Japan's anti-piracy tactics

Since I live in the same town as Capt Richard Phillips, it was of great interest to see that pacifist Japan has passed a law allowing the Japanese navy to fire on Somali pirate vessels. Japanese warships are allowed to protect any commercial ship, not just those under Japan's flag.

According to the BBC, "previously, the Japanese force was only allowed to escort Japanese vessels, or those with Japanese cargoes or crews, and use weapons only for self-defense."

Within Japan there are concerns over expanding the role of Japan's military.

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/asia-pacific/2009/06/2009619124944697820.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8109242.stm

Foreign investment in China

Foreigners may want to rethink their drop in investment in China.

A "W" shaped recovery is a better investment than the projected U.S. "L" shape recovery.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/06/20096154332867464.html

Impact on Shanghai

Acceptance may grow as the economic impact of these events increase.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/world/asia/15shanghai.html

No Tweets about Tiananmen Twentieth

I was wondering how a country that so heavily censors Internet traffic would handle Twitter ... they simply block it altogether.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8078538.stm