The conservative government had planned to amend Section 18 C of the Act, which prohibits offending someone on the basis of race, color or ethnicity

But the government shelved those plans at the insistence of Muslim leaders in the interests of forging closer community cooperation against extremists.

But several conservative lawmakers argue that law unreasonably restricts free-dom of speech and want the 21-year-old section scrapped.

Ruteere, a Kenyan rights researcher, said the section “presents an interesting and useful balance” between freedom of speech and protecting minorities.

“Section 18 C sets the tone of an open, inclusive and multicultural Australia, which respects and values the diversity of its peoples and protects indigenous and migrants against bigots and extremists who have become more vocal in Australia and other parts of the world,” Ruteere told reporters. (AP)

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016

15

Asia

Russia talks downplayed

Abe & Obama setto visit Pearl HarborTOKYO, Dec 5, (Agencies): Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he would visit Hawaii on Dec 26 and 27 for his final summit meeting with out-going US President Barack Obama, and to remember the victims of Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack 75 years ago.

Abe will be the first incumbent Japanese Prime Minister to visit Pearl Harbor after Tokyo launched a surprise attack on the US naval base in December 1941.

His visit follows a landmark trip to Hiroshima in May by Obama, the first sitting US president to visit the Japanese city devastated by a US nuclear attack in 1945.

“I’ll visit Pearl Harbor with President Obama. This will be a visit to console the souls of the victims,” Abe told report-ers.

“I would like to show to the world the resolve that horrors of war should never be repeat-ed.”

The attack on the naval base by Japanese torpedo planes, bombers and fighter planes drew the United States into World War Two when it

declared war on Japan, while the US nuclear bomb-ings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to sur-render.

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Abe hopes for progress: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that he hopes for prog-ress in peace treaty talks with Russia but that the decades-old issue cannot be settled in one meeting.

Abe said he wants to discuss the issue candidly with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visits Japan on Dec 15-16.

DisputeAbe has been betting that his close ties with Putin

and the lure of Japanese investment in fields from medical technology to energy could ease progress in the dispute over four islands seized by Russia at the end of World War Two when the leaders meet.

The feud over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia, has kept Tokyo and Moscow from signing a peace treaty formally ending their conflict and strengthening ties in the face of a rising China.

“This is not an issue that can be resolved in just one meeting,” Abe told a meeting of government and rul-ing party officials.

“I want us two leaders to discuss this frankly and with open minds and make progress in negotiations on a peace treaty,” said Abe, who has met Putin more than a dozen times since his first 2006-07 term in office.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said over the weekend it would be difficult to close the gap in positions over a peace treaty and territorial dispute with Japan.

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NZ PM calls it quits: Popular New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced his shock resignation Monday, saying he was never a career politician and it was the right time to go after eight years in the job.

The former Merrill Lynch currency trader called it “the hardest decision I’ve ever made”, with no plans on what to do next other than spend more time with his family.

“Being leader of both the party and the country has been an incredible experience,” he told a regular weekly news conference.

Career“But despite the amazing career I have had in poli-

tics, I have never seen myself as a career politician.”Key recently marked his eighth anniversary as

prime minister and 10th year as leader of the centre-right National Party, which is set to meet next week to elect his successor.

His deputy Bill English, who led the party to its worst result in the 2002 election, is widely seen as favourite to take over and was endorsed by Key, although he did not immediately confirm he wanted the role.

“Certainly, I wouldn’t stand if there wasn’t strong caucus support for me standing,” he said, adding that since the 2002 flop he had received “a masterclass every day from John Key about how to do politics”.

As discussion about Key’s decision to walk away swirled around social media, the down-to-earth politi-cian — once voted the leader most New Zealanders would love to have a beer with — insisted he was “not the kind of guy that has to hang on to power for power’s sake”.

Opinion polls had consistently pointed to him becoming the first political leader in New Zealand history to win four consecutive elections when the country votes next year, but he said records were not a consideration. “If you’re staying for the record of the time you’re staying for the wrong reason,” he said.

“It’s been an incredible experience and it’s been a real privilege and I’m going to die happy — I hope that’s a long time in the future — but I’m going to feel really proud of what we’ve done,” he said.

Key came into politics relatively late, entering par-liament in 2002 and assuming leadership of the National Party four years later.

By 2008 he had ended nine years of Labour Party rule, ousting then-prime minister Helen Clark.

He won plaudits for his leadership during a string of crises in his first term, including a devastating earthquake in Christchurch in February 2011 which claimed 185 lives.

The 55-year-old also steadied the economy after the global financial crisis without resorting to hard-line spending cuts, instead taking a steady, pragmatic approach that saw the budget return to surplus in the 2015-16 financial year for the first time since 2008.

When he heard the news, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sent him a brief text message: “Say it ain’t so bro”, telling reporters in Melbourne he con-sidered his close friend “one of the most outstanding national leaders in the world today”.

New Zealand opposition Labour Party leader Andrew Little acknowledged Key’s popularity but said he understood why he was walking away.

“Politics requires much sacrifice. We may all be politicians, but not all our lives are politics,” Little tweeted.

Former prime minister Clark, now the head of the UN Development Programme, praised Key for work-ing “tirelessly to promote New Zealand and its inter-ests”.

Abe

In this Nov 5, 2016 photo, a stage lighting illuminates the venue as singers perform during a rally calling for South Korean President Park Geun-hye to step down, in Seoul. (AP)

People look at a Christmas tree at Kitte commercial complex in Tokyo’s shopping and business district of

Marunouchi on Dec 5. (AP)

Lu Ruteere

‘Don’t complicate border dispute’: China called on India on Monday not to do anything to complicate their border dispute after a senior exiled Tibetan religious lead-er visited a sensitive border region con-trolled by India but claimed by China.

The Karmapa Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s third-most-senior figure who fled into exile in India in 2000, last week went to Tawang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, in the remote eastern Himalayas.

China disputes the entire territory of Arunachal Pradesh, calling it south Tibet. Its historic town Tawang, a key site for Tibetan Buddhism, was briefly occupied by Chinese forces during a 1962 war.

Asked about the trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said India was clear about China’s position on the eastern end of their border.

“We hope the Indian side can respect the relevant consensus of both sides, and not take any actions that may complicate the border issue,” Lu told a daily news briefing.

Maintaining peace and stability on the border and the healthy development of relations was in both parties interests, he added.

Leaders of Asia’s two giants pledged last year to cool their festering border dis-pute, which dates back to their brief 1962 border war. (RTRS)

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Travel frenzy to see 3b trip: China’s transport ministry said on Monday it expects travellers to make nearly 3 billion trips during the upcoming Spring Festival, putting road, rail and air links through their hardest test during the country’s most important holiday.

The ministry predicted that 2.98 billion trips would be made during the 40-day period, which includes the Lunar New Year, up 2.2 percent compared with last year. The holiday is set to begin on Jan 13.

The railway network is likely to see a 9.7 percent jump in trips against 2015, while airlines will accommodate about 58.3 million trips, up 10 percent, the min-istry said in a statement on its website.

The majority of travellers will take to the roads to make an expected 2.52 billion trips, it said.

The ministry also said it expected fur-ther pressure on the transport network from stronger-than-usual winter and spring demand for freight transport for coal, grain and fertilizer.

It said it would look to add capacity over the period by adding trains and flights, and would strengthen measures to guard against the sale of fake tickets.

During the Spring Festival travellers brave long queues, delays and gridlock to travel home. (RTRS)

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‘Maintain hate-speech law’: A United Nations expert on racism on Monday urged Australia not to water down hate-speech prohibitions, as bigots and extremists become more vocal.

Mutuma Ruteere, UN special rappor-teur on racism, joined the debate surround-ing Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act at the end of a weeklong fact-finding mis-sion.

Asia

SKorea enters crucial week with Park’s impeachment vote

Hearings put tycoons in hot seatSEOUL, Dec 5, (Agencies): South Korea lawmakers on Monday kicked off an unprecedented series of hearings that will see the country’s business elite grilled over a corruption scandal engulfing impeachment-threatened President Park Geun-Hye.

The powerful heads of family-run conglomerates, or “chaebols”, such as Samsung and Hyundai will be among those testifying before a parliamentary investigation ahead of an impeachment vote to remove the president on Friday.

The hearings opened on the back of a series of mass anti-Park demonstra-tions in Seoul that have seen millions of people take to the streets.

Park is accused of colluding with her long-time friend, Choi Soon-Sil, to strong-arm giant corporations into “donating” nearly $70 million to two dubious non-profit foundations.

Choi has been indicted for coercion and abuse of power, and is accused of syphoning some of the donated funds for personal use. She denies all crimi-nal charges.

Choi had been summoned for ques-tioning at the televised hearings, but made it clear Monday she would absent herself, citing health grounds. Lawmakers said she faced jail time for contempt if she failed to appear.

GroupTuesday’s testimony will be devoted

to interrogating the corporate tycoons, including Samsung group scion Lee Jae-Yong, Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-Koo and seven heads of other conglomerates like LG, Lotte, Hanjin and CJ.

They are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, but the “Choi-gate” scandal has taken the lid off simmering public resentment over their influence and perceived sense of privilege at a time of slowing economic growth

According to company sources cited by the largest-circulation newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, many of them have been going through frantic preparations to avoid any public humiliation, holding mock question and answer sessions with aides and memorising responses to sensitive issues.

Some researched subway and bus fares in case they are asked to prove their common-touch credentials, while others sent managers on recces to the national assembly — timing the walk to the hearing room and working out routes to avoid the press, Chosun said.

Chaebol heads are unused to being questioned or held accountable — even to their shareholders.

“It is part of the deep-rooted, twisted corporate culture in South Korea to treat founding family members as if they are royalty,” said Shim Jung-Taik, an author of several books on Samsung and its corporate culture including a biography of its ailing chairman, Lee Kun-Hee.

“None of them would have attended these hearings in normal times. But the public fury shown at recent mass rallies was too much to ignore even for these

royals,” Shim said.Samsung — the South’s largest

business group — made the biggest contributions of 20 billion won ($17 million) to Choi’s foundations, fol-lowed by Hyundai, SK, LG and Lotte.

Prosecutors have raided the head-quarters of Samsung and other groups for any evidence that they received policy favours in exchange for their contributions.

Samsung is separately accused of funnelling millions of euros to Choi to bankroll her daughter’s equestrian training in Germany.

As part of the widening probe, pros-ecutors are also investigating whether Samsung lobbied officials at the state pension fund for their support over a contested merger deal last year.

Park has not been summoned for questioning by lawmakers.

Monday’s session involved several presidential aides who were grilled

over some of the more lurid elements uncovered by the case — including the mass purchase by Park’s office of Viagra pills.

The officials said the erectile-dys-function drug had been bought to treat potential altitude sickness during Park’s tour of various African nations in May. South Korea is entering potentially one of the most momen-tous weeks in its recent political his-tory, with impeachment looming for Park as ruling party dissenters align with the opposition in a strengthening effort to force her out.

Anti-Park lawmakers in the ruling Saenuri Party said Monday that about 35-40 of them will vote Friday to impeach Park, who is embroiled in an explosive political scandal. Those votes, when combined with 172 from opposition and anti-Park independent lawmakers, should be enough to impeach her.

Ban’s standing in polls declines

UN chief may be unwitting loserSEOUL, Dec 5, (RTRS): Besides South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the biggest casualty of the country’s mushrooming politi-cal corruption scandal may be the presidential aspirations of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Although he has not declared his candidacy, Ban was until a month ago the front-runner in opinion polls to win the election scheduled for Dec 20, 2017, a race he was widely expected to contest from Park’s conservative Saenuri Party.

But the scandal that has become known as “Park Geun-hye-Gate” and threatens Park’s presidency has sowed division in the party. An impeachment vote is set for later this week, and Ban’s standing in polls has declined, while the Saenuri has become a much less viable platform for a run.

“It doesn’t make any sense at all now for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to join the Saenuri Party. Unless he is stupid, he would never join Saenuri, would he?,” said Choung Byoung-gug, a Saenuri law-maker who co-heads an anti-Park faction that favours formation of a new conservative party.

It is not unusual for a major South Korean political party to break into factions, with the main-stream forming a new party.

“If a new sound conservative party is set up, then it may be a different situation, but at this point it is too early to say,” said Choung.

Ban, 72, was South Korean for-eign minister from 2004-2006 under the liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, but was a non-partisan career diplomat.

He now faces the prospect of

having no party to join to make use of the political machinery crucial to running a campaign. That institu-tional support is especially impor-tant given that Ban has been based in New York for a decade and has never run for office in South Korea.

Time is also not on Ban’s side if Park is forced to exit sooner than later.

Last week, Park sought to head off calls for her immediate resigna-tion or impeachment by asking par-liament to come up with a plan and timetable for her to step down. The opposition dismissed the manoeu-vre and has called for an impeach-ment vote for Dec 9.

If parliament votes for impeach-ment, which is not a certainty given the two-thirds majority needed would require the support of rough-ly 30 members of Park’s Saenuri party, the Constitutional Court would still need to uphold the motion, a process that could take months.

If Park leaves early, either by resigning or by being forced out by impeachment, a new election for a full five-year presidential term must be held in 60 days.

An early election would be dis-advantageous for Ban, since he cannot begin a campaign before his UN term ends on Dec 31. If he had planned to run, his earlier political calculations would have been based on nearly a full year to campaign.

Ban has been evasive about his plans after his UN tenure ends, but he told Reuters in October that he was conscious of “expectations from many people in Korea that I should make myself available for a better future of Korea.”

South Korea