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Tokyo
makes overtures to China
Tokyo:
Japan is making amicable moves towards China. The country's
new trade minister, Toshihiro Nikai, says he is prepared
to be more flexible over energy and territorial disputes.
Nikai says he wants to promote amicable discussions over
disputed gas reserves in the East China sea, discord over
which has soured already bad relations between the Asian
giants.
The dispute is that both the countries are fighting over
the ownership of the fields.
Nikai is considered to have the best contacts in China
of any member of the ruling Liberal Democratic party.
His appointment has been welcomed by business leaders
who are worried that hawks, such as Shinzo Abe, appointed
chief cabinet secretary this week, and Taro Aso, the new
foreign minister, could worsen already bad relations with
Japan's biggest trading partner.
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Bush,
Portman under pressure over China
US President George W. Bush and his top trade aide, Rob
Portman are being urged to take a harder line against
China.
Bush and Portman assuaged similar anger earlier this year
with promises to push China to change its currency and
trade policies, but are now facing renewed criticism.
Portman
took his first steps last week toward addressing what
the U.S. calls China's unfair practices.
He
demanded that China provide details of how many people
it has prosecuted for pirating U.S. software and movies.
His office also asked the World Trade Organization to
admonish China for what it called its unfair use of anti-dumping
laws to restrict U.S. exports.
U.S.
trade negotiators reached a tentative agreement with the
Chinese on a deal to limit most Chinese clothing exports
to the U.S. over the next three years, according to textile
industry executives representing both importers and producers.
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Portman is planning to visit Beijing later this month
-- just days before Bush arrives in the Chinese capital
-- in an effort to convince the Chinese leadership to
reduce export barriers.
Portman
said that the Beijing trip is unlikely to result in a
reduction in the trade deficit with China, which was $162
billion last year and is currently on pace to surpass
$200 billion this year, according to U.S. government figures.
Lawmakers
are saying they are prepared to move forward on restrictive
legislation.
China
surpassed Mexico in July to become US' second-largest
trading partner, fueled by a surge of exports that has
prompted lawmakers to introduce legislation aimed at blocking
Chinese goods from entry into the U.S. and formally reprimanding
the nation for its currency policies.
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Iran
gets EU snub over request for fresh nuclear talks
Teheran:
Iran was swiftly rebuffed by the EU after it requested
fresh talks on its controversial nuclear programme with
the EU saying the talks won't be possible till Iran puts
a freeze on fuel cycle work.
Talks
between Iran and the so-called EU-3 broke off in August
when Iran resumed uranium conversion activities in defiance
of international calls to maintain a suspension.
Officials
said Iran would be converting a fresh batch of uranium
ore -- the precursor step to enrichment -- in a flagrant
rejection of EU calls for a renewed freeze on such activities
that prompted a EU diplomat to reject the Iranian request
out-of-hand.
Iranian
media said the government had given the go-ahead last
Wednesday for the country's atomic energy agency to look
for foreign and domestic investors for uranium enrichment,
even though such work remains suspended.
Officials
said Iran would also be converting new consignments of
uranium ore at its plant outside the central city of Isfahan,
after resuming this crucial part of the fuel cycle in
August following a suspension.
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Victory
expected for ruling party in Azerbaijan poll
Baku: he parliamentary election in Azerbaijan is
expected to hand the ruling party a big majority and Western
governments, hungry for the country's oil, are hoping
that voter fraud and violence does not wreck the ballot.
Opposition
parties promised rallies for next week to protest what
they predicted would be widespread election fraud, though
analysts say there was unlikely to be a repeat of the
popular revolts that followed disputed polls in fellow
ex-Soviet states Ukraine and Georgia.
But
the threat of violence hung over the election, with the
powerful interior minister saying the opposition might
try to provoke the police and warning any illegal protests
would be stamped out.
Azerbaijan is located in the South Caucasus region and
is rife with separatist conflicts. Western governments
are anxious for stability, especially with an oil pipeline
expected to begin delivering crude to world markets from
next year.
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