Asia/Pacific

Obama said despite "enormous mistrust," Karzai saw the need for "political reconciliation."

Republican senators on Tuesday said they were skeptical that anything would come from of the Taliban’s agreement to start peace talks with the United States and the Afghan government.

Several Republicans said the Obama administration had spoken with them about the agreement on Monday, before it was announced publicly, and they didn’t oppose the notion of talking.

But there was deep pessimism that the Taliban would be willing lay down arms until it’s defeated on the battlefield, and until the U.S. states what size force it will leave behind in Afghanistan after it fully transfers security control to the Afghans in 2014.

Opponents of proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest were dealt a blow Tuesday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it wouldn’t conduct a broad environmental evaluation for the projects.

Jennifer Moyer, the Corps’s acting regulatory chief, said during a House hearing that there is “no compelling justification” to conduct an area-wide environmental impact statement for each of the three outstanding applications to build coal export terminals in Washington and Oregon.

“They are independent projects in different locations, whose impacts are not related,” she told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Energy and Power.

The news came as Afghan security forces on Tuesday took over the lead on combat operations across the country. 

The U.S. government isn't spying on Chinese civilians unless they're engaged in cyberattacks on American agencies and businesses, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence panel said Monday.

The comments from Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) follow National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden's allegations that the agency has been spying on universities, businesses and students in China and Hong Kong since 2009.

The state-run China Daily has warned that the accusations would “test developing Sino-US ties” and reports said Chinese officials may press the U.S. to explain the extent of its surveillance programs.

“We're not stealing information, business records, patents and everything else,” Ruppersberger told The Hill. “Every country has security, every country has intelligence. But when you start stealing private information, that's a different story.”

The House approved language late Thursday that would prevent the Department of Defense from engaging in any "collaborative cyber-security activities" with the People's Republic of China.

The language, from Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), was attached to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act in a voice vote.

A top Senate Democrat is pressing the Obama administration to release the negotiation text of an Asia-Pacific trade deal. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter on Thursday to President Obama's nominee to become the nation's top trade negotiator, expressing concern about the lack of transparency of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement that could be completed later this year. 

In her letter, Warren asked White House official Michael Froman, whose nomination to become the next U.S. Trade Representative has been sent to the full Senate, for a commitment that he will release the bracketed text if he is confirmed by the Senate. 

"The public should know what's happening," Warren told The Hill on Thursday. "There are powerful public policy implications and the idea of not releasing the text over a backlash is backward." 

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry calls the strikes "a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

A spokesman said questions about NSA surveillance would not undercut the president's ability to discuss civil liberties with Chinese president.

Senate Democrats and Republicans pressed the White House on Thursday to clamp down a growing rash of illegal trade practices among several major partners. 

Lawmakers singled out India, Japan and China for a broad range of violations, including currency manipulation and theft of intellectual property, they argue are hampering efforts to increase U.S. exports and grow the economy. 

The questions were raised during a nomination hearing for Michael Froman, who is up for the position of U.S. Trade Representative, at the Senate Finance Committee. 

Panel ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) questioned Froman about whether India could be denied participation in the General System of Preferences (GSP), which provides help to nations trying to pick up their exports, for failing to protect intellectual property and turning inward toward domestic firms. 

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