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Posts Tagged ‘Japan’

Ngược lại, những phiên tòa về dân sự ở Pháp mà tôi biết cho phép độ trễ trong việc xác định lời khai có phải là chứng cứ hay không. Quan tòa muốn biết càng nhiều càng tốt về những tình huống đằng sau hành vi phạm tội khiến người ta phải đứng trước vành móng ngựa. Tất cả đều chỉ là những tin đồn, tin truyền miệng. Quan tòa muốn biết những loại người nào dính dáng vào vụ án (thông thường ở Mỹ điều này không xảy ra trước khi buộc tội). Nói cách khác, phiên tòa ở Pháp có yếu tố context cao hơn ở Mỹ. Nghịch lý nữa là hệ thống của Pháp đặt quyền lực vào tay thẩm phán. Điều này cũng đúng với những khía cạnh khác của văn hóa Pháp có tính tập trung hóa cao [highly centralized], nhưng nó làm mất đi một yếu tố để cân bằng context. Ở Mỹ, pháp luật có thể low-context nhưng bồi thẩm đoàn thì không. Xin nhắc lại là tôi không có ý định đưa ra nhận xét rằng hệ thống nào tốt hơn, chỉ là chúng không những khác nhau mà còn tượng trưng cho văn hóa của nước đó và nhiều thứ khác. Read the rest of this entry »

Theo báo điện tử the New York Times

Vào năm 1990, Nhật Bản, đối mặt với vấn đề thiếu nhân công cho các ngành công nghiệp, đã cấp hàng loạt visa lao động đặc biệt cho cư dân ở vùng Châu Mỹ La Tinh. Lý do vì sao lại là Châu Mỹ La Tinh? Trong thế kỷ trước, ông bà và cha mẹ người Nhật đã di cư đến Brazil và một số nước lân cận khác để lập nên các đồn điền cà phê nên giờ đây vùng này có khá nhiều con cháu hậu duệ của Nhật. Read the rest of this entry »

@ The Australian's Pocket cartoon

When leaders of developed countries was gathering this week seeking for a more stable and regulated global economy, they also had to pay attention to the rattling from another hemisphere in the days leading to the North Korean rocket launch. And when Pyongyang took action, at last, on Sunday, the issues that concern global leaders the most are not only the present economic security but also the ever-present nuclear security.

Notwithstanding Pyongyang’s claim that its rocket was carrying a communications satellite using for space exploration, a peaceful purpose, others including Tokyo, Washington and Seoul argued last week that the launch would violate the UN Security Council Resolution 1718 and thus raise a potential security confusion in not only the Korean Peninsula but also north Asia. This resolution claims North Korea not to conduct any more nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile, resulting from its launch of seven missiles into water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan on July 5th 2006 and its nuclear test in October of that year.

These opposers, including Kevin Rudd, believed that this time’s rocket was an upgraded version of the Taepodong-2 tested unsuccessfully in July 2006, which could reach Alaska or even Australia’s Darwin, and even though the payload was a satellite, the multi-stage rocket technology and guidance systems used to place the satellite into orbit were the same with those of intercontinental ballistic missiles; therefore, its launch breached the UN Resolution 1718. That’s the reason why the launch has raised so much fear of mass destruction weapon proliferation and the leaders of those countries seemed to have held their nerves cautiously.

On the contrary, North Korea used this launch to establish of a legal basis of the Outer Space Treaty that it signed in March. The Treaty guarantees that any nations have freedom of outer space exploration and scientific investigations. While Washington and its allies in Tokyo and Seoul strongly believed that the launch was really a test for a ballistic missiles, Russia indicated that ‘it would be more cautious and even sympathetic to the view that a satellite launch did not infringe Resolution 1718′ (@ The Australian newspaper). So it is possible that Moscow might put a veto to any ban of UN Security Council against Pyongyang.

On this issue, Japan was likely the most nervous one. First, Japan prepared to launch its own counter-missile attack to shoot down any rocket out of its sky. There were two Aegis destroyers with ship-to-air missiles in the Sea of Japan last week. Ground-to-air missiles were also deployed for intercepting any incoming rocket. However, Japan took no action as North Korea’s rocket flew over its main island because no debris seemed to fall towards its territory. Secondly, Japanese government was criticised for issuing two false alarms the day before the actual launch. This mistake was raising concerns among its opposition politicians about the government’s infant crisis management.

Japanese action prepared to show any aggressive stance on this issue indicated not only the approach taking on its self-defence but also its concerns over the North Korea’s potential of being a nuclear-capable power. And this possibility is a dangerous implication for not only Japan but also the Western, which would need to take more active and serious approach to reach the consensus of nuclear disarmament.