Known here as freeters, many scenarii such as the Neets
one reach the tabloids. One is a pure hysterical
projection of those tabloids on the alleged lazy young
Japanese generations.
Most appropriate is the lack of analysis and
responsibility of the elder local generations who mostly
abandoned Japanese youth with the abyssal burden of an
indebted country, and a total lack of initiative, and
sense of rightness. Then, what does the society plan
for these unemployed free, disillusioned generations
when emergency crisis rings the bell? Cannon meat...?
quotes :
The number of Japanese youth lacking motivation to study
or work is growing at an alarming pace, fuelling fears
of future labour shortages in a nation with one of the
lowest birthrates in the world.
Some 850,000 people aged 15 to 34 are believed to be
neither in school nor employed as of October 2002,
according to a national survey released by the Cabinet
Office.
The number of such people – known as NEETS (not in
education, employment or training) – has jumped 27% from
670,000 in 1992, the office says.
“Many young people seem to have lost motivation to get a
job,� said Hiroshi Ito, an official at the Cabinet
Office’s youth section. “We must find ways to get them
to regain motivation and return to society.�
About 425,000 had tried but failed to find jobs or enter
schools, while the other half simply made no effort to
seek economic independence, he said.
Japan’s population has grown increasingly older in
recent decades as work demands, a shortage of daycare
and the high cost of education have caused couples to
opt for fewer children, resulting in an average
birthrate of just 1.29 children per woman – among the
lowest in the world.
Demographers have predicted the population in one of the
world’s fastest-greying countries could peak at about
127.7 million next year and fall rapidly over the next
50 years to roughly 100 million.
The prospect of a declining population has caused
concern that young workers will not generate enough
taxes to care for the burgeoning number of elderly
people.
end of quotes
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Re: Europe delays lifting China arms embargo
quotes :
[LatelineNews: 2005-3-18] PARIS - French President
Jacques Chirac said on Friday the European Union was
clearly in favour of lifting a ban on arms sales to
China.
"You know the European position, it is clearly for
lifting the embargo," he told a news conference after
talks with the leaders of Germany, Spain, and Russia.
The United States wants the embargo to remain.
end of quotes
On the sales :
quotes :
French President Jacques Chirac said that lifting an EU
arms ban on China 'does not mean selling arms' to
Beijing, in an interview with the Japanese daily Asahi
Shimbun. 'I want to reassure the Japanese who have
expressed concerns,' he told the newspaper, according to
the transcript of the interview released to reporters
accompanying Chirac at an EU summit here. 'Lifting the
embargo does not mean selling arms.
Europeans have no intention of committing themselves to
a policy of arms exports to China,' he said, before
adding: 'Neither does lifting the embargo mean ending
arms export controls'. The EU arms sales ban has been in
place since 1989 when pro-democracy students in Beijing
were crushed by the Chinese military, but France has led
a group of EU countries arguing that it is outdated and
should be lifted.
end of quotes
[LatelineNews: 2005-3-18] PARIS - French President
Jacques Chirac said on Friday the European Union was
clearly in favour of lifting a ban on arms sales to
China.
"You know the European position, it is clearly for
lifting the embargo," he told a news conference after
talks with the leaders of Germany, Spain, and Russia.
The United States wants the embargo to remain.
end of quotes
On the sales :
quotes :
French President Jacques Chirac said that lifting an EU
arms ban on China 'does not mean selling arms' to
Beijing, in an interview with the Japanese daily Asahi
Shimbun. 'I want to reassure the Japanese who have
expressed concerns,' he told the newspaper, according to
the transcript of the interview released to reporters
accompanying Chirac at an EU summit here. 'Lifting the
embargo does not mean selling arms.
Europeans have no intention of committing themselves to
a policy of arms exports to China,' he said, before
adding: 'Neither does lifting the embargo mean ending
arms export controls'. The EU arms sales ban has been in
place since 1989 when pro-democracy students in Beijing
were crushed by the Chinese military, but France has led
a group of EU countries arguing that it is outdated and
should be lifted.
end of quotes
Europe delays lifting China arms embargo
Indeed : delays is the right word.
Perfect timing, right before French president Jacques
Chirac's official visit to Japan. Media speculation on
the Taiwan issue and the "Yieldding to pressure" to US
President by EU officials is absurd. Delay does not
mean cancel. China will get security enforcing
equipments from EU, according to a specific sales
conduct code. China already gets softwares and military
equipments from Israel and Russia.
Re balancing deals?
Japan gets weapons and military equipments from US.
Besides, recent case related to the acquisition of
European made new helicopters by Japanese navy
demonstrates that the Asian market for security is now
widely opened. A pilot does not want to fly a grave but
the right plane with the proper intelligence and
electronics capability. Right?
Quotes :
"Yielding to pressure from President Bush and threats of
retaliation from Congress, the European Union has put
off plans to lift its arms embargo on China this spring
and may not press the issue until next year, American
and European officials said Monday.
The officials said that in addition to American
pressure, European nations have been shaken by the
recent adoption of legislation by the Chinese National
People's Congress authorizing the use of force to stop
Taiwan from seceding. The Chinese action, they said,
jolted France and undercut its moves to end the embargo
before June.
"Europe wants to move forward on the embargo, but the
recent actions by China have made things a lot more
complex," said a senior European official. "The
timeline has become more difficult. The timeline is
going to have to slip."
The embargo was imposed after China's crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989,
and although some countries have eased their
restrictions, it has curbed the supply of weapons to
China while also becoming a major irritant in China's
relations with the West.
A senior State Department official said European
"signals" of a shift in position had been transmitted in
the last few days, most notably by Javier Solana, the
European Union's foreign policy chief, and by a comment
from the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, over the
weekend.
Mr. Straw said in a television interview in Britain on
Sunday that the problems of lifting the embargo "have
actually got more difficult rather than less difficult,"
and that the Chinese action on Taiwan had created "a
difficult political environment" that had stirred
concern by both conservatives and liberals in Europe.
In Beijing early Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said Mr. Straw's "sobering comments" reinforced
the United States' continuing concern that lifting the
embargo now would alter the balance of military forces
in the region and undercut American efforts to get China
to improve its human rights record.
Ms. Rice returned from Asia on Monday evening after
several tough comments directed at China and, less
directly, at Europeans. With tensions building in the
Taiwan Strait, she said, and China seeking advanced
technology for its navy, the sale of European equipment
would jeopardize American efforts to secure the area.
"After all, it is American forces here in the Pacific
that have played the role of security guarantor," Ms.
Rice said.
European officials say the European Union will not back
off its commitment, made last December and pressed by
President Jacques Chirac of France, to lift the embargo
at some point, but that doing so now would not be worth
jeopardizing relations with the United States.
American and European officials said internal European
politics had played a role in the timing of the planned
easing of restrictions: Prime Minister Tony Blair of
Britain was willing to go along with the move, but he
did not want it to occur while he serves as president of
the European Union.
The presidency alternates among the union's 25 members
every six months. Mr. Blair, who takes over at the end
of June, could not be seen as defying American wishes on
such a critical issue, those officials said. Some
European and American officials said action on the
embargo would probably wait until next year, after he
has stepped down.
In the past few weeks, Europeans have pressed their case
for lifting the embargo with the administration and with
Congress, arguing that the rules covered lethal weapons
but not the high-tech equipment that the United States
worries about, like equipment that could help China with
its command and control systems and tracking submarines
and ships.
A top European envoy, Annalisa Giannella, was sent by
Mr. Solana to Washington last week to make the case
that Europe would expand a "code of conduct" restricting
such equipment and set up a regime that would be
effectively tighter than the current one. But Ms.
Giannella was said to have persuaded no one, especially
in Congress.
Indeed, administration and European officials say that
Europeans have been taken aback by the ferocity of
Congressional opposition to lifting the embargo, led by
such Republican heavyweights as Senators Ted Stevens of
Alaska and John McCain of Arizona.
Mr. Bush and his top aides have been increasingly vocal
over the last couple of months in their demands that the
arms embargo not be lifted. In addition, President Bush
was reported by administration officials to have told
the Europeans in Februrary that even if he went along
with lifting the embargo, Congress would not. Congress
has been alarmed by Chinese military expansion since the
1990's, when it opposed moves by President Clinton to
expand military sales to the Chinese.
After Ms. Giannella's visit, Congressional leaders
reiterated their opposition to lifting the embargo, in
some cases threatening retaliation by blocking purchases
of European military equipment for American forces.
The senior State Department official noted that Ms.
Giannella "said she was here on a listening mode" and
was "pummeled" on Capitol Hill. "The alarm bells tipped
off Brussels that this wasn't going to work," he said,
referring to the headquarters of the European Union.
President Chirac first proposed lifting the embargo in
late 2003, arguing that it was obsolete. European
diplomats say that France is not so much interested in
selling arms to China as using the possibility of such
sales as a way to sell commercial equipment, from Airbus
planes to computers.
The European Union cannot take any action without a
consensus. Mr. Bush and Ms. Rice have impressed
enough European leaders with their stance that consensus
to move on the embargo is now unlikely.
"You won't see a backing away from the commitment," said
a European official. "But there's no consensus to act
right now."
end of quotes
Perfect timing, right before French president Jacques
Chirac's official visit to Japan. Media speculation on
the Taiwan issue and the "Yieldding to pressure" to US
President by EU officials is absurd. Delay does not
mean cancel. China will get security enforcing
equipments from EU, according to a specific sales
conduct code. China already gets softwares and military
equipments from Israel and Russia.
Re balancing deals?
Japan gets weapons and military equipments from US.
Besides, recent case related to the acquisition of
European made new helicopters by Japanese navy
demonstrates that the Asian market for security is now
widely opened. A pilot does not want to fly a grave but
the right plane with the proper intelligence and
electronics capability. Right?
Quotes :
"Yielding to pressure from President Bush and threats of
retaliation from Congress, the European Union has put
off plans to lift its arms embargo on China this spring
and may not press the issue until next year, American
and European officials said Monday.
The officials said that in addition to American
pressure, European nations have been shaken by the
recent adoption of legislation by the Chinese National
People's Congress authorizing the use of force to stop
Taiwan from seceding. The Chinese action, they said,
jolted France and undercut its moves to end the embargo
before June.
"Europe wants to move forward on the embargo, but the
recent actions by China have made things a lot more
complex," said a senior European official. "The
timeline has become more difficult. The timeline is
going to have to slip."
The embargo was imposed after China's crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989,
and although some countries have eased their
restrictions, it has curbed the supply of weapons to
China while also becoming a major irritant in China's
relations with the West.
A senior State Department official said European
"signals" of a shift in position had been transmitted in
the last few days, most notably by Javier Solana, the
European Union's foreign policy chief, and by a comment
from the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, over the
weekend.
Mr. Straw said in a television interview in Britain on
Sunday that the problems of lifting the embargo "have
actually got more difficult rather than less difficult,"
and that the Chinese action on Taiwan had created "a
difficult political environment" that had stirred
concern by both conservatives and liberals in Europe.
In Beijing early Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said Mr. Straw's "sobering comments" reinforced
the United States' continuing concern that lifting the
embargo now would alter the balance of military forces
in the region and undercut American efforts to get China
to improve its human rights record.
Ms. Rice returned from Asia on Monday evening after
several tough comments directed at China and, less
directly, at Europeans. With tensions building in the
Taiwan Strait, she said, and China seeking advanced
technology for its navy, the sale of European equipment
would jeopardize American efforts to secure the area.
"After all, it is American forces here in the Pacific
that have played the role of security guarantor," Ms.
Rice said.
European officials say the European Union will not back
off its commitment, made last December and pressed by
President Jacques Chirac of France, to lift the embargo
at some point, but that doing so now would not be worth
jeopardizing relations with the United States.
American and European officials said internal European
politics had played a role in the timing of the planned
easing of restrictions: Prime Minister Tony Blair of
Britain was willing to go along with the move, but he
did not want it to occur while he serves as president of
the European Union.
The presidency alternates among the union's 25 members
every six months. Mr. Blair, who takes over at the end
of June, could not be seen as defying American wishes on
such a critical issue, those officials said. Some
European and American officials said action on the
embargo would probably wait until next year, after he
has stepped down.
In the past few weeks, Europeans have pressed their case
for lifting the embargo with the administration and with
Congress, arguing that the rules covered lethal weapons
but not the high-tech equipment that the United States
worries about, like equipment that could help China with
its command and control systems and tracking submarines
and ships.
A top European envoy, Annalisa Giannella, was sent by
Mr. Solana to Washington last week to make the case
that Europe would expand a "code of conduct" restricting
such equipment and set up a regime that would be
effectively tighter than the current one. But Ms.
Giannella was said to have persuaded no one, especially
in Congress.
Indeed, administration and European officials say that
Europeans have been taken aback by the ferocity of
Congressional opposition to lifting the embargo, led by
such Republican heavyweights as Senators Ted Stevens of
Alaska and John McCain of Arizona.
Mr. Bush and his top aides have been increasingly vocal
over the last couple of months in their demands that the
arms embargo not be lifted. In addition, President Bush
was reported by administration officials to have told
the Europeans in Februrary that even if he went along
with lifting the embargo, Congress would not. Congress
has been alarmed by Chinese military expansion since the
1990's, when it opposed moves by President Clinton to
expand military sales to the Chinese.
After Ms. Giannella's visit, Congressional leaders
reiterated their opposition to lifting the embargo, in
some cases threatening retaliation by blocking purchases
of European military equipment for American forces.
The senior State Department official noted that Ms.
Giannella "said she was here on a listening mode" and
was "pummeled" on Capitol Hill. "The alarm bells tipped
off Brussels that this wasn't going to work," he said,
referring to the headquarters of the European Union.
President Chirac first proposed lifting the embargo in
late 2003, arguing that it was obsolete. European
diplomats say that France is not so much interested in
selling arms to China as using the possibility of such
sales as a way to sell commercial equipment, from Airbus
planes to computers.
The European Union cannot take any action without a
consensus. Mr. Bush and Ms. Rice have impressed
enough European leaders with their stance that consensus
to move on the embargo is now unlikely.
"You won't see a backing away from the commitment," said
a European official. "But there's no consensus to act
right now."
end of quotes
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