Japan’s last nuclear power plant will close in April as reactors are shut for safety checks. Meanwhile, the mayor of Hakodate on Hokkaido called on the Industry Ministry to freeze a nuclear plant slated for the town of Oma in Aomori prefecture.
Investigators found that 5,200 metric tons of gravel contaminated in the Fukushima nuclear disaster was shipped to over 200 companies, making its way into apartment buildings, schools, and temporary homes for evacuees.
The Chinese government’s new white paper outlining its plans for the next five years in space broaches placing a human being on the Moon—as tensions with US allies again mount in contested areas of the South China Sea.
Amid concern about stability on the Korean peninsula after the passing of Kim Jong Il, few recall that the DPRK saw a brief wave of protests over economic conditions back in February—just as the Arab Spring was gaining ground.
Online accounts say three were killed as security forces used batons and tear gas to clear a blockade of an expressway in Shantou prefecture by hundreds of protesters opposing construction of a coal-buring power plant.
Security forces have blocked roads leading to the village of Wukan, in China’s Guangdong province, after residents chased out police. Villagers are demanding the central government intervene over a land grab by local officials.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company released a study finding that melted fuel at the Fukushima No. 1 reactor has nearly reached the steel wall under the concrete at the base of the containment structure—with a full meltdown possibly imminent.
Waves of wildcat strikes continue to spread across China’s industrial heartland, with factories paralyzed in Guangdong province and job actions spreading to Zhejiang and Shanghai. Management has been forced to negotiate with workers’ councils.
In factory towns across China's Pearl River Delta industrial zone, thousands of workers walked off the job in response to belt-tightening measures, while thousands of local peasants marched on government offices to protest land seizures.
With Occupation protests now underway in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and even Hong Kong, authorities in mainland China have banned web search terms such as “Occupy Beijing,” “Occupy Shanghai” and “Occupy Guangdong.”
President Barack Obama announced his decision to send 2,500 troops to Australia days after a congressional advisory panel, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, warned of Beijing’s growing military presence in Asia.
Farmers staged sit-in protests at the regional offices of lawmakers of South Korea’s ruling party, demanding no ratification of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Days earlier, anti-FTA protesters stormed the parliament building in Seoul.
