links for 2007-11-22

Japan plans to pledge 1.8 billion dollars worth of low-interest loans to Asian countries to help them combat environmental pollution at a summit next week in Singapore, reports said Friday.

The directive, issued in June, called for burdensome new safety inspections for foreign-made medical devices — but not for those made in China. The Bush administration is crying foul.

The already strained diplomatic relations between China and Germany worsened sharply on Thursday when German finance minister Peer Steinbrück was forced to cancel a visit to Beijing because his Chinese counterpart refused to meet him.

Congress should pass legislation giving US companies a new tool to fight China’s “currency manipulation” and also put pressure on the White House to take action at the World Trade Organisation, a congressional watchdog panel said on Thursday .

China’s commerce ministry warned on Thursday that a slowing US economy would trigger a drop in Chinese exports that would mark a “turning point” for China’s rapid economic growth.

Students in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan significantly outperform American students on math and science tests, according to a new study from a U.S. nonprofit organization.

A human rights activist lamented on Thursday that no one from the Japanese government would meet the Dalai Lama during his nine-day visit to the country centred on Buddhist events.

Recently some foreign correspondents have been detained, harassed and physically roughed up — two incidents Tuesday alone.

The United States and China are working on a pact to promote use of ethanol and other biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and could announce an agreement as early as next month, an American official said Friday.

A Chinese naval ship left Wednesday for a port call to Japan for the first time since World War II in a further sign of easing in the Asian neighbors’ often tense relations.

Japan and China on Tuesday announced their first cabinet-level forum on closer business co-operation, highlighting the warmer political ties between Asia’s two largest economies after years of strain.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attended the third East Asia Summit (EAS) which opened here Wednesday.

The award marks the second straight year an imprisoned Chinese journalist has won the Golden Pen of Freedom

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on Tuesday to deny proposed duties on imports of glossy paper from China in a case that had prompted the U.S. Commerce Department to change a decades-old policy.

Yasuo Fukuda, making his Asian diplomacy debut after taking office in September, held his first summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and also had lunch with the Chinese leader on the sidelines of an Asian leaders’ meeting in Singapore.

JAPANESE Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao agreed to work together to improve bilateral ties at their first one-on-one meeting.

The workers carried out a half-day nationwide walkout in response to a proposal to reduce their benefits.

Climate change dominated the agenda at the one-day East Asia Summit, which included the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Hundreds of relatives of crew members of the Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with them.