the new leaders. officials have been pressing china's claims to islands in the east china sea. japan controlled the san cuckoo island. shortly before the election in japan an aircraft from china's maritime authority entered japan's air space over the islands. tensions remain high. one analyst says the mood in china is ambivalent. >> there is a great deal of expectation to have a change in leadership in japan will be a change for the better. on the other hand, i think there is a lot of caution and apprehension that in terms of japan's relations with its neighboring countries, in terms of the peace constitution in japan, et cetera, that might be changes -- >> reporter: some experts believe china's officials want to mend relations with japan to help sustain economic growth and maintain social stability chinese leaders apparently hope japan's change in government will lend them a chance to take a friendly approach. officials in beijing are closely watching how japan's new leaders will deal with territorial disputes and also pay careful attention to developments leading up to the upp

the asia-pacific. they have been troubled by increasing tension between japan and china over which country owns the senkaku islands in the east china sea. their concerned thathe conflict i claims allowed to fester could unsettled dynamic in the region. they want to see policies and sophisticated diplomacy to calm the swaituation. they're drawn into military confrontation because of their alliance with japan. >> our message to the new japanese government will be the same as the message to the former japanese government, which is that we want to see both japan and china avoid provocative acts. we want to see them talk to each other and work this through by dialogue. >> now japan has stirred up another territorial dispute with south korea. u.s. official want up to see the japanese put aside the differences with the neighbor about the islands in the sea of japan. american diplomats rely on partner in both countries about the threat of north korea. the north koreans may be under way to gain technology for long rage ballistic missiles. they say it serves as the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the asia-pacific. the revolving door the t

the report says cooperation, china's navy and maritime law enforcement agencies is likely to strengthen not only in the south china sea, but also in the east china sea. the vessels and patrol boats have been around the senkaku islands since september. >>> japan's coast guard officials are asking for budget increases to pay for personnel and equipment. they want to boost their presence in japanese waters. coast guard commandant takashi kitamura spoke about chinese government ships navigating around the senkaku islands and says the intrusions are likely to continue. >> translator: we haven't often requested additional patrol vessels for our fleet, but it's becoming necessary to add more ships and more personnel to staff them. >> he said the scope of the coast guard's mission has widened. he said the territorial rows are making more patrols a necessity. >>> the territorial issue is just one of many of japan's incoming administration is facing. liberal democrats also need to lay out energy policy. they want to keep nuclear reactors running, despite opposition following the fukushima accident. it has raised questions that the ldp could have on

the root of their anger, the nationalization of islands in the east china sea. >> translator: the senkaku islands are japan's sovereign territory, this is a clear fact both historically and in light of international law. >> reporter: the japanese government bought the islands from a private owner. the thing is, china and taiwan claim them too. chinese leaders said nationalizing them is not acceptable. they've sent petrol ships into japanese waters around the islands, followed closely by japan coast guard crews. the new leadership declared china would build itself into a maritime power by safeguarding its interests. japan's next government will take up other disputes too. in august south korean president visited islands his country controls in the sea of japan. japanese claims sovereignty over the territory which they call takeshima. >> translator: japan's leaders should first sit down at the negotiating table and seek advantages. >> translator: we shouldn't let others go on saying whatever they like. the government should stay tough and say what we should say. >> reporter: all these tensi

the root of their anger, the nationalization of islands in the east china sea. >> translator: the senkaku islands are japan's sovereign territory, this is a clear fact both historically and in light of international law. >> reporter: the japanese government bought the islands from a private owner. the thing is, china and taiwan claim them too. chinese leaders said nationalizing them is not acceptable. they've sent petrol ships into japanese waters around the islands, followed closely by japan coast guard crews. the new leadership declared china would build itself into a maritime power by safeguarding its interests. japan's next government will take up other disputes too. in august south korean president visited islands his country controls in the sea of japan. japanese claims sovereignty over the territory which they call takeshima. >> translator: japan's leaders should first sit down at the negotiating table and seek advantages. >> translator: we shouldn't let others go on saying whatever they like. the government should stay tough and say what we should say. >> reporter: all these tensi

. >>> one part of the rocket fell into the yellow sea. another fell into the east china sea. e third portion fell into the pacific ocean east of the philippines. >> when police officers responded to a call of a car crashing into a tree they thought it was just that. a car crash. but then they found out what cbs 5 reporter kiet do tells us is san jose's 44th homicide of the year. >> reporter: there haven't been this many since 1991. the crime scene was puzzling. a white truck jumped the curb and nearly backed into a tree. a teenage boy lay dead in the street. >> the truck is sitting at a weird angle. there's a body down near the truck. this is going to be where our crime scene unit really shines. >> reporter: the call came in at 3:00 p.m. as a traffic accident. paramedics found a fatal wound to the neck. the circle on the ground marks a bloodstain. it looks like the 18-year-old had been stab. >> we don't a pattern of this type of activity here. >> reporter: evidence markers littered the scene. neighbors say they heard popping noises. it's possible he stumbled on to the asphalt

the delicacy and importance of issues in east asia now. >> steinberg expressed the concerns over the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan claim them. >> the re-elected leader in the united states and new leaders in all three major countries of northeast asia. this is an opportunity to take a step back and get a new perspective and avoid this tit for tat and day to day things causing so much tension. >> steinberg called on japanese leaders to break the stalemate over relocating a u.s. air base in okinawa. he says the delays are hindering efforts to build a stronger alliance. a chinese government plane approached japanese air space over the senkaku islands. fighter jets were scrambled to interassessment the craft. defense minister officials say air defense force personnel spotted the plane. the twin propellor aircraft belongs to china's state oceanic administration. the plane came within 120 kilometers of the area and left without entering japanese air space. it's the third day in a row the chinese aircraft has been spotted at the same time on a similar course. self-defense forces are on heightened alert

china deteriorated. his government nationalized the senkaku islands in the east china sea. japan controls the territory. china and taiwan claim it. chinese ships enter japanese waters near the islands and chinese alleged anti-japan demonstrations. noda's key domestic policy issue was fiscal reform. he staked his career on hiking the consumption tax and reforming social security to chip away at japan's rising debt. the opposition liberal democrats and their allies helped him pass a package of bills after he promised to call a general election soon. but then noda added conditions. he wanted to enact legislation allowing the government to issue bonds defined as the current fiscal year's budget and he wanted to reform the electoral system. >> translator: if you agree to this condition i'm ready to dissolve the lower house on november 16th. please give your word to the people. >> reporter: that's what opposition leaders did. setting the stage for the election. >> prime minister noda is facing the biggest fight of his political life. nhk's latest opinion poll suggests kobe in trou

. >>> one part of the rocket fell into the yellow sea another into the east china sea and a third partfell into the pacific ocean east of the philippines about 2,000 miles away. >>> 4:43 now. how about a look at weather? it's going to start looking like christmas around the bay area. >> i like that cold air white christmas at least on the mountaintops. maybe a dusting of snow. very cold temperatures as the system drives in from the gulf of alaska. hi-def doppler shows showers right now and that's what we'll see to throughout, more nuisance showers throughout the morning but you can see a good cell along the peninsula to daly city, pacifica heavier rainfall very shortly. and you're going to see this sporadic showers throughout the morning hours, the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm and, yes, maybe even a couple of snowflakes over the mountaintops. look at the cold front swinging through behind that. you see all those cold clouds? those continue to drop on through at least through the morning hours. temperatures fairly chilly in the 40s. even with cloud cover, that's cold. 52 degr

an airplane from china's maritime authorities intruded into japan's airspace over the senkaku islands. that's in the east china sea. jets were scrambled to the scene. japan controls the senkaku islands, china and taiwan claimed them. the japan coast guard says one of its vessels spotted the plane thursday morning and reported it to japan's defense ministry. it was about 15 kilometers south of the uotsuri islands. part of the senkaku island chain. the minister says eight f-15 fighters from the air self defense force based in okinawa were dispatched in response. but when they arrived the chinese plane had already left japanese airspace. the coast guard photo of the chinese aircraft shows letters on the plane's body indicating it belongs to china's state oceanic administration. the defense ministry says this was the first such intrusion by a chinese aircraft since the self-defense forces began keeping records. the coast guard says the plane was initially spotted around 10:40 a.m. local time. coast guard officials confirmed the intrusion at 11:06 and the plane moved out of sight four minutes later. the coast guard ves

. >> a japanese media report is casting doubt on chinese claims to the senkaku islands in the east china sea. jiji press says the chinese government recognized the islands as part of japan in a document more than 60 years ago. the wire service obtained a copy of the draft outline on the territorial issues with a peace treaty for japan. the government produced the draft in 1950. jiji press says the document refers to the islands by their japanese name sankaku. the article says the document contains descriptions recognizing them part of what we now call okinawa. chinese leader says they have consistently referred to the islands by the chinese name. >> translator: we're not aware of the details of the report. i want to emphasize that the islands have long been chinese territory. we have sufficient historical grounds that china has sovereignty over them. >> japan's chief cabinet secretary says japanese leaders will pay close attention to the matter. on a territorial dispute with another of its neighbors, this time south korea, japan is taking the initiative. japanese officials say the takeshima

. >> a japanese media report is casting doubt on chinese claims to the senkaku islands in the east china sea. jiji press says the chinese government recognized the islands as part of japan in a document more than 60 years ago. the wire service obtained a copy of the draft outline on the territorial issues with a peace treaty for japan. the government produced the draft in 1950. jiji press says the document refers to the islands by their japanese name san kak cue. the article says the document contains descriptions recognizing them part of what we now call okinawa. chinese leader says they have consistently referred to the islands by the chinese name. >> translator: we're not aware of the details of the report. i want to emphasize that the islands have long been chinese territory. we have sufficient historical grounds that china has sovereignty over them. >> japan's chief cabinet secretary says japanese leaders will pay close attention to the matter. on a territorial dispute with another of its neighbors, this time south korea, japan is taking the initiative. japanese officials say the takesh

. >> he pointed to the dispute over the senkaku islands in the east china sea. chinese planes have flown into and around japanese air space in the area and chinese ships have sailed into japanese waters. he said he's also concerned about north korea's nuclear and missile development programs. >>> newly released details showed myanmar canceled a visit of sdf vessels out of consideration of china. two ships were scheduled to visit on the way back from mine sweeping drills in the persian gulf. no japanese vessel has ever made a port visit to the country. myanmar was under military rule for almost 25 years. the nation has been strengthening ties with japan and western nations since its transition to civilian rule in march of last year. but the country's leaders have also been trying to maintain close ties with china. japan's new government has promised to repair frayed ties with south dakota. he spoke with south korea's kim a day after taking office, saying south korea is japan's most important neighbor and they share fundamental values and interests. he alluded to a

abe vowed to take a stronger claim over the islands in the east china sea. they'll carefully monitor how the new administration deals with the issue. japan controls the islands but china and taiwan say they belong to them. >> translator: we hope that china realizes the problems we share and deal with them properly. >> they claim that the islands are part of their test. and developing a healthy, stable and long term relationship will serve the interest of both countries. >>> more than 100 million people in japan were eligible to cast ballots in this election, but a sizable number gave the polling stations a pass. the voter turnout sank to its lowest since world war ii. officials with the internal affairs ministry say nearly 62 million people cast ballots. that's about 59% of eligible voters. it's nearly ten points lower than the level set in the 2009 lower house elections. the democrats came racing to power last time around, but they limped to the finish line in this election. we went to find out why people didn't vote for the party or didn't vote at all. >> r

japan controls the senkaku islands in the east china sea. china and taiwan claim them. japanese wire service jiji press says the chinese government issued the document in 1915. the document says the islands are part of ryukyu, an old name for that area that is now okinawa. the paper mentions the islands's former name. the chinese embassy issued a statement on its website. it rejected suggestions that the document should serve as proof of japan's claim. they have historical and law enforcement grounds for claims of sovereignty. it says bringing up an unsigned document demonstrates a lack of confidence over the issue among japanese. the statement says what it calls tricks won't change the fact that the islands are chinese territory. >>> geothermal power is attracting global attention. in southeast asia, the philippines is taking advantage of the sustainable energy source and its usage rate is the second highest in the world. now it's strengthening its industry by teaming up with counterparts from around the globe. >> reporter: steam rises and the air smells faintless of ro

its airspace after a chinese government plane was spotted over a group of disputed islands in the east china sea. japan this past fighter jets and launched an official complaint with -- japan dispatched fighter jets and launched an official complaint. the islands are claimed by both japan and beijing. >> palin's prime minister has been charged with murder. the charges relate to the death -- thailand's prime minister has been charged with primer. the charges relate to the death of a tax dry -- taxi driver. >> the south pacific island nation of samoa has been lashed by a cyclone. the storm and damaged buildings, uprooted trees, and caused flooding. officials have declared a state of emergency. no injuries have been reported. >> an autopsy has confirmed that the prisoners committed suicide after being caught up in a prank phone call -- that a british nurse committed suicide after being caught up in a prank phone call. two australian radio jockeys have apologized for the prank. a suicide note was found near where the nurse was hanged. >> a special report on japan, which goes to the polls this sunday

ruling democratic party the liberals leader has called for a tougher stance in the dispute with china of islands in the east china seaand him also reverse the trend to move away from nuclear power after the fukushima disaster and he believes is the only way to leave the country as an interim. right christmas is a time when shops hope to do some brisk business but i'll choose resident else new yorkers if the festive spirit is turning into a shopaholic addiction. why have the holidays become such hellish days this week and let's talk about that it's a commercial thing now everyone just want to spend money it's not about what it really should be about how did that happen is that the media telling us to buy buy buy a absolutely it's everyone with their sales and absolutely i live on what people buy you know and i'm an independent sales rep so i depend on it so you're happy with this christmas i'm happy this christmas i sell luxury goods as long as people keep buying into i have a holiday that's it a way to stop that would be to go back to church to read the bible and to find faith and to remember what the holiday is supp

. >>> one part of the rocket fell into the yellow sea another fell into the east china sea. a thirst part fell into the pacific ocean -- a third part fell into the pacific ocean east of the philippines. >>> millionaire fugitive john mcafee is released from a detention center. he was taken into custody last week after sneaking into guatemala from belize where he is wanted in connection with a murder. a guatemalan judge gave mcafee 10 days to get his immigration situation order is out. >> hope he is writing a book while he is going through all this. >> so bizarre. >> i would read it. strange, strange. >>> how about some traffic now at 6:14? liz, it's all yours. >> thank you. let's go towards the bay bridge. we are just getting word of a new accident just past the pay gates. the metering lights are on. so you can see delays now as far back as probably towards the 880 overcrossing now. and then we also have that accident past the toll plaza so delays towards treasure island up the incline. they are working to clear it but we have a good sized wait toward san francisco from the ea

one part of the rocket fell into the yellow sea, another fell into the east china sea and a third part fell into the pacific ocean east of the philippines about 2,000 miles away. >>> a big victory for millionaire fugitive john mcafee. he was released from guatemalan custody. he snuck into guatemala from belize where he is wanted in connection with the murder of his neighbor. a guatemalan judge has given mcafee 10 days to get his immigration situation sorted out. >>> mexican transportation officials say the plane carrying singing sensation jenni rivera plunged almost vertically from 28,000 feet. the plane did a nosedive into the ground at 600 miles an hour. investigators are piecing together the wreckage to find the exact cause of the crash. they say it could take days. >>> it is 5:20. new this morning, it is the blessing tweeted around the world and now the head of the catholic church has more twitter followers than all of us. pope benedict xvi's message, dear friends, i am pleased to get in touch with you through twitter. he also added i bless all of you from my heart, in eighth diffe

the south china sea, which are increasingly murky. hundreds of vietnamese fishing boats head out into a stretch they call the east seat. -- sea. the islands are disputed between vietnam, china, and taiwan. the skipper knows the dangers. three years ago, he was detained by the chinese, who confiscated his boat. >> in the past, when we were hit by storms, which could shelter of the islands. now, mysterious and boats come to arrest us, and beat us, and pushed us back. >> the chinese occupied the islands, but the vietnamese say there is plenty of historical

taiwan is a party to both the south china sea dispute and the east china sea dispute. what do you think -- what kind of a role do you think taiwan can play in calming down the situation or peacefully resolving the situation? president ma has actually proposed an east china sea peace initiative, calling for bilateral and trilateral talks on the issue. what does the united states think of this proposal? would it serve as a basis for dialogue? thank you. >> first of all, at a larger level, obviously one of the most important things that the united states seeks to convey is the determination to maintain peace and stability across the taiwan strait. we've also strongly supported the positive dialogue that has taken place over the last several years between the mainland and taiwan. we seek that to continue. we also want to support our unofficial ties with taiwan, particularly in the area of economic engagements. we have made very clear to all parties our position on these territorial matters. i articulated a position earlier, the maintenance of peace and stability, the desire

] i'm with the "world journal" could you address the growing chinese assertivenesses the south china sea and the east china sea -- the foreign ships are going territorial waters. so are you going participate in the coming events? and what can that message -- [inaudible] thank you. >> well, thank you for that question. of course, the issues that are being faced today in the south china sea and other areas in the north and central east asia, i think are complicated because of the nature of the territorial disputes. some of them historic, some of them now driven by the need for access to resources in those areas, and i think, to some degree has motivated some of the activities you see seeing there. the u.s. position, as you know, we don't take sides on territorial dispute. there's many of those around the globe not just around the south china sea. we want them resolved peacefully, without coerce. and that we call on all the parties there including the chinese to ensure that as the approach the problems they do so in a way that avoids con flict within that avoids miscalculation, that using the vehicles a

at the same time, china is locked in territorial disputes with japan and several southeast asian nations over islands in the east and south china seas. xi told a group of foreign academics in beijing that china poses neither a challenge nor a threat. >> translator: looking at china's history, cultural traditions, and current conditions, china will never adopt a policy of dominance or expansionism. ouprperityill bring peace and will benefit the rest of the world. >> analysts say xi hopes to ease concerns that china's new leadership intends to adopt a hard-line stance on diplomacy. however, on the same day he told a senior military commander to prepare strong missile units for possible conflict. >>> lawmakers in the u.s. senate have offered japanese government officials reassurance on the senkaku island. they unanimously approved a key defense bill stating the u.s. is covered by the u.s./japan security treaty. the national defense authorization act sets the framework for the defense budget. the legislation was amended to state the u.s. acknowledges japan's administration of the islands. but it stresses that the american government tak

at the same time, china is locked in territorial disputes with japan and several southeast asian nations over islands in the east and south china seas. xi told a group of foreign academics in beijing that china poses neither a challenge nor a threat. >> translator: looking at china's history, cultural traditions, and current conditions, china will never adopt a policy of dominance or expansionism. our prosperity will bring peace and will benefit the rest of the world. >> analysts say xi hopes to ease concerns that china's new leadership intends to adopt a more hard-line stance in diplomacy. however, on the same day, he told a senior military commander to strengthen missile units for possible conflict. xi has pledged to tackle corruption among party officials. he and the rest of the new leadership are reportedly planning to overhaul the structure of government. government sources say the leaders plan to cut one in three ministries from 27 to 18. they're planning to do away with a railways ministry and transfer its functions to the communications ministry. critics say poor oversight led to the crash last year of a high-speed train. 40

at the same time, china is locked in territorial disputes with japan and several southeast asian nations over islands in the east and south china seas. xi told a group of foreign academics in beijing that china poses neither a challenge nor a threat. >> translator: looking at china's history, cultural traditions and current conditions, china will never adopt a policy of dominance or expansionism. our prosperity will bring peace and will benefit the rest of the world. >> analysts say xi hopes to ease concerns that china's new leadership intends to adopt a more hardline stance on diplomacy. however, on the same day, he told a senior military commander to strengthen missile units for possible conflict. xi has pledged to tackle corruption among party officials. he and the rest of the new leadership are reportedly planning to overhaul the structure of government. government sources say the leaders plan to cut one in three ministries from 27 to 18. they're planning to do away with the railway ministry and transfer its function to the communications ministry. critics say poor oversight led to the crash last year of a high-speed train. 40 p

the two elements. this is not -- in south china sea, china is trying to advance. with the philippines and vietnam and other countries. they claim the islands at least in south china sea. east china sea there is an issue with japan. and from japan, -- [inaudible] the taiwan, the philippines, this is called -- from the viewpoint of china. violence exists in the pacific. china openly express their strong interest in the maritime security and also the territory along those islands. so these china sea, this is not isolated when. this is a kind of china military strategy to advance. >> that's an important point. which are basically saying this is about power. and a powerful which china is going to become more powerful. they are powerful to write history. we write history. you are seeing lines challenge, and i remember talking to george soros once when, after he so go the back of england, wrote the bank of england and what he saw as a hedge fund manager as a chance to basically drive so hard against the line that fundamentally the institutional power on the bank of england site had to collapse. and i look at asia and the power in the region, the lines that used to be a, whether t

look and that is i think the most dramatic really the most dramatic region in the world the south china sea the far east north eastern asia with north korea there and our resolve territorial disputes in a region where you don't have any kind of functioning regional integration that is a region that i'm really nervous about it's not so much the west and what it does it is about china and japan and vietnam and taiwan what is going to happen in the north and in the north east of asia that makes me nervous not the west ok pepe what do you think the people in afghanistan think in libya in syria and i go ahead yeah let me talk a little bit about this. china sea is my backyard because one of my bases is hong kong in fact what's happening the south china sea is going to be solved in a mechanism between the association of the southeast asian countries stan countries and china the problem is the un they will love to have a collective bargaining discussion in that china wants a bilateral discussion i'm sure over the next few i wouldn't say months but perhaps over the next two years or so they will find a mechanism

as it moves from the west things will turn stormy as we head into tomorrow and this system located over the yellow sea is now bringing gale force winds along the east coast of china and the korean peninsula that will intensify and produce a mixture of rain and snow for much of the korean peninsula and then it could intensify over the sea of japan and produce blizzard like conditions for northern japan tomorrow. gusts could hit 145 kilometers per hour. the temperatures on tuesday getting up to 10 in tokyo, about 4 degrees cooler than yesterday. 0 for seoul as well as beijing and minus 21 for la pur. moving into the american continent, heavy snow and strong winds still continuing in the mountains in the northwest. the northern rockies may see an additional 60 centimeters of snow and strong winds. flooding rain continues fro rthern california to british columbia and northern california may see an additional 100 millimeters of rain over the next 24 hours of flooding rain so flooding is highly likely. we'll see the same pressure pattern as we head into wednesday but from wednesday night you may see a short break in the stormy weather. snow showers in eastern canada, t

visit, we made an agreement with the chinese government to exploit jointly the oilwells in the east china sea and we wanted to start the consolidation based on the agreement but china kept refusing to hold the meetings so even though there is agreement between the two leaders of the country's we are very much disappointed in the current administration. and another issue, they're claiming is their island. different dimension from the energy issue, human-rights, importance to the human-rights situation in china, and consolidation with them. but in china for two years, the human rights, the information skier in china is totally different from canada, the united states and japan. the people in china do not share the same information as we have here. two nobel prizes that china took, the peace prize and information diffusion in the country is totally different, very little people know about the peace prize so this is one of the examples. there is broad room to be improved in china. >> we have a hard stop at 11:30 which is in four five minutes are left for a 30-second intervention. this gentleman.

the south china sea, which are increasingly murky. hundreds of vietnamese fishing boats head out into a stretch they call the east seat. -- sea. the islands are disputed between vietnam, china, and taiwan. the skipper knows the dangers. three years ago, he was detained by the chinese, who confiscated his boat. >> in the past, when we were hit by storms, which could shelter of the islands. now, mysterious and boats come to arrest us, and beat us, and pushed us back. >> the chinese occupied the islands, but the vietnamese say there is plenty of historical evidence proving the area belongs to vietnam. like the graves of ancestors who went to the islands to map the area, and claimed them as the enemies in the early 19th century. >> we have been going to the island's many times. during the last trip, there were hit by a typhoon, and their vote was missing. that is why the king at the time has requested these cribs for people to remember them. >> the docks are crowded with women who come to check the overnight touch. life here largely revolves around farming and fishing, but that could be about to change. whether it be fishing or shi

the south china sea. there is this inflow of moisture out of the philippines pushing its east coast of luzon. this is where you're still going to be seeing the risk of further flooding and landslides, especially on some of the steeper slopes here. even in manila, you can see rain showers and thunderstorm activity from this system as it does continue to linger here, at least pushing off there toward the west. so, we will still be watching this one the next several days. looking at south iron china, a stationary boundary here. this is already bringing rainfall and mixing in with snow in hugh nan provinces. it will pull off to the northeast, affecting japan going into saturday and eventually sunday. but first, what we're contending with is the sea-effect snow. just continuing to push in from the northwest. winds gusting up to 108 kilometers per hour. a half a meter of snow expected for thursday evening. that will taper off. the next system comes in, it will bring them warmer air with it. the risk runs with that. you have the snow continuing to fall, it will increase the snow melt and avalanche r

could you address the growing chinese assertiveness in south china sea and east china sea in china justannounced they're going to intercept -- [inaudible] are going to participate in talks with the chinese and what kind of message would you like to cover quite >> thank you for the question. of course the issues that are being phased in the south china sea and other areas in the north central east asia, i think are quite complicated because of the nature of the territorial dispute. some of them historic, some of them now driven by the need for access to resources in those areas and not to some degree has motivated some of the dvds you see there. the u.s. position as you know is that we don't take sides on territorial disputes. as many of those around the globe, not just the south china sea. but we do want them resolved peacefully without coercion and we call all the parties they are, including the chinese to ensure as they approach these problems that they do so in a way that avoids conflict, that avoids miscalculation, that uses vehicles available today through diplomacy and through tho

the world journal. could you address growing chinese assertiveness in south china sea and east china sea? and given china just announced they will intercept the ship's that go into territorial waters. so are you going to participate in upcoming defense talks with chinese? and what message do you want to tell them? thank you. >> well, thank you for that question. of course the issues that are being placed today in a south china sea and other areas in the north and central, east asia, i think are quite complicated because of the nature of the territorial disputes, some of them historic, some of them now driven by the need for access to resources in those areas, and that's i think to some degree has motivated some of the activities that you see, seeing there. the u.s. position as you know is that we don't take sides on territorial disputes. there's many of those around the globe, not just in the south china sea. but we do want them resolve peacefully, without coercion. and that we call on all the parties there, including the chinese, to ensure that as they approach these problems that they do

the amendment says the east china sea a vitally important to all nations in the asia pacific region. recognize that japan administer the senkaku islands. it says no action by a third party would effect their recognition and u.s. forces would protect territories under japan's administration. >>> satellite images show north korea could be preparing to launch another rocket. researchers at john hopkins university in the united states say they've observed the first two stages of what appears to be a long range missile. these images of the launch site on the west coast of north korea were captured on monday. researchers say they carry stages of a rocket. the orientation of the crane on the site was different than three days earlier. equipment that could be used to record the launch including cameras and antennas was also observed on the site. the researchers say north korea could be ready for liftoff as early as december 6th. they also know the country has not informed countries of its plans. north korean officials sent advance notice before previous tests on two occasions. >>> the possib

defense force scrambled fighter jets in reaction to a chinese aircraft flying near the islands in the east china sea. the defense ministry says they spotted a propeller aircraft on its radar. the plane was approaching the islands from the north. the asdf's f-15 fighter jets immediately went into scramble mode from a base in okinawa. the chinese plane flew within 120 kilometers of the islands but it left the area without violating japanese airspace. a plane of the same type intruded on december 13th. the asdf dispatched fighters in response. the aircraft spotted on monday had the same serial number as the one that made similar flight last saturday. in both cases, the plane tried to approach the area from the north and then flew away without violating japan's airspace. >>> chinese academy of social sciences released an assessment of the international situation in a report on monday. referring to the recent nationalization by japan of the islands. the report says china-japan relations are in the most serious state since normalization. it says policy flexibility has substantially decreased. it adds that