hello there, welcome to "newsline." it's friday may 4th, 8:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the united states is renegotiating with china over the fate of the chinese human rights activist chen quangcheng, who was transferred to a beijing hospital from the u.s. embassy there wednesday. the u.s. government announced chen would be moved to a safe location within the country reflecting his choice. the move was based on an agreement with china. on thursday, chen revealed his concerns to nhk in a telephone interview.

>> he also said chinese authoritiy ies have set up seve new surveillance cameras at his home where his mother still lives. chen says the reassurances he got before leaving the embassy have not been kept and his rights are being violated. u.s. state department spokesperson victoria nuland said chen had a change of mind after half a day in the hospital. she added the u.s. government is rethinking its agreement with china and negotiating the possibility of chen and his family abroad. chinese government is trying to avoid a lengthy dispute that could accelerate demands for democracy. the united states and china ended their first day of strategic and economic dialogue

in beijing. there were clear differences of opinion on their trade imbalance. the two day talks started on thursday at the state guest house. discussions on economic issues were held mainly between u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner and china's vice prime mere shengxian. the low currency allows it to export more products. the u.s. urged china to raise the value of yuan with reforms of its currency control. further deregulation of export control on high-tech products to china. it said the trade imbalance has been called for excessive regulations on high-tech goods. >> translator: more than 2,400 products fall in the u.s. exports control. that's why it's difficult to eliminate the trade.

13 asia nations have agreed to set up a preventative lending program to stop the eurozone crisis from spreading to asia. finance ministers and central bank governors from japan, china, south korea, and the association of southeast asian nations reached the agreement in manila. the new system would allow fund injections before it would affect any of the nations. the agreement follows a similar move by the group of 20 nations last month to increase the lending capacity of t international monetary fund. the asian economic leaders also agreed to double the current regional currency swap pool to $240 billion to prevent future crises. >> translator: stabilizing the asia financial system, which is the weakest part of the asia economy s very important when leading the world economy. prior to the meeting japan,

south korea and china agreed to join forces to prevent the european credit crisis from spilling into asia. the group agreed the asian economy is stable and on a recovery course. the the concerns remain over europe's debt problems and volatile movements and exchange rates. the three nations confirmed they will further deepen financial and economic ties. in a joint statement officials announced they will promote investment by foreign reserve authorities in one another's government bonds. they also agreed to actively prevent the eurozone debt crisis from affecting asia. a senior u.s. defense department official has said the united states plans to start relocating its marine corps in okinawa to guam within two to three years. the country is planning to transfer ,000 marines out of the japanese island prefecture to guam and australia as part of the realignle of u.s. forces in japan. u.s. deputy assistant secretary

of defense robert sherrer said that's in an official news release that the move will increase the military's ability to respond to con ttingencieies quickly and efficiently. the governments of japan and the u.s. announced last week the two countries reached an agreement on the u.s.-based realignment on the agreement includes japan's burden of the relocation expenditures and the return of some u.s. military facilities in okinawa. japan and china agreed to cooperate and share information on regulations to improve nuclear safety. japanese environment leader hosono and his counterpart shengxian met for talks in beijing on thursday.

they discussed last year's fukushima accident and measures to boost safety at nuclear power plants. hosono said japan is going to launch a new regulator to introduce regulators on nuclear power. they hope to have talks with chinese authorities on nuclear safety in the future. zhou replied china is tackling safety measures at nuclear plants constantly aiming at higher levels of safety. >> translator: japan learns serious lessons from the the fukushima accident. we'd like to share what we learned with the world as much as possible. >> hosono also said cooperation with china will be very important since the country's increasing the number of its nuclear power plants. a fuel efficient jet engine developed for the mitsubishi regional jet or mrj was unveiled in the u.s. state of connecticut. the plane will be japan's first domestically developed small

passenger aircraft in 50 years. the small sized jetliner is being developed by mitsubishi aircraft corporation, a subsidiary, with the support of a japanese government. u.s. aviation women maker pratt & whitney says the engine which measures 1.9 meters in diameter is 20% more fuel efficient than existing models. >> the combination of good fuel efficiency, low noise, low cost of operation of the airplane, and passenger comfort will make mitsubishi very successful. >> the company has been flight testing the engines since late april. the mrj powered by their innovative engine will help bring an a sea change within the industry. the plane is expected to make its maiden flight in october of next year. a japanese company is innovating to sell its food products to the huge market of muslim customers overseas. but islamic dietary law forbids

them from consuming some of the food and drink normally made in japan. pork, for example, is forbidden. so is alcohol. the japanese company prepares food certified as halal which means it meets muslim standards. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: the company sells fish. 80 people are employed here. a decline in catch and a shrinken domestic market have been encouraging the company to tap new markets. >> translator: it's a market left untouched and unknown to us. that's why it's worth entering. >> reporter: chinese fried dumplin dumplin dumplings have become one of the focuses for the company.

the dumplings usually contain pork. the company has developed pork-free dumplings. ground fish meat is used instead. japanese sea leaf are kneaded into the skin for flavor. >> translator: there used to be no wall here. it used to be a passage. >> reporter: a wall has been built to segregate the fish meat dumpling production space from the rest of the company to prevent contamination. the company's efforts are moving forward. last october, its pork-free dumplings were certified as halal. the president of the company was in singapore to showcase and sell his dumplings at halal

2012. a trade fair for the halal products from all over the world. >> i like it. >> where can we find this? i want to buy. >> only here. >> oh, okay. r r >> reporter: by the second day, the gyota sold out. after returning home, he discussed with his staff ways to make the packaging for the dumplings more appealing. he showed examples of packages often used in the halal market. >> translator: you can tell right away what's inside. thehows the product. >> reporter: in the end the company decided to call its gyota japanese halal food with a big photo of the product on the package.

>> translator: we'll be able to make roads into the islamic market through mutual exchanges if we respect what the halal certificate stands for and strictly control our production process. >> there are about 300 million muslims in southeast asia, alone, including indonesia and malaysia. the market is believed to have high potential. the company is trying to sell its pork-free dumplings to asian and middle eastern airlines to be served on their flights in a bid to expand business. let's now take a look at the market figures.

japanese researchers say the highly pathogenic avian flu virus could mutate into a new strain capable of spreading between mammals including humans. the study sparked a months long debate among u.s. security experts over fears it could be used for terrorist purposes. a research team led by a professor of the university of tokyo artificially created an h5n1 strain of bird flu virus in a u.s. laboratory. they repeatedly infected ferrets with the artificial virus, ferrets are the best animal

models of the study of human influenz influenza. the virus was able to spread between ferrets after undergoing four mutations but they also say the ferrets were not seriously affected and could be treated with anti-viral drugs. >> translator: the new findings are significant in terms of producing vaccines as well as measuring the degree of risk posed by prevailing bird flu viruses. >> the united states initially urged researchers to suspend publication of the study over concerns of its possible use by bioterrorists. the u.s. reversed it, citing the benefits of publication, such as vaccine development. a u.s. advocacy group announced its global rankings of media freedom. the survey identifies aratria, north korea, syria and iran as the world's most censorship heavy countries. a private organization for the protection of journalists, the

committee to protect journalists published details of its latest analysis of media repression. the east africa country topped the list with no foreign reporters allowed in and all domestic media under government control. north korea fared worst in the survey six months ago. it moved down a notch to second. the committee says tiny cracks emerged in country such as the opening of an associated press bureau in pyongyang this year. north korea is hiding issues with vast worldwide implications beneath severe censorship, the continuing development of nuclear weapons and the country's political power structure. the committee says censorship intensified significantly in syria and iran in response to political unrest. for most chinese born to poor farming families, the odds of getting a college education are just about zero.

unless something is done, they'll miss out on all the benefits of china's advancing economy. but in this next report, we see that something is being done for some young chinese. nhk world has the story. >> reporter: she is the eldest daughter in a farming family. they live in a mountain village. when she was a small child, susu's father lost his eyesight. her older brother left to work in the city after graduating from junior high. between helping with the family and household chores, susu managed to finish senior high. about two years ago, her mother became ill and died. since then, the family has found it harder to make ends meet. susu wanted to study at

university to become a doctor. she passed the entrance exam for the university she most wanted to attend. but su srks but su srkusu wasn't able to pu her studies. >> translator: my family would have had to borrow money for my tuition. i didn't want them to do that. >> translator: i blame myself for not making it possible for my daughter's study at university. >> reporter: more than 5 million residents of guizhou province live in property. the region have the lowest per capita gdp in all of china. last year, a private college opened in the mountain community. it was about 50 kilometers south of the province's central city. 200 students from all over

guizhou are enrolled in college's three-year program. many of these students are having trouble with the cost of living. they can't aford three meals a day, but why can't they study at college? that's because they have free tuition. this man founded the college. he has been involved in teaching i.t. for over 30 years. an i.t. business group in taiwan funds the college. it screened complicates on the basis of their academic records. it also considers the family's financial status. susu applied here and was admitted. last year, nearly 90% of the students including susu did not have to pay tuition. she lives in a dormitory and the college pays part of her living

expenses. >> translator: we must help these people free themselves from poverty. providing a good education and job opportunities is an effective way of doing that. >> you want to read? okay. diana, number two. rule number two. >> reporter: the college puts a high priority on teaching english. about 30 volunteers who support sun wei's aims have come from countries like the u.s. and britain to teach english. >> it's true they don't have a lot of money, but these students are very rich in their hearts and in their minds. they have a desire to really do more and to really try to be more. >> reporter: i.t. firms also play a hand in helping the students get ahead. before now, the students had never had access to i.t. now, they each have a laptop computer leased by the college.

susu is studying hotel management. the college is tieing up with major hotels and i.t. firms ready to employ graduates. that's a food good incentive fou to achieve her goals. >> translator: i'm really happy. getting higher education on such a beautiful campus. it's like i'm dreaming. i'm determined to study even harder to please my blind father. >> translator: our students have good characters and work hard. they're controlling their destiny. they can turn things around. i hope they'll be able to use what they learn here to land jobs and become respected members of society. >> reporter: sun wei's college

ensures students in this out of the way part of china won't be left out of the country eex 's expanding economy. nhk world, guizhou province, china. the rain finally stopped for tokyo commuters this morning, but we are yet to see the sunshine. rachel ferguson joins us now with the world weather forecast. rachel, good morning. so is the sun on its way? >> well, eventually, yes. but not today in tokyo, i'm afraid. it is going to clear up a little bit so the rain a little bit drizzly, but we will be seeing some dry skies today. however, later on in the day, the air's still very unstable. we could still see showers here in tokyo. up toward the north, it's going to be much heavier. rain continuing. what a week for japan to be experiencing the influence of this very slow moving and deep low pressure system. it really has been extremely wet. i'll show you some of the totals from this system this week. we're looking at 791 millimeters

of rain in amagisan. hakoni 440 millimeters. 350, 300 millimeters. you're needing to add to the totals up toward the north because this system is plotting its way up toward hokkaido. you'll still see an addition 100 millimeters, maybe 150 in some areas in next 24 to 48 hours. so there will be continuing risk of flooding and landslides. warnings and watches are posted up toward the north. thunderstorms are also accompanying some of that heavy rain and high waves caused by some really strong winds. gusts of about 83 kilometers an hour have been reported in parts of the easte coast here. so, yes, pretty miserable weather still up toward the north, but things are clearing up toward the west which is very good news. we're seeing lots of heat building in northern china. 3 2 degrees in beijing.

shanghai, the 30 degree mark as we head from saturday through monday. very, very hot town in tdown in tropics as well. many cities across indochina and thailand in particular have been seeing temperatures of about 40-degrees plus for the last several days. let's go now to north america. severe outbreaks of weather in pretty much the same place all week. from the great lakes region down through the central plains. we've seen a very stubborn frontal system, lots of low-pressure systems forming over the front. and that has led to some severe storms. it's not going to change into your friday. pretty much the same picture. one of the reasons is we have a big ark of heat coming up across the east. it starts to collide with the cooler air in north. that's when we get the severe systems that usually occur farther to the south. that heat is reaching up into the upper midwest and great lakes region. that is going to continue on friday. out toward the northwest, much

cooler system coming in. widespread chilly showers. although the snow will be confined to the mountains of western canada. here are your temperatures then. 12 degrees in vancouver. 12 in seattle also. then you can see where that heat starts to kick in. 28 in denver. 24 in chicago. 23 in toronto. which as i mentioned that will be the reason for those severe storms. okay. as we head now into europe, not much change for iberian peninsula. an extremely stubborn low is just sitting, sending front after front in across portugal and spain. heavy rain continuing here. more rain for southern parts of the british isles as well. very unwelcome rain. severe flooding continuing across some areas here. toward the north, a new front from scotland up in toward scandinavia. that will be bringing showers for you. out east the change is going to be that we're starting to see some popup thunderstorms. quite widespread in fact. today and down toward the southeast as well. turkey continuing to see those showers and thunderstorms popping up as well. still keeping the heat in the

southeast. 30 in bucharest. 29 in athens. down toward central locations, temperatures now starting to moderate. i'll leave you now with your extended forecast. zblfshlgs our lead story this hour. the united states is renegotiating with china over the fate of the chinese human rights activist chen quangcheng,

cheng was transferred to a beijing hospital from the u.s. embassy there wednesday. the u.s. government announced chen would be moved to a safe location within the country reflecting his choice. the move was based on an agreement with china. on thursday, chen revealed his concerns to nhk in a telephone interview. >> he also said chinese authorities have set up several new surveillance cameras at his home where his mother still lives. chen says the reassurances he got before leaving the embassy have not been kept and his rights are being violated.

u.s. state department spokesperson victoria nuland said chen had a change of mind after half a day in the hospital. she added the u.s. government is rethinking its agreement with china and negotiating the possible of getting chen and his family abroad. our reporters in beijing say the chinese government is trying to avoid a lengthy dispute which could accelerate domestic demands for democracy. finally, we live you with this story. a traditional dragon boat festival is making a splash in okinawa. challengers introduced the annual hahrih boat race from china. it's a ritual appeals from the gods for good fishing and safety at sea. about 100 rowing teams now take part in the three-day event. some are from local junior high schools.

each race involves three teams of 32 rowers in each haryu-sen or dragon shaped boat. the teams pull hard on their oars to a tempo set by the bell ringer on each boat. >> translator: it was great to feel our hearts and oars as one. my friends and i trained so hard together. >> the festival wraps up on saturday and organizers expected to see about 200,000 visitors. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with pulitzer prize-winning columnist. it ran for more than a do