Not So Fast on Japan's Chernobyl

From The Blog Prof, "Vlog: Fukushima is No Chernobyl, and Here's Why":

RELATED: At New York Times, "Data Show Radiation’s Spread; Frantic Repairs Go On at Plant." And more at Memeorandum.

Legacy of Hiroshima Heightens Fears in Japan

As we discussed the earthquake and tsunami on Monday in class, I noted that Japan was the world's only country that had previously faced a nuclear holocaust. The potential (and now real) meltdown of nuclear reactors there has an enormous historical significance for the Japanese, beyond the comprehension or experience of any other nation. At WSJ, "Hiroshima's Legacy Heightens Fears":

TOKYO—Mikiso Iwasa was 16 years old when the atomic bomb struck Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. He was in the backyard of his house, a little less than a mile away from ground zero. He was smashed onto the ground by the force of the bomb.

Mr. Iwasa escaped, but the deadly effects of radiation caught up with him later: He suffered from skin cancer twice as well as prostate cancer. He lost his hair. His nose and gums bled. He developed rashes all over his body.

For the only country ever to have experienced the atomic bomb and the horrific effects of concentrated radiation exposure, the nuclear crisis escalating in Japan has had a crippling effect on the nation's collective psyche.

Japan Quake Toll May Reach Tens of Thousands

AP has that tsunami video that was replayed over and over on cable this afternoon.

And there's dramatic coverage at Los Angeles Times, "Japan quake toll could number in tens of thousands":

Reporting from Sendai, Japan, and Tokyo - With a death toll expected to climb into the tens of thousands, more than a half-million people displaced and a nuclear crisis continuing to unfold, rescuers converged Monday on Japan's devastated earthquake zone while workers in relatively unaffected areas struggled to return to offices and factories.

A new explosion rocked the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, wire services reported, sending a plume of smoke into the air. Japan's nuclear safety agency said it could not confirm whether the hydrogen explosion at the plant's No. 3 reactor had led to an uncontrolled leak of radioactivity.

The government reported Monday that radiation levels again rose above legal limits outside the crippled nuclear complex at quake-battered Fukushima, about 150 miles north of Tokyo, where authorities have been pumping seawater into overheated reactors to try to cool them down. Several other nuclear installations were under close watch for potential problems.

Across a wide swath of earthquake-hit territory, hundreds of thousands of hungry survivors roused themselves from a third cold night spent huddled in darkened emergency centers, cut off from rescuers, aid and electricity. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 1.9 million households were without power. Rolling blackouts to conserve energy were scheduled across much of the country on Monday.

The developments there have been rapid fire and overwhelming. Danger of radiation fallout is now exacerbated by news of a volcanic eruption. And the New York Times reports, "Minister Calls Disaster Country’s Worst Since WWII." See also, "Radioactive Releases in Japan Could Last Months, Experts Say." (More at Hot Air and Memeorandum.)

WikiLeaks Reveals China's Fear of the Web

I've been meaning to post this piece at Foreign Affairs, "The Digital Disruption," by Google's Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen. What's interesting is that the authors hit most of the key themes of the digital revolution in world politics, but with WikiLeaks topping the charts this last week, something was missing, and I held off on posting it. Now though we've got the clearest indication of how China views web technology in the New York Times' report, "Cables Discuss Vast Hacking by a China That Fears the Web." (At Memeorandum and Techmeme.) The Times indicates the members of China's Politiburo Standing Committee (almost as high as one goes in the Chinese party government) directed hacking operations against Google's servers in the United States. This seems almost unreal from the perspective of power politics and traditional concerns over geographic spheres of influence and market shares in key industrial sectors. But this is the information age and Chinese officials don't like what they're finding. Schmidt and Cohen put some of this in perspective in their Foreign Affairs article:

Realists describe international relations as anarchic and dominated by self-interested states. Although there is little doubt about the dominant role states will and should play in the world, there is a great deal of debate about exactly how dominant they will be going forward. In these pages in 2008, Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, described a "nonpolar world" that is "dominated not by one or two or even several states but rather by dozens of actors possessing and exercising various kinds of power." In the interconnected estate, a virtual space that is constrained by different national laws but not national boundaries, there can be no equivalent to the Treaty of Westphalia -- the 1648 agreement that ended the Thirty Years' War and established the modern system of nation-states. Instead, governments, individuals, nongovernmental organizations, and private companies will balance one another's interests.

Not all governments will manage the turbulence left in the wake of declining state authority in the same way. Much remains uncertain, of course, but it seems clear that free-market and democratic governments will be the best suited to manage and cope with this maelstrom. The greatest danger to the Internet among these countries -- perhaps best defined as the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- will be the overregulation of the technology sector, which has thus far thrived on entrepreneurial investment and open networks.

Perhaps no country has more carefully considered the implications of allowing its citizens access to connection technologies than China. The regime's goals are clear: to control access to content on the Internet and to use technology to build its political and economic power. Beijing has arrested online activists and used the country's thriving online bulletin boards to spread its propaganda. All of this is part of a strategy to ensure that the technology revolution extends, rather than destroys, the one-party state and its value system. Around the world, the Chinese model of Internet control has been copied by nations such as Vietnam and actively promoted in Asian and African countries where China is investing heavily in natural resources. And Beijing has moved to co-opt international institutions, such as the International Telecommunications Union, in order to gain global credibility and rally allies behind its efforts to control its citizens' communication.

But thanks to the work of activists and nongovernmental organizations operating inside and outside China, Beijing has learned that its attempts to establish total control of the Internet will not always work. The regime has recently been caught off-guard by the use of cell phones, blogs, and uploaded videos to encourage labor protests and report on industrial accidents, environmental problems, and incidents of corruption. The July 2009 demonstrations by ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang drew international media attention even after Beijing completely shut down all Internet connections in the region; Uighur activists used social networks and so-called microblogs to spread news among targeted audiences abroad, including the Uighur diaspora. These kinds of cat-and-mouse games will no doubt continue, but in the short run there is doubt that Beijing's attempts to control access to information will largely succeed.

Myanmar Frees Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi (VIDEO)

The main story's at LAT, "Myanmar Frees Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi." I'm just blown away by the brazen and bankrupt maneuvering of the military junta, which just held the most carefully scripted elections imaginable, the first elections in 20 years. The timing of Suu Kyi's release naturally followed the balloting, if it could be called that. To release her ahead of the vote may well have helped topple the regime in power. See WSJ from earlier this month, "Myanmar's Muted Election: Residents Debate Importance of Sunday Vote, First in 20 Years":

Myanmar, led by a secretive military junta regarded as one of the most oppressive in the world, is holding a closely watched—and controversial— election on Nov. 7. The government says the vote is part of a "road map to democracy" that will replace generals with civilian leaders and give the public more say in public affairs than at any time in decades.

But during a five-day visit to the country recently, across two of Myanmar's biggest cities, the only evidence this reporter saw of the election race was a small campaign poster for an obscure ethnic party hanging on a shopkeeper's wall in a muddy and trash-strewn Yangon outdoor market. Government television stations and newspapers featured some coverage, but it was heavily censored. It included a series of 15-minute segments in which party candidates sat at desks passively reading policy statements approved by government minders.

To the extent anyone discussed the election, it was mainly in the form of quiet whispers in tea houses or in private residences. Locals say there are small gatherings of candidates and voters. The exiled media have reported that campaign signs, mostly for the government-backed parties, appear here and there.

Some were impressed when the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Force, did take out a full-page advertisement in a private newspaper. The simple ad showed the party's logo, a bamboo hat and a giant black check mark. In small type, it reads: "The Hope for Democracy: NDF for the People."

Strict election rules make it tough to do more. Candidates are barred from chanting, marching, or saying anything at political events that could tarnish the state's image. To register to run, they have to pay $500, a huge sum for average Myanmar citizens. Those restrictions—and the government's detention of more than 2,000 critics in prison, according to human-rights groups—have left some candidates unable or reluctant to do more than quietly ask friends and allies for support.

There's also an interactive information feature at the link.

In Indonesia, Obama Continues Outreach to Muslims

And how's that working out?



At Jakarta Globe, "First Day of Obama's Indonesia Visit Marked by Scattered Protests."

And Bare Naked Islam, "INDONESIA: Radical Muslim Group to Protest Obama Visit."

RELATED: At WaPo, "Obama Heralds Indonesia's Political, Religious Diversity in Latest Outreach to Muslims," and WSJ, "Full Text: Obama's Prepared Remarks in Indonesia."