The New York Times writes, "Protesters, police officers and lawmakers converged on Hong Kong's Legislative Council on Wednesday as debate began on a plan to change the way the semiautonomous Chinese territory will choose its leader beginning in 2017. The package would allow a direct vote for the next chief executive, who would have previously been chosen by a largely pro-government panel that now has 1,200 members. Supporters of the plan say that it would dramatically expand voters' say over who governs their city."
According to Reuters, "China's long-awaited countrywide carbon trading scheme is likely to be ready by the end of next year or early in 2017, an official with the state planning agency said on Wednesday. China, the world's biggest emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases, is aiming to bring its emissions to a peak around 2030 and has pledged to make full use of market mechanisms to meet targets. Seven regional pilot exchanges are in operation and the aim is to extend coverage to the rest of the country by next year."
"With President Obama's trade agenda in jeopardy in Congress, the nations of Asia are weighing the potential impact of a failed deal on local jobs and exports, but also something else: American influence in the region...Congress rejected legislation on Friday that is crucial to completing the trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership... The death of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be a new setback for American economic diplomacy in Asia after a failed attempt to thwart a Chinese state-run infrastructure investment fund that some see as a competitor to American-dominated institutions like the World Bank. The Obama administration has also struggled to respond to blunter assertions of Chinese power, such as Beijing's efforts to strengthen its territorial claims by building islands out of reefs in the South China Sea," writes The New York Times.