shots in disputed waters, vietnamese officials say a chinese vessel fired on a fishing boat from their country. officials in beijing claim their crew did nothing wrong. welcome to nhk world "newsline." vooet nooez immediate vietnamese media

reported that a chinese vessel fired on a boat from their country. the incident happened last wednesday around the paracel islands. vietnam state-run newspaper says the chinese chased the fishing boat near the paracel islands. it reported the ship fired five shots at the bought, causing its cabin to catch fire. none of the nine people on board was hurt. the vietnamese foreign spokesperson calls what happened a grave incident that violated his country's sovereignty and endangered the lives of the fishermen. he urged authorities in beijing to investigate and compensate the boat crews. but vietnamese media revealed the incident only six days after it passed suggesting downplay of the situation. historically anti-china sentiment has been strong within vietnam. the government there has in the past tacitly allowed public protest against china. but in december 2012, authorities in hanoi broke up a street demonstration apparently

over concerns about antagonizing beijing. the vietnamese government now faces a challenge to appear strong in defense of its people, and territorial claims without pushing china too far. china's chiez news spokes person hong lei justified the actions. >> china has unquestionable sovereignty over the parcel islands. the boat was engaged in illegal fishing. the action is justifiable and reasonable. >> he add ed the people involve ed said they did not damage the fishing boat. hong declined to confirm if shots were fired and whether the chinese vessel was a warship. chinese president is in south africa to attend the

summit of the brics emerging economies. xi jinping wants the chinese government to enhance ties to compete with the u.s. and other industrialized countries. this will be the first time president xi will participate in an international meeting since he took office earlier this month. the two-day summit begins on tuesday in durbin. brics is made up of brazil, russia, india, china, and south africa. the leaders are expected to discuss how rising commodities and grain prices are affecting emerging countries. also on the agenda is an agreement among the brics members to provide each other with foreign currencies. they want to protect their economies from the impact of global financial turmoil. china has been increasing its presence in africa. the country has come to rely on the continent for trade and for natural resources. nhk world has more. >> reporter: the chinese have historical ties with a number of

african nations. after world war ii they supported countries that were fighting for independence. they gave a modest amount of aid money. but they rapidly ins creased the funding after 2000. and enhanced their presence on the continent. government officials from china and african countries held their first forum on china/africa cooperation. they met for gathering every three years since then to strengthen relations. in the fifth meeting last year then chinese president hu jintao comments $20 billion in loans to africa. >> chinese policy to, and included economic cooperation for africa, is -- >> reporter: katsumi is a chief senior researcher at japan's institute of developing

economies. he says china had the foresight to cash in on african natural resources. china is the largest trading partner for african nations. the country has been the biggest exporter to the continent for several years. it's now the biggest importer from the region, buying up mainly natural resources including crude oil. >> they built much of the rails and power stations. this kind of this kind of infrastructure building. and china is definitely the number one contributor for the building structures there. >> reporter: he says there is a downside. >> someone said this relationship with china is not so well, not so good for the future of the africa. because africa is just consumer

of chinese product and africa is just exporter of natural resources. this kind of relationship is kind of opinion is also observed especially in africa. >> reporter: he says chinese leaders are well aware of the criticism and they've launched new measures to address the issue. >> they start financial support for small and medium enterprise in africa and also they started talk with world bank and they tried to join to initiate program for manufacturing sector development in africa. >> reporter: he says africans will continue to feel china's presence on their continent as president xi follows through

with the promises of his predecessor hu jintao and lays down his own policies. nhk world, tokyo. south korean officials say the north's latest military exercise was on it's east coast, on a grand scale. the north state media says it's leader kim jong-unso super vise the drill. we said the north appears to be preparing for more combined military exercises, he says south korea is on alert for additional provocations. we also refer to the sinking of a south korean patrol ship three years ago. they're prepared to we respond with 10,000 times more forth from any action from the north. government officials from japan, china, and south korea

have begun their first round of free trade talks in seoul. the talks will last three days until thursday, attendees include japan's deputy foreign minister, and representatives from china and south korea. discussions will be held in separate groups to cover different issues, including tariffs, investment rules, and liberalization of service industries. the stakes are large. china is japan's biggest trading partner while south korea is third. if combined the gross domestic product of the three countries would account for about 20% of the world economy. japanese officials say they open an fta will expand trade and investment and one factor shadowing the talks is continued territorial attention affecting japan and other members. japan is also pursuing free trade through discussions on the transpacific partnership agreement. china and south korea have not joined those talks. new bank of japan governor

haruhiko kuroda. has reiterated his strong determination to achieve the 2% inflation target within two years. kuroda spoke before the lower house financial affairs committee on tuesday for the first time since he took office last week. he said the central bank should give investors expectations that prices will rise under its pledge to attain the inflation target. >> translator: since we have the 2% inflation target, we must achieve that goal as soon as possible. with our strong commitment, dialogue with the market and bold qualitative and quantitative monetary easing. >> as part of monetary easing the boj has been buying the country's government bonds but the bank also has a self-imposed rule that caps the bank's bond holdings below the value of bank notes in circulation. kuroda said he will review this rule and may even consider abolishing it.

executives of ailing japanese electronicsmaker sharp say year-long negotiations on a capital tie-up with taiwan's hon hai precision industry have broken down. the japanese company has been unable to receive funding from hon hai as scheduled. sharp made the announcement on tuesday. in march last year, sharp agreed to accept investment from the taiwanese manufacturer to rebuild its business. hon hai in turn was to acquire a stake of nearly 10% in sharp. but their talks stalled after sharp shares plunged. and no agreement had been reached by tuesday, which was the deadline for hon hai to provide funds. sharp officials say they have not entirely ruled out the possibility of opening a new round of talks. but it's unclear whether they will ever reach a deal. the two companies have failed to agree on the share purchase price, and on transferring sharp's liquid crystal technologies to hon hai. to secure an alternative source

of funding, sharp plans to accept investment from other firms such as south korea's samsung. but japanese maker will still face financial trouble now that the major investment from hon hai has been canceled. a corporate battle is raging at seibu holdings. u.s. investment fund subrus capital management has been offering a bid, but seibu has decided to oppose the bid. the board on tuesday passed a resolution to reject the plan to raise it's stake in the company. the u.s. firm has started an attempt to acquire more than one-third of their voting rights. if the bid goes as blanding, it would give them major voted in shareholder meetings.

they're concerned that the decision to launch the bid could change the lists on the stock exchange. they say their kpaer's corporco corporate value could be hurt. the holding president told a news conference that they lack mid and long-term visions in making proposals and demands. he said he wants to call on s u serbus for talks. here are the latest market figures.

as thailand's economy continues it's impressive growth, so too does it's citizens spending pour. eager to capitalize on that newfound high disposable income, more overseas companies are looking to the country for expansion. nhk world looks at the new demand, and how it plays out in the world of thai tv shopping. >> reporter: the south korean tv shopping companies launched a channel in thailand last fall. >> translator: this product spares you the trouble of doing deep cleaning. >> translator: today we'll show

you an incredible south korean vacuum cleaner. >> reporter: the expansion to seven countries, including china, india and vietnam. tackling emerging economies. sales are building every year. over 200 inquiries flow in every day. that's more than dowel the number from six months ago when the channel started. i'm currently at the korean tv home shopping warehouse. as you can see, there are many products such as the machine, frying pan, supplements, and the most popular right now, exercise equipment. south korean products account for 70% of the items. its strategy is to do the south

korean brand. it's already famous across asia with electrical appliances and cosmetics. this set of korean frying pans is proving popular. it's not cheap at about $70, but some 5,000 sets have been sold every month. >> the market here in thailand will explode. i expect. so, that the market size will increase very fast. >> reporter: japan's largest tv shopping company has a new competitor. also exploring the thai market. it set up a venture with a local firm aiming to launch its new channel as early as june. to differentiate itself from its south korean rivals, the japanese company is mainly targeting the wealthy. high-grade japanese items are expected to be the main lineup. on this day, trading is under way. they apparently make the

products more attractive to thai women. japanese company's goal is to broadcast live around the clock, unlike it's south korean competitor. japanese are sharing the know-how in live tv shopping broadcasting. >> the women, the customer, wants to know how it looks. the backside, maybe. so you can rotate, around. >> translator: we decided to start the business here because the thai economy keeps growing every year. the country is in a strategic location within asean, and the consumer market is booming. we expect a very bright future here. >> reporter: the competitors are

also expected to join the fray. and that's only going to heat up the race to gain a foothold in expanding southeast asian market. nhk world, bangkok. india's foreign minister says japan and his country must cooperate in ensuring security in the indian and pacific oceans. he hinted at china's growing maritime presence in the regions. he said it's important that they cooperate in politicians and security. china has been raising tensions with other nations over territorial issues. but he avoided mentioning the country.

>> there can be little doubt that countries like india and japan must cooperate in ensuring the security of the global commons, including navigation on the high seas. that is critical to both our countries which import large amounts of oil and gas. >> surshid also spoke about the stall in notions with japan to provide india with technology for nuclear power. the fukushima daiichi accident has been a factor in the delay. >> because of this, the tsunami tragedy, we thought that it was important that we allow japan the freedom and the time to be able to sort out things for itself before we begin a higher level of engagement with japan. >> he said india will move ahead on collaborations with the u.s. and russia. he said india has to continue to introduce nuclear power to respond to soaring demand amid its growing population and economy. >> who doesn't love anime cats and time traveling robots when all three come together, they can even make history. doraemon has become the most popular film franchise in japan.

the blue robotic cat is a time traveler and a big draw for anime fans. more than 100,000 people have enjoyed doraemon in theaters. that beat the previous box office record of 99 million set by all 28 godzilla films. "nobita's secret gadget museum" hit theaters in early march. distributors at the production company says the 34 film in their series directed 1.56 million in the first two weeks. the first doraemon movie was opened in 1980. it drew an audience of more than 3 million. the creator's widow says he must be happy to be loved by so many people. people in japan are heading outside to enjoy a brief period of beauty and happiness. their cherry blossom season arrived early after a sudden burst of warm weather.

many enjoy the sights at parks and riverbanks during the day. but the flower viewing parties are just as lively after the sun goes down. nhk world's nakajima joins us from one of the most popular spots in tokyo. >> reporter: i'm at the park enjoying the night time lightup of the cherry blossoms. now, hanami is a very magical atmosphere. as you can see, many workers from places around everywhere on their way home to visitors parks around tokyo. this park is near a temple district with the style of old japan. but visitors can also look at new japan with the tokyo sky tree and view behind the blossoms. the sky tree is even joining in the fun with a special light show. people can see this cherry blossom lighting until april 10th. now, there's a saying in japanese which means dumping

over flowers.ling over flowers. as you can see here the scenery and the food are being enjoyed. now, let's see. many people, family, friends, co-workers, are enjoying food and festivities. oh, and look here. this food looks very good. let's go take a look. now, i'm going to ask them a question about how their hanami experience is. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: she says it's the best hanami experience she's had. with refreshments and drinks with her boyfriend and also a look at the sky tree.

thank you very much. you can see this illumination from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and i suggest you guys come out because there's only a few days until the full bloom of the cherry blossoms. i'm akani nakijuma, nhk world, tokyo. fair weather across japan today but not all of eastern asia is the same. robert is here with more. robert? >> yes, gene, if we look farther toward the west we are seeing severe weather in the southeastern china. this is bringing all sorts of foul weather here. hong kong has been under some severe thunderstorm warnings, high wind warmings up to about 70 kilometers per hour. you're going to get a little break in the action across much

of southeastern china, but this will move into japan, along the pacific coast here. you're going to be seeing these heavy rain showers. the good news is you will not see it has severe as southeastern china here. unfortunately, as it does push overhead, that will be leaving behind still the same dynamics here into southeastern china. we'll have another stationary boundary here. the problem with that is you have rain on top of rain. what that means is that the ground is not going to be able to soak up all of this precipitation. something to watch out here for throughout the coming days. temperatures will be rather warm, hong kong with a high of 23, average for this time of year, upwards of up 15 degrees here. by the end of the week it starts

to rebound back into the 20s. in the americas it's much clearer weather. there is still a few lingering showers here around west virginia, kentucky, and tennessee. look at the rest of the area. a big classic case of a polar high. unfortunately it did drift very far south here, and for many of the farmers across the gulf states, you are definitely watching your crops closely the next few days. freeze warnings, fire weather, and something to watch here. the good news is things are warming back up, by the end of the week it will be back into the teens. that high pressure will be helping out for some time. let's take a look here into

europe. you have that easterly wind coming in from the east, moving over the warmer waters, and it will pile up about five centimeters of snow. down to the south, you can see about one to two centimeters. nothing to extreme. where we want to see all of the rough weather is down here towards the south. you have seen about 50 millimeters of rain. some thunderstorm activity into your west coast. a little farther towards bulgaria some snow. kiev, you have been paralyzed by snow. it is not a welcome sight here through the next several days. here is your extended forecast.

chocolate makers in belgium

are famous for their creations, now they're popular for their chocolate stamps. they have a image of chocolate on the front, and on the back there is an essence of cocoa oil. >> chocolate taste. >> translator: they smell good like chocolate. >> the post office released more than half a million stamps in total. they're attracting stamp collectors and chocolate lovers.

i'm gene otani, have a great day where ever you are.