My comment:
(a) Liancourt Rocks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshima
(also known as 獨島 (Dokdo) in Korea and 竹島 (Takeshima) in Japan; a group
of small islets in the Sea of Japan; "the Franco-English name of the islets
derives from Le Liancourt, the name of the French whaling ship whose crew
almost crashed on the rocks in 1849")
(b) 万明
Ming Wan, Director of Global Affairs Program and Professor of Government and
Politics, George Mason University
http://gloa.gmu.edu/mingwan
I have no idea where he was born. I do not know of anybody with the surname
万 in Taiwan, But I know China has 万里.
-----------Separately
(1) Martin Fackler, With Japan, US May Be Losing Diplomatic Ground to China;
Beijing Looks to Fill a Void as Tensions Between allies Rises. New York
Times, Jan. 24, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/world/asia/24japan.html?scp=8&sq=okinawa%20fackler&st=cse
My comment: Yesterday (Jan. 24), the city of Nago (名護市 in Japanese) in
Okinawa held a mayoral election, which was shaped up as a referendum on US
base. The challenger, who opposes the base, won over the incumbent who was
in favor. Maybe US will come to Shimoji Island, which is 100 km away from
Taiwan.
(3) Ahead of Mitsubishi MRJ, China's ARJ (in both cases RJ stands for "regional jet") and Russia, Montreal-based Bombadier has CSeries on market now, which seats 100 to 149 passengers. "That would pit it directly against smaller versions of Boeing's 737 and Airbus's A320 models," Wall Street Journal reports today. "For the CSeries, Bombardier has secured orders from Lufthansa and Lease Corporation International," Aviation Week said on Jan. 20, 2010. Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies, supplies CSeries withthe turbofan engine. All of these are civilian aircraft.
(4) Barbara Opall-Rome, Israel's Heavy-Hauling UAVs Are Ready for Battle.
Defense News, Jan. 25, 2010.
http://defensenews.com/story.php?i=4469090&c=MID&s=AIR
(The all-weather, 4.5-ton Eitan--Hebrew for "Steadfast" and known
internationally as Heron TP--flies automatically in high-altitude safety for
60 hours at a stretch)
Note:
(a) The key word is "automatically."
(b) IAF stands for Israel Air Force.
(c) Shavit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavit
(Hebrew for "comet," a rocket that sends payload to low earth orbit)