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Obama and Xi holding meeting
on estate for candid discussion


President Barack Obama hopes that his meetings with China’s new president, Xi Jinping, at an estate in California will help the two leaders build a personal relationship. Friday and Saturday’s summit is expected to cover cybersecurity, North Korea and trade.

The formal welcome that awaited China’s previous leader, Hu Jintao, in 2011 will be absent for Chinese president, Xi Jinping. 

Xi, when he was China's vice president, met with President Obama at the White House.

The more relaxed format of the summit near Palm Springs is intended to allow the leaders more time to talk and get to know each other, says Michael Auslin, at Washington’s American Enterprise Institute.

“And what they want to do is have the two leaders get out of the stuffy, formal, State Department-run type of banquets and, you know, large meetings and instead, sit down around a fire together, roll up their shirtsleeves and talk from the heart, you know, talk heart-to-heart,” Auslin said.

U.S. officials say Obama will confront Xi about charges that China is stealing information from American businesses, government agencies and the armed forces.  China denies that its military is engaged in cyber hacking.

Cheng Li is a senior fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution. “In terms of cybersecurity, there are a number of issues, including espionage, intellectual property rights, in terms of sabotage.  But I think particularly that, in intellectual property rights, I think you have a lot of things to say, because that is the exact area that the U.S. is far ahead of China,” Li said.

Michael Auslin says discussing cyber-theft is a waste of time unless President Obama backs talk with action. “And they also will not pay much attention to a president of the United States who only has the card to play of saying, ‘I am really concerned about this.’  They know that.  They would be much more likely to pay attention to us if we say, ‘There are real and lasting consequences for what you are doing,’” Auslin said.

The White House says trade will be high on the agenda for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.  Cheng says both sides have issues they want to discuss.

“We want to talk about intellectual property rights, talk about China’s protectionism, especially for the state-owned enterprises.  But for China, they want to make sure that the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which they believe is to contain China, keep China out of international free trade,” Cheng said. 

Presidents Obama and Xi are both concerned about the recent nuclear threats from North Korea, and Beijing has taken a tougher line against its longtime ally.

They will probably also address the conflict between China and Japan over islands in the East China Sea and the Obama administration’s increased emphasis on military ties with the Asia-Pacific region.

Obama names Susan Rice
as national security adviser


President Barack Obama has picked U.N. ambassador Susan Rice to be his next national security adviser.

Speaking at the White House, Obama said Rice was a fearless and tough patriot who understands that there is no substitute for American leadership. He added that she is mindful the United States has to exercise its power wisely and deliberately.

"She's reinvigorated American diplomacy in New York. She's helped to put in place tough sanctions on Iran and North Korea. She has defended Israel. She has stood up for innocent civilians from Libya to Cote d'Ivoire. She has supported an independent South Sudan. She has raised her voice for human rights, including women's rights. Put simply, Susan exemplifies the finest tradition of American diplomacy."

Ms. Rice is under criticism from congressional Republicans as part of the investigations into the deadly attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya. Ms. Rice said in television interviews the attacks were spontaneous, which later was shown to be incorrect.

Rice was considered likely to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of State, but she withdrew amid the Republican criticism. The post of national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation.
 
Rice is replacing Tom Donilon, who is to leave his job by early July. Donilon has been a key foreign policy adviser to Obama since he took office.

Obama said the American people owe Donilon an enormous amount of gratitude for helping to end the war in Iraq, finding and killing al-Qaida terrorist Osama bin Laden, and strengthening ties with America's allies.

The president has nominated the Irish-born professor Samantha Power to succeed Rice at the United Nations. Her nomination goes to the Senate for approval.


China cracks down on wine
in reaction to EU tariffs


China took aim on Wednesday at exports of the European wines favored by its growing middle class, responding to an EU move to impose anti-dumping duties of Chinese solar panels as tensions rise between two of the world's biggest trade partners.

In a step targeting southern European states such as France and Italy that back duties but largely sparing northern countries such as Germany that oppose them, Beijing launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy inquiry into sales of European wine.

The European Union will impose duties on imports of Chinese solar panels from Thursday, but has dramatically reduced the initial rate after pressure from some large member states led by Berlin in the hope of negotiating a settlement with Beijing.

China's Commerce Ministry said the EU penalties were imposed despite Beijing making great efforts and showing enormous sincerity in trying to resolve the matter through talks.

“The European side still obstinately imposed unfair duties on Chinese imports of solar panels,” the ministry said in a statement on its Web site.

China's newly well-to-do, whose ranks are growing as fast as the economy, have a seemingly unquenchable thirst for European wines, especially those from France which make up more than half the total. China is now the biggest importer of Bordeaux wines where consumption soared 110 percent in 2011 alone.

France's trade ministry condemned the Chinese move as inappropriate and reprehensible, accusing Beijing of opening a new front in an unrelated area. French President Francois Hollande called for a meeting of the 27 EU member states to show solidarity on trade issues, a government spokeswoman said.

In a more cautious reaction, German Economics Minister Philipp Roesler renewed Berlin's call for a negotiated solution and warned of the danger of wider trade confrontation.

Any action is unlikely to be popular with Chinese consumers. “We Chinese love the French wines. They're so sophisticated and go down so well,” said Niu Lanxiang, 23, a logistics worker out shopping for wine in a supermarket in Beijing's fashionable Sanlitun district.

“I know wine is more of a Western habit, but China is a modern country now too and we're learning how to enjoy wine,” she said. However, not all Chinese share her cultured palate; some still prefer to drink wine mixed with Coca-Cola or Sprite.

A European Commission spokesman told a briefing there was no dumping or subsidy of European wine exports to China and the EU authorities would defend their producers. He declined comment on talk of a trade war, saying Brussels did not use such terms.

The Chinese ministry said the government had begun the inquiry into EU wines at the request of Chinese wine makers.

“The commerce ministry has already received an application from the domestic wine industry, which accuses wines imported from Europe of entering China's market by use of unfair trade tactics such as dumping and subsidies,” it said in a statement.

“We have noted the quick rise in wine imports from the EU in recent years, and we will handle the investigation in accordance with the law.”

The move appeared largely symbolic and less severe than if China had targeted industrial exports such as Airbus aircraft, made by Toulouse-based European aerospace group EADS.

“It's a very calculated move. Wine is significant enough as a signal, yet it's not important enough to hurt industries in the European Union,” said Xu Bin, professor of economics and finance at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

China's “underlying interests” were very much in favor of resolving the solar panel issue within the next two months without over-reacting, he said. “Neither side wants to see a trade war, but both sides have their own interests.”

EU wine exports to China excluding Hong Kong, which EU officials said was not covered by the announcement, reached 257.3 million liters in 2012 for a value of nearly $1 billion. More than half, 139.5 million liters, came from France.

Diageo and Pernod are among the suppliers.

European wine-growers receive subsidies from the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, although not specifically for exports. For example, the biggest producer of Beaujolais wines, George Duboeuf, received 1.1 million euros ($1.4 million) in EU handouts in the 2011/12 season, according to the French Agriculture Ministry.

China is the third biggest export market for European wines and the fastest growing, as the rising middle class enjoys the pleasures and status of sipping fine Bordeaux or quaffing Rioja.

About 15 Chinese individuals or businesses have bought wine-growing properties in Bordeaux and investors also want to develop luxury tourism in the region, which they think will be the next fad as Chinese wealth pours into Europe.

Jim Boyce, who runs the wine blog grapewallofchina.com, said Chinese manufacturers have been upset about alleged dumping for a while. “The big issue was all this Spanish wine flowing in here at incredibly low prices,” he said.

In Madrid, a representative of the Spanish Wine Federation said the Chinese move was a potentially serious blow to one of the few bright spots in a country stuck in deep recession since a housing bubble burst in 2008, decimating its economy.

“The saddest thing about all this is that if proceedings are opened and anti-dumping measures such as import tariffs applied, it means a sector that is doing really well will be dragged into a trade war that has nothing to do with it,” she said.

Spain abstained on the solar panel duties. Under EU rules that is counted as a vote in favor.

The EU is China's most important trading partner, while for the EU China is second only to the United States. Chinese exports of goods to the bloc totaled 290 billion euros ($376 billion) last year, with 144 billion euros going the other way.

Wine sales are only a fraction of overall exports to the rising Asian economic powerhouse but the move raises the risk of more tit-for-tat trade barriers.

The EU now has 31 trade investigations underway, 18 of them involving China. The largest to date is that into the importation of 21 billion euros of solar panels, cells and wafers from China.

The EU says it has evidence that Chinese firms are selling solar panels below cost, a practice known as dumping. But the initial duty of 11.8 percent announced on Tuesday by European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht was far below the average 47 percent that had been planned.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said it took note of the lower initial rate and called on the EU to “show more sincerity and flexibility to find a resolution both sides can accept through consultations.”

Deported woman's son pushes
for proposed immigration bill


The son of a Mexican woman who became a symbol of the U.S. immigration reform movement by taking sanctuary in a Chicago church to try to avoid deportation pushed lawmakers in Washington Wednesday to help families like his.

Saul Arellano and other young U.S. citizens whose parents have been deported, or are in detention for immigration violations, shared their stories with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, just days before the Senate is set to debate a possible overhaul of the U.S. immigration system.

"It's been 10 painful years,” said Arellano, reflecting on the time since his mother first faced legal troubles and was later deported for living and working illegally in the U.S.

He said his one dream is for the U.S. to pass immigration reform, “because many families are being separated, and that is not fair.”

The U.S.-born Arellano, now a teenager, currently lives with his mother Elvira in Michoacan, Mexico. The pair became the unlikely stars of a national drama that unfolded in 2006, when the woman took sanctuary at the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, Illinois, in the mid-western United States. In an effort to stay close to her son, she evaded deportation for immigration violations but was swiftly returned to Mexico when she left the church to lobby her case in California.

While in Washington, Arellano said he hoped to see President Barack Obama, whom he met once before when the president was a senator in Illinois, pushing for immigration reform to help people like Arellano.

Emma Lozano, a spokeswoman for Familia Latina Unida, an advocacy group co-founded by Elvira Arellano, urged Obama to use his executive powers on deportations, as he did with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals memorandum.

Last year’s so-called DACA memorandum protected some undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children from deportation.

“Obama should use his executive powers like he used for DACA and all those eligible under the Senate bill. He should stop those deportations immediately,” Lozano said. “We need a solution now.”

The Obama administration has removed more undocumented immigrants from the country than any other presidency, overseeing the deportation of nearly 400,000 people annually since 2009, according to the Pew Research Hispanic Center.

Not all of those people have children in the U.S., but many do. A new report by Human Impact Partners says an estimated 152,000 children were affected by the 88,517 deportations of undocumented immigrants last year who said they had at least one U.S. citizen child.

The California-based health research and advocacy group says those children, as well as the more than four million others who live in families where one or more of their parents are undocumented, face anxiety and fear that could result in mental health and behavioral problems.

The group, like Arellano and Familia Latina Unida, are pushing for the Obama administration to help reunite families separated by deportation.

The immigration reform bill, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee two weeks ago, is expected to come under review by the full Senate next week. To become law, it needs to be approved by both the Senate and House of Representatives, and signed by the president.

The current bill would provide more opportunities for individuals deported from the U.S. to re-enter the country. An applicant without a criminal conviction, who is also a spouse, parent or child of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, or who entered the country as a child and meets some other requirements, could potentially get a waiver to return to the States.

Army major who killed 13
says he did it for Talibans


U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people in a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 5, 2009, is seeking another few months delay in his trial in order to prepare his defense. But his statement Tuesday that he will use a defense of others approach, specifically naming the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan as the others, has raised the question of whether he should not be tried as an enemy combatant.

Although jury selection was supposed to have begun Wednesday, the presiding judge, Col. Tara Osborn, has postponed all court proceedings until next week so that she can make a decision on the latest motion from Hasan. He has asked for three months to prepare a defense based on a so-called defense of others strategy.

In a statement to the court Tuesday, Hasan made clear that the others in this case were leaders and fighters of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The soldiers he is accused of shooting at Fort Hood were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan.

His statements contradict the government's position that the attack was not an act of terrorism. Military prosecutors say that using words like terrorism would make it difficult to give Hasan a fair trial. But his statement Tuesday is seen by many analysts as an admission that he carried out the attack on behalf of a foreign enemy.

Among those who see it that way is former military lawyer Jeff Addicott, who now heads the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.

"He was admitting that he was an unlawful enemy combatant and it does matter because we operate under the law of war when we deal with them. If he is an enemy combatant, then the people he murdered are entitled to the full benefit of our veterans who were killed or wounded in combat," Addicott said.

Family members of those killed or wounded in the shooting rampage have complained that they are undergoing hardships, while Hasan receives his full salary as the case drags on month after month. Much of last year, for example, was taken up in a dispute over whether the defendant should be allowed to have a beard, something he claimed was an expression of his Muslim faith. After the first judge was removed, Col. Osborn took over the case and ruled he could keep it.

But Jeff Addicott believes Hasan is manipulating the supposedly strict military legal system.

"He has already won; he has the beard, there is no tight control there. He won't wear the Class A uniform that all defendants are required to wear, military personnel. He is wearing fatigues. So he has already won significant minor victories in his mind. So he is on a roll," Addicott said.

Defenders of the military court, however, say Judge Osborn is doing the right thing in allowing every request that is made within the legal framework so as to make sure the trial is fair and to minimize the possibility of a later appeal.

She denied Hasan's request for access to the Internet, for example, but she ordered his former attorneys and legal assistants to do research for him. She granted Hasan's request to defend himself, but has ordered his court-appointed attorneys to remain on standby in case she needs to have them resume the defense.


Contest features smart robots
in search of designated objects


Eleven robots faced off in a Massachusetts field on Wednesday, showing off their ability to independently track down objects in a hunt for $1.5 million in prize money at a NASA-sponsored contest aimed at speeding technological development.
 
In the first day of a three-day event, robots designed by teams from the United States, Canada and Estonia set out from a platform in a two-acre park at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, to search among rolling hills, rocks, trees and a gazebo to find geologic samples.
 
They operated without human control, with the goal of encouraging advancements in autonomous navigation and robotics technologies, NASA officials said.
 
“Improving this technology will be a huge boon, not just to NASA and space exploration, but also for countless applications here on Earth,” including industrial purposes, Sam Ortega, program manager of Centennial Challenges, said in a statement.
 
The Centennial Challenges program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is part of the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which develops hardware for future missions.
 
Robots in the contest will be required to retrieve samples in a range of shapes and sizes, from shoe-box-like forms to objects resembling tennis balls. Prizes range from $100,000 to $1.5 million, depending on the complexity of the samples retrieved.
 
Organizers chose the park setting to provide real-world challenges to the robots.
 
At last year's event, also held at Worcester Polytechnic, no prize money was awarded because the one robot that qualified for the contest failed to collect the required samples in the allotted time.
 
Robots entered in the contest can weigh no more than 80 kilograms (176 pounds) and measure up to 1.5 meters (about five feet) square.
 
The program caters mostly to citizen inventors, but also small businesses and universities that have developed robots, Ortega said. Cash prizes can be awarded to U.S. citizens only, he said, but the non-monetary guts and glory reward remained a strong motivator for entrants, he added.
 
While NASA does not claim any right to the intellectual property of the winning robots, it encourages winners to start businesses.
 
Technological innovations that emerge through the contest could help NASA designers overcome challenges in creating robots used in five to 10 years, Ortega said.