Filipinos fear TV black-out during Pacquiao fight

Asian Defense News: MANILA (AFP) - – Filipinos fear a television black-out as they gather to watch local hero Manny Pacquiao defend his world welterweight title on Sunday and the fraying national power grid feels the strain.

The National Grid Corp acknowledged that the electricity network, already subject to regular black-outs, could face difficulties as millions of Filipinos try to tune in for the bout against Ghanaian challenger Joshua Clottey at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

Filipinos fear TV black-out during Pacquiao fight

Pacquiao, who is seven-time world champion and current World Boxing Organisation welterweight king, is revered across this impoverished archipelago and has even launched a parallel political career -- he is mounting a campaign for parliament.

But with infrastructure tottering, power cuts have become common this year and many Filipinos fear they could miss the fight, due around noon Sunday (0400 GMT).

"The system may not be able to accommodate the anticipated rise in power demand on March 14, the day of the boxing match of Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey," the National Grid Corp said.

Experience shows that "demand increases by as much as 100 megawatts whenever Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao has a televised boxing fight" as television sets are switched on and shopping malls, cinemas and restaurants open early to show the fight, the corporation said in a statement.

Manila and its surrounds were hit by rotating short-duration power cuts for the second day running on Saturday due to problems at three generating plants on the main island of Luzon, while a fourth plant ran out of fuel, the firm said.

The entire southern island of Mindanao, Pacquiao's home region, was 602 megawatts short of demand Saturday due to drought depleting hydroelectricity plants.

But Joe Zaldarriaga, spokesman for Manila Electric Co, expressed hope that the main population centre would have enough supply so its 20 million-odd customers would be able to watch and enjoy the fight.

"Basically, the demand on Sunday is much less compared to ordinary days," he told Manila radio station DZBB.

"Hopefully, the entire nation would be able to watch the National Fist tomorrow," he said, using Pacquiao's local moniker.

Strong 6.6 magnitude quake hits northern Japan

Asian Defense News: TOKYO, Japan (AFP) - – A strong, 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan Sunday afternoon, but no tsunami warning was issued, US and Japanese authorities said.

The quake struck at 5:08 pm (0808 GMT) in the Pacific off Fukushima prefecture, 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of Tokyo, the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Japanese Meteorological Agency said in separate statements.

Strong 6.6 magnitude quake hits northern Japan

"It is possible that the tidal level would change slightly. But there is no worry about damage," the Japanese agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The quake was strong enough to sway skyscrapers in Tokyo, where national television networks had issued flash warnings of a possible large quake before the tremors could be felt in the capital.

The USGS put the quake's depth at 26.4 kilometres (16.4 miles), while the Japanese agency said it was 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) deep.

Some train services in the region, including the Shinkansen bullet trains, stopped immediately after the quake, but gradually resumed normal operations.

Ahead of visit, Obama reconsiders Indonesia military

Asian Defense News: WASHINGTON (AFP) - – The United States is looking to break a taboo and train an elite Indonesian force linked to past abuses, as President Barack Obama courts the world's largest Muslim-majority nation with a visit.

With its moderate form of Islam and democratization since the 1990s, Indonesia is increasingly seen in Washington as an ideal partner. Obama spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, giving him a propitious personal connection.

Ahead of visit, Obama reconsiders Indonesia military

Ahead of Obama's trip next week, top officers from Kopassus -- a military unit that focuses on counter-insurgency and intelligence -- visited Washington to discuss a resumption of training, people with knowledge of the talks said.

The United States cut off support for Kopassus under the so-called Leahy Amendment in 1997, which prohibited training to foreign military units involved in human rights abuses.

Ernie Bower, Southeast Asia director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, said military ties were "absolutely fundamental" if the Obama administration was serious about transforming ties with Indonesia.

"Indonesia was going to be the India of the Bush administration -- a country with which they move to a whole new place because they understand it and put a real focus on it," Bower said, referring to former US president George W. Bush's drive to end decades of mistrust with New Delhi.

The talks with Indonesia come amid unease in some circles in Washington about the strong role of the military in the two historic US allies in Southeast Asia -- the Philippines and Thailand.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that the United States was discussing a re-engagement with Kopassus "that's in accordance with our laws, our values and advances our interests."

"Indonesia's democratic reforms over the past decade have been pretty remarkable and its greatly improved human rights record has enabled us to engage more broadly," Whitman said.

The United States ended overall sanctions on the Indonesian military in 2005, the same year that Australia resumed joint training with Kopassus.

But US rights advocates remain deeply uneasy about Kopassus and few expect a deal before Obama leaves on his trip to Guam, Indonesia and Australia on March 21.

Kopassus spearheaded the anti-communist pogrom in 1965 that killed up to 500,000 people. It was seen as a key force in the 1975 invasion of East Timor and the 1999 violence when the territory voted for independence.

Senator Patrick Leahy, who authored the 1997 law that bears his name, stood firm against training. He said that Indonesia must first bring Kopassus members to justice for past abuses.

"It is important that the people of Indonesia see that justice is possible, and that impunity for committing serious crimes is no longer acceptable," said Leahy, a member of Obama's Democratic Party from Vermont.

"Indonesia has made progress in its democracy and in curbing some of the excesses of its military. But the past must not be forgotten," Leahy said.

One compromise under consideration is for the United States to train only younger Kopassus members.

But T. Kumar, the international advocacy director of Amnesty International USA, said Indonesia should try senior officers involved in past wrongdoing.

"Kopassus has such a bad record that to hold no one accountable in a meaningful way sends the wrong message to others," Kumar said.

He called for Obama to meet survivors of the 1965 mass killings. The United States is widely suspected of supporting the pogrom, which future strongman Suharto launched in response to rumors of a communist coup.

Obama moved to Jakarta in 1967 when his mother married an Indonesian. Obama later wrote of a climate of fear in the country in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father."

Walter Lohman, director of the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, said Obama should focus less on achieving deliverables in Indonesia and embrace the symbolism of his visit.

"He brings in a lot of personal gravitas and personal connections that are very well regarded in Indonesia. No question, he's hugely popular there," Lohman said.

"His challenge -- is he going to be able to leverage that into broader respect for the US and the presidency itself."

Shanghai's new-look airport ahead of World Expo

Asian Defense News: SHANGHAI (AFP) - – Shanghai this week will unveil a brand-new airport terminal -- the latest mega-infrastructure project to be completed as the Chinese city prepares to welcome tens of millions of visitors to Expo 2010.

Shanghai's new-look airport ahead of World Expo

The city has spent 2.2 billion dollars on the makeover of Hongqiao airport, located just 35 minutes from the city centre, and made it part of a ultramodern travel hub linking metro, high-speed rail and a proposed maglev train line.

The new terminal, which opens on Tuesday, is four times as big as the old one, which was designed for 9.6 million passengers a year but handled more than 25 million in 2009. It will handle 90 percent of the flights out of Hongqiao.

"The old airport was bursting at the seams," said Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) vice-president Li Derun. "The new terminal can effectively reduce delays and alleviate pressure on Pudong Airport during the Expo."

Pudong Airport is Shanghai's main airport for international flights while Hongqiao is used mainly by domestic airlines, and officials expect the vast majority of the 70-100 million visitors expected at Expo to come from China.

The new terminal and a second runway are part of a chain of projects that will see up to 400 billion yuan (58 billion dollars) in direct and indirect investment in the Expo, according to state media -- more than the 290 billion reportedly spent on the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In contrast to British architect Norman Foster's dragon-like new Beijing Airport terminal built for the 2008 Summer Games, the designers of the Hongqiao facility said they did not set out to create an architectural landmark.

"We weren't looking for an extravagant or gigantic building. Instead we were looking for a user-friendly and customer-oriented design," said chief architect Guo Jianxiang, who also designed Pudong's seagull-like second terminal.

"Hongqiao in Chinese means rainbow bridge, so we incorporated the image of the bridge and rainbow's seven colours into the terminal," he told AFP.

Hongqiao is expected to handle 40 million passengers a year by 2015, with three-quarters of them using the new four-level terminal.

A direct metro line into the building also opens on Tuesday, linking the airport to the city by subway for the first time.

Shanghai is spending nearly 300 billion yuan to expand its subway system alone, adding hundreds of kilometres (miles) of new tracks for new and extended lines ahead of Expo, which runs for six months.

High-speed trains are due to start arriving at the airport from the eastern city of Nanjing on July 1, with trains from Beijing scheduled for next year.

The extension of Shanghai's 30-kilometre (20-mile) magnetic levitation, or maglev, line to link Hongqiao and Pudong airports may take longer after residents expressed concern about the environmental impact of the project.

"Expo is an opportunity for the city to upgrade its current transportation system to a world-class level, and to put the city on a global stage," said Zou Yi, chief analyst from Wisenova Investment Consultancy.

Some have questioned the need for added airport capacity, with Pudong operating at roughly half its capacity in 2009, welcoming 32 million passengers.

But the city is looking to the future, with two additional runways on the drawing board for Pudong, amid projections that it will eventually welcome 80 million passengers a year.

"Overcapacity is a concern in the short term, but given Shanghai's double-digit economic growth, the target is not too difficult to reach," said Li Lei, Beijing-based aviation analyst for Citic Securities.

China faces tough year, Wen rejects yuan pressure

Asian Defense News: BEIJING (AFP) - – China faces a difficult year as it works to maintain economic growth and spur development, but it will not be bullied into changing its exchange rate policy, Premier Wen Jiabao said Sunday.

In a wide-ranging press conference at the end of China's annual session of parliament, Wen said Beijing was not ready to withdraw stimulus measures put in place in late 2008 to pull the world's third-largest economy out of the crisis.

China faces tough year, Wen rejects yuan pressure

He also warned Beijing would not cede to foreign pressure to boost the value of its currency, nor would it allow the United States to push it too far on the thorny issues of Taiwan and Tibet.

"This year is going to be the most complicated year for the economy," Wen told hundreds of reporters gathered at the Great Hall of the People for his only formal press conference of the year.

"We will maintain the continuity and stability of our macroeconomic policies," he said, adding that as circumstances change, Beijing would make every effort to make its policies "more flexible".

The Communist government launched a 586-billion-dollar stimulus package in late 2008 to boost domestic demand as a way to make up for falling exports, which plummeted when key US and European markets tumbled into recession.

Beijing has since returned to double-digit growth -- a blistering 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- prompting fears of economic overheating and asset bubbles that could later lead to a bust.

Chinese consumer prices rose for the fourth straight month in February while new lending slowed sharply, official data showed last week -- leading analysts to predict Beijing still had time to implement tough tightening measures.

Wen said that for now, the focus remained on consolidating China's recovery.

"The economic situation remains complicated... even if the world economy were to pick up, the main global economic problems have not completely disappeared," he said.

China's trade partners have repeatedly called for Beijing to allow the yuan to appreciate, saying it is kept artificially low to boost exports.

US President Barack Obama last week called on China to adopt a "market-oriented" exchange rate policy, which he said would make an "essential contribution" to rebalancing the world economy after the crisis.

But Wen rejected those calls, and said the currency's value was not to blame for foreign trade deficits.

"We are opposed to the practice of engaging in mutual finger-pointing among countries or taking strong measures to force other countries to appreciate their currencies," said Wen.

"This kind of practice is not in the interest of the reform of the renminbi (yuan) exchange rate regime."

The premier said China had made "strong efforts" since the outbreak of the international financial crisis to keep the yuan at a "stable level".

The value of the yuan has become a major sticking point in relations between China and the United States, which are badly strained over a number of other issues including a spate of trade disputes, Tibet, Taiwan and Internet freedom.

Wen launched a fresh salvo in the war of words with Washington, saying US arms sales to Taiwan and Obama's talks last month with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, at the White House had violated China's sovereignty.

He reiterated China's position that responsibility for the problems in Sino-US relations did not lie with Beijing, but with Washington.

"We hope the US will face the issues squarely and take concrete steps" to remedy the situation, he said.

"A peaceful US-China relationship makes both countries winners," Wen said.