Hidden Harmonies China Blog

As China Re-Awakens, Finding New Harmonies in a Brave New World...

Japan recalls ambassador to Russia over Medvedev trip to disputed islands

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The latest news in Japan is Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara recalling ambassador to Russia over Russian President Medvedev's recent trip to some disputed island between the two countries. The disputed islands are near the most northern tip of Japan. (Coverages from: Japan Times, China Daily, and Russia Today.) Map to the left with the 'A' flag is one of the islands under … [Read more...] about Japan recalls ambassador to Russia over Medvedev trip to disputed islands

Rare Earth Rebalancing

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Peter Lee recently penned an interesting article in the Asia Times.  There has been a lot of posturing and false reports about China's use of rare earth ban as political leverage against Japan - and maybe even against the U.S. and the E.U. Despite the hot air, none of these reports have been substantiated and most are probably media reports (i.e. propaganda) planted by … [Read more...] about Rare Earth Rebalancing

A Japanese view of the U.S. national debt

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Today, I am writing this post from Japan. I had a chance to speak with a Japanese colleague about the general financial crisis in the developed world, particularly as relates to Japan and the U.S.. In this post I simply would like to share that conversation. It started out with him telling me the Japanese government is trying to take austerity measures to address the … [Read more...] about A Japanese view of the U.S. national debt