[whiteperil] Sean: Weekend news

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Posted by Sean:
Weekend news
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1206423631.shtml


   We watched the blow-by-blow election coverage this weekend, but there
   was very little suspense: the KMT candidate started trouncing the DPP
   candidate very early, and his lead never let up.
   Now he's made his [1]opening diplomatic salvo:

     Fresh from victory as Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, has
     posed what may be a dilemma to the United States - by requesting to
     make a trip to Washington, which may earn the fury of China if
     allowed.
     US President George W. Bush was among the first to congratulate Ma
     [Ying-jeou], seen as [more of] a moderate on the China question
     than outgoing, independence-leading president Chen Shui-bian, whose
     rule roiled ties with both Beijing and Washington.
     But allowing the Harvard-educated lawyer Ma to visit Washington
     could anger Beijing even though he said he planned to come before
     his May 20 inauguration, said Brad Glosserman of Pacific Forum, a
     Hawaii-based think tank.
     "Slim and none are the chances of that (trip)," Glosserman said.
     "It's very clearly an attempt by the president-elect of Taiwan to
     raise his political profile," he said.
     The United States, he added, would not risk angering China,
     especially at a time when Beijing was grappling with a bloody
     revolt in Tibet.
     ...
     John Tkacik, once the chief of China analysis in the State
     Department's bureau of intelligence and research, said he felt Ma's
     trip would not anger China.
     "No, I really do not think so," he said.
     "I think China is very pleased with the election of Ma and (Vice
     President-elect) Vincent Siew and as long as they come before the
     inauguration and they still have colour of 'unofficiality,' then I
     think China would put up with it," he said.

   Ma was the candidate who, of course, advocated more of an open market
   with the PRC. He won handily, but not a few Taiwanese are worried
   about what an influx of Chinese labor and outflow of corporate
   management could mean for Taiwan.
   *******
   This weekend was Japan's most recent incident with a stabby lunatic: a
   man in Ibaraki Prefecture [2]knifed eight people before being
   detained. Luckily, only one was wounded fatally.
   The suspect, Masahiro Kanagawa, was already wanted in connection with
   another fatal stabbing of a stranger. The police were [3]looking for
   him but failed to intercept him:

     Kanagawa was put on a nationwide wanted list Friday after his
     bicycle was found near Miura's home. Police posted about 170 police
     officers at train stations on the Joban Line and the Tsukuba
     Express Line starting from the first train runs of the day Sunday.
     But they acknowledged that the patrol at Arakawaoki Station failed
     to catch Kanagawa before the stabbing spree.
     "We regret that (our efforts to prevent the second incident) ended
     in a result like this," Takashi Ishii, a senior officer of the
     Ibaraki prefectural police said in a news conference at Tsuchiura
     Police Station on Sunday. "We did our best by taking such measures
     as placing police officers at train stations and Net cafes."
     Police said the reason they didn't spot the suspect was because
     their picture of him was two years old and he was wearing a knitted
     hat and silver-rimmed glasses when he arrived at the station.
     "It was an unlucky time for us because there were many passengers
     getting on and off the trains," the officer said.

   This is the sort of case, I think, that highlights the difficulties
   that the detectives investigating the Lindsay Hawker murder are
   probably [4]facing. Melting into a crowd on a train platform isn't
   difficult at all. Neither is disguising yourself sufficiently to go
   unnoticed by people in shops. Kanagawa claims he had actually intended
   to target people at his old elementary school, the Asahi article says.
   That would be chilling enough anywhere, but in Japan it resonates
   especially because of the 2001 stabbing of two dozen children at an
   Osaka school.

References

   1. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/337057/1/.html
   2. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080325TDY01304.htm
   3. http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200803250092.html
   4. http://whiteperil.powerblogs.com/posts/1206094144.shtml