Jonard Ubalde

A pan-Asian energy market

Xinhua. Unless emerging economies in Asia undertake radical changes in their energy policies, there will be graver environmental problems and wider disparity between the rich and the poor in the region, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In the latest report of Asian Development Outlook 2013, released on Tuesday in Hong Kong, the Manila-based ADB said that Asia could be consuming more than half of the world energy supply by 2035 and without major changes, carbon dioxide emissions will double.

“Asia must both contain rising demand and explore cleaner energy options, which will require creativity and resolve, with policymakers having to grapple with politically difficult issues like fuel subsidies and regional energy market integration,” the ADB chief economist said.

A paper, entitled Emerging Economies and the New Energy Security Agenda, released last year, also pointed out the importance of crafting a new energy security scenario that would address the effects of the rapid growth of Asian economies.

“The influence of the emerging economies on the energy markets is becoming as important as that of the developed economies. The new energy security agenda to be implemented in the coming years will have to deal with this scenario,” the study said.

Hush. Hush.

CNBC. China has been less vocal than other major economies in recent weeks in voicing discontent about a sharp slide in the yen, which means stronger currencies elsewhere. Yet, Beijing is taking action of its own to head off unwanted pressure on the yuan to appreciate.

The Chinese yuan, also known as the renminbi, fell on Thursday to its weakest level since late December. In fact, the yuan has been creeping down since January 14, when it hit a record high against the U.S. dollar at about 6.21, as China’s central bank steps up its intervention in the foreign exchange markets to curb yuan appreciation.

ASEAN-Japan Ties

THE JAKARTA POST. Forty years ago, in 1973, a nascent ASEAN comprising the association’s five founding members met with Japan to iron out issues relating to synthetic rubber production. It was an important undertaking. The ASEAN countries represented latex producers and Japan was the largest producer of synthetic rubber.

The talks were successful. Thereafter, ASEAN-Japan ties blossomed to form one of the most important partnerships for both sides.

Throughout the four decades, the ASEAN-Japan partnership underwent several stages of development, markedly broadening at each stage.

The first decade, the period following ASEAN’s founding in 1967 to the pre-Fukuda Doctrine of 1977, was predominantly economic, with Southeast Asia providing raw materials to fill the ravenous appetite of Japanese industries. Financial assistance through Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) was another distinct feature. Interaction, however, was largely bilateral as a formative ASEAN was undergoing consolidation. 

The oil crisis in 1973, the violent Malari incident (anti-Japan rally in Jakarta) in 1974 and end of the war in Vietnam in 1975 served as an impetus for a more dynamic ASEAN and a strengthened relationship with Japan.

The first ASEAN-Japan summit took place in 1977. A year earlier ASEAN began projecting its cohesiveness through holding a summit meeting. The second summit was organized in 1977 and Japan’s prime minister Takeo Fukuda was invited, becoming the first Japanese head of state to attend an ASEAN-Japan summit.

The ensuing Fukuda Doctrine set another historic milestone. Seizing the upbeat momentum, Fukuda crafted Japan’s new foreign policy toward Southeast Asia. Emphasizing a heart-to-heart understanding, the Fukuda Doctrine became the anchor of Japanese diplomacy toward ASEAN.

Japan’s heightened involvement with ASEAN was significant in light of a perceived disengagement of the US from the region in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Post-Fukuda doctrine, ASEAN-Japan relations, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, saw broadened ASEAN-Japan relations to include politico-security cooperation. 

A sea of change in the political landscape of the region was taking place during this period. After the admission of Brunei in 1984, ASEAN had incorporated the entire Southeast Asia region by the end of 1990. This fast-tracked ASEAN from peaceful coexistence to shared 
destiny.

Freedom of Speech in China

Taipei Times. Hundreds of people, including students and white-collar workers, gathered outside the Southern Weekly’s office (7.01.13), holding signs and shouting slogans calling for freedom of speech, political reform, constitutional governance and democracy.

The demonstration came after censors on Thursday last week blocked a New Year article in the popular liberal newspaper calling for the realization of a “dream of constitutionalism in China” to protect people’s rights.

“I feel that the ordinary people must awaken,” one of the protesters, Yuan Fengchu, said by telephone. “The people are starting to realize that their rights have been taken away by the Communist Party and they are feeling that they are constantly oppressed.”

Last week’s act of censorship caused journalists and their supporters, including students at nearby Sun Yat-sen University, to write open letters expressing their outrage.

“Our yielding and our silence have not brought a return of our freedom,” Hong Kong University’s China Media Project quoted the students as saying in their petition on Sunday. “Quite the opposite, it has brought the untempered intrusion and infiltration of rights by [government] power.”

The protests had turned into a real-time melee in the blogosphere on Sunday. The newspaper’s economics and environmental news staff appeared to say they were on strike, while editors loyal to the government shut down or took control of the paper’s official microblogs. One widely distributed staff declaration with 90 signatures said the publication’s microblogs were no longer authentic.

Searches for “Southern Weekly” on one popular microblogging site were blocked yesterday.

(Source: taipeitimes.com)

Western sanctions have more than halved Iran’s oil exports in ‘12

Reuters. India plans a cut of 10 percent to 15 percent in imports of Iranian oil in the next fiscal year and will buy even less if Tehran does not lower prices to compensate for bigger borrowing costs as sanctions make banks reluctant to finance oil trade, sources said on Wednesday.

Iran’s top Asian oil buyers — China, India, Japan and South Korea — have all cut imports after the United States and the European Union targeted oil sales with sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The sanctions have more than halved Iran’s oil exports this year, costing Tehran up to $5 billion a month in lost revenue.

“Next year our import will be 10 percent to 15 percent less than this year,” said a government official with direct knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

“If they don’t cut prices, the decline will be substantial. Indian refiners have genuine problems with credit availability.”

India, the world’s fourth-biggest oil importer and Iran’s second biggest client, relies on outside supplies for 80 percent of its oil needs.

Daniel Inouye

The veteran lawmaker, who voted on some of the most historic US legislation of the last half century including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, died of respiratory problems after spending recent weeks in hospital, his office said on Monday.

His last word was “Aloha”, Inouye’s office said in a statement shortly after Senator Harry Reid announced the death on the Senate floor.

Inouye, who was chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee which oversees federal spending, had represented Hawaii in Congress from the day the Pacific island chain officially entered the union on August 21, 1959.

He was elected to the Senate in 1962, eventually earning the title president pro tempore — the designation for the chamber’s longest-serving member which put him third in line for the US presidency, behind the vice president and speaker of the House of Representatives.

(Source: news.com.au)