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BEIJING (Reuters) ? China’s state media stepped up its criticism on Saturday of the United States’ planned strategic shift into Asia, accusing Washington of being a “troublemaker” responsible for mounting tensions in the region.

The commentary in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily echoed the angry comments by the Global Times newspaper on Friday following U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement that Washington will expand its military presence in Asia.

The U.S. defense strategy was flagged late last year and is a clear sign of U.S. commitment to the region. U.S. allies and analysts said, however, that China had nothing to fear from the new policy.

In the commentary, Rear-Admiral Yang Yi wrote “it was clear that the new defense strategy was targeting China and Iran.”

“Since the United States began emphasizing in 2009 its ‘return to Asia’, a variety of events that have threatened regional security have happened, turmoil in the region has occurred one after the other,” Yang wrote in a front-page commentary.

“Anyone with an inkling of strategy in their minds can easily see who the region’s security ‘protector’ is, who is the ‘troublemaker’ for the region’s security.”

Comments in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, a small circulation edition of the Communist Party’s official paper, do not amount to government policy positions, but broadly reflect official thinking.

China is concerned Washington’s new defense posture, as it turns away from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is aimed at encircling it.

The Global Times, a popular tabloid with a nationalist bent, said on Friday that China must not give up on its security presence in Asia.

Still, China’s response to the United States’ push to shore up its security presence in Asia was largely restrained last year. After disputes with neighbors in 2010 and with an impending succession preoccupying the Communist Party, Beijing policy-makers have avoided diplomatic fireworks.

The United States has said it will seek to work with China but will continue to raise security issues like disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion dollars in trade sails annually.

The sea is claimed wholly or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. China is seen as increasingly assertive on the high seas, with several incidents in the region in the past year.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120107/pl_nm/us_china_usa_military

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(Reuters) ? North Korea’s neighbors and its old enemy the United States appealed for stability on Monday after the death of leader Kim Jong-il plunged one of the world’s most heavily militarized regions into fresh uncertainty.

Kim suffered a heart attack while travelling on a train, North Korean state media said, setting up the autocratic, well-armed and nuclear-ambitious state for only its second leadership change since the Korean war ended in an uneasy truce in 1953.

State media anointed Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jung-un, as the “great successor,” but little is known about how he would run a reclusive state with more than a million troops and missiles that Washington fears could one day reach U.S. shores.

Many experts have warned that a transition could lead to a period of instability. In a reminder of the permanent volatility on the divided peninsula, South Korean media reported that the North test fired a short-range missile off its eastern coast.

The North’s biggest ally, China, expressed grief over Kim’s sudden death and, in an important signal, threw its weight behind his apparent successor, Kim Jung-un.

President Barack Obama and South Korean and Japanese leaders spoke by telephone to discuss the situation, which was unfolding well into Washington’s night.

South Korea, still technically at war with the North, put its military on alert after the news of the death, Yonhap news agency said, and President Lee Myung-bak convened its National Security Council. Seoul’s Defense Ministry said there were no signs of any unusual North Korean troop movements.

The White House released a short statement committing itself to working with both South Korea and Japan, two of its closest Asian allies, to ensure continued stability in the region.

“We remain committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a short written statement.

In Europe, British Foreign Secretary William Hague reflected the West’s hope that a change in leadership could draw the reclusive state out of its decades of isolation.

“This could be a turning point for North Korea. We hope that their new leadership will recognize that engagement with the international community offers the best prospect of improving the lives of ordinary North Korean people,” he said.

“PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED”

Japan convened a special security meeting, although it stopped short of putting its own armed forces on special alert.

“Prime Minister (Yoshihiko) Noda instructed ministers at the security meeting to prepare for the unexpected, including financial matters, North Korea’s domestic issues and border affairs,” Japan’s top government spokesman said on Monday.

Noda told reporters it was important that Kim’s death did not adversely affect peace on the Korean peninsula. He also said there was no change in Japan’s demand for the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades ago.

Many experts believe the Kim dynasty would collapse without support from its main ally China. There was initially a yawning four-hour silence from Beijing before it praised Kim Jong-il.

“We feel incomparably anguished, and offer our deepest condolences to the entire North Korean people,” China’s top leaders said in a statement read out on state TV, which called Kim a “great leader.”

“We are sure that the North Korean people will abide by Comrade Kim Jong-il’s will and unify around the Korean Workers’ Party, and under the leadership of Comrade Kim Jung-un turn their anguish into strength.”

President Dmitry Medvedev sent condolences from Russia, North Korea’s other giant neighbor and friend. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters: “Of course, we hope that the loss which has befallen this amicable people will not affect the future development of our friendly relations.”

China, Russia, the United States, Japan, South Korea and North Korea make up the so-called “six-party talks,” a troubled dialogue aimed at persuading Pyongyang to scrap nuclear programs and give up ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.

The talks collapsed in 2008, though there have been some fruitless diplomatic efforts since then to revive them.

EU foreign policy chief said the European Union was monitoring the situation.

Australia, which fought for the South in the Korean war and maintains diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, called for calm, especially around the demilitarized zone separating the Koreas.

“It’s at times like this that we cannot afford to have any wrong or ambiguous signaling,” said Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who visited the heavily fortified border zone last month.

“This is the single largest militarily armed zone anywhere in the world and we need to ensure that calm and restraint are exercised in an exceptionally difficult period of transition.”

Taiwan set up an emergency committee within its Foreign Ministry to monitor developments on the Korean peninsula.

(Reporting by Reuters bureau; Writing by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel and Peter Graff)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/nkorea/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111219/wl_nm/us_korea_north_reaction

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A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Monday, Sept. 5, 2011. Asia-Pacific stocks took a beating early Monday after jobs data out of the U.S. last week revived fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Monday, Sept. 5, 2011. Asia-Pacific stocks took a beating early Monday after jobs data out of the U.S. last week revived fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

LONDON (AP) ? World stock markets took a beating on Monday after a report showed U.S. companies stopped hiring in August, reviving fears that the world’s largest economy is heading back into recession.

The lack of hiring in the U.S. last month surprised economists, who were expecting about 93,000 jobs to be added. Previously reported hiring figures for June and July were revised lower. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent ? it has been above 9 percent in all but two months since May 2009.

The jobs crisis has led President Barack Obama to schedule a major speech Thursday night to propose steps to stimulate hiring.

Traders waited for signs that the U.S. Federal Reserve might take action at its September meeting to support the economy ? perhaps a third round of bond purchases, dubbed quantitative easing III or QE3, analysts said.

“Right now the possibility has increased,” said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. “I think they have to do something. The markets are expecting QE3.”

Amid the uncertainty, traders pulled out of any risky investments ? such as stocks, particularly financial ones, the euro and emerging market currencies ? to pile into safe havens: U.S. Treasuries, the dollar, the Japanese yen and gold.

European shares slumped in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 2.2 percent to 5,176.06. Germany’s DAX fell 3.2 percent to 5,361.60, and France’s CAC-40 tumbled 3.6 percent to 3,036.17.

Markets in the U.S. were closed for the Labor Day holiday.

Renewed jitters over the eurozone debt crisis increased tensions in Europe.

An international debt inspectors’ review of Greece’s finances was interrupted on Friday amid disagreements over the country’s deficit figures. The review will be resumed in about 10 days and must be completed in order for the country to receive its bailout loans at the end of the month.

Signs that the Italian government’s commitment to its austerity program is wavering have also shaken investors. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government has backtracked on some deficit-cutting measures, prompting EU economic officials to urge it to stick to its promised plan.

The economic indicators, meanwhile, were mostly downbeat. Although retail sales in the eurozone rose unexpectedly in July, a survey of the services sector showed a slowdown across the continent for the fifth consecutive month.

The purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone showed the services sector was still growing ? unlike the manufacturing sector ? but only barely. That will add pressure on the European Central Bank to keep interest rates on hold when it meets this week.

“Indeed, the latest data and surveys suggest that the ECB’s eventual next move could actually be to trim interest rates, although it is likely to need sustained eurozone economic weakness and possibly even GDP contraction to get the ECB to perform a U-turn on interest rates,” said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

In Asia, indexes closed sharply lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average sank 1.9 percent to close at 8,784.46, with sentiment also undermined by the persistent strength of the yen, which hurts exporters.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 2.4 percent to 4,141.9, and South Korea’s Kospi slid 4.4 percent to 1,785.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 3 percent to 19,616.4. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines also were down.

Mainland Chinese investors worried about the economic outlook dumped shares, dragging Shanghai’s benchmark Composite Index down 2 percent to 2,478.74, its lowest close in 13 months. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 2.4 percent to 1,097.07.

Investors seeking a relatively stable store of value during times of economic turbulence in financial markets have been scooping up gold, sending its price up 50 percent over the past year.

In currencies, the euro weakened to $1.4142 from $1.4187 in New York late Friday. The dollar was roughly flat at 76.82 yen. Last month, the dollar fell under 76 yen, which was a new post-World War II high for the Japanese currency.

Benchmark oil for October delivery was down $1.37 to $85.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude fell $2.48 to settle at $86.45 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery was down $1.20 at $111.13 on the ICE Futures exchange.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok and Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-09-05-World-Markets/id-57af7b4196d641858238ee1496df6759

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