Wednesday, December 08, 2010

The Asian Gazette's Leaks...


Keep on course

Asian Gazette Blog doubled the number of readers compared to a year ago! Transparency... here is the result of regular posts with today's release of comments made by readers of Asian Gazette --readers on increase with the use of smart-phones, IPod and IPad-- According to the famous expression nowadays, this is a
"journalistic selection" regarding the topics covered, quoted, re-posted or commented here; and I post it "brut de décoffrage". The most obvious lessons of contemporary journalism underline the principle which is that transparency represents the first really sustained fruit born with the digital age. And as always, I am aware and concerned with access to information as a principal (based on the spirit of the United Nations peers) with the inherent responsibilities and consequences attached to any data publication. Thank you for your faithful encouragement and comments.



Not all of secret documents should be published. If a country has some secret dealing with an another one, and it doesn't want opposing diplomats to know about it, it should keep it secret. That's just my opinion, though.
By Heather on Wikileaks makes everybody a Big Brother! on 12/8/10
"Wikileaks makes everybody a Big Brother!" Quoted in : Business, Hacking, International Personalities, Julian Assange, Software, Technology, WikiLeaks, World http://www.liquida.com/ http://www.wikio.co.uk/high-tech/software/security http://www.eurolinkva.com/destination/australian-classfied-sites http://www.wikio.com/business/entrepreneurs/bill_gates http://www.wikio.com/technology/privacy_and_legal_issues
By Anonymous on Wikileaks makes everybody a Big Brother! on 12/6/10
I am Hu. From Taiwan. Chinese Television System. Hope you are good. please contact me.
By Hu on Monju FBR resumes operations: security fears wiped... on 5/10/10
One of the best place to see the wonder of the world is the Iceland. It is best known for its beautiful glaziers, waterfalls and landscapes. Hotel accommodation in Iceland is not a problem, it has plenty of quality and affordable hotel accommodation.
By Iceland Hotels on France branded as "No.1 tourism destination" on 3/31/10
Yes there is No.1 tourism destination, France !. Our country also has a historic sights, take a look at : http://www.pgsd.co.cc/2010/02/indonesia-java-international.html
By Pendidikan Untuk Negeri Kita on France branded as "No.1 tourism destination" on 2/16/10
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By Steve Austin on China testing Japan USA relations? on 10/2/05
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By emily on Was ITER linked to the Iraq debt by France? on 9/13/05
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By alex on Re : Was ITER linked to the Iraq debt by France? on 9/8/05
Japanese textbook rarely usedJapan's nationalist "New HistoryTextbook" is fueling the deepestebb in Japan-China relations indecades, but few Japanese studentshave ever read it.Though given away for free, thetext is used by only 18 juniorhigh schools -- out of 11,102junior highs in all of Japan. Ithas been denounced by the nation'sleading teacher's union, and iswell right of mainstream publicopinion.Outside of Japan's classrooms,however, the textbook is anythingbut obscure.Since it was first approved by agovernment screening panel fouryears ago, the text has beensingled out by Japan's neighborsas evidence that the country istrying to whitewash its militaristpast.And its unrepentant tone andomission of Japan's wartimeatrocities -- including germwarfare and the forcing of tens ifnot hundreds of thousands of womeninto prostitution -- have outragedmany Japanese educators andliberals.It is See more...
By A on Rarely-Read Book Inspires Japan-China Rift on 4/17/05
Isn't' it bizarre to see that demonstrators can strike wherever they want in such country as China? Is the old CCP guards still angry at Huand Wen and infuriated at Japan UNSC attempt. Are these strikes "political activities" pre-organized. Police closed to the crowds. Anyone arrested ? Are Universities there underlecturing by Party promising activists. Japanese mediacoverage was quite a surprise too. This piece from the CSM is quite interesting on the contrary: Quotes :"Take a big knife and chopoff head of Japanese devil."Not since 1985, when the then Japanese prime minister visited the Yasukuni Shrine, has Beijing allowed such a demonstration. While described as aspontaneous rally, theorganized nature of the Saturday protest seemed apparent to some observers. Areas for press, protesters,and riot police were tapedoff. Movement was carefully organized: crowds were sent past the See more...
By A on Deadly Bird Flu Could Spread Beyond Asia on 4/11/05
Comment: Sure, the evidence against Asaka is pretty flimsy and it would be a mistake to hold him completely responsible for what happened in Nanjing at the end of 1937 and the start of the new year. Matsui is equally or more culpable, although it is also hard to apportion total blame. The events of the Rape of Nanjing appear to a large degree to have been spontaneous and self-perpetuating; a rolling, uncontrollable and hysterical killing spree under an imperial seal. Something like the massacres that occurred in Rwanda in 1994. But Asaka is here as a symbol of the culture that spawned the terrible events at Nanjing and elsewhere in Asia and the Pacific during the 1930s and 40s. The dangerous convergence of the imperial and the military. That Japan remains reluctant to admit the wrongs of the past and apologise diminishes its claim to have been the last victim of the Second World War. Sources : http://www.moreorless.au.com/
By A on Taiwan : 2015 Peak Oil, eternal distress and histo... on 3/6/05
Allied POWS Under The Japanese Roger Mansell - Director 199 First Street, Suite 335 Los Altos CA 94022 (USA) Tel: 650-941-2037 Main Page : You MUST type this address out for e-mailing Graphic image is used to avoid spammers This site is entirely sponsored by Roger Mansell, Palo Alto, California. All information is "Copyrighted by Roger Mansell". Please attribute source as noted or acknowledge the source as Roger Mansell, Palo Alto, CA. Many pictures also have high resolution files for printing purposes. Simply ask web master for a free download or CD. Please: Be sure to click "RELOAD" each time you visit- Many changes made almost daily. WARNING: You may NOT, repeat, NOT copy these pages and present them on any other web site that indicates in ANY way that it is your work product without specific permission. You may link to these pages to your heart's content. Don't even think of copying this information and presenting it as yours. All material is available for you See more...
By A on 60 years after defeat : Has Japan Addressed Its Wa... on 2/17/05
Former spy claims Australian government covered up Iraq prisoner abuse A former Australian spy contradicted government claims that no Australian was involved in interrogating Iraqi prisoners, saying he himself witnessed and reported the alleged abuse of Iraqis by their US captors. Rod Barton, a former senior analyst for the Defense Intelligence Organisation (DIO) and a long-time Iraq weapons inspector, said he personally interrogated an Iraqi detainee at Camp Cropper, a US center which held so-called "high value" prisoners. "Someone was brought to me in an orange jumpsuit with a guard with a gun standing behind him," Barton told Four Corners, a news program to be broadcast later Monday on Australian Broadcasting Corporation television. "Of course I didn't pull any fingernails out but I think it's misleading to say no Australians were involved, I was involved," he said. Last year after revelations that US soldiers were abusing Iraqis in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, the Australian See more...
By A on Iraq: a young Japanese traveller taken hostage on 2/14/05
"Nakasone seeks revision of Constitution, calls for possessing defense army and clarifying emperor as head of state." As I wrote in my RTL column December 30th 2004 : http://www.rtl.fr/rtlinfo/info_chroniquesint.asp?rubid=17313,%2017313 "Un Monde en question (30/12/04) Joel Legendre RTL Japon : la succession de la famille imperiale Est-ce le retour du Japon imperrial et nationaliste ? Il y a en tout cas beaucoup de ferveur populaire et politique autour du sort de la famille imperriale nippone. La princesse Nori, le troisieme enfant de l'empereur du Japon, a annonce officiellement son mariage, prevu pour l'an prochain. La correspondance pour RTL de Joel Legendre." URL : http://www.rtl.fr/rtlinfo/info_chroniquesint.asp?rubid=17313,%2017313
By A on Nakasone seeks revision of Constitution, calls for... on 1/21/05
A photo of the event here : http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050110/afp/i-050110210754top.html
By A on The European Airbus A380 super-jumbo revealed in F... on 1/11/05
So much for a country who stated publicly to be closed to the protection of nature, one entire part of the Asia Pacific community, and who lectured other nations on human rights...
By A on Chemical war : New Zealand confirms supplying Ag... on 1/9/05
Thanks for posting this! For those who want to help out... I have added some Christian mission relief links to: www.heartformissions.net
By Paul on Thousands killed by earthquake and tsunami in sout... on 12/30/04
Japanese government has decided to set up an experts panel to study the feasibility of allowing a woman to succeed to the Chrysanthemum throne by amending the Imperial House Law, government sources said Dec 27, 2004. The panel, to be made up of experts in law and other fields, will have its first meeting early next year, they said. Under the current law, only male heirs can succeed to the throne. However, no male heir has been born into the imperial family in almost 40 years.
By A on Japan's Emperor says He was shocked by his Son's r... on 12/27/04
A European rocket roared into space from a pad in South America on Saturday, placing into orbit a surveillance satellite billed as giving France's military new abilities to spy worldwide. The unmanned craft lifted off smoothly from a launch center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 1:36 p.m. - the third and last launch of an Ariane-5 rocket this year, Arianespace said. The satellite and six smaller scientific ones were placed into orbit about an hour after liftoff. It was the first time in 11 years that an Ariane rocket carried as many as seven satellites on a single launch. The Helios 2A military satellite, the rocket's main cargo, is to rotate in sun-synchronous orbit around 435 miles above the Earth, Arianespace said. "The success of the Helios 2A launch is a great step forward for our space policy," Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said at Ecole Militaire. "Mastering space is an imperative for tomorrow," she said, calling for greater space cooperation in Europe. The French See more...
By A on French Helios-II A, a new generation of military ... on 12/23/04
"Missile shield failure" USA Defense Department: the flight test failed on Wednesday as the interceptor missile did not launch from the Marshall Islands due to an "unknown anomaly," though the target missile carrying a mock warhead was successfully fired from Kodiak, Alaska. The failure could deal a heavy blow to the Bush administration, which plans to activate a rudimentary ground-based missile defense shield by the end of this year. The Japanese government has said the failure has had no impact on the planned Japan-U.S. joint missile shield development. Tokyo said the two countries are working on a different type of system that is much smaller in scale. Japan and the United States agreed in 1998 to engage in joint missile shield research after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan earlier that year. The two countries are poised to move on to the development and production stages as last week Japan announced a relaxation of its arms exports control to enable sales of See more...
By A on French Helios-II A, a new generation of military ... on 12/19/04
"The U.S. government moved quickly Friday to refute a claim made by a leading North Korea expert that Washington has exaggerated its intelligence on North Korea's nuclear program as it did in the case of Iraq. The controversy was sparked by an article set to be published in the Dec. 17 issue of Foreign Affairs by Selig Harrison, who is director of the Asia Program and chairman of the Task Force on U.S.-Korean Policy at the Center for International Policy. "Relying on sketchy data, the Bush administration presented a worst-case scenario as an incontrovertible truth and distorted its intelligence on North Korea (much as it did in Iraq), seriously exaggerating the danger that Pyongyang is secretly making uranium-based nuclear weapons," Harrison writes in the article posted on the journal's website. Harrison also says the administration of President George W. Bush has failed to provide evidence to support the claims to China, Japan, South Korea and Russia -- its partners in the See more...
By A on Did North Korea Cheat? on 12/11/04
Prince Akishino, who turned 39 on Tuesday, expressed regret that his older brother Crown Prince Naruhito made remarks in May about the situation of Crown Princess Masako, who continues to recuperate from a stress-induced illness, without consulting Emperor Akihito. "I myself was surprised at the remarks in no small measure, and I heard the emperor was also very surprised," Prince Akishino said in reply to questions from the Imperial Household Agency press corps prior to his birthday. "I think he should only have made those remarks after first talking to the emperor about what he planned to say in his meeting with the press. So I think it's a pity," the prince said. Princess Masako's condition attracted media attention after the crown prince made unusually candid remarks for an imperial family member about her situation in May, saying, "There have been developments that have denied Masako's career as a diplomat as well as her personality." Accompanied by his wife Princess Kiko, See more...
By A on Covering Japan's Royals, according to Tony Mac Nic... on 11/30/04
Major economic powers agreed to write off US$31 billion (euro24 billion) of Iraqi debt in a major breakthrough for U.S.-led efforts to get Iraq's economy back on its feet. Months of intensive lobbying by Washington finally paid off when the other 18 members of the Paris Club agreed to wipe 80 percent of the US$39 billion (euro30 billion) that Iraq owes them. The cut represents about a quarter of Iraq's total international debt. But the three-stage deal announced Sunday also represents a significant concession by countries that opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, such as France, Germany and Russia, which had expressed reluctance to forgive much more than half of Iraq's debt. French President Jacques Chirac said in June that going any further could be seen as unfair to poorer countries with heavy international liabilities but without Iraq's oil wealth. In a sign that a compromise was near, however, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel publicly endorsed an 80 percent write-off on See more...
By A on France reconstruction of Iraq on 11/22/04
A submarine that briefly intruded into Japanese waters last week was tracked by U.S. Navy P-3C patrol planes off Guam until it moved to waters near Okinawa, Japanese government sources said Tuesday. A Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter tracks a submarine that entered Japanese waters last week some 300 km north-northwest of Miyako Island. Tokyo determined the sub to be Chinese and lodged a protest. On Tuesday, Beijing acknowledged it was a Chinese vessel and expressed regret over the incident. Based on the positional information obtained by the P-3Cs, which tracked the nuclear-powered sub from the Guam area, Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol planes dropped a sonobuoy for detecting submerged submarines and confirmed the vessel's location south of Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture early Nov. 9, the sources said. The submarine continued to travel submerged from the Guam area until MSDF planes and vessels stopped tracking it Friday in the East China Sea, they said. It is See more...
By A on Japan tested by China on submarine incursion on 11/19/04

Profesor Lim corrected a mistake confusing China's Han (nuclear) and Kilo (non nuclear) submarines. The Kilos are the ones purchased from Russia. [See NBR forum of the day]
By A on Japan tested by China on submarine incursion on 11/16/04

As of the end of July 2004 the Japanese navy had observed 30 Chinese vessels operating within Japan's claimed EEZ since the beginning of the year. None had observed the agreement of February 2001 that advance notice should be given to Japan, Professor Robyn Lim writes. I think I am correct in assuming that this is the first time that a nuclear-powered Han submarine, purchased from Russia, has been found to be engaging in such activities. China is presumably planning a blockade of Taiwan. It should not plan on the Japanese Navy remaining in port should it seriously contemplate such an option. With all the recent talk about Nanjing, Yasukuni etc, we also need to "Remember the Queenfish", because the Japanese Navy most assuredly has not forgotten it. (The US submarine that lurked in the Bashi Channel in the latter stages of WW2 and sank an inordinate amount of Japanese shipping.) A China in possession of Taiwan would have open access to the deep waters of the Pacific, and thus See more...
By A on Japan tested by China on submarine incursion on 11/16/04
Princess Sayako, the 35-year-old only daughter of the Japanese emperor, is set to marry a commoner and leave the imperial family, Japanese media said on Sunday. The princess, known informally as Nori, is engaged to marry a Tokyo local government official, 39-year-old Yoshiki Kuroda, next spring, the reports said. The couple both graduated from the private Gakushuin University in Tokyo, and share an interest in wildlife, media said. Nori, youngest of three children of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, spends part of her time working at an ornithology research institute. An official at the Imperial Household Agency said he could not comment on the reports before an official announcement, which has been delayed to late December out of consideration for victims of an earthquake in Niigata. A series of powerful tremors beginning on Oct. 23 have killed about 40 people, injured thousands and left many homeless in the region. Reports of the engagement come almost a year after Nori's See more...
By A on Japan Emperor say: no one should be forced to face... on 11/14/04
What led Iris Chang to the suicide? 01:37 2004-11-12 Iris Chang, a best-selling Chinese American author was found dead at the age of 36. She had been discovered in her car along Highway 17 just south of Los Gatos with a gunshot wound to her head, Santa Clara County authorities said on Wednesday. Authorities believe the injury was self-inflicted. Chang had recently been treated in hospital after suffering from depression. Chang was renowned for her books about the Japanese occupation of China as well as the history of Chinese immigrants in the US, as the BBC News reported. "I'm just shocked," said retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing, who was helping Chang with a documentary on aging U.S. military veterans who had suffered as POWs in Japanese captivity during World War II. "She was a real woman warrior trying to fight injustice." Stunned friends and colleagues sought to understand what might have led to the suicide of an energetic and passionate young woman who See more...
By A on Iris Chang, a Chinese American writer found dead i... on 11/14/04
Shinkansen not safe? First-ever bullet train derailment reveals safety-system's limitations Japan Times says. The Toki No. 325 bullet train on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line was running at 210 kph when the first of a series of powerful quakes hit Niigata Prefecture shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday evening. A derailed bullet train lies askew Sunday on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line near Nagaoka Station in Niigata Prefecture. Although none of its 151 passengers were injured, the train was derailed -- the first time a bullet train left the tracks since such trains began running with the launch of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line in 1964. "The train was running normally, when suddenly it swayed badly, and I almost hit my face on the back of the seat in front of me," said Eiichi Nakamura, 59, a company worker from the city of Niigata. Japan's railway engineers have taken great pride in the shinkansen system's record of no major accidents. But Saturday's quakes showed that even the shinkansen See more...
By A on Japanese Prime Minister enjoys movie festival whil... on 10/25/04
According to Sankei Shimbun on October 9, 2004, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has deployed 10,000 troops to three areas near the Duman River, the border between China and North Korea, in order to prevent North Korean troops from escaping in groups from North Korea on October 4. The Sankei also recently reported that 30,000 Chinese troops have been deployed near the Aprok River along the border starting early this month. In particular, it is remarkable that these kinds of troop movements could arise from rumors of the possibility that armed North Korean troops might be escaping in groups from North Korea. Article: http://tinylink.com/?aWQsT9kW8g http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004101179748
By A on South Korean MP reports US military attack capabil... on 10/11/04
Location of Kashi, west China, Uygur Land. Click: http://encarta.msn.com/map_701513639/Kashi.html
By A on RSF states: French equipment jam foreign broadcast... on 10/9/04
French officials were prepared to provide as many as 15,000 troops for an invasion of Iraq before relations soured between Washington and Paris over the timing of an attack, according to a new book published in France this week. According to the book, Chirac Contre Bush: L'Autre Guerre (Chirac Versus Bush: The Other War), France's General Jean Patrick Gaviard visited the Pentagon in December 2002, three months before the war began, to discuss a contribution of 10,000 to 15,000 troops and to negotiate landing and docking rights for French jets and ships. Military officials in France were interested in joining in an attack because they felt that not participating with the United States in a major war would leave French forces unprepared for future conflicts, according to Mr Thomas Cantaloube, one of the authors. But the negotiations had not progressed far before French President Jacques Chirac decided that the US was pushing too fast to short-circuit inspections by United Nations See more...
By A on The final judgment: Iraq had no WMD when war began... on 10/7/04
China's People's Liberation Army moved more than 30,000 troops to areas along the Yalu River, which serves as the country's border with North Korea, earlier this month, the Sankei Shimbun said Thursday, quoting a source close to Japanese and Chinese relations. The source was quoted as saying the move is a prelude to a major drill or an arrangement to stem the inflow of a rising number of North Koreans at the border, according to the newspaper. It said, quoting another source, the North Korean army has dispatched elite forces along the river in response to China's move.
By A on The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (USA) on 10/7/04
US tapped Chirac's phones during Iraq wrangle, says book A new book examining the antagonistic relationship between Presidents Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush claims the United States bugged the French leader's telephone to find out his moves in opposition to the Iraq War. American surveillance listens in to what happens in the privacy of the Elysee Palace (Chirac's offices), according to several French sources in the military and intelligence fields, the book, Chirac Contre Bush: L'Autre Guerre (Chirac Against Bush: The Other War), said. Released today, the work by French newspaper journalists Henri Vernet and Thomas Cantaloube said that an unidentified former senior French military official found out about the bugging during a Washington lunch with a Bush administration official. The relationship between your President and ours is irreparable on the personal level.
By A on Report states there were no WMD in Iraq on 10/7/04


Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Mission médicale française en Corée du Nord


Témoignage rare et descriptif sur la situation économique, humanitaire et médicale de la Corée du Nord

Je l'ai écrit sur mon blog, je l'ai dit à la radio, des médecins français ont souvent porté leur magistère dans des pays en crise tels que la Corée du nord. Le professeur Roux depuis 2008, le professeur Debré fin octobre, non loin de la date de décès d'un célèbre Maréchal nord Coréen. Bernard Debré est ancien Ministre de la Coopération du gouvernement Édouard Balladur: "Je ne pense pas qu’il faille voir dans cette mission nord coréenne que j’ai menée avec le Professeur Michaël Peyromaure, mon collaborateur, un aspect de politique étrangère mais plutôt un aspect médical. Cela dit, si ma présence peut être d’un quelconque apport pour la paix, j'en serai très heureux."

Une autre façon d'aborder le dossier nord Coréen.

Son Blog http://bit.ly/gMnw1K

Et aussi Bernard Debré, avec une radio française, sur la péninsule de Corée http://bit.ly/gSgZaS

Président d'honneur pour la France de la Fondation NKFC (Nginn Karet Foundation for Cambodia). Il s'occupe en outre de 14 villages au Cambodge, responsable d'un service de chirurgie. Il a participé également à de nombreuses opération humanitaires en Afghanistan, dans différentes régions de la Chine, en Côte d'Ivoire, au Mali, en Mauritanie, au Gabon. Responsable d'un service d'opérations à Moussaferabad au Cachemire pakistanais. A l'occasion de tremblements de terre en Algérie, en Chine, au Pakistan, il a participé à des mission de secours d'urgence.

Bernard Debré est né le 30 septembre 1944 à Toulouse (Haute Garonne). Chirurgien urologue et homme politique. Frère jumeau de Jean-Louis Debré, actuel Président du Conseil constitutionnel, fils de Michel Debré, ancien Premier ministre et rédacteur de la Constitution de la Vème République, et d'Anne-Marie Lemaresquier. Petit-fils de Robert Debré, un des fondateurs de l'UNICEF, créateur de la pédiatrie moderne. Marié et père de quatre enfants.

En mission en Asie du sud-est

Compte rendu de son récent déplacement à Pyongyang

"... à la fin du mois d'octobre. J’ai apporté un certain nombre de matériels très sophistiqués à l'hôpital de Pyongyang, matériels que je leur ai offerts. J’ai également visité des hôpitaux.

Cette mission médicale en Corée du Nord rentre dans le cadre des nombreuses missions que j’ai réalisées dans un certain nombre de pays difficiles. Je suis allé opérer en Afghanistan, au Cachemire pakistanais, à Mussaferabad où j’avais un hôpital qui malheureusement a été détruit par un tremblement de terre. Je vais ainsi dans un certain nombre de pays pour apporter un petit espoir de paix en opérant et en offrant du matériel.

Curieusement, dans cet hôpital nord-coréen, certains services sont assez modernes, en particulier celui de la radiologie. D’autres, au contraire sont très pauvres, tel celui d'urologie qui manque de beaucoup de matériel moderne. C’est pour cette raison que j’en ai apporté et que je continuerai à en envoyer. Heureusement, les médecins sont assez ouverts et il n’y a pas trop de morosité de leur part.

Ils sont très avides de contact avec l’Occident. Si vous aviez vu la joie qu’ils ou elles montraient, c’était pour moi un bonheur de leur faire plaisir ainsi d’ailleurs qu’aux malades modestes que j’ai opérés. Je le referai si les Nord-Coréens me le demandent. Cette mission n’avait évidemment pas de but autre que médical. Cela dit, évidemment, j’ai rencontré des « personnalités ».

J’ai été reçu par les autorités du pays, du moins certaines (Ministres de la santé, des affaires étrangères, le Président du Présidium suprême, qui est le Président officiel du pays, sinon le dirigeant, et d’autres encore dont je ne peux pas donner les noms). Il était évident que j’allais être invité, d’autant que j’avais soigné à Paris des personnalités nord-coréennes importantes. Ce pays entre dans une phase semble-t-il de semi-transition, il est très avide de s'ouvrir mais il y a encore loin de l’espoir à la réalité.

La Corée du Nord est un pays extrêmement pauvre où il y a peu d’électricité, peu ou pas de chauffage, évidemment peu ou pas d’étrangers mais j’ai eu la surprise de voir que le nombre de voitures à Pyong Yang avait augmenté de façon assez significative, qu’elles étaient d’ailleurs presque toutes allemandes et j’ai vu également la présence d’agronomes ou de techniciens allemands dans la périphérie de Pyong Yang.

J’ai pu visiter une ferme ultra moderne, écologique qui était assez spectaculaire, cultivant les choux, les salades, les tomates, les fraises et également les poissons. On a l’impression que la Corée va bouger d’autant plus qu’elle va y être obligée, son grand voisin la Chine étant de plus en plus distant vis à vis d’elle.

Le président Nicolas Sarkozy avait mandaté Jack Lang pour, semble-t-il, ouvrir une mission politique. Je ne suis pas sur que cette mission ait été couronnée de succès, d’après ce que l’on a pu me dire. Jack Lang avait une lettre du Président Nicolas Sarkozy qu’il devait remettre à M. Kim Jung Il qu’il n’a pas pu voir, il a donc gardé la lettre ce qui a vexé les autorités.

Cela dit, une fois encore il faudra évaluer l’intérêt qu’il y a à ouvrir cette mission politique. Personnellement je pense qu’il serait nécessaire de l’ouvrir en accord avec les autres pays européens (qui sont, eux, tous représentés en Corée du Nord). Je ne suis pas sûr qu’exclure par un embargo tant de millions de Nord-Coréens qui sont dans la misère soit une très bonne chose. Je pense que le dialogue sincère et quelquefois ferme vaut mieux qu’un embargo.

En tout état de cause, il est difficile pour un médecin de voir une population si démunie et j’ai été assez fier et content de pouvoir apporter un peu de soulagement à ceux qui en avaient besoin. Je ne pense pas qu’il faille voir dans cette mission nord coréenne que j’ai menée avec le Professeur Michaël Peyromaure, mon collaborateur, un aspect de politique étrangère mais plutôt un aspect médical. Cela dit, si ma présence peut être d’un quelconque apport pour la paix, j'en serai très heureux.

C’est en partie par un effort de coopération sanitaire que les pays s’ouvriront par les médecins, par les administratifs des hôpitaux, par les infirmiers qui nous côtoient. Je leur apporte, et mes équipes également, un espoir. Ils l’apprécient d’autant que, comme je vous l’ai dit, certains d’entre eux ont été formés en France."
Pr. Bernard DEBRE (Ancien Ministre)

Fin de citation. L'intégral du texte ici http://bit.ly/fA0qmB


Sources: Blog Debré, RF, Agences, Reporter's notes


Monday, December 06, 2010

Wikileaks makes everybody a Big Brother!


Welcome to the Digital Age!
2000 files will come out of the quarter of millions of leaked data (picture na.sott.net)

Privacy's gone! If Internet users are not barbarous, immoral policies might be and today we fear that we are followed or watched. Some fear they're not. The Wikileaks machine, a subtile use of information and electronic tools, opened a new path to journalism and this success of WikiLeaks was carved from a block of solid newspapers and magazines.

It made the joy of millions of people. World diplomats included. But it won't calm the "Stasi" minded censurers and governments who do not know how to handle the leakage. A generation gap... and a change in how the media bounce back thanks to Internet tubes!

The governments see great investigative powers, the individuals ended their solitude, the activists opened new boulevards of revolts. Everyone is projected on the screen. Bill Gates said that with entering in the Internet "our world and our lives would never be the same again." Even President Obama won the White-house thanks to his campaign largely by entering into the social networking.

I checked a few articles and recent excerpts on the Wikileaks and they do not describe the issue of morality or outlaws, but try to catch up with people's ideas about what is behind the story. I read 6 informative items. Extract and URLs quoted:


1 Wikileaks founder and hacker Julian Assange is in danger and his project Wikileaks is under attack. A week after the release of the largest number of classified information, the CableGate, prominent politicians even expressed their wish to "hunt him" or see him "executed".

As international reaction testifies, the repercussions of Cablegate are massive. Wikileaks is changing the world without invitation, and the political establishment does not approve. A global witch-hunt for Julian Assange, Wikileaks’ co-founder and figurehead, is now in full swing. Assange should be “hunted” and “executed” say prominent American politicians, who want him extradited and charged under the country’s 1917 Espionage Act, a law introduced to combat socialists and pacifists during the Red Scare. “Obama should put out a contract [to have Assange assassinated] and maybe use a drone or something,” said Professor Tom Flanagan, a former advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. While in France, the birthplace of the Enlightenment, Wikileaks was described as a “threat to democracy”.

Similar public statement ["hunt him"ndag] was issued by Amazon after kickeing WikiLeaks off of their cloud service. In response to these intermediary censorship efforts against it, Wikileaks is campaigning for donations to xxx, a support that might be very important if a legal procedure from US is already on its way, as rumored. Wikileaks shared with their followers on twitter all the difficulties they face to keep their work strong. Human Rights advocates such as Reporters without borders expressed their support, also digital activists like La Quadrature du Net in France. Many people decided not to shop on Amazon this Christmas while other even canceled their Amazon accounts and the Facebook Site: Boycott Amazon for dumping Wikileaks has so far gathered more than to 7000 “likes”. As John Perry Barlow said on Twitter “The field of battle is WikiLeaks. You are the troops.”


2 WikiLeaks – Will The Whistle Blowing Website Survive?

WikiLeaks has come under more pressure this past week, after the release of military documents that could endanger lives. First Amazon dropped WikiLeaks from their servers, after a DOS attack. Now PayPal, which is owned by eBay, is claiming that WikiLeaks, has violated their acceptable use policy. In addition the WikiLeaks owner is facing allegations of sexual assault and a warrant has been issued for his arrest."The move on Friday came after Amazon and other web providers cut off hosting access for the cyber-terrorist organization. PayPal has permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity. We’ve notified the account holder of this action."


3 The Obama administration

Perhaps realizing that it has no legal case with regard to the general public, has apparently decided to use a politics of reputation and threats of government reprisals to convince people not to read, discuss or reprint the Wikileaks cables.

The State Department seems to be trying to scare young people in international relations fields off from reposting wikileaks cables at their Facebook pages, warning them it could harm their future job prospects with the government. That policy is just plain petty, and I certainly wouldn’t want to see someone become a young foreign service officer who did not have the initiative and curiosity to get into this trove of documents on US foreign policy.

The Obama administration is forbidding government employees to call up the wikileaks documents on government computers, including those at the Library of Congress and on military bases. That policy is just plain stupid, and unworthy of Obama’s renowned intellect. I don’t want my intelligence analysts not knowing about the fall-out from the wikileaks cables!

Corporations such as IBM have established web sites for employee suggestions and criticisms, risking that potentially embarrassing things might be said and made public. But such open communication also benefits innovative firms, making sure that the intelligence and experience of each employee is available to it. It may well be that the whole secretive model of government that was adopted under the impact of the two world wars and the Cold War is not only dysfunctional but doomed, and that State should move to a new system of open cables. After all, it is only very occasionally that there is anything in these communications that would come as a surprise to a knowledgeable observer, and in those few cases where secrecy was desirable, then the message could be sent over secure and encrypted channels on a need to know basis.


4 Leaks to 'damage spy networks'

The release by WikiLeaks of a mass of sensitive diplomatic cables has triggered a major reassessment of intelligence. It has sparked a revision of the way intelligence is gathered and shared by Australia, the US and other key allies. Veteran former Australian diplomat Richard Broinowski told The Australian yesterday the leaks had potentially compromised intelligence-sharing networks. "In my view, what we're seeing now through WikiLeaks is a fundamental weakness in the system," Mr Broinowski said. "Unless the Yanks can fix it up, I think it's possibly more disadvantageous for us than it is advantageous to share so much information - including our own with the US. "Frankly, this is of serious concern and if I were in a sensitive post, I'd be quite worried about the extent to which my classified signals might be going back to different people who might be compromised." Australia plays a key role in the southern hemisphere in collecting information, which is shared with its allies, over a massive area ranging from Africa and Eastern Europe across Asia to the mid-Pacific.


5 What's the biggest effect of Cablegate? Is there a potential risk of putting WikiLeaks on a pedestal?

Global Times (GT) reporter Chen Chenchen talked to William Beeman, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at The University of Minnesota, USA.

Q How do you see the diplomatic effects of Cablegate?

A Cablegate has revealed a few things that we suspected, but hadn't yet confirmed. For instance, that the US was trying very hard to convince other nations to take prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison and was bargaining with China and Russia to try to get them to agree on sanctions against Iran. But for the most parts, those documents in the latest Cablegate were really just opinions and statements of diplomats or rulers about world affairs. So, when you hear a US diplomat say Iran is a danger, that doesn't mean Iran is really a danger, it only means that the person said Iran was a danger. It's very important for us to understand that, because in the US and other parts of the world, especially with regard to Iran, people took these statements as proof that Iran is a nuclear danger. In many cases, the statements were also the kind of statements that people wanted to hear. If you have a diplomat saying something to the US, it's very likely that the diplomat was thinking, "Well, the US wants to hear this." So he made that statement, but that doesn't mean he believed it.

Q: Some former FBI agents say that if WikiLeaks had existed before 2001, perhaps 9/11 would have been prevented.

A: That might be true. That's a very interesting statement, because we knew about the people who carried out the 9/11 and about their organization, in all the way backed in 1998 before the Bush administration came into power. The Bush administration was warned about Al Qaeda. But they ignored the warnings. And these warnings were turned into secret documents. If these documents were made public before 2000, then it was very likely that people who carried out the attack would have been discovered.

Q: Are developing countries, with less social stability, more vulnerable to the effects of leaked information? What if false information was included?

A: It could happen. The question we all have to answer is the consequences of information of such value that you are willing to risk: Some degrees of social unrest in order to have that critical information. When printing the WikiLeaks documents, the newspapers didn't eliminate the names of the individuals who were named in the documents. This could put these people in some danger. The next question is what is the limits of such information freedom. The public certainly would like to have information that reveals the wrongdoing, like crime, misappropriation of funds, or politicians lying to their own people. Such information should be known by the public. Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was recently arrested in Thailand. He provided illicit weapons for illicit government operations. I think people in those countries need to know that. But there are people working as undercover operative with their organizations. If their names were revealed, they might be killed.
Extracts from http://bit.ly/h5k5Q2


6 The WikiLeaks story has gripped the international community. Hacker Julian Assange and his nonprofit have divulged a flurry of fascinating secret diplomatic cables that have been recounted in dozens of news stories in recent weeks. WikiLeaks lives on, leaving a tabla of lessons to be learned. 3 lessons from this incident:

1) Independent groups can successfully compete with governments in the cyber realm: This has been something that information warfare theorists have argued for some time, but Wikileaks has truly driven the point home. The world's inability to completely shut down WikiLeaks servers illustrates that a small but determined cyberwarfare team can compete with the best information-warfare machines on the globe. What's more, the built-in characteristics of the Internet that make it so resilient also make it impossible for a single entity to truly control information.

2) It's easier for independent players to gain mainstream-media attention than ever before: WikiLeaks has spoonfed its files to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Der Spiegel, among other top-notch publications. Those publications were cautious in what they published and careful to vet the articles. But whether Julian Assange needed them to get his message out more than they needed him to generate page views is a completely open question. Scoops are more important than ever in an era of slice-and-dice consumption of bits and bytes by empowered consumers. So a story as newsworthy as these from WikiLeaks, more than ever before, will find an audience. What's more, the time to deliberate whether to cover a story or not has shrunk tremendously from the Watergate era.

3) It will be increasingly difficult to undermine financial support for these types of independent players: One of the Bush Administration's biggest successes in its efforts to combat so-called rogue states was a financial strategy: It froze key North Korean leaders' bank accounts, making it difficult for them to access hard currency or move their money. But it's far harder to do that with an organization as nebulous as WikiLeaks. In the last few days, PayPal finally shut down the donation account for the site. But the move amounts to window dressing. PayPal makes it easy to collect money with any random email address, but other online payment services also offer this opportunity -- and new social payment systems, such as those emerging in video games, are rapidly evolving. Like the Internet itself, these systems make it easier to conduct transactions and harder to track their origin and terminus. Mobile payment systems will soon add yet another layer of complexity by making it harder to track the location of transactions.


Last but not least, what does the blogosphere rumors about? Here, an example in: "Assange Is Headed For Prosecution For WikiLeaks Disclosures" by Sherwood Ross http://bit.ly/i0gFSw

Limelight

Sources quoted and Reporter's notes.

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Wikileaks makes everybody a Big Brother! by Asian Gazette Blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



Saturday, December 04, 2010

Governor Election: Okinawa opposed to US bases relocation



Opposition to US military bases in Okinawa, even from the Buddhists priests...

"Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Sunday’s gubernatorial election on the subtropical Japanese islands of Okinawa was the absence of a candidate supported by Minshuto, the ruling party: We’re not against the Japan-US Security Treaty but under the Security Treaty is the Status of Forces Agreement. If you look at it closely, it protects US forces in Japan, but has nothing to do with Okinawa. That’s the lie." Shoukichi Kina, Head of the DPJ Minshuto’s Okinawa chapter.


Is Japan heading to an alliance on more equal terms?

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima called Thursday on Prime Minister Naoto Kan to have a key U.S. Marine base relocated outside the prefecture. Nakaima, who was reelected as the prefecture chief Sunday, made the call in his first face-to-face discussion with Kan at the prime minister's office.

"As I have stated clearly in my campaign pledge with regards to the Futenma (base), I have called for the government to rethink its bilateral accord with the United States and to move the base outside the prefecture, so I ask for your help in making this come true". Kan, for his part, said that the central government will handle with the matter with caution and implement the relocation plan based on the bilateral accord with the United States. Okinawa has for decades hosted U.S. military forces stationed in Japan and the presence visible and costly is refused today by the nationals.

The Japanese have stated for decades their hostility to the presence of American military bases but this trend accelerated in the last 20 years, often provoked by crimes committed by US military units, by disturbance with the impact of jets training especially during the night, and more generally the Okinawans have a sentiment of being invaded against their will. Last but not least, some question the posture of the foreign army dispatch on Japanese territory for missions that are not related to the defense and protection of the archipelago as seen with the station of Marines units.


Therefore the relocation of Futenma to Henoko bay is one of the hottest topics today. Main question on the agenda for the locals is: Does Japan need these Marines units who are based in Okinawa while their targets have been Afghanistan or Iraq wars, as it was Vietnam in the 60's and 70's? Japanese have shown their contempt to such policies and already answered: No. But the US-backed successive governments since LDP ruling and nowadays with the Kan Maehara administration-- the latter being regarded locally as a DPJ hawk and closely associates to the US military industrial complex-- have not answered to the desire of the population and the oppositions of locals, an entity made of citizens and ordinary islanders.

The Okinawa Governor election was important in this context. Result is that opposition to base relocation within Okinawa appears as the result of the recent election according to Japanese media: "In the Okinawa gubernatorial election held on November 28, candidate Iha Yoichi, who has led Okinawans’ strong opposition to the relocation of the U.S. Futenma base within the prefecture, fought a close race with Nakaima Hirokazu, who reversed his previous position approving the base transfer within Okinawa right before the election campaign. 75% of voters decided against base relocation within Okinawa island. Iha: "As long as bases stay in Okinawa, base issues will continue to remain as the main task we have to solve. Our struggle will continue, so let us continue to work together. We will prevail."

During the election campaign, Iha promised that he will represent to the Japanese and U.S. governments local residents’ consensus calling for the closure and removal of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City. Exit polls taken by Kyodo News and NHK had showed: 68.9 percent (Kyodo) or 75 percent (NHK) of respondents said they cannot accept the construction of a new U.S. base in the Henoko district, Nago City, in Okinawa.

Kyodo’s exit poll indicates that about 40 percent of those who are opposed to the Futenma base transfer within the prefecture voted for Nakaima. The Okinawa Times in its editorial on November 29 pointed out, “The conservative camp could no longer carry out the election campaign by calling for the base transfer within the prefecture, which it had long accepted." Voters will not allow any turning back on the base issue.



Fundamentally, the problem is related to the existence of the Japan US military alliance. Voices opposed are heard but seldom known abroad. Here is a summary of their opinions:

"The Japanese government willingly allowed the United States to freely use its bases in Okinawa and maintain its nuclear strike capability even after Okinawa’s return to Japan in 1972. This was revealed in diplomatic documents on negotiations of Okinawa restoration released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 26. The people of Okinawa, at the time of the restoration to Japan, had strongly called for an Okinawa without nuclear weapons and military bases.

However, the Defense Agency’s document dated January 25, 1969 indicates the Japanese government’s recognition at that time that Japan needs to keep U.S. bases in Okinawa as a stronghold for U.S. strategic attacks and for U.S. nuclear retaliation. The government also allowed the United States after Okinawa’s return to freely use its bases in Okinawa for any operations, even if they had nothing to do with Japan’s defense.

U.S. declassified documents have shown that the United States demanded that Japan continuously accept the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in Okinawa and secure the right to freedom of the use of bases there even after the return of Okinawa. The newly-released diplomatic documents have revealed that Japan was adjusting its policies in accord with the dictates of the United States."

Locally the Okinawa islanders do not have much hope in the present government as the Asia Times wrote in this story: "Okinawans try to vote US base out"
AsiaTimes Report: http://bit.ly/fQ4LUw


Last pieces to quote, 2 VDO from different editorial contents
First the URL of Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/hhKrEY
And 2nd, Press TV by PanOrientNews Corp.



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Governor Election: Okinawa opposed to US bases relocation by Asian Gazette Blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Sources: Kyodo, Okinawa Times, Akahata, Rengo, Washington Post,
Press Tv, Al Jazeera, Youtube, NHK, Reporter's Notes