China Steals from Children and Other News Bits

No, really. China is being blamed for a rash of thefts across Japan. According to the Guardian, Japanese authorities are blaming China for disappearing metal objects including "incense holders from graveyards, hundreds of metres of copper wire, and the roof of a public toilet." But worst of all, the Guardian is suggesting kids should blame Chinese scrap yards if their playground slides (one of the most popular targets) go missing. Apparently the Chinese building boom, combined with sky-rocketing world metal prices, are leading to unusually high rates of theft. And this is no joke. Japanese police report this underground industry has cost more than 2 billion yen so far. So next time you're looking over your investments, and your kid asks what you're doing, you can't tell them commodities prices don't matter to them. That would be a lie.

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In other news, the North Korean government has started cracking down on citizens trying to flee the country. Apparently in the past North Korea generally looked the other way when its starving citizens fled to China, but according to Human Rights Watch and as reported in the Globe and Mail, that has changed. Now, "those who seek refuge or are forcefully returned by Chinese authorities now regularly face prison sentences of up to five years – where they must live under harsh conditions that include beatings, forced labour and starvation."

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Coincidently, after finding the Human Rights Watch internet address for the above section, I decided to take a look at the site. There's a video (and a link to a short article) about cluster munitions on the home page. These bombs, delivered in a variety of ways (often dropped from airplanes) break apart in mid-air and release "dozens, and often hundreds" of smaller explosive devices (bomblets). These bomblets often end up covering an area larger than a football field, and consequently, result in civilian casualties. Worse yet, sometimes they don't explode when they hit the ground - they just lay there waiting for someone to come along and find them. When these unexploded bomblets are found, they can explode if moved - even if just by a breeze - and the result is either death or disfigurement.