A dangerous double act

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT BENIGNO AQUINO III made it crystal clear in Tokyo that he does not care whether Japan nullifies the pacifist nature of its current constitution, nor what that means for regional peace and stability, as long as his country can get Japanese money and military hardware.

Confucius teaches culture

The great Chinese sage Confucius might have pardoned the American Association of University Professors for their criticism of Confucius Institutes, as it probably stemmed from either fear or ignorance of other cultures, perhaps both.

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Hong Kong will always be part of China

A large number of Hong Kong residents are taking part in an informal - mainly Internet-based - poll to "determine" whether they want to have a more direct say in nominating candidates for the post of Hong Kong's "chief executive" in future elections. More than 700,000 Hong Kong residents had voted until the third day of the 10-day "referendum" organized by "Occupy Central" forces.

Obama faces the great Iraq dilemma

US President Barack Obama, as senator from Illinois, opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2002 (much before it was actually invaded), and his dim view of this unnecessary war hasn't changed. Instead of criticizing and opposing Obama (as his sliding popularity shows), people should be applauding his consistency of vision and decision-making integrity. Obama didn't get the United States into the mess that is the "war on terror"; on the contrary, he courageously proposed to get Americans out of it. So people who say the US president has no vision or consistency or is decision-adverse are almost psychotically counterfactual.

Letters

Little boxes... look just the same

From the Chinese press

Stop illegal buildings' racket

Showing sincere intent

During his visit to the UK, Premier Li Keqiang once again conveyed to the world China's commitment to peaceful cooperation

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Monetary policy fine-tunes to market

On May 30, the State Council made a detailed plan for the financial work during the second half of the year. The plan seems to stress enhancing the capability of financial services for the real economy, but in fact it sets the tone for the central bank's monetary policy in the second half of the year. It is also innovative in strengthening "directional drop quasi", lowering the financing cost, and optimizing bank credit.

Focus on food safety

WILL THE AMENDMENT TO THE FOOD SAFETY law be able to deal a heavy blow to offenders who incorporate unsafe addictives into the food we eat and thus relieve people of their worries about what they put into their mouths? This was the question on the minds of many when the draft amendment to the law adopted in 2009 was presented to the session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee for review on Monday.

Tokyo's despicable denial

Despite strong protests and denouncements at home and abroad, Tokyo once again stirred up confrontation with neighboring countries by accusing South Korea of influencing the content and wording of the Kono Statement, said a Xinhua News Agency commentary.