welcome to "asia 7 days." a u.s. soldier went on a shooting rampage in afghanistan, killing 16 civilians. the attack comes amid rising anti-american feeling in the country. violent protests erupted last month after u.s. troops burned the koran. the soldier walked off his base in the southern province of kandahar on march 11th. he broke into houses in two villages and started shooting. the afghan defense ministry said there were 16 fatalities including 12 women and children,

nine others wounded. >> u.s. president barack obama telephoned hamid karzai to express his shock and sadness. obama promised a quick investigation. >> we treat the death of afghan civilians like this the same way we treat a death, a series of deaths here in the united states. >> the u.s. defense department says the 38-year-old soldier was to afghanistan in december. he served three missions in iraq. he was transferred to kuwait on wednesday. the soldier's lawyer said his client was stressed from battle fatigue. >> he and family were told that his tours in the middle east were over and then literally overnight that changed.

so i think that it will be fair to say he and the family were not happy that he was going back. >> u.s. defense secretary leon panetta arrived in afghanistan three days after the shooting. he held talks with president karzai. karzai told panetta that the u.s. troops have lost the trust of the afghan people. he called on the international forces to hand over security to afghan soldiers in rural areas. washington and kabul are anxious about the backlash. students voiced their anger in jalalabad. >> the taliban released a statement decrying the massacre of innocent afghans. the group said it would

retaliate by decapitating american soldiers. despite the worsening security, obama said there will be no changes to the current withdrawal plan. >> we have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war. we are steadily transitioning to the afghans. >> 90,000 u.s. troops are currently stationed in afghanistan. 23,000 will leave the country by the end of september. the u.s. military plans to complete the transfer of security to local forces in 2014. the growing anti-u.s. sentiment has put those plans in jeopardy. protests erupted around the country after copies of the koran were incinerated at a u.s. base. six people, including international troops and officers, have been killed. obama said he wants foreign troops to improve the security situation before ending combat missions.

recent events have made that task harder than ever. china is at the center of another international trade dispute. the commodity in question this time is rare earth metals. the united states, japan and the european union are taking their case to the wto. they say china is breaking international law by limiting exports. china is the main producer of the minerals, accounting for over 90% of the global supply. the rare earth metals include one used in the manufacture of mobile phones, computers and hybrid cars. prices surged since china put export restrictions in place. the u.s. claims restrictions are unfair and say china is hoarding valuable minerals and beijing ignored their request to end the practice. u.s. president barack obama criticized china for not playing by the rules.

>> when it is necessary, i will take action if our workers and our businesses are being subjected to unfair practices. >> japan also accuses china of violating export rules. they say the export quotas and taxes are aimed at giving an advantage at domestic firms. officials say china broke the promises it made when joining the wto. the european union joined the chorus of criticism. it's demanding the immediate release of export restrictions. on tuesday, the chinese foreign ministry defended the country's rare earth policy. >> they said china has the responsibility to protect the

environment and the country's natural resources. the chinese government controls both protection and export of rare earth minerals. it says it needs to prevent environmental damage from mining activities. but some believe beijing has another motive, promoting the transfer of foreign technology by attracting high-tech companies to china. nhk's correspondent in beijing says the chinese government can use rare earth supplies as a bargaining chip. under wto procedures, the united states, eu and japan will first discuss their complaint directly with china. if this fails to settle the dispute, they can ask the international trade watch dog to set up a panel of experts to make a ruling. china has had a history of run-ins with the pto. the organization ruled the country was unfairly restricting exports of rare metals such as manganese and zinc.

china wrapped up its annual meeting of parliament. the national people's congress sets government policies for the coming year. it was the final session before a change in china's leadership in the fall. one announcement of note that emerged during the event. the world's second largest economy is shifting into a lower economic gear, improving people's livelihoods is another top priority. >> the ten-day session began on march 5 and ended on wednesday. premier wen said they were continuing annual growth.

>> reporter: faced with simmering public discontent over the widening gap between rich and poor, wen says the government will aim for greater price stability and be a expanded social safety net. law makers approved draft revisions to the country's law on criminal procedure. the changes will expand the range of cases in which authorities must notify detainees' relatives within 24 hours. the move is seen as a response to international criticism of china's human rights practices. but legal procedures involving actions considered crimes against national security remain unchanged. this has raised concerns that china's crackdown on pro democracy activists will continue. about 18% of the delegates opposed or abstained from voting on a prosecutor's report saying more than 44,000 civil servants

have been charged with bribery or embezzlement in 2011. the vote suggests continuing public distrust of the handling of corruption. the premier stressed the need of political reform to tackle corruption and prevent a return to china's tumultuous past. >> wen recognized the difficulty of implementing reforms, which he said requires support from citizens. he says china, with its population of 1.3 billion, must gradually develop a socialist democracy tailored uniquely to the country. as soon as the annual meeting ended, the communist party chief was sacked.

he had been viewed as a strong contender for a leadership position. with this removal, the race for top post is likely to heat up ahead of china's leadership transition later this year. >> reporter: the communist party is due to hand over the reins to his successor bo. he had been expected to stand in the party's top echelon. those prospected dimmed following an incident last month. his close aide and the vice mayor sought refuge in the u.s. consulate event was later placed under investigation for alleged

corruption. at the national peoples congress, he made it appear as if he remained firmly in control, but -- >> premier wen jiabao stopped short of citing bo by name, but it was the first time a top leader publically criticized him. speculation is he was made a scapegoat for his aides' actions. chongqing is china's largest municipality. he was a party chief and launched a crackdown on criminal gangs and campaigned to revive china's revolutionary spirit.

he encouraged foreign investment and spearheaded chongqing's ascent to become one of china's fastest growing cities. his development approach is called the chongqing model. his aide led the crusade against criminal gangs. bo expressed remorse over the scandal and indicated he was out of the race for the top leadership. >> reporter: analysts say bo's about-face reflects a struggle

over top party posts between two groups. one is called the princelings, they are the children of prominent party leaders. an example is one expected to be china's next president. the other's father was a vice premier. the members emerged from the communist youth league and include president jintao. the tug of war is expected to intensify in the run-up to the party's congress this fall. the event is held once every five years. >> we are now joined in the studio by professor zhao, an expert on chinese politics. >> translator: thank you for joining us. >> translator: thank you for having me. >> bo was dismissed at a closing of the national people's congress. how do you read this timing?

>> translator: it was on march 14th. on that day, bo was supposed to overcome the crisis, but instead it turned out that that was not the case. following premier wen's news conference in the morning, it ended up being the moment of bo's removal. initially, the party leaders were trying to protect bo. i think that was the predetermined policy of the party. because during the session of the congress, two of the committee members visited the delegation, which was quite unusual. one of them was a top official

in charge of legal affairs and police, and the other was in charge of maintaining party discipline. they praised the model endorsing the idea that bo is innocent. >> why were the party leaders trying to protect him? >> translator: there were two reasons. first of all, this is year of changing china's leadership, so it's quite important to hand over power from hu jintao in a stable manner. bo was supposed to become a member of the standing committee. so it was quite natural for the party to protect his status to ensure a stable transition of

power. the second reason is the chongqing model created by bo, which is based on a high-handed political style and turned out to be quite efficient. so this approach was enjoying support within the party to some extent. but premier wen held a n conference. premier wen held a news conference on the last day of the session and revolted against bo. why did he go against the party policy? premier wen used the word hocho revolution in the statement.

this word has been taboo among party leaders and they've been avoiding the word over the past 30 years, but wen dared to use this word because he wanted to stress a delay in the political reform process could bring them back to the days of cultural revolution. he urged people to have a sense of crisis. from wen's perspective, the chongqing model is exactly the same as the culture revolution approach. he risked his political life to shatter the chongqing model. that's why he sought to dismiss bo. thank you. >> i'd like to ask you some more questions in a moment.

the vice premier has been appointed party chief of chongqing. chen is set to be close to the former president. >> reporter: he is 65 and studied at the university in pyongyang and said to be fluent in korean. he was promoted to parliament bureau member at the 2007 national party congress and became vice premier the following year. his portfolio includes safety management for coal mines and railways. in reporting on bo's dismissal, the hong kong television station carried an analysis by expert in chinese politics.

>> reporter: on thursday, a television station in chongqing reported on the development. it quoted top party personnel official. he described the flight to the u.s. consulate as a grave incident with serious rep cushions. lee called chung politically powerful, fair and a person of good conduct. he added that chung is excellent at controlling situations. the television station said lee's comments appeared to insinuate criticism of bo. citizens in chongqing are divided over bo's sacking. >> reporter: authorities in chongqing appear to be nervous.

they restrained the journalists from filming. there were many questions about bo's dismissal during a regular news conference at the chinese foreign ministry. the ministry spokesperson repeatedly responded by saying the issue is not a diplomatic one. he added all information about the case had been made public. one question that remains is whether bo himself will be put under investigation. >> how do you think the confusion over bo's dismissal would affect the new leadership? >> translator: it's already causing a lot of impact. a stable transition of power is at stake now. china's politics will become unstable. he was supposed to join the new leadership and he belonged to

the faction. so someone replacing bo must be chosen from now. the seat is open. in such a situation, the top leader, jintao is supposed to exercise leadership to settle the problem, but he has been keeping a very low profile this time, as we can see from wen's news conference. this indicates that hu is losing his power. that also applies to ping expected to be the next president of china. he could not protect bo from losing power. so his capabilities will also be questioned. china's politics is getting increasingly uncertain.

>> the standing committee consists of nine members and each faction is competing to gain the majority. >> translator: yes. before bo was dismissed, five out of nine members belonged to ping's faction. there was a delicate balance. after bo's dismissal, everyone is asking who's next. there is no clear answer. if someone replacing bo is from the faction other than hu, the balance of power would be reversed. with only four members belonging to the group.

this raises a question if the next leadership will have a strong power base. so it's on a delicate balance. some political maneuvering is likely to intensify. >> translator: yes, toward this summer. the communist party leaders meet at a summer resort every year to discuss important political agenda. this year's top priority is the lineup of the new leadership. right now we are seeing a vicious circle of the weak leadership and the power struggle. so by this summer, the party leaders must decide on the lineup of the new regime, otherwise they may not be able to hold a party convention this summer, this autumn. there is no sign who is joining that new leadership.

we must keep our eye on how things are going to evolve. >> thank you very much. now with other news. north korea had talks with the united states to freeze its long-range missile testing. but they appear to have contradicted the promise on friday. >> north korea said the >> north korea said the satellite will lift off from the site in the western part of the country between april 12th and 16th. critics claim it's actually testing a long-range missile in violation of u.n. resolutions. washington views the launch as highly provocative. >> we make clear unequivocally we consider any satellite launch would be a deal-breaker. >> reporter: the u.s. government

may scrap plans to give food aid to north korea. officials with china's foreign ministry told north korea's ambassador in beijing the north should exercise self-restraint. the international community, including japan, russia and the u.n. also denounced the move. iran's law makers summoned the president to parliament for a very public dressing down. the accused mahmoud ahmadinejad of managing his economy. he is the first national leader to be grilled in parliament since islamic revolution 30 years ago. he was also asked to explain his absence from office last april. law makers called it an insult to the authority of ayatollah khamenei. >> elections earlier this month exposed the widening riff among conservatives.

a scuffle broke out between a north korean delegation and south korean law makers in geneva. the setting was the u.n. human rights council. delegates have started discussing china's repatriation of north korean defectors. that caused the north korean party to walk out in protest, at that point the south koreans intervened with a blocking maneuver. the story received heavy media coverage in south korea. many of the reports say the confrontation in geneva helped draw attention to the serious

abuse of human rights in the north. north korea called the scuffle a senseless provocation. that's all we have time for this week. we close the program with scenes from the ancient japanese capital of mara in a traditional ceremony signaling the arrival of spring. the festival is held every march to pray for national stability. it's been be a served at the temple, a world heritage site for 1,200 years. each torch weighs a hefty 40 kilograms. it is believed being showered by sparks flying from the hall ensures good health during the coming year. >> thanks for watching. see you again next week on "asia

see you again next week on "asia 7 days." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com