Trans Pacific Partnership an ugly attack on workers and countries other than USA
The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Its Critics: An introduction and a petition The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 36, No. 3.
Sachie Mizohata and the Association of University Faculties See the petition in English and Japanese. – See more at: http://japanfocus.org/-Sachie-MIZOHATA/3996#sthash.Q1auk4dC.dpuf
- domestic court decisions and international legal standards (e.g., overriding domestic laws on both trade and nontrade matters, foreign investors’ right to sue governments in international tribunals that would overrule the national sovereignty)
- environmental regulations (e.g., nuclear energy, pollution, sustainability)
- financial deregulation (e.g., more power and privileges to the bankers and financiers)
- food safety (e.g., lowering food self-sufficiency, prohibition of mandatory labeling of genetically modified products, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease)
- Government procurement (e.g., no more buy locally produced/grown)
- Internet freedom (e.g., monitoring and policing user activity)
- labor (e.g., welfare regulation, workplace safety, relocating domestic jobs abroad)
- patent protection, copyrights (e.g., decrease access to affordable medicine)
- public access to essential services may be restricted due to investment rules (e.g., water, electricity, and gas)
Although the TPP negotiations have been held in the name of the people, the draft texts have been shrouded in secrecy from the public, thereby precluding public scrutiny and public input. Reportedly, the countries have signed up not to reveal the contents of the agreement for four years after the signing of the agreement. 6 All public information comes from leaked texts.
Bizarrely, the TPP makes a special exception to “a group of some 600 trade ‘advisers,’ dominated by representatives of big businesses.”7 The TPP is a Trojan horse, branded as a “free trade” agreement, but having nothing to do with “fair and equitable treatment. In reality, it is precisely “a wish list of the 1% ―a worldwide corporate power.”8 “Only 5 of its 29 chapters cover traditional trade matters, like tariffs or quotas.”9 “The other chapters enshrine new rights and privileges for major corporations while weakening the power of nation states to oppose them.”1 – See more at: http://japanfocus.org/-Sachie-MIZOHATA/3996#sthash.Q1auk4dC.dpuf
Iran keen to restart nuclear talks for a ‘win win’ resolution
Iran to restart nuclear talks in New York The Age, September 12, 2013 – Kambiz Foroohar and Yeganeh Salehi Iranian president Hassan Rohani said his government plans to restart nuclear talks with world powers in New York, where he will attend the United Nations General Assembly this month.
The “serious talks” should help lead to a “win-win” final outcome in the dispute over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program,Mr Rohani said in an interview on Iranian state-run television yesterday. The negotiations will involve the International Atomic Energy Agency and the so-called P5+1 group, made up of the five permanent UN Security Council members in addition to Germany, he said.
“The nuclear issue will be resolved soon if the other side is serious,” he said. “The final result should be a win-win. We are ready for it.”…… Mr Rohani plans a six-day visit to New York starting September 22. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton plans to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York, the EU said. http://www.theage.com.au/world/iran-to-restart-nuclear-talks-in-new-york-20130911-2tkun.html#ixzz2ehuBDrYd
Obama administration’s contradictory claims about attacking Syria
Critics see contradictions in Obama administration’s Syria claims LA Times, By Paul Richter September 8, 2013, WASHINGTON –- The planned military strikes on Syria would be “targeted, limited” and wouldn’t seek to topple the government of President Bashar Assad or even force it to peace talks.
They would also be punishing and “consequential” and would so scare Assad that he would never use chemical weapons again. U.S. airstrikes would change the momentum on the battlefield of the Syrian civil war. But the war will grind on, unchanged, perhaps for years.
As administration officials lay out their case in favor of a punitive attack on Syria, they have been making all of these seemingly contradictory contentions, confusing supporters and providing rhetorical weapons to their opponents.
The contradictions stem from the basic challenge the White House faces: how to reassure the large anti-war contingent in the Democratic Party, as well as conservative opponents of overseas intervention, that strikes won’t open the way to another war, while convincing hawks and more militant internationalists that the strikes will do enough to make the mission worthwhile.
It’s possible to square most of the administration’s arguments – if one believes that a military strike can be so precisely calibrated as to harm the Assad government just enough, but not too much. But as a political case, the effort has so far proven hard to sell.
If officials lean too far in one direction, they risk losing supporters on one side or the other. But when they voice both sides of their case, they risk presenting an argument that is incoherent…….. http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-contradictions-obama-syria-20130908,0,4466835.story
Iranian President Rouhani takes a moderate line on Syria, nuclear talks
Rouhani outflanks hardliners on Syria, nuclear talks SMH, September 6, 2013 Ramin Mostaghim and Carol J. Williams Tehran: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appears to be outmanoeuvring hard-liners with his move to take control of stalled nuclear negotiations and in curbing bombastic declarations to defend ally Syria from threatened US airstrikes.
In sharp contrast with the bellicose posturing of his predecessor, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mr Rouhani has kept expectations low that Iran will provide military aid to Syrian President Bashar Assad if Western forces attack his government.
Another former president and influential backer of Mr Rouhani, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, last week was reported to have publicly blamed Dr Assad’s forces for an alleged chemical weapons attack August 21 on the suburbs of Damascus that reportedly killed hundreds of civilians……….: http://www.smh.com.au/world/rouhani-outflanks-hardliners-on-syria-nuclear-talks-20130906-2t9oa.html#ixzz2eGAIakBW
Iran’s Foreign Minister to now be nuclear negotiator
Iran Foreign Ministry to lead nuclear talks http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/09/20139515176846972.htm President tasks ministry with handling negotiations, in shift away from security officials setting Tehran’s strategies. 05 Sep 2013 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has tasked the Foreign Ministry with handling the country’s nuclear negotiations with world powers, in a shift away from security officials setting Tehran’s strategies for the talks.
The announcement on Thursday came three weeks before Iran and the UN atomic watchdog are to resume talks in Vienna over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.
Since 2007, negotiations have been conducted by Saeed Jalili, head of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, who was seen by Western diplomats as an uncompromising ideologue.
Last month, the president named ex-foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi to head the country’s Atomic Energy Organisation and career diplomat Reza Najafi as envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran’s most powerful authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, retains the final say on any proposed deals.The last round of negotiations in April with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany again fell short of any breakthrough.
But some believe more progress can be achieved under Rouhani, a relative moderate who was elected in June and has pledged a more conciliatory and transparent approach to foreign policy than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The six world powers have demanded Tehran cease enrichment of uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent to reduce concerns that it could be used for nuclear weapons, allegations Tehran has repeatedly denied.
During his role as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, from 2003-2005, Rouhani accepted the suspension of the enrichment programme. Rouhani said last month that Iran was ready for serious talks, but he said there could be no surrender of the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and that Iran would not give up uranium enrichment.
West taking a gentler approach to Iran at nuclear meeting
West to hold back from targeting Iran at U.N. nuclear meeting By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA | Thu Sep 5, 2013 (Reuters) – World powers will refrain from raising pressure on Iran at a U.N. nuclear meeting next week to give its new moderate president time to show he is serious about moves to reduce tensions over its atomic activity, Western diplomats say…….. “There has definitely been a change in tone from the Iranian government which we recognize and welcome,” a Western envoy said, speaking ahead of next week’s governing board meeting.
“We have to give them at least the time to translate their words into action,” the envoy added, noting there were no plans – unlike previous board meetings – to push for a resolution to chide Iran over its refusal to curb sensitive atomic activity…….. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/05/us-iran-nuclear-iaea-idUSBRE9840IL20130905
India, Japan, negotiating purchase of nuclear reactors
India, Japan to restart nuclear talks today NEW DELHI, DHNS: Sep 3, 2013 India will continue to stonewall pressure from Japan to convert its unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests into a bilateral commitment, even as the two countries are set to restart negotiations on a proposed agreement for cooperation in civilian use of atomic energy on Tuesday.
Over two years after the accident at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant prompted Japan to pause talks with India for a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement, the process is now set to resume. The negotiations, however, are likely to be tough, as New Delhi will resist Tokyo’s pressure to add a clause to the agreement providing for termination of bilateral cooperation in the event of a nuclear test conducted by India.
Sources told Deccan Herald that India would also insist on protecting its right to reprocess the fuel spent on nuclear reactors to be procured under the agreement with Japan.
Two officials of the Ministry of External Affairs—Joint Secretary (East Asia) Gautam Bambawale and Joint Secretary (Disarmament) Bala Venkatesh Varma—are in Tokyo to restart the talks……. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/354971/india-japan-restart-nuclear-talks.html
UK government’s dilemma as China demands more control of UK’s new nuclear plants
Chinese seek greater say in UK nuclear plants By Guy Chazan Dt.com Sept 1 13, The state-owned Chinese nuclear group that is in talks to invest in Britain’s new nuclear programme wants greater operational control of any new plants it finances, potentially creating a national security headache for the government.
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), is in talks with EDF of France on sharing the cost of building a new plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset, which has an estimated price tag of £14bn.
But CGN has made it clear to EDF that it will only proceed if it is given more of a say in running other plants the two companies build together in the UK, according to people familiar with the talks.
As well as Hinkley, EDF also has plans to construct two new reactors at Sizewell in Suffolk. One of the people said CGN could seek to become joint operator of the new Sizewell plant – although EDF is likely to retain overall control. The Chinese could also push for greater involvement in the plant’s construction, and might even seek to provide the design for its reactors. “CGN is using Hinkley as a stepping stone,” he said. “In the next project, they’ll want greater control.”
However, given the sensitivities surrounding nuclear power, the idea of allowing a Chinese state-backed company to take an operational role in a nuclear power station could raise a welter of national security concerns……..
Mark Pritchard, a Conservative MP and member of the national security strategy committee, said Chinese companies should only be able to take a “minor” role in sensitive sectors of the economy such as energy………http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3dfb8eb0-10b5-11e3-b5e4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2dnO4ZmCk
Japan could face legal action by other countries, due to Fukushima radiation
Japan Official: Fukushima contamination “increasingly seen as international problem… lawsuits may be filed overseas” — “Gov’t should take preventive actions based on a worst-case scenario” says S. Korea newspaper http://enenews.com/japan-official-lashes-out-fukushima-contamination-is-increasingly-seen-as-an-international-problem-lawsuits-may-be-filed-overseas-govt-should-take-preventive-actions-based-on-a-wors
Title: Government under fire for slow response to Fukushima leak
Source: Asahi Shimbun
Date: Aug. 30, 2013
[…] In a meeting at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on Aug. 29, party lawmaker Yasuhisa Shiozaki lashed out at the Abe administration […]
“The issue of radioactive water is increasingly seen as an international problem, and lawsuits may be filed overseas,” said Shiozaki, acting chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council and a former chief Cabinet secretary.
Shiozaki’s anger can be seen as the first explicit criticism of the government from the ruling party since the LDP returned to power in December. […]
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said [on August 26], “The South Korean government should take preventive actions based on a worst-case scenario, without relying only on information from the Japanese government and TEPCO.” […]
See also: Korea Times: Quarter-billion liters of Fukushima contaminated water flowed into Pacific — Japan cover-up could violate international law — Hid global issue of environmental concern?
Iran is cautious about supporting Syria
Eyes on nuclear talks, Iran tempers support for Assad, Christian Science Monitor Iran is in a tough spot. It has a decades-long alliance with Syria to uphold, but is seeking to reengage with the US, which is considering strikes against Syria.
By Scott Peterson, Staff writer / August 30, 2013 As an American military strike looms over Syria, Iran is weighing its decades-long alliance with Syria against its own pledges to reengage with the US and the West over its nuclear program and other issues…… the newly elected government of President Hassan Rouhani has struck a far more moderate tone. As a victim of years of chemical weapon attacks during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s – during which Syria was a lone supporter of Iran’s nascent revolutionary regime – Iranian officials have carefully condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any side and urged a diplomatic solution.
“It is a complex process, but I think Iran can do this, keep [the Syria issue] away from its negotiation with the West and also the US on the nuclear file,” says an Iranian analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named…….
Rouhani’s test The Syria crisis is a first foreign policy test for Rouhani, the centrist cleric who won a surprise victory in mid-June elections and took office earlier this month promising to resolve tensions with the West and bring “more transparency” to stalled nuclear talks.
Noting Iran’s history of being targeted with chemical weapons, Rouhani tweeted this week: “Iran gives notice to [sic] international community to use all its might to prevent use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world, esp. in Syria.”……. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0830/Eyes-on-nuclear-talks-Iran-tempers-support-for-Assad
Nuclear deterrence – a dangerous myth
Nuclear deterrence is overrated, THE HINDU RAMESH THAKUR , 23 Aug 13 The real risks and costs of having these weapons, both monetary and human, far outweigh their security benefits The Indian Navy has figured in three recent, global news items. The launch of the indigenously developed aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, expected to be operational by 2018, makes India only the fifth country after the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom and France to have such capability. …. The strategic rationale is to acquire and consolidate the three legs of land, air and sea-based nuclear weapons to underpin the policy of nuclear deterrence. Unfortunately, however, the whole concept of nuclear deterrence is deeply flawed.
Desensitised
Nuclear weapons are uniquely destructive and hence uniquely threatening to our common security. There is a compelling need to challenge and overcome the reigning complacency on the nuclear risks and dangers, to sensitise policy communities to the urgency and gravity of nuclear threats and the availability of non-nuclear alternatives as anchors of national and international security.
A nuclear catastrophe could destroy us any time. Because we have learnt to live with nuclear weapons for 68 years, we have become desensitised to the gravity and immediacy of the threat. The tyranny of complacency could yet exact a fearful price if we sleepwalk our way into a nuclear Armageddon. It really is long past time to lift the shroud of the mushroom cloud from the international body politic. Continue reading
Israel is the stumbling block to a nuclear weapons free Middle East
Israel, Arab Nations Differ on Mideast Nuclear-free Zone: U.N. Official Yahoo News, Global Security Newswire Staff 20 Aug 13, Efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency to help persuade Israel and Arab nations to agree on a path toward a Middle East free of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction have been unsuccessful thus far, according to a new report by agency head Yukiya Amano’s office, Reutersreported on Tuesday.
Interchanges have revealed that there still is a “fundamental difference of views” between Arab nations and Israel, but Amano will continue trying to bridge the diverging perspectives, according to his team.
IAEA member nations last year tasked Amano with meeting with officials from the region to discuss bringing all atomic programs under agency safeguards. Israel is thought to be the area’s sole nuclear-weapons nation, but it by policy does not confirm or deny its arsenal and is not a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty…… http://news.yahoo.com/israel-arab-nations-differ-mideast-nuclear-free-zone-110205580.html
Russia keen to sell nuclear reactors to UK, as long as UK subsidises price
RUSSIA’S ROSATOM EYES NUCLEAR CONTRACTS IN BRITAIN YAHOO NEWS, BY SVETLANA BURMISTROVA , 13 Aug 13, MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian state nuclear company Rosatom is considering selling reactors in Britain and will soon decide whether to apply for a UK reactor licence, a senior company executive said.
Rosatom is now building more atomic power plants than any other vendor and has been marketing the legacy of the former USSR’s own nuclear disaster, at Chernobyl in 1986, as a lesson learned in nuclear safety.
A major player in developing markets such as China, Vietnam and India, Rosatom has long been interested in building reactors in the European Union, where it is already a supplier of nuclear fuel…… Russian nuclear technology has been unpopular in western Europe since the Chernobyl disaster, but Britain is in dire need of investors willing to replace its ageing nuclear fleet after a series of utility companies, including Germany’s RWE and E.ON and Britain’s Centrica , have dropped out…….
Before entering the UK market, Komarov said, Rosatom would wait to see whether EDF reaches a deal with the British government on a guaranteed minimum power price for its proposed Hinkley Point project, Britain’s first new nuclear plant in almost 20 years.
The guaranteed price, also known as a contract-for-difference (CfD), is part of a major electricity market reform, currently being assessed by Parliament, to encourage types of energy that emit little or no carbon.
Through the CfDs, the government guarantees to top up prices to reach an agreed ‘strike price’ for power generated by the nuclear plants, should market prices fall after they are commissioned.
“This is a very comfortable scheme that guarantees return on investments,” Komarov said. EDF expects to announce by year-end whether it has reached a deal with the British government and plans to hold talks on partnering with a Chinese state-run firm.
“We are waiting to see what agreements EDF reaches,” Komarov said. “If we see that we can get a return on our investments, we will enter the project with great desire……. http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/18488685/russias-rosatom-eyes-nuclear-contracts-in-britain/
America desperate to sell off nuclear technology to India?
Unfortunate that Indo-US nuclear trade has stalled, says Washington NDTV by Pallava Bagla | August 09, 2013 Washington: The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal was billed as the corner stone of the burgeoning strategic partnership between the countries. However, five years later, the deal has not gone according to the script, and the US says the nuclear commerce has not benefitted the Americans who did most of the global diplomatic heavy lifting.
India’s people-friendly nuclear liability regime has reportedly irked the US.
“The nuclear issue is complex. US is not frustrated but India’s nuclear liability law is a concern and it is unfortunate that nuclear trade has not commenced,” said Richard Stratford, director of nuclear energy, safety and security at the US state department….. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/unfortunate-that-indo-us-nuclear-trade-has-stalled-says-washington-403342
Iran’s new President determined to resolve nuclear issue
New Iranian president Hassan Rouhani pledges resolution with West over nuclear issue, ABC News 7 Aug 13 Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, says he is determined to resolve his country’s dispute with the West over its nuclear regime.
In the first media conference since being sworn in for the man seen in the west as a relatively moderate leader, Mr Rouhani said he was ready to begin negotiations over the issue which has caused years of stalemate.
“We will not do away with the right of the nation,” the 64-year-old said, indicating Iran would not be abandoning its nuclear program.
“However, we are for negotiations and interaction. We are prepared, seriously and without wasting time, to enter negotiations which are serious and substantive with the other side.
“If the other party is also prepared like we are, then I am confident that the concerns of both sides will be removed through negotiations within a period which will not be very long.”
Warns against carrot and stick approach
Western countries and Israel have said in the past they believed Iran was trying to achieve nuclear weapons capability, but Tehran says its program is purely for peaceful needs.
The new president’s approach is likely to reinforce a sense of cautious optimism in the West, despite the fact negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have long frustrated both sides……….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-07/iran27s-rouhani-pledges-resolution-of-nuclear-issue/4869626
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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