State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday. MA PING / XINHUA China and Japan voiced their support for free trade based on the World Trade Organization and warned against protectionism on Monday. In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said both countries should strengthen communication and coordination, stand against protectionism, safeguard the global free trade system with the WTO as the core and build an open world economy. Abe said Japan also values WTO rules and thinks trade problems should be settled according to such rules. Japan pays great attention to the new measures President Xi Jinping announced for expanding China's opening-up at the recent annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia and believes such measures promote bilateral economic ties, he said. The two sides also expressed their hope for cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. China values Abe's positive comments on the Belt and Road, Wang said, adding that China hopes to discuss with Japan appropriate ways and specific paths for Tokyo to participate. Abe said he expects the initiative to help the regional economy to recover and develop. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Abe said his country values highly its ties with China and hopes to use the opportunity to improve their ties across the board and achieve high level exchanges. Abe also said he looks forward to and welcomes Premier Li Keqiang to attend the leaders' meeting between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea and to make an official visit to Japan. China values the positive signs Abe has been showing since last year on improving ties, Wang said, adding that they should treasure the hard-won momentum. Also on Monday, Wang co-led the fourth bilateral high-level economic dialogue in Tokyo with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono. The dialogue had been stalled for nearly eight years. At the dialogue, ministers in charge of treasury, economy and diplomacy reached a wide range of consensuses, according to a Foreign Ministry news release. Beijing and Tokyo should jointly advance the integration process of the East Asia economy and spur negotiations on the China-Japan-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade pact, Wang said. In addition, they should move closer to building the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, he said. Jiang Ruiping, vice-president of China Foreign Affairs University and an expert on Japan's economy, said Beijing and Tokyo have every reason to better coordinate with each other to catalyze regional free trade negotiations. They could shift mutual competition in third-party markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa into cooperation to minimize unnecessary competition, Jiang added. Contact the writers at [email protected]animal bracelets rubber bandsrubber band bracelet charmscustom made silicone bracelets no minimumrubber band wristband makercustom bracelets
SEOUL, South Korea - When US video game maker Riot Games held a highly anticipated League of Legends championship match in South Korea last year, about half the spectators in the packed arena were women.While the pastime is traditionally seen as the preserve of young men, the number of female gamers in hyperwired South Korea has grown rapidly in recent years.But the South's $4.2-billion gaming industry has been hit by allegations of sexism and censorship targeting female gamemakers, likened by some to a modern-day witch-hunt.South Korea is the world's sixth-biggest video game market, boasting 25 million players - half the population - and multiple TV channels dedicated to broadcasting eSports competitions.About 65 percent of South Korean women aged 10 to 65 play video games, compared to 75 percent of men, and mobile games attract more female players than male.Women now account for 42 percent of all gamers in the country, according to industry tracker Newzoo.But female gamemakers account for less than a quarter of the male-dominated industry.Despite its technological and economic advances, South Korea remains a patriarchal society in many respects, and behind the facade of the global game powerhouse lies a heavily male-oriented culture.'Anti-social ideology'The latest row began when the CEO of Seoul-based IMC Games launched a probe into whether a female employee harbored "anti-social ideology" after complaints about her personal activity on Twitter.Sung Hye-jin had followed several feminist groups and retweeted a post featuring a slang term describing sexist men.Some of the industry's key clientele of young, male gamers demanded her sacking, calling her a "cancer-like creature" who "followed a dirty ideology".Sung apologized for the perceived offense, vowing to unfollow the groups in question.She kept her job after CEO Kim Hak-kyu decided her actions were "just a mistake but not a crime", but he assured customers he would "remain endlessly vigilant" to prevent a recurrence.Rights groups and the country's top labor union have condemned the investigation."This misogynistic action ... has left many women in shock and fear," the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said in a statement.South Korea's own game sector has a history of sacking women labeled as supporters of Megalia, a controversial online feminist group accused by many gamers of ridiculing men."It's common sense that one should not be punished at the workplace for personal beliefs that have nothing to do with work," said a the female CEO of one gaming company."But that common sense is not accepted at all in this industry right now, especially for women."Agence France-presse
