The key players in the US House and Senate move to tighten trade with China, hat-tip: Dawn’s Early Light

L’Ombre de l’Olivier offers his explanation of the recent turmoil in North East Asia. It blames the 1895 European intervention in the Sino-Japanese brokered peace treaty for Japan’s caustic nationalism of the 20th century. Interesting.

Japundit explains why this recent apology by PM Koizumi for Japan’s war crimes isn’t going to satisfy the Chinese, just like the previous 17 didn’t.

What would have been the lead story out of China last week (were it not for the Japan riots) and will be this week, is the arrival of the Taiwan People’s First Party (PFP) secretary-general Chin Chin-sheng. The intensity of the rhetoric between the island and the mainland is usually a good indication of the high level of progress that is happening in the backroom negotiations.

The amount of money that would be lost if China’s relationship between Taiwan or Japan worsened is staggering. This has not been lost on Bo Xilai, the Chinese Minster of Commerce. Economic growth is vital for the CCP to maintain domestic stability and so economic ties to Japan, Taiwan, and most importantly America will trump all other issues.