IN BRIEF (Page 11)

China

Beijing, Seoul to start research

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Jan 29 that China is willing to participate in a proposed joint research project with South Korea on historical issues involving Japan. Hua said Japanese leaders have been behaving perversely, visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, denying the fact that so-called comfort women were forced into prostitution, and approving the revision of history textbooks that whitewash Japan's wartime atrocities. Japan wants to honor its history of invasion and colonization, said Hua, but this attempt is being strongly opposed by the international community.

United States

Biden warns Abe of Yasukuni visit

Vice-President Joe Biden asked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a telephone call in December not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, but Abe refused, the Kyodo News Agency reported on Jan 29, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources. The nearly one-hour conversation took place two weeks before Abe visited the disputed site, where 14 Class-A war criminals of World War II are enshrined. In responding to the report, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that the difficult situation of Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors is caused by Abe

Yemen

Chopper crash injures 5 soldiers

Five soldiers were wounded in a military helicopter crash in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa on Jan 29, a government official told Xinhua. The military helicopter crashed near an oil pipeline in the Oselan region in Shabwa, the local government official said on condition of anonymity.

Thailand

25 Chinese hurt in bus rollover

A total of 25 Chinese tourists were injured in a bus accident in northern Thailand's Chiang Mai province on Jan 29, according to the Chinese Consulate-General in Chiang Mai. A bus carrying 25 tourists from southwestern China's Sichuan province collided with a van at around 11 am local time and rolled over, the official said.

Malaysia

Naval patrol report denied

Malaysia's navy chief has denied a report that three Chinese navy ships patrolled an area claimed by the Southeast Asian country, saying the Chinese exercise took place hundreds of kilometers to the north in international waters. Xinhua News Agency and the People's Liberation Army Daily reported that an amphibious landing craft and two destroyers patrolled the Zengmu Ansha, also known as James Shoal, on Jan 25, 80 km off the coast of Malaysia's Sarawak state, and held a ceremony in which they swore to safeguard Chinese sovereignty.

China Daily-Reuters-Xinhua-AFP

(China Daily 01/30/2014 page11)