Canadians of Chinese origin who have been in Canada since 1981 of before have a higher employment rate than the overall population.

Percentage of the population employed, by age group and sex, 2001
	Chinese community			Total Canadian population
	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total
15 to 24	34.5	40	37.1	56.1	55.6	55.9
25 to 44	78.6	66.7	72.3	85.6	75.2	80.3
45 to 64	72.1	56.2	63.8	74.8	60.8	67.7
65 and over	9.9	4.7	7	13	4.8	8.4
Total	59.9	51.5	55.5	67.2	56.1	61.5

As with the overall population, men of Chinese origin are somewhat more likely than their female counterparts to be employed outside the home. In 2001, 60% of men of Chinese origin aged 15 and over were part of the paid workforce, compared with 52% of adult women of Chinese origin. However, both men and women of Chinese origin were less likely to be employed than their counterparts in the overall population.

More likely to work in scientific and technical fields

Canadians of Chinese origin make up a high proportion of all Canadians employed in scientific and technical occupations. In 2001, people who reported Chinese origin made up 3% of all workers, while they represented 7% of people employed in the natural and applied sciences. People of Chinese origin also represent a relatively high proportion of those employed in business, financial and administrative positions, as well as in manufacturing. At the same time, their representation in other occupational groups such as health and education was proportionately lower.

Canadians of Chinese origin are also about as likely as those in the overall workforce to be self-employed with an incorporated business. In 2001, people of Chinese, who represented 3% of the total Canadian workforce, made up 4% of self-employed people who owned an incorporated business. In contrast, the representation of Canadians of Chinese origin among unincorporated self-employed workers was relatively low.

One in four with low incomes

Just over a quarter of all Canadians of Chinese origin have incomes that fall below Statistics Canada's low-income cut-offs. In 2000, 26% of the Chinese population in Canada had incomes below these official low-income cut-offs, compared with 16% of the overall population. As well, a relatively large share of Chinese children live in low income families. That year, 27% of Chinese children under the age of 15 lived in a situation considered to be low income, compared with 19% of all children in Canada.

Unattached Chinese adults are particularly likely to have low incomes. In 2001, 55% of Chinese people aged 15 and over living on their own had low incomes, compared 38% of their counterparts in the overall population.

Chinese seniors living on their own are particularly likely to have low incomes. In 2001, 70% of unattached Chinese people aged 65 and over had incomes below the low-income cut-offs, compared with just 40% of all seniors living on their own. As with the overall population, unattached senior Chinese women are the most likely to be classified as having low-incomes. Indeed, almost 3 out of 4 of these women (74%) had incomes below the low-income cut-offs that year, compared with 59% of unattached senior Chinese men and 43% of all women aged 65 and over.

Highlights of StatCan's profile on Chinese Canadians:

• At just over one million people, the Chinese community was the largest non-European ethnic group in Canada in 2001.
• 72% of Canadians of Chinese origin were born outside of Canada.
• The large majority, 72%, live in either the Toronto or Vancouver census metropolitan areas.
• 85% can carry on a conversation in at least one official language, while 15% cannot converse in either English or French.
• 56% of Canadians of Chinese origin said that they have no religious affiliation. This group represents 13% of all Canadians who are not affiliated with any religion.
• Chinese (all dialects combined) is the third largest mother tongue in Canada, after English and French.
• In 2001, 56% of adults of Chinese origin were married, while just 2% lived common-law.
• At the same time, only 5% of adults in the Chinese community live alone, compared to 13% of all adult Canadians.
• 31% of men and 24% of women of Chinese origin have a university degree.
• 8.4% of Chinese labour force participants were unemployed in 2001.
• The average income of Canadians of Chinese origin was $5,000 lower than the national average of $30,000 in 2000.
• 27% of children of Chinese origin live in families with incomes below the low-income cut-offs.
• The majority (74%) of senior women of Chinese origin who live alone have incomes that fall below the low-income cut-offs.

See also:
Chinese Canadian population over 1 million; few have religion
Tags: chinese canadian, population, canada, chinese, census

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Photo of the day - Diver

Australia's Melissa Wu in action during the final of the women's 10-meter platform diving event at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, March 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

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China and strong global economy boost Canadian trade, WTO says

CP - China's increasing role in world trade and a generally strong global economy have helped boost Canada's share of international trade and create more jobs, says a report by the World Trade Organization.

The trade group report, made public Wednesday, said the integration of Asia, especially China, into the world economy helped boost prices for everything from metals and oil and gas to coal and other resources - which benefited Canada's economy, especially in the West.

The rising commodity prices also pushed up the exchange rate of the Canadian dollar and improved Canada's "terms of trade" - the ratio of export to import prices, the WTO said.

The report did not break any new ground but looked at the impact of global trade on the economy in recent years.

Canadian exports have risen sharply for years, especially to the United States, this country's biggest export market. However, soaring demand from China and other parts of Asia such as Japan has led to a boom in shipments of potash, petrochemicals, sulphur, wheat, lumber and coal.

Chinese companies have also eyed Alberta's growing oilsands sector. For example, a unit of Sinopec owns 40% of the Northern Lights partnership developing an oilsands project in northern Alberta.

The project's operator, with 60%, is Synenco Energy Inc. (TSX:SYN) of Calgary.

As a result of robust trade, the WTO report said a net total of 227,600 new jobs in Canada were created in 2005, and another 283,200 jobs in the first 11 months of 2006. About one in five of the positions, mostly full-time jobs, were related to global trade.

Meanwhile, the report said Canada is facing more intense global competition as the dollar rises and companies seek to locate to lower-wage countries to reduce costs.

Domestic spending has accelerated for several years, while real GDP has averaged 2.7% annually since 2002, the WTO said. Economic growth should range between 2.5% and three% over the next two years.

In the first three quarters of 2006, exports of goods and services climbed from the same period a year earlier, though imports into Canada have risen by more. That appears to reflect the country's robust economy.

Canada ranks as the ninth-largest exporter, with exports equal to 38% of its economy. It's also the tenth-largest importer in the world.

Tags: WTO, canada, china, trade, exports, imports

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BC's gasoline taxes helping out Quebec, Falcon says

I find the whole drama of Gordon Campbell's rebuking of the Tories very amusing. :)

Vancouver Sun - Gas taxes paid by British Columbians are helping Quebec reap a $10-billion windfall, B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said Tuesday.

Falcon continued B.C.'s attack on the federal budget, launched by provincial Revenue Minister Rick Thorpe and others -- a position vigorously rejected by Ottawa.

"Not at all," Prime Minister Stephen Harper retaliated Tuesday when asked if the budget short-changes the province. "It's a great deal and it's what British Columbia's been asking for.

"It's a large infusion to the Pacific Gateway."

That wasn't good enough for combative B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon Tuesday, who picked up Thorpe's theme from Monday that the budget is a sop to Quebec.

More than $1 billion a year in gas taxes flow from B.C. to Ottawa, "and we see only about 38 per cent of that coming back," Falcon said in an interview.

"We see Quebec receiving an additional $10 billion over the next seven years, and we're very frustrated that essentially our gas tax revenues are going to fund Cadillac programs in Quebec. This is very frustrating for the province."

Falcon didn't identify the so-called Cadillac programs, but critics have questioned why Canadian taxpayers should help the Quebec government subsidize $7-a-day childcare and rock-bottom university tuition rates unavailable in other provinces.

Victoria's uncharacteristic budget blast is one of the rare times Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberals have openly criticized Harper's Conservatives since Campbell came to power and pledged to abandon the province's decades-long tradition of fed-bashing.

The scrap broke out Monday immediately after release of the federal budget, with Thorpe echoing complaints from federal opposition MPs that the budget appeared to focus too much on helping Quebec Premier Jean Charest get re-elected next week. The budget is also supported by the Bloc Quebecois, which will give the government enough votes to pass it in the Commons and avoid a spring election.

Falcon also had questions about other budget programs that appear to provide more money for B.C., at least on paper.

A $410-million boost in funding for Ottawa's Asia-Pacific Gateway program will be spread over seven years, Falcon noted, and it's not clear whether all or any of it will be spent in British Columbia, "or whether they're going to try and spread those dollars around Western Canada."

He also wanted to know when the money will start flowing. B.C. hasn't yet seen "dollar one" of new transportation money promised in last year's federal budget, let alone this year's he said.

In response to the criticism Harper noted Ottawa's $1-billion pledge for the Pacific Gateway infrastructure initiative over two budgets and a 2006 commitment to fund programs to fight the pine beetle infestation. Trade Minister David Emerson also told The Vancouver Sun that B.C. could secure up to $4.4 billion over seven years from Ottawa for Gateway and other infrastructure dollars.

The most controversial element of the federal budget is a big boost in equalization payments for Quebec of around $1.5 billion a year.

Emerson said British Columbians know their province is a "powerhouse" within Canada and shouldn't be worried about billions in new equalization dollars going to Quebec and the have-not provinces.

See also:
BC trails behind major provinces in federal new money
Should BC stand up to the Harperites from now on?

Tags: stephen harper, conservatives, federal budget 2007, BC, gordon campbell, BC Liberals, BC NDP, rick thorpe, jim flaherty, finance minister

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MacKay covers for Japan

Foreign minister Peter MacKay has finally spoken about the Tory government's official stand on Japan's denial of comfort women coercion. However, by just parroting the Japanese line of defense and no mention of fighting for human rights, MacKay was criticized for being weak and not daring to challenge Japan.

Tory MP Nina Grewal and MacKay acted out a self-asking, self-answering play in the house yesterday.

Grewal asked: "Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs say what action he has taken to express his concerns to Japan over Prime Minster Abe's statements that he saw no evidence that 'coercion' was used by Japanese military authorities to force so-called comfort women into servitude in military brothels?"

Here was MacKay said:

Canada has enormous sympathy for the "comfort women" who endured great suffering during WWII. The abuse of the "comfort women" is a deplorable story. These wrongs should not be forgotten.

Canada understands that Japan will stand by the 1993 apology made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono, which "acknowledges the involvement of the military authorities of the day".

Today I had the opportunity to speak with Foreign Minister Aso and present Canada’s views and seek clarification on the issue of the apology to those women known as comfort women.

He reconfirmed that that the Government of Japan will stand by the 1993 apology made by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono, where Japan "acknowledges the involvement of the military authorities of the day".

It also "extends its sincere apologies and remorse to all those, irrespective of place of origin, who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."

On the other hand, NDP MP Olivia Chow, who has tabled a motion to demand Ottawa to condemn the Japanese government's denial, said the Tories were playing politics and tried to bar her effort to get maximum support for her motion.

Chow said Kono and Aso are only cabinet ministers. But this time it was their boss, the Japanese prime minister, who had openly denied the war crimes.

"How could the world believe the Japanese government that they wouldn't change their position again?"

Chow has written another letter to all of her colleague MPs yesterday, soliciting their support for her motion. She had indicated that she'd hope to have the motion passed unanimously. Her motion is now in order for discussion in the house.

Chow said she would seek any chance to raise the issue in the house again this week.

Here's Chow's letter:

March 20, 2007.
Dear colleagues,

We are writing to ask for your support for a motion that has been placed on the order paper: “That, in the opinion of the House, the government should urge the Prime Minister and the Parliament of Japan to: (a) pass a resolution in the Diet to formally apologize to the women who were coerced into military sexual slavery during the Second World War and were euphemized as "comfort women" by the Japanese Imperial Army; and (b) to provide just and honorable compensation to these victims.”

Recently, the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has been denying the Japanese Army’s wartime crimes against female sex slaves in World War II. He claimed there was no proof that Asian women were forced into Japanese military brothels during the war.

The historic record is absolutely clear as there is exhaustive evidence that over 200,000 women from Korea, China, Taiwan and the Philippines were forced to act as ‘comfort ladies’. The Japanese government had previously acknowledged these war crimes, although no formal apology or redress has been received.

Crimes against women such as sexual abuse are a terrible consequence of war and must be seen and treated as crimes against humanity. This abuse was a horrific example of both the degradation of women and the degradation of other cultures.

Canada must take a stand and condemn the acts themselves as well as the current
leadership of Japan for their denial and belittlement of the acts. Canada acted last year to right the historic wrong of the Chinese Head tax. Canada has a responsibility to urge Japan – a major ally and trading partner – to officially and formally apologize in its Parliament for these war crimes, and offer at least symbolic compensation to the women who were forced into sex slavery.

Let us use our influence in the world to right the historic wrong done to Asian women in the last war. Your support to this motion would be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,
Olivia Chow
Dawn Black

See also:
Chinese Canadians should target Japan, not my government: Harper
Canada quick to defend Abe's war crimes denial
Japan's uncomfortable history
Communities, MPs demand Ottawa to condemn Japan's war crime denial
Chinese-Canadians ask Ottawa to denounce Abe's comments
Olivia Chow calls on Canada to rebuke Japan PM's sex slave denial
Abe's Violent Denial: Japan's Prime Minister and the 'Comfort Women'
Raymond Chan blasts Abe for denying comfort women
Abe says no apology on comfort women even pressed by US congress
Comfort women denial aims to show independence from U.S.
China demands Japan to face up to wartime sex crimes
Japan's amnesia
Japan PM now says 'comfort women' not coerced

Tags: japan, war, canada, war denial, asian holocaust, comfort women, wwii, atrocities, human rights, history

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Cheque finally ready for Mrs Der; PM, Kenney to apologize to family

Following the death of the oldest surviving head tax spouse Mrs Quon Chung Shee Der (謝關仲樹), who was regretful for not being able to see the head tax refund cheque the minute before she died, the federal government now says her cheque has been approved and will be mailed to her family before her funeral.

Patrick Wong, a former BC Liberal MLA who is now seeking Tory nomination in Richmond, claimed he was touched by Mrs Der's story and had persuaded PM Stephen Harper and minister of state for multiculturalism Jason Kenney to write an apology letter to Mrs Der's family for the delay of the cheque.

At first, Mrs Der's friends and family thought the cheque would not arrive for another while and asked Heritage Canada to issue a fake compensation cheque to be buried with Mrs Der. They knew Mrs Der would want to carry the cheque to meeting her husband in heaven, who paid the head tax.

A source with the government said Mrs Der's cheque has been approved for some time. It was only waiting to be signed. The bureaucratic red tape was the main reason for the delay. Bureaucrats have been debating whether "conjugal partners" should be compensated.

However, formal marriage registration wasn't the norm during the 1900s among the Chinese. But the bureaucrats were insisting on the technical debate.

Critics have been saying that it took much longer for the head tax spouses than the payers to get the compensation cheques.

Heritage Canada yesterday said processing of the first batch of head tax spouses' applications is now complete and cheques will be mailed out in a short while.

Tags: head tax, Mrs Quon Chung Shee Der, 謝關仲樹, head tax redress, compensation, chinese exclusion act, discrimination, racism, history

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Nationalism can’t erase Japan’s crimes

(caption: A South Korean protester shouts a slogan during an anti-Japanese rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 21, 2007. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe triggered outrage across Asia earlier this month by saying there was no proof the women, including some Australians, were coerced into prostitution. He later said Japan will not apologize again for the military's "comfort stations." AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)

But nationalism is a sickness, and it short-circuits their otherwise laudable sense of propriety.

Political Mavens - Give the Nazis credit.When they went back to being Germans after World War II, they at least managed to fess up to their heinous crimes, eventually. Apologies were made, reparations scattered about, and while I will leave it up to you to decide how thorough a job they did, and to what degree it mitigates the stain on their collective national soul, they certainly faced their past with a degree of candor.

Not so the Japanese, who during the war ground out atrocities as if trying to keep up with the Germans. From awful medical experimentation, to horrific treatment of prisoners to the enslavement of young women in their military brothels, the denial of which by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has caused outrage, not only across Asia, but in the United States as well. Abe worsened the mess by announcing his government would open an investigation into the already fully explored record.

Unlike Germany, there was no national reckoning in Japan, no soul-searching, but rather a tendency to claim the role of victims themselves — we saw an example of this printed, unfortunately, in this newspaper a few days ago. Many leaders there prefer to focus on the measures taken to defeat them — the fire-bombing of Tokyo — rather than the crimes and aggression that demanded their defeat.

You’d think a culture with such a refined sense of shame — no executive can lose his job in Japan, it seems, without touching his forehead to the ground and grovelling in apology — would have no trouble facing up to a 60-year-old legacy of infamy that half the world has already forgotten.

But nationalism is a sickness, and it short-circuits their otherwise laudable sense of propriety.

And nationalism is on the rise in Japan, leading to this latest example of willful blindness, and reminding the world how important it is to demand that they get it right.

Japan might have scrubbed its textbooks of its crimes — not that they were ever there in the first place. But the world has not forgotten Japan’s past, and does not want to be condemned to repeat it. Once is enough.

By Neil Steinberg, a columnist for the Chicago Sun Times.

Tags: japan, nazi, war, wwii, denial, war crimes, sex slaves, history

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Nanjing Massacre, Yasukuni Shrine included in history talks

Reuters - Japanese and Chinese historians agreed on Tuesday to take up some of the thorniest disputes in joint studies of their war-torn history, including the Nanjing Massacre and Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine.

The historians, 10 from each side, reached the agreement after two days of talks in Tokyo, part of the two countries' efforts to improve ties often strained by disputes over the past.

"We want to avoid the studies ending up with both sides just expressing their views, so we agreed on the need to look into some common issues," said Shinichi Kitaoka, a professor at the University of Tokyo who heads the Japanese group.

He told a news conference that the two sides also agreed their studies would look into how history is viewed and taught in each country.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre and the Marco Polo Bridge incident that led to full-scale war between Japan and China.

Some Japanese historians say the 1937 massacre in Nanjing has been exaggerated, but China says the barbarity of the event is a fact and puts the death toll at 300,000. An Allied tribunal after World War Two estimated that around 142,000 were killed.

Sino-Japanese relations were icy for much of the past half-decade, largely because of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to the Tokyo Yasukuni shrine to war dead, which is seen by Beijing as a symbol of Japan's past militarism as it also honours some convicted war criminals.

Koizumi's successor, Shinzo Abe, has tried to mend fences, visiting China in October just weeks after he took office and agreeing to the joint history study.

While Abe has more recently triggered a diplomatic furore with his remarks about wartime brothels run by the Japanese military, the issue was not among those the two sides agreed to specifically take up, Kitaoka said.

Abe said there is no proof that Japan's government or army forced women, mostly Asian, to serve Japanese soldiers in the brothels during World War Two.

With Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao set to visit Japan next month, Abe has sought to quell the uproar by repeating that a 1993 Japanese apology to the "comfort women" -- as they are known in Japan -- stood, and expressing sympathy for their suffering.

China has urged Japan to face up to its past, but has been restrained in its reaction to Abe's remarks.

The historians, who held their first meeting late last year, plan to meet twice a year and aim to come up with a report in June of 2008.

In addition to the contentious area of modern history, when Japan invaded and occupied parts of China from 1931 to 1945, the studies will also take up ancient and medieval history.

Tags: japan, wwii, war, war crimes, china, history, atrocities, nanjing massacre, nanking massacre, rape of nanking, yasukuni shrine

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BC trails behind major provinces in federal new money

Global TV did some number crunching with the federal budget 2007. This is the comparison of the amount of new money each province gets per capita over the next 2 years:

BC	$163/person
Ontario	$185/person
Alberta	$265/person
Quebec	$446/person

Tags: canada, federal budget 2007, conservatives, jim flaherty

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Tories' new immgration strategy might mean fewer Asian immigrants in future

In the federal budget 2007, the Tories vow to invest $67.3m in new money to help Canada getting the right immigrants. By looking closely at the figures and the potential immigrants targetted by the Tories, one cannot help to have a suspicion that the Tories are subtly moving away from Asia as the main source of immigrants but are aiming to get those from North America, Europe and Australia.

The major change in the Tory strategy in getting "immigrants Canada need" is to allow inland application for immigration from foreign students and work permit holders.

To ensure that Canada retains the best and brightest with the talents, skills and knowledge to meet rapidly evolving labour market demands, the Government will introduce a new avenue to immigration by permitting, under certain conditions, foreign students with a Canadian credential and skilled work experience, and skilled temporary foreign workers who are already in Canada, to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country. Recent international graduates from Canadian post-secondary institutions with experience and temporary foreign workers with significant skilled work experience have shown that they can succeed in Canada, that they have overcome many of the traditional barriers to integration, and that they have formed attachments to their communities and jobs.

This is definitely the right direction for the country. It's for the good of the country. The government expects to get 25,000 applications a year from these people, which means more than 10% of the total number of immigrants Canada gets annually. (Canada's annual intake of immigrants is about 210,000 to 230,000)

However, if we look at the figures and the mix of work permit holders and foreign students currently attracted to Canada, this measures might tell us something else.

Annual Flow of Foreign Workers by Top Source Countries
	2003	2004	2005
USA	16,306	16,207	16,332
Mexico	11,301	11,494	12,610
France	4,998	6,547	7,582
UK	6,162	7,554	7,263
Australia	5,902	7,177	7,048
Jamaica	5,930	5,935	6,138
Philippines	4,943	5,726	6,028
Japan	5,410	5,434	5,883
India	2,713	3,015	3,273
Germany	1,929	2,366	2,602
Trinidad	1,634	1,658	1,598
China	1,756	1,445	1,296

As shown in this table, the top five source countries of foreign workers are the United States, Mexico, France, the UK and Australia. These countries make up of over 50,000 workers in 2005.

China and India, which are currently the two largest source countries of all immigrants to Canada, only contributed 1,296 and 3,273 foreign workers in 2005, respectively.

Immigration lawyer Lawrence Wong explains that foreign workers are usually people from those countries that travel visas aren't required by Canada. As such, these people can come to Canada at any time, find a job and apply for a work visa.

It's very difficult for people from countries like China, however, which does not have such an arrangement with Canada, to get travel visas in the first place, not to say work visas. Even if they can finally get a work visa, few employers would have the patience to wait so long.

In other words, the new measures announced in the budget yesterday is intrinsically more favourable to western countries than Asian countries.

Then what about foreign students?

Annual Flow of Foreign Students by Top Source Countries
	2003	2004	2005
S. Korea	12,881	12,275	12,505
China	9,068	6,783	6,996
Japan	5,262	5,031	4,648
USA	3,782	3,879	3,743
France	3,300	3,469	3,563
Mexico	2,064	2,083	2,281
India	1,819	1,276	1,907
Germany	1,595	1,739	1,851
Taiwan	1,512	1,744	1,703
UK	1,043	1,210	1,278
Hong Kong	1,209	1,100	947
Brazil	592	738	878
Colombia	308	205	309

This table indicates that although China ranks second in the number of students sent to Canada a year, the number is only as high as about 7,000 in 2005. For India, the number is even lower at less than 2000. Even if all Asian students from the table's top source countries apply for immigration, the total number would still only be about 16,000, which only matches the number of American workers in the same year.

As Wong points out, if priority was given to process inland applications filed by foreign workers and foreign students, then the backlog for overseas cases (which currently stands at about 800,000) would continue to build.

Over time, immigrants from Asia will eventually give way to immigrants from the US, Europe and Australia. These countries are coincidentally considered to be "best friends" of Stephen Harper.

The other plan outlined in the budget is the creation of the foreign credential referral office, which will be located at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The new Office will provide prospective immigrants overseas and newcomers already in Canada with information about the Canadian labour market and credential assessment and recognition requirements. As well, it will provide immigrants with path-finding and referral services to identify and connect with the appropriate assessment bodies. The services provided by the Office will complement the programs and services currently provided by provincial governments and by provincial credential assessment agencies. With an investment of $6.4 million per year in support of its ongoing operation, the new Office is expected to be fully operational by late spring of 2007.

Budget 2007 also proposes a series of improvements to the temporary foreign worker program designed to reduce processing delays and more effectively respond to regional labour and skill shortages.

New measures such as expanding the online application system, maintaining lists of occupations where there are known shortages of workers, and processing work permits more rapidly will ensure that the process of hiring skilled foreign workers for not only large, but also small and medium-sized enterprises, is easier, faster and less costly for employers. Budget 2007 provides $50.5 million over the next two years to support these improvements.

Tags: canada, federal budget 2007, immigration, foreign workers, foreign students, work permit, conservatives, jim flaherty

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Should BC stand up to the Harperites from now on?

BC premier Gordon Campbell must have been caught off-guard by the federal budget announced today, at least to an extent that wasn't expected. The federal Tories that BC Liberals have been cozying with didn't even include "BC" in their version of the map of Canada. How ironic.

The BC Liberals have all the reason to get upset. Western alienation is alive and well, again (if it has ever gone away a bit). According to the new formula of the Conservatives' fiscal (im)balance payment, BC, which used to get $500m last year, will only get $260m federal transfer this year. And next year? It will be ZERO.

The Tories include property value in their new formula of transfer payment. Every one knows that BC has the hottest property market in the country and our homes are the most expensive. In Jan 2007, the average property prices in Vancouver is $778,339, with Victoria being the second at $709,934. Toronto's at $541,964, Montreal's at $304,332.

Perhaps BC's NDP is right this time - that the strategy of the BC Liberals in dealing with the Tories was wrong. BCers are a laid-back people. We are lazy and we are easily contented. But as one Chinese says: "Those who are nice are those who are bullied." Perhaps we might have been too tame with the Harper Conservatives.

Harper's Tory budget more about votes in Central Canada than helping B.C.

CP - B.C. Revenue Minister Rick Thorpe said Monday's federal budget appears to be designed to court votes in Quebec and Central Canada rather than support British Columbia's national Gateway project.

British Columbia gets $400 million over seven years to fund the Pacific Gateway project, which has been described as a national attempt to make Canada's West Coast the gateway to huge trade markets in Asia, especially China.

Thorpe said while British Columbia gets $400 million to build a project comparable to the St. Lawrence Seaway during the 1950s, Quebec will receive $1.6 billion in transfer payments in one year.

"This budget does not serve British Columbians well," said Thorpe. "Yes, they have increased funding by $400 million over seven years (for the Gateway project), but at the same time Quebec has got $1.6 billion in one year in transfer payments."

"This is more about politics in Quebec and Central Canada than it is about strategic importance for British Columbia and Canada," he said.

Premier Gordon Campbell told B.C. roadbuilders last November during a luncheon speech in Victoria he wishes he could pry $6 billion from Ottawa to support the Gateway project.

Thorpe also said the budget doesn't provide relief for B.C.'s pine beetle epidemic and adding insult to injury, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget speech doesn't even mention the West Coast as part of Canada.

Flaherty described Canada as spreading from the majestic Rocky Mountains to the wild east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"If you look at the minister's speech on page 8 it talks about the majestic of our country from the peaks of the Rockies to Newfoundland and Labrador," said Thorpe.

"British Columbia actually does go to the Pacific Ocean."

But Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said there's nothing wrong with Ontarian Flaherty's grasp of geography.

"B.C. landed clearly on the map this budget," Day, MP for the southern B.C. riding of Okanagan Coquihalla, said from Ottawa.

Day rattled off several B.C. benefits, including $4.4 billion in health and social transfers, $242 million more for infrastructure, $60 million for B.C. farmers and $30 million to protect the so-called Great Bear rainforest.

"Everywhere you turn there are significant increases for individual British Columbians, for families and for the province as a whole," he said.

Day also rejected the accusation the Tory government is pandering to Quebec, saying is program to deal with the fiscal imbalance ensures well-off provinces with growing populations won't be short-changed.

While the tax cuts for families with children are helpful, the Tories could have used the budget surplus to offer an across-the-board tax cut to all Canadians, Thorpe said.

The federal government also could have contributed more money towards closing the social and economic gaps between aboriginals and non-aboriginal Canadians, he said.

"We think there could have been a lot more action in that area. The government has chosen not to move there at this point in time."

The Opposition B.C. New Democrats suggested the lack of British Columbia goodies in the budget points to a failed political strategy by Campbell's Liberals when it comes to dealing with the Harper Conservatives.

"Quiet diplomacy, it hasn't worked," said Bruce Ralston, the New Democrat's finance critic.

"Campbell has to seriously examine why the approach he is taking isn't working."

The B.C. government suffered a child-care funding cut from the Tories earlier and now doesn't have enough for its Gateway project or the pine beetle epidemic, Ralston said.

Day noted the government's last budget included a 10-year, $100-million annual commitment to fight the pine beetle.

"If we feel that that's not going to be enough as we go year to year, then we will obviously aggressively petition for more," he said.

Tags: stephen harper, conservatives, federal budget 2007, BC, gordon campbell, BC Liberals, BC NDP, rick thorpe, jim flaherty, finance minister

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Head tax payer's spouse dies with regret

An icon in the fight for redressing the head tax, Mrs Quon Chung Shee Der (謝關仲樹), died at the age of 102 with the regret that the final compensation cheque didn't reach her in time.

"My colleagues and I will always remember Mrs. Der climbing up two flights of stairs to attend a community meeting held on November 20, 2005. It was at this pivotal community meeting that head tax families decided to mobilize the community to protest the former Liberal Government's efforts to impose the ill-fated Agreement-in-Principle. Mrs. Der stirred all of us with her simple question: "When will the Government give me back my husband's head tax money? She became an instant media star on that day," said CCNC's national chair Sid Chow Tan.

Cynthia Lee was Mrs Der's friend who helped her fill out the redress application form last year when Heritage Canada announced head tax payers' spouses could apply for compensation. Mrs Der's husband paid the head tax. To her, getting the tax refund was all about having justice done.

Ever since, Mrs Der kept asking if her application had been approved. Lee said Mrs Der had been in anxiety for the last few months. Her health deteriorated rapidly at the same time. She broke her arm and was admitted to a long term care facility towards the end of last year.

Lee questioned why the government needed so long to process applications filed by head tax payers' spouses. It only took one month for the payers themselves to get the checque. However, spouses have waited for over four months and so far none have got the compensation yet.

Tan said Mrs Der was one feisty and tenacious advocate for redress of the Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act. "We will miss her greatly."

Last year when PM Stephen Harper met with head tax survivors in Vancouver's Chinatown, Mrs Der sat beside Harper, so did another head tax payer Charlie Quan (關祥國) of 99 years old.

Quan became the country's first head tax payer compensated last October.

"Mrs. Der made an effort to involve herself in the redress campaign. There she was on May 25, 2006 sitting beside Prime Minister Harper when he visited with our seniors to discuss the redress issue. The Prime Minister and Hon. Jason Kenney pledged that she and others would not have to wait too long for redress. However, while Mrs. Der did submit her redress application in early December 2006, unfortunately, she was unable to hang on any longer and passed away last Friday," Tan said in a statement.

Tan blasts the Tory government for having lost the opportunity to complete the redress apology with Mrs. Der and about a dozen others who have now passed away since June 22, 2006.

A very sad story.
Tags: head tax, head tax payers' spouse, charlie quan, Quon Chung Shee Der, redress, discrimination, history, chinese exclusion act

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Oldest head tax payer passes away

Chinese head tax survivor Ralph Lung Kee Lee, wearing a patriotic Canadian baseball cap, looks on as Prime Minister Stephen signs an official apology for the tax at a ceremony in Ottawa on June 22, 2006. Lee passed away at his residence in Pickering, Ont., on March 15 at the age of 107. He was the oldest remaining member of the Chinese-Canadian community to have paid the controversial tax. Lee was able to get his compensation cheque 5 days before he died. (CP PHOTO ARCHIVE/Tom Hanson)

Tags: canada, head tax, discrimination, racism, chinese exclusion act

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Poll: Candies for Quebec have little impact on Harper's image among Quebecors

SES press release - As you know, many of the main details of the federal budget have already been in the public domain. Last Wednesday and Thursday, SES surveyed 500 Quebecers on the image impact on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Jean Charest.

The polling shows that Harper's open federalism, new money for Quebec's environmental plan and expected new equalization transfers for the province do not have a major positive impact on his image among Quebec voters. Indeed, Quebecers are more likely to look less favourably on the Prime Minister. The research does show that for Charest the budget will be good at firming up individuals who most closely personally associate with the Liberal Party of Quebec.

My sense is that for the federal Conservatives the budget strategy has a number of layers. First, the timing and likely budget configuration increases the likelihood for it to pass and thus further sustains the Harper government. Second, the federal Conservatives can wait and see what bump..if any...materializes from the budget.

For Charest, beyond Liberals, the traction of the budget and open federalism at this time is weak. This could be a result of the view that a number of Quebecers see the budget as a potential federal intervention in provincial politics.

You can share your views, rate the opinions of others, and ask me questions about this poll or any other issue on my blog at www.nikonthenumbers.com.


Methodology

Polling on March 14th and 15th, 2007, after the leaders' debate. Random Telephone Survey of 500 Quebecers, 18 years of age and older. Accurate 4.4%, 19 times out of 20.

Impact on Harper and Charest

Question - As you know, Prime Minister Stephen Harper supports the concept of “open federalism”. The Harper government has announced $350 million to support Quebec’s environmental plan. Likewise, there is expected to be additional new equalization transfers from the government of Canada to the province of Quebec in the federal budget.

As a result are you likely to view Stephen Harper more favourably, about the same or less favourably?

All Quebecers (N=500)
More favourably - 27.0%
About the same - 33.5%
Less favourably - 36.6%
Unsure - 2.9%

As a result are you likely to view Jean Charest more favourably, about the same or less favourably?

All Quebecers (N=500)
More favourably - 20.9%
About the same - 38.0%
Less favourably - 37.8%
Unsure - 3.2%

Associate with Provincial Liberals (N=129)
More favourably - 48.0%
About the same - 29.8%
Less favourably - 18.9%
Unsure - 3.3%

Tags: canada, quebec, election, budget, tories, poll

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64% Canadians say federal budget won't affect how they vote

Ipsos Reid press release – The latest CanWest /Global News survey conducted by Ipsos Reid indicates that almost one third (31%) of Canadians plan to follow the outcome of Monday’s second Federal Budget delivered by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty closely as it may convince them to vote for the Conservative Party in the next election. A total of 64% of Canadians say the budget won’t affect them.

What’s at stake with this budget politically?

Lots: if one third of decided Liberal voters (33%) and three in ten Green Party voters (28%), and to a lesser extent NDP voters (23%) and Bloc voters (15%), decide to vote for the Tories because of what’s in the budget, the Harper Conservatives would be well into majority territory come election time.

This is the key finding of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest News Service/Global News and fielded from March 13-15, 2007. For this survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the aggregate results are considered accurate to within ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within each sub-grouping of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

On balance, more Canadians expect to see good news (32%) than bad (17%) for themselves and their family coming in Monday’s budget (48% said “neither”).

As for what they expect for several interest groups or areas of interest it certainly varies. Among the groups tested, most Canadians expect that the new budget will bring good news to the armed forces (57%) and to corporations (54%). Over two in five expect the new budget will bring good news with respect to the environment and global warming (46%), however, one in four (25%) see bad news for the environment coming from the budget.

Among decided voters, Conservatives are most likely to see good news coming from the budget for the armed forces (67%) and the environment (62%). Decided Liberal voters, meanwhile, are most likely to see good news in the budget for corporations (62%) as well as the armed forces (57%), but less so the environment (44%). Likewise, decided NDP voters see good news for corporations (66%) and the armed forces (56%) from the budget, but much less so for the environment (44%).

Tags: canada, politics, election, budget

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If it spends like a Liberal, it must be a vote-seeking Tory

Apart from the Sun's observation, the difference between the Tories and the Liberals lie in the areas of foreign policy and social agenda. To me, Harper's anti-China policy and sleeping-with-the-US policy are most prominently distasteful.

If the Conservatives talk like the Liberals, spend like the Liberals, revive programs introduced by the Liberals and hold the same views about the role of government as the Liberals, why should Canadians vote for them instead of the Liberals?

Vancouver Sun Editorial, Monday, March 19, 2007

If Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent cross-country spending spree is a preview of today's federal budget, no one need worry about distributing the surplus.

His announcements over the last few weeks of $1.5 billion for Toronto traffic and transit, $225 million for conservation groups to combat urban sprawl, $1.5 billion for provinces to cope with climate change and $1 billion in funding for farmers, coupled with previously declared commitments to deal with the fiscal imbalance and to reduce the tax burden, would seem to leave little fiscal wiggle room for Ottawa to do much of anything else.

The generosity and frequency of handouts brings to mind the pre-election grease-the-palm program the spendthrift Liberals launched in the days before they suffered defeat at the polls. Their ignominious exit from office was supposed to usher in a new era of financial discipline and investment-friendly policies. Instead, the Conservative government has been increasing spending at a rate of roughly 4.75% a year, greater than the rate of inflation, which is running below 2%, and far above population growth of just over 1%, according to census data released last week.

The pace of spending is also faster than the rate of the growth of the Canadian economy. Meanwhile, the cumulative growth in Canadians' incomes over the last 15 years has been a paltry 3.5%.

Government spending needs to be contained. Rather than looking for new spending opportunities, the government should be reviewing expenditures to focus on matters of high priority and to ensure taxpayers receive value for their money.

The Conservatives could not have sent a clearer signal that a spring election is in the works than bribing voters with their own money. But using the same vote-buying methods that failed so spectacularly for the Liberals last time around would seem an ill-considered plan.

If the Conservatives talk like the Liberals, spend like the Liberals, revive programs introduced by the Liberals and hold the same views about the role of government as the Liberals, why should Canadians vote for them instead of the Liberals?

A Conservative government by nature should be less intrusive and more frugal than a Liberal one, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell them apart. In fact, Canada's financial affairs were put in good order by the Liberals led by Jean Chretien, a record besmirched by an orgy of spending in the government's death throes under Paul Martin. Eliminating the deficit was the Liberal government's greatest achievement. That is the model of behaviour a Conservative government should emulate.

Tags: tories, liberals, canada, politics, stephen harper, election, spending

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Wen's Japan visit cut short in response to Abe's sex slave denial

REUTERS - Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Japan has been shortened in response to Tokyo's saying there was no proof that women who worked in wartime brothels were coerced, Yonhap news agency said yesterday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked outrage overseas when he said earlier this month there was no evidence that Japan's government or army had forcibly brought women, many of them Korean, to serve Japanese soldiers in the brothels.

Abe has made a priority of repairing bilateral ties with China, which were strained by his predecessor's repeated visits to a Tokyo shrine to war dead, and visited China for a summit soon after taking office last year.

No dates have been officially announced for Wen's trip, the first such visit since 2000, but Japanese media have said he may arrive on April 11.

A Chinese source quoted by Yonhap in Beijing said that the visit had been shortened to three days from five in response to Abe's comments. Japanese media has also said the trip would be shortened, but did not give a reason.

According to Jiji news agency, Wen will meet Abe on April 11 and give a speech to parliament on April 12, becoming the first Chinese leader to do so.

Slashed from the agenda by the shortened trip was a planned TV appearance during which Wen would have had direct dialogue with Japanese citizens, as predecessor Zhu Rongji did in 2000, Jiji added.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said Wen's trip was still being planned and he did not know the details.

Abe has sought to dampen the furore by repeating that a 1993 apology stood and expressing sympathy for the suffering of the "comfort women," as they are known in Japan, but on Friday the US ambassador to Japan said he believed women were forced to act as sex slaves for soldiers during World War Two.

Abe said on Friday that a 14-year-old government study had found no evidence that the government or military had kidnapped women to serve in the brothels.

South Korea criticised the statement, which a South Korean Foreign Ministry official termed "regrettable."

"He will n