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On November 29, 2004, the 6th China-Japan-ROK Leaders’ Meeting was held in Vientiane, the capital city of the Laos. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro and ROK President Roh Moo-hyun attended the meeting. The leaders mainly discussed the progress and development trend of China-Japan-ROK cooperation.

As for the cooperation between the three parties, Wen Jiabao said since the China-Japan-ROK Leaders’ Meeting was launched in 1999, cooperation has been constantly strengthened which has promoted their common development and expanded their common interests, thus contributing greatly to the stability and development of Northeast Asia.

Wen Jiabao stressed the three countries need to give more inputs, consolidate the foundation, expand cooperation areas and pragmatically promote the three-party cooperation to a new level. To this end, it is necessary for the three parties to reach the following basic consensuses. First, to foster the concept of regional responsibility. The cooperation between the three countries should not only promote the stability and development of Northeast Asia, but also go hand in hand with the development of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) so as to achieve the long-term objective of East Asian cooperation. Second, to create an all-win situation through cooperation. We need to focus on our common interests, put aside differences and seek common grounds, show understanding to each other, update our ideas, explore more innovations so as to enhance consensus, promote cooperation and achieve common development to the maximum degree. Third, to release advantages and proceed gradually. We need to define key areas and priority for the three-party cooperation so as to start from the areas with good conditions and gradually expand to other areas.

To enhance the three-party talks, Wen Jiabao proposed: First, to enhance economic and trade cooperation level. New steps should be made in trade facilitation and liberalization to boost the integration of the three economies. Second, to strengthen social and cultural exchanges. The three countries need to continue to conduct activities with wide influence such as the Year for Personnel Exchange and the Cultural Year to further the cooperation between the media and enhance understanding and friendship between citizens, especially the youths. Third, to enhance regional policy dialogue. Regional cooperation has become a global trend and the cooperation in Asia, especially East Asia, has entered a critical period of development. The three countries need to strengthen communication and coordination.

Koizumi said the mechanism of Japan-China-ROK Leaders’ Meeting has achieved positive results in promoting cooperation in various fields, in particular, economy despite the fact that it has not been established long. The Japanese side hopes that the three governments may give more inputs to strengthen cooperation in investment, the building of a free-trade area, finance, culture and personnel exchange so as to create an all-win situation.

Roh Moo-hyun positively appraised the achievements of the cooperation between the three countries in various fields. He said the three economies are getting increasingly interdependent. The ROK would like to develop and deepen cooperation with China and Japan in such areas as security, economy, science and technology.

The three leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Wen Jiabao indicated that to continue to promote the six-party talks complies with the interests of all parties involved and remains the common inspiration of the whole world. China would like to act as a mediator and, together with the international community, push forward the next round of talks to be held as early as possible.

The meeting approved the Strategies on the Actions of China, Japan and the ROK and the Report on the Progress of Cooperation between China, Japan and the ROK.

His father and stepmother had fought before, and 13-year-old Nathan Bellar had no reason to believe their latest exchange would turn violent.

After an argument on Sunday, though, the teen watched his father gun down the woman as she tried to take her sons to their grandparents’. Nathan ran back through the house and heard his father shoot his younger brothers, but the gunfire wasn’t over.

His father chased him through the cluttered garage and took aim, but tripped on a bicycle before he could get off another fatal shot. As Nathan ran screaming to the safety of a neighbor’s house, the father killed himself in the front lawn.

The teen was staying with his grandparents Monday, a day after investigators said Troy Ryan Bellar, 34, shot and killed his wife, Wendy Bellar, 31, and their 5-month-old and 8-year-old sons. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the surviving teen was quiet and cried some after the shootings but also helped detectives piece together the deadly sequence of events.

“His entire family is gone,” Judd said.

“What he witnessed, what he was engaged in, most people in this world will never witness,” the sheriff later added.

Wendy Bellar was carrying 5-month-old Zack James Bellar out the front door in a car seat when Nathan Bellar saw his father follow them with a 7.62 mm rifle, Judd said. She intended to take the infant and her 8-year-old son, Ryan Patrick Bellar, to her in-laws for the night but was shot down on the screen porch.

Nathan told deputies the earlier argument gave no indication that the evening would turn violent. Investigators said they had not found any suicide note, and a motive remained unclear for the killings in Lakeland, between Tampa and Orlando.

“They argued a little bit, but nothing significant,” Judd said.

It wasn’t the first argument for the couple who’d been married for a 10 years. According to an arrest affidavit, Troy Bellar accused his wife of hitting, punching and scratching him in March. Wendy Bellar was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, and the case was pending.

Sunday night’s gunfire sent panicked neighbors to their phones to dial 911. One of them told an emergency dispatcher she saw the teen “running around in the garage with his hands up, and like screaming,” according to a recording of the call.

After Nathan safely reached the home of another neighbor, that woman relayed information from him to a 911 dispatcher.

“A boy’s here at my house that lives there and says that his dad shot his mom and there’s a baby there,” the neighbor, who was not identified, told a 911 operator.

“I know this is going to be very hard for you to ask him,” the operator said. “Is his mom still alive?”

After an exchange between the neighbor and the boy, the woman told the operator: “She got shot in the head.”

Deputies arrived at a horrific scene: Wendy Bellar and her two young sons dead from gunshot wounds in their screened-in porch and their father lifeless in the front yard. A preliminary investigation indicates that more than 10 rounds were fired in all.

“It left veteran detectives and crime scene technicians that do this for a living stunned last night,” Judd said.

Detectives praised the surviving teen for being helpful.

“He cried some, as you can imagine,” Judd said. “As he should have done. And he was very quiet. And we were very delicate with him.”

Investigators say Troy Bellar ran a home remodeling and handyman business, which next-door neighbor Doug Lane said seemed to do a steady business despite the economic downturn.

“He said the remodeling had dropped off, but he was doing repair work for commercial apartments and that sort of thing,” Lane said. “He said that he was staying busy.”

Judd couldn’t say if the family was experiencing any financial difficulties.

Records show the husband had been arrested twice in the county, on suspicion of armed robbery and aggravated battery in 1994 and for driving under the influence in 1999. He was convicted of petit/retail theft in the first case and of driving under the influence in the second.

But if the couple argued before, Lane said he never heard them. He said he saw them sitting outside together Sunday evening, giving no indication that anything was wrong.

“Troy and Wendy were good, good neighbors,” Lane said. “Fortunate to know them. Just an awful shock.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday urged his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to begin negotiations for regional peace, while saying that Syria has to cut ties with Israel’s foes if it wants the Golan Heights back.

“Assad must understand that he will have to sit at the negotiations table if he wants real peace. He should not depend on mediators; he should sit at the table without any preconditions,” local news service Ynet quoted Peres as saying while meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“If he wants to promote peace for his people he will have to run negotiations without any preconditions,” said Peres, who is scheduled to visit Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the president was quoted as stressing that Syria cannot expect to retrieve the Golan Heights while keeping its ties with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and Iran, both of which Israel regards as security threats.

“Assad must make a strategic choice. There is no way that Assad will get territorial concessions from Israel while at the same time maintaining ties with Hezbollah and Iran in a package deal,” said Peres.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 war, and Syria has conditioned any peace deal with Israel on the return of the strategic highland. Negotiations between the two neighbors resumed last year following years of hiatus, but have stalled again since the current Israeli government came into power earlier this year.

The audience at the IFA Paris Shanghai Graduation Show in the middle of the month was swept away by the creative strength of the younger generation and its inspired vision of Expo.

Shanghai’s fashion industry is constantly distracted by world trends. But more importantly, it does find time to also acknowledge the talent of its own young designers.

Even if we are still in a period of economic downturn, the gifted new faces in the local fashion industry are filled with inspiration and motivation. The years ahead look prosperous and full of hope.

At the IFA Paris Shanghai Graduation Show in the middle of this month, the audience was swept away by the creative strength of the younger generation.

As the show had a World Expo 2010 theme, the student designers were inspired by the indissoluble link between fashion and the urban environment and development. Every element seemed to lead to a better future centering on “Human, City and the World.”

The collection from Tang Wenbo, the gold prize winner at the graduation show, boasts touches of ancient architecture.

“When we look into the future, we should never forget the past. The application of brick and concrete elements stands for the city’s thriving progress,” Tang says. “Adding the color of red brings a Chinese touch. The dress is for the future, but we should never forget the traditional.”

From afar, the model wearing her design looks like a female warrior coming from outer space at some time in the future. The audience could let their imagination run riot.

For the graduates of IFA Paris Shanghai, the annual fashion show is the ultimate test of the skills acquired during their time at school.

It also acts as evidence that they are on the way to becoming future stars in the fashion industry.

“I prepared for my show for almost five months, during which I went to bed at 3am and got up at 7am every day. All my work was made by hand,” says Yang Mi, from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, the silver prize winner. “We have many great and bold ideas. All we want to do is to make life interesting for people.”

To match the World Expo theme, Yang incorporates the high-tech concept of solar energy in her designs.

“My collection features the theme of light,” she says. “I want to design something that can shine even without light.”

Audrey Sorignet, a fashion design teacher at IFA Paris Shanghai, has been in Shanghai for two and a half years. She thinks the city is a good place to cultivate young fashion designers as the information flow is so rapid.

“The place is full of possibilities. The city and its people are resourceful,” Sorignet says. “The young designers not only focus on what is happening, but also future elements. I really see their potential.”

Different studentshave different ways of finding inspiration.

Tang, the gold prize winner, says photography often gives her an aesthetic feeling, while Yang, the runner-up, says she prefers observing films, entertainment stars and American television series.

However, they all end up with one dream - to become a top fashion designer in the future.

“The biggest change is that the students’ designs are becoming more and more localized. Rather than following stereotypes and making slight changes in the works of masters, they are fascinating the audience with creativity,” says Lin Bin, marketing director of Siemens China, and one of the judges at the show.

“By thinking deeply about developmental challenges and creative solutions, IFA students not only employ skill and creativity but also reveal an understanding of life as they move forward together into the future,” Lin says.

All the winners got a free six-month design course in Paris. The gold prize included a return air ticket to the city as well.

“Fashion designing brings me satisfaction,” says Liu Chen, another runner-up at the graduation show. “The graduation show is my debut. My fashion career has just been launched. I will probably go abroad to further my study and fashion will become my life.”

The population of New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland may double to 2 million by 2031, Statistics New Zealand predicted on Monday.

The prediction came in a report on population trends in the Auckland region prepared by Statistics New Zealand.

And with New Zealand’s aging population, the number of Aucklanders over the age of 65 is predicted to increase by 146 percent to 300,000.

Statistics New Zealand said Auckland’s population is becoming increasingly mobile, with overseas migrants coming in and the number of people leaving for other parts of the country also rising.

Shouting “No cuts” and carrying 25 cardboard coffins, hundreds of people marched to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Office here Monday to demand for a stop of budget cuts to health and human service programs.

The cardboard coffins symbolize the devastating impacts of the proposed budget cuts to California’s programs in health care, education and human service.

Hundreds of parents, seniors, families, providers and persons with disabilities first rallied in the courtyard behind the Kenneth Hahn County Hall of Administration and then marched to the Governor’s Office.

They held signs such as “Don’t put lives at risk”, “Dollars for schools, not more prisons,” “Moratorium on death penalty to save state one billion dollars” and “Stop cuts in nursing homes” and shouted slogans to show their worries and anger over the proposed budget cuts that will affect their daily lives.

Ron Warren, a demonstrator who worked at the Los Angeles County government, told Xinhua that he opposed Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget plan. He said the state should tax the wealthy but not the poor. Therefore he supports raising tax for the rich people, but opposes sales tax increase and cuts to health care and other services.

Another demonstrator, David Mathland, said he was there to urge the governor not to cut the CalWORKS program which will benefit about 40,000 people in Los Angeles County. Statewide, there could be 120,000 people.

He said there are many other ways to balance the budget, but to cut service is not a choice. The poor and disabled need help and their benefits should not become targets to be cut.

Raman Ageder, who works at the Department of Public Social Services of Los Angeles County, said he opposes the budget cuts to social services because the proposed cuts will have a devastating impact on about 2 million people.

He said the public social services program will help people who lost their jobs and their incomes to be independent and find other jobs to stand up on their feet. The proposed cuts will make those people more miserable.

Several hundred people also signed a giant postcard to Governor Schwarzenegger to urge him to find other ways to balance the 24.3 billion dollars of deficit but not the cuts on the poor and disabled.

A “computer action center” was set up on the scene where people can send their personal stories to legislators and the governor, reminding them that California needs a responsible budget solution that chooses health over sickness, care over cruelty and practicality over ideology.

Organizers of the rally, the Stop the Cuts! Coalition, is an alliance of community organizations and organized labor fighting for a fairer state budget that meets the needs of the communities and workers.

They encouraged participants to use their cell phones to photograph the rally scenes and send them by e-mail to Governor Schwarzenegger as a digital way to put pressure on him.

They also urged legislators to oppose devastating cuts to those public social service programs and instead support a fair, responsible budget that makes smart choices and gives every family a chance.

“We heard the voice of the voters loud and clear, and they want us to go all out and make those cuts,” the governor said last month. “You try not to make cuts that you feel would be devastating to some people, but now we have to do that,” he added.

The governor promised to roll back services. “It’ll mean cuts, cuts and cuts, and living within our means.”

The proposed cuts include dismantling the state’s Welfare to Work program, eliminating grants to lower-income college students, cutting state park funding and eliminating a program that provides medical coverage to 928,000 children and teens. The state’s universities also took an additional 750 million-dollar hit.

California has long been seen as a kind of hothouse for new trends that end up defining America’s economic and political future. But the current budget crisis clearly outstrips those being experienced in other states in the United States.

But analysts said in the midst of the economic recession, and the demand for services grows from an increasing pool of the newly impoverished or unemployed, California’s current fiscal crisis mirrors the state of fiscal turmoil now being experienced in legislatures across the country.

“It’s a deteriorating situation for states. It’s bad and getting worse,” said Arturo Perez, a fiscal analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) based in Denver.

In a recent report, the NCSL estimated that states in the United States would have to close what it described as a “jaw-dropping gap” of at least 121.2 billion dollars for fiscal year 2010, which for most states begins on July 1.

Emily Weinstein graduated from college into an economic meltdown, and as a self-employed jewelry maker she’ll be lucky to bring in $16,000 this year.

Heath insurance is out of reach, so she avoids thinking about what would happen if she got sick, was hurt in a traffic accident or was severely burned while making a silver necklace in her home studio.

“Would I have to declare bankruptcy at age 23 or would my parents have to bail me out?” asked Weinstein, of Portland, Ore. “What would I do?”

Like millions of other uninsured adults in their 20s, Weinstein is watching Congress as it advances legislation to overhaul health care. The recession has deepened young adults’ career struggles. It has also sharpened their interest in health insurance.

Already the least likely of any age group to have coverage, adults in their 20s face brutal job searches and more time uninsured because of the recession. Nearly 30 percent, 13.2 million, were uninsured in 2007, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based research center. Many young adults work entry-level jobs without insurance and, despite new laws in some states, they’re eventually too old to stay on their parents’ policies.

Ben Brenner, now 23, couldn’t find work in finance, his preferred field. After a four-month search, he took a part-time job for a small real estate agency in Deerfield, Ill., for an hourly rate and no health benefits.

He was able to stay insured as a dependent on his stepmother’s plan until December. Then he went without insurance briefly. Now he has a $5,000 deductible he calls “absurdly high” and pays $53 a month through a plan designed for young adults. He “felt relieved knowing I had an insurance card in my wallet.”

He supports the Obama administration’s push to cover more Americans and lower the cost of health care, but is unsure how he feels about tax increases to pay for it. He’s in favor of requiring everyone to have health insurance.

“I think it should be mandatory to have insurance because if you’re uninsured and you go to the hospital, the taxpayers are footing the bill anyway,” he said.

A June survey for the Kaiser Family Foundation found young adults don’t vary much from their elders in views on health care, said public opinion researcher Mollyann Brodie of Kaiser.

But twentysomethings were nearly twice as likely as senior citizens to say they would be “better off” if President Barack Obama and Congress reformed the health care system. People in their 20s were more likely than senior citizens to say they would be willing to pay more so that more Americans could be insured. The nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults was conducted by land line and cell phone by Princeton Survey Research Associates.

Some features in the health care plans working their way through Congress would benefit young adults. Depending on their income, they could qualify for subsidies on insurance premiums or, for the poorest, expansion of Medicaid. One plan allows them to stay on their parents’ policies until age 26.

Some young adults learn about insurance the hard way.

Nursing student Sarah Posekany is only 27, but she’s already filed for bankruptcy because of colon surgery when she was uninsured. She still owes thousands of dollars in medical bills.

“It’s not fair,” said Posekany of Cedar Falls, Iowa. “We should learn how to be a strong nation and take care of everybody.”

Posekany now has insurance but must wait a year for her pre-existing condition to be covered.

Katie Miletti, 24, is a full-time college student studying to work with disabled preschoolers. A survivor of childhood cancer, she still deals with the side effects of radiation and chemotherapy. After she became too old for coverage under her mother’s policy, she was uninsured about a month before qualifying for Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the needy and disabled.

“Everyone should have health insurance,” said Miletti, who lives in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. “I don’t think it should matter what your health problems are, how rich you are, or what your income is.”

The insurance industry terms this age group “the young invincibles” because many of them think they’ll never get sick or hurt.

Nick Bernstein used to feel that way. Marking time during the recession, he worked as a waiter with a plan to pay off college loans and get a graduate degree in wine production. Leisure time was filled with backpacking, mountain climbing and snowboarding.

On April 1, at Stevens Pass, Wash., near Seattle, he hit a rock while snowboarding and landed hard, breaking his collarbone and separating his shoulder.

In the ambulance, Bernstein told the paramedics he didn’t know if he had insurance. Luckily, he was still covered under his stepfather’s plan, so the bill for the first $27,000 surgery didn’t fall solely to him.

But his coverage may end before he’s well. Doctors recently diagnosed a staph infection. Temporarily unable to work, he needs to figure out how to get insurance when he turns 25 in November and is dropped from his stepfather’s policy.

When this age group buys insurance, they often opt for cheaper monthly premiums with high deductibles. But those deductibles, paid out of pocket before coverage kicks in, can lead them to avoid care, experts say.

Joe San Roman, 26, of Agoura Hills, Calif., nursed a broken wrist with shots of tequila through the night so he wouldn’t have to pay for an emergency room visit. He’s insured, but has a $1,500 deductible. He waited until morning when he could get treatment in a visit to his doctor’s office.

“I didn’t want to have to drop $1,500,” he said.

At age 28, Holly Brown’s adulthood has been shaped by the recession. Laid off from a job she’d held for four years, she’s been unable to find other work.

“I told my mom I might have to marry somebody for their health insurance,” said Brown of Round Lake, Ill., who has a chronic lung condition. She’s managed to stay on her company’s health plan through the government COBRA program. COBRA allows workers to keep their insurance for 18 months after they leave jobs if they pay the premiums, which can be steep.

Congress is considering extending COBRA eligibility even longer. Already approved are federal subsidies to lower COBRA premiums for some laid-off workers; Brown qualified for one. And, her 85-year-old grandfather stepped up to pay the remaining amount.

“When I got the check from my grandfather, I cried,” she said.

Zhong-guo, the two characters for China in Chinese, are written using 12 brush strokes as a Beijing primary student learns, whereas his counterpart in Taipei has to write 15 strokes to complete the word.

The Chinese language, with the same pronunciation in Mandarin, has largely two written forms, simplified and traditional, which are used by people in the mainland and Taiwan respectively. Many overseas Chinese people also use traditional characters.

Now a debate is going on about how to bridge the gap between the traditional and the simplified.

Traditional characters were used in all parts of China before the Kuomintang (KMT) troops fled the mainland in 1949. After that, the mainland developed a simplified set of characters in a number of reforms over the years, with fewer strokes and simpler design, while overseas Chinese and the KMT-occupied Taiwan island continued using the old style.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou suggested in early June that the island and the mainland should reach an agreement on language — people may write simplified ones but should be able to read traditional characters.

In response to his remarks, the Beijing-based State Council Taiwan Affairs Office supported discussion between experts on both sides on how to make communication easier in the field of linguistics.

Some mainland linguists’ views coincided with Ma’s proposal, and a few moved even further. At the annual March session of China’s top political advisory body, a political adviser Pan Qinglin proposed the mainland should use traditional characters again.

Pan argued that many simplified characters lose delicate cultural connotation and, in the information age, many people use input software for computers based on pronunciation, through which traditional characters are no longer a barrier for learning and use.

Dong Kun, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Linguistics, supported the idea of Chinese reading traditional characters, as an effort to pass on the tradition.

“Characters are part of Chinese culture instead of simply a tool to express the culture. The design of Chinese characters reflected our ancestors’ understanding of the universe and history,” he told Xinhua in an interview.

Dong said calligraphy, an ink-brushing skill that shows aesthetic structures and implications of traditional Chinese words, is also a very important part of Chinese art.

In addition, he said, today’s readers are kept away from ancient books, written in traditional characters. “It’s a great pity. Chinese is a rare continuous language, with which people can read books written two thousand years ago.”

Dong, however, held that the trend to simplify the Chinese written language is irreversible and started long before 1949. In the early 20th century, the Chinese had already tried simplification to facilitate international exchanges. The KMT government, then ruling the country, adopted the policy but failed to implement it.

“After 1949, the mainland simplified Chinese characters mainly in a bid to improve literacy,” Dong said. “Fewer strokes would facilitate farmers and workers who did not go to school from a young age.”

“It is not practical for mainland people to use traditional characters again,” he said.

Marvin C. Ho, founder of Taipei Language Institute, told Xinhua, “Today, many people in Taiwan write simplified characters as well. Thanks to frequent exchanges across the Strait, we are quite familiar with simplified ones.”

“It is a natural and right direction to simplify the language. In this multi-media age, words have to compete with more user-friendly images. The language used by more than 1.3 billion people can’t stay unchanged or it will lag behind,” said Ho, who was attending the fifth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum in central Hunan Province capital Changsha on the weekend.

During the process of simplification, people may have different opinions and need to discuss them, he said.

Ho said, “We have to face the reality that, after six decades of estrangement, the two sides have a difference in language use.” He said that besides different characters, there are also differences in vocabulary.

As an example, he said, pineapple is called “bo luo” in the mainland but “feng li” in Taiwan.

As a solution, Taiwan’s Ma proposed to work out a traditional-simplified Chinese dictionary. In fact, a dictionary like this has already been edited by the Beijing Language and Culture University and Taipei Language Institute. It was published in the mainland in 2003 and in Taiwan in 2006.

In a proposal presented to the forum at its closing ceremony on Sunday, participants suggested the two sides should gradually reduce the difference in language. They should work together on dictionaries and to standardize the use of language, such as terms and translations.

“With encouragement from the authorities on both sides, more expertise will be included to make a more complete dictionary, which is a meaningful task,” said KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung at a press conference after the forum.

Ho had an interesting find when working on the 2006 dictionary — the words that the mainland has and Taiwan does not, or vice versa, only account for 4 percent of the total words in the dictionary.

“The difference is not as big as people thought,” he said. “Language is a typical example on how the two sides share the same tradition.”

The same cultural origin was repeatedly addressed at the forum by both mainland and Taiwan participants.

“People on both sides have the same ancestors, speak the same language, and follow the same custom and philosophy. These are treasures we share,” said Prof. Xin-min Chu with the Taipei-based National Chengchi University, also attending the forum. “Politics cannot change or damage it.”

Prof. Yu Dan, a mainland intellectual who became famous by lecturing Confucianism on TV, said, “It is not a problem to use either traditional or simplified characters. The key is how to pass on our cultural tradition together.”

In the face of modernization and industrialization, the Chinese turn to ancient wisdom for advice, which made scholars like Yu celebrities.

The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled key details of a draft legislation that would grant regulators broader power to seize non-bank financial companies whose collapse could jeopardize the economy.

“The legislative proposal would fill a significant void in the current financial services regulatory structure and is one piece of a comprehensive regulatory reform strategy that will mitigate systemic risk, enhance consumer and investor protection, while eliminating gaps in the regulatory structure,” said the Treasury in a statement.

The draft bill would grant the U.S. government “resolution authority,” which would allow the government to put the firm into conservatorship or receivership and then to administer its effective, orderly reorganization or wind-down.

Moreover, it would enable the government to reduce the need for taxpayer funds, said the Treasury.

For example, it would enable the federal agency acting as conservator or receiver to sell or transfer the assets or liabilities of the institution in question, to renegotiate or repudiate the institution’s contracts, including with its employees, and to address the derivatives portfolio, thus reducing the potential for further disruption.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for the new power on Tuesday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

“The United States government does not have the legal means today to manage the orderly restructuring of a large, complex non-bank financial institution that poses a threat to the stability of our financial system,” said Geithner.

“AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system,” said the Treasury chief. “We must ensure that our country never faces this situation again.”

The U.S. government currently has the authority to seize only banks. A change in the Treasury Department’s authority, such as broader power over non-bank firms, would need to be approved by Congress.

Under the draft bill, the Treasury secretary would have to make “triggering determination” before invoking resolution authority.

The secretary would have to find that the firm is in danger of becoming insolvent, that its insolvency would have serious adverse effects on the economy and financial stability, and that taking emergency action would avoid those adverse effects.

“The decision whether to provide financial assistance to the institution or to put it into conservatorship/receivership will be made by the Secretary and the FDIC, and will be informed by the recommendations of the Federal Reserve Board and the appropriate federal regulatory agency” if different from the FDIC, the Treasury said.

Moreover, the proposed legislation would permit the U.S. government to utilize a number of different forms of financial assistance in order to stabilize the institution in question.

It would create an appropriate mechanism to fund the appropriately limited exercise of the resolution authorities it confers.

This could take the form of a mandatory appropriation to the FDIC or through a scheme of assessments on the financial institutions.

The government would also receive repayment from the redemption of any loans made to the financial institution in question, and from the ultimate sale of any equity interest taken by the government in the institution.

At a prime-time news conference on Tuesday, the second he had held since taking office in January, President Barack Obama also urged Congress to grant his government the new authority.

He said such power could have lessened the problems at AIG and that he anticipates “strong support” from the public and Congress for the new authority.

“We should have obtained it much earlier so that any institution that poses a systemic risk that can bring down the financial system, we can handle and we can do it in an orderly fashion, that quarantines it from other institutions,” Obama said at the news conference.

“We don’t have that power right now, that’s what (Treasury) Secretary (Timothy) Geithner is talking about and I think there’s going to be strong support from the American people and Congress to provide that authority,” he said.

The Obama administration Thursday unveiled a draft legislation that would grant regulators “sweeping expansion” of authority to seize non-bank financial companies whose collapse could jeopardize the already ailing economy.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for the new power Thursday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. He told the panel the current system failed in basic, fundamental ways and has proven to be too unstable and fragile.

“Over the past 18 months, we have faced the most severe global financial crisis in generations,” Geithner said. “To address this will require comprehensive reform. Not modest repairs at the margin, but new rules of the game.”

“The new rules must be simpler and more effectively enforced and produce a more stable system, that protects consumers and investors, that rewards innovation and that is able to adapt and evolve with changes in the financial market,” he said.

Under the current law, the government can only seize banks. The draft bill would grant it “resolution authority,” which would allow the government to impose tougher standards on financial institutions judged to be so big that their failure would represent a risk to the entire system.

It also would extend federal regulations for the first time to all trading in financial derivatives, exotic financial instruments such as credit default swaps, and would require larger hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Moreover, it would enable the government to reduce the need for taxpayer funds, said the Treasury.

For example, it would enable the federal agency acting as conservator or receiver to sell or transfer the assets or liabilities of the institution in question, to renegotiate or repudiate the institution’s contracts, including with its employees, and to address the derivatives portfolio, thus reducing the potential for further disruption.

“The legislative proposal would fill a significant void in the current financial services regulatory structure and is one piece of a comprehensive regulatory reform strategy that will mitigate systemic risk, enhance consumer and investor protection, while eliminating gaps in the regulatory structure,” said the Treasury in a statement.

The U.S. government currently has the authority to seize only banks. A change in the Treasury Department’s authority, such broader power over non-bank firms, would need to be approved by Congress.

Under the draft bill, the Treasury secretary would have to make “triggering determination” before invoking resolution authority.

The secretary would have to find that the firm is in danger of becoming insolvent, that its insolvency would have serious adverse effects on the economy and financial stability, and that taking emergency action would avoid those adverse effects.

“The decision whether to provide financial assistance to the institution or to put it into conservatorship/receivership will be made by the secretary and the FDIC, and will be informed by the recommendations of the Federal Reserve Board and the appropriate federal regulatory agency” if different from the FDIC, the Treasury said.

Moreover, the proposed legislation would permit the U.S. government to utilize a number of different forms of financial assistance in order to stabilize the institution in question.

It would create an appropriate mechanism to fund the appropriately limited exercise of the resolution authorities it confers.

This could take the form of a mandatory appropriation to the FDIC or through a scheme of assessments on the financial institutions.

The government would also receive repayment from the redemption of any loans made to the financial institution in question, and from the ultimate sale of any equity interest taken by the government in the institution.

Many of the regulatory changes that are being urged this year were first suggested by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. His plan was set aside, however, as it came before a Democrat-controlled Congress in the last year of the Bush presidency and before the worst of the financial crisis hit.

While Geithner calls for the power to close troubled institutions, some critics call it pre-emptive bank nationalization and warn that it might do more harm than the good.

“The key problem would be finding adequate legal authority to justify the seizure without stretching regulatory discretion so far that it creates panic at other banks or a massive lawsuit,” said Douglas Elliott, a researcher at the Brookings Institution.

The House Financial Services Committee could take up the new legislation as early as next week, as some Democrats supported the bill.

“I’m not prejudging the issue; I’m just saying at this point in time I want to look at it more carefully,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters.

However, Republican lawmakers expressed caution over the financial reform proposal, some accused the White House of “an unprecedented grab of power.”

“Before that occurs, there ought to be a real debate about whether we should give that authority to the Treasury secretary,” House Minority Leader John Boehner said.

“We do need to have some control over it. But I would hope we could all work together on making sure that that is done and done correctly at some point in the relatively near future,” said Delaware lawmaker Michael Castle.

Under the draft bill, the Federal Reserve would act as systemic risk regulator while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would oversee consumer protection and transparency.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said on Thursday that the current regulatory reform must guarantee the agency’s independence in the future.

“The vision of the Congress when it created an independent SEC was to make sure that there was one agency of government focused single-mindedly and without dilution on the well-being of America’s investors,” said Schapiro in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing.

At a prime time news conference Tuesday, the second he has held since taking office in January, President Barack Obama also urged Congress to grant his government the new authority.

He said such power could have lessened the problems at AIG and that he anticipates “strong support” from the public and Congress for the new authority.

“We should have obtained it much earlier so that any institution that poses a systemic risk that can bring down the financial system, we can handle and we can do it in an orderly fashion, that quarantines it from other institutions,” Obama said at the conference.

FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair expressed support for an expansion of her agency’s responsibilities.

“Due to the FDIC’s extensive experiences with resolving failed institutions and cyclical nature of resolution work, it would make sense on many levels for the FDIC to be given this authority working in close cooperation with the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors,” Bair said in a statement.