(LinkAsia: February 1, 2013)
Thuy Vu:
An American cyber security company has charged that China's Peoples' Liberation Army is behind a years' long effort to steal American industrial and commercial secrets. The company, Mandiant, says about 100 American businesses were affected. It identifies the Chinese army unit responsible, the city, and even the building where the hacking takes place. Here's Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, with the story.

--

NHK World NEWSLINE
Airdate: February 20, 2013

Reporter:
Analysts at Virginia based firm Mandiant released a report identifying the People's Liberation Army. They say members of one unit have attacked more than 140 organizations over the past seven years. They believe the hackers are based in Shanghai. State department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said such attacks are threatening US economic and national security interests.

Victoria Nuland:
We've raised our concern at the highest level about cyber threat - threats from China - including the involvement of the military.

Reporter:
China's defense ministry has dismissed the US allegations as groundless. The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a defense ministry spokesperson as saying the military has never been involved in online espionage. He said China is, in fact a victim of cyber-attacks because the country's IP addresses are often stolen and misused. He said many attacks come from the United States, but China has never blamed the US.

(LinkAsia: February 1, 2013)
Thuy Vu:
The man who helped pioneer cell phone coverage has been awarded what's considered to be the Nobel of engineering. Dr. Yoshihisa Okumura is responsible for developing a formula that predicts how radio waves travel through cities and urban areas. His breakthrough, known as "Okumura curves", helped create cellular networks. For more on Dr. Okumura and his award, here's NHK.

--

NHK World NEWSLINE
Airdate: February 20, 2013

Reporter:
Yoshihisa Okumura is the first Japanese to win the annual Charles Stark Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering. He won it for his contributions to the way radio waves can be relayed. Okumura was a top research for Japanese telephone giant NTT. One of his achievements was to divide a wide service area into smaller cells containing many antennas and this has enabled mobile phone users to communicate despite a weak radio signal. He also determined that antennas in close proximity to each other could create interference when sharing the same frequencies. He solved the problem by allocating different frequencies to antennas that are close together but using the same frequency for areas far away. Okumura also conducted field experiments to measure changes in signal strength due to buildings or mountains. His research resulted in what are known as field strength curves. They're used all over the world to establish mobile phone services. The research led the first cellular telephone network in Japan in 1979. It was an automobile communications system.

Yoshihisa Okumura:
I just worked hard and tried to do my best. I'm glad that my efforts turned out to be useful for society and humanity.

Reporter:
Thirty-eight engineers have received the Charles Stark Draper Prize for development such as the internet, fiber optics and other technologies. Four of the winners later won the Nobel Prize.