. he has agreed to start discussions with ldp, komeito, as they see work to form a new government. he meted with the ldp leader who said he wanted to establish a stable coalition. he told they should start specific party talks and reach an agreement before an extraordinary session of the diet. lawmakers gather on december 26th. abe and yamaguchi agreed their government should compile a large-came supplementary budget for this fiscal year as soon as possible to boost japan's economy. >> translator: considering the challenges japan faces in such areas as the economy and national security, we can't wait until the diet session to start working on launching the new

administration. >> the policy chiefs of the ldp and new komeito will now start talk examining they'll formalize their agreement ahead of the diet session. abe time time this morning for a telephone call with u.s. president barack obama. they talked about meeting next month in washington. it would be abe's first foreign visit after forming a new government. he's made strengthening the japan-u.s. relationship a priority. we have more from washington. >> people in the obama administration place a high priority on stability in the asia-pacific. they have been troubled by increase in tension between japan and china over which country owns the islands in the east china sea. and they're concerned the conflicting flames allowed to fester, it could unsettle the dynamic in the region. they want to see security policies and sophisticated diplomacy to calm the situation. u.s. leaders are worried of

being drawn into a military confrontation because of their alliance with japan. >> our message to the new japanese government is the same assed to former japanese government, is that we want to see both japan and china avoid provocative acts. we want to see them talk to each other and work this through by dialogue. >> reporter: now japan is tied up in another territorial dispute with south korea. u.s. officials would like to see japanese put aside their differences in the islands in the sea of japan. american diplomats rely on partners in both countries to contain the threat of north korea. as we saw last week, north korea may well be on the way to gaining technology on long-range missile. president obama said the alliance serves as cornerstone in asia-pacific. resolving door to japanese prime

minister's colson's has made it difficult for obama and those around him to cooperate substantially on any issue. they want a reliable partner, a stable government with a strong mandate that is more coherent in its policies. in short, they would like to see an end to the political volatility. >> that was nhk shin shoji from washington. abe and other ldp leaders have said they want to take a tough line on china and officials in beijing are watching japan's political transition with great interest. nhk world reports from beijing. >> reporter: china state-run media closely followed japan's lower house election race and how the outcome would affect bilateral relations. china television sounded the alarm that japan may shift to the right. it cited the ldp's pledge of amending the constitution to give self-defense forces more

power. the communist party's official newspaper commented on the election in an editorial. it said, bilateral relations will either move forward or get worse. people in beijing voiced strong opinions about shinzo abe. they say he should pay careful attention to china. >> translator: i want to see improved relations, but it all depends on mr. abe. he shouldn't deal with bilateral relations based on personal beliefs. he should look at things from a broader point of view. >> translator: the current situation is unhelpful to the people of both china and japan. i want mr. abe to lay out specific measures for improving relations. >> reporter: china's officials recently went through their own change of leadership. last month the head of the communist party. he's been making moves to boost

support for the new leaders. officials have been pressing china's claims to islands in the east china sea. japan controlled the san cuckoo island. shortly before the election in japan an aircraft from china's maritime authority entered japan's air space over the islands. tensions remain high. one analyst says the mood in china is ambivalent. >> there is a great deal of expectation to have a change in leadership in japan will be a change for the better. on the other hand, i think there is a lot of caution and apprehension that in terms of japan's relations with its neighboring countries, in terms of the peace constitution in japan, et cetera, that might be changes -- >> reporter: some experts believe china's officials want to mend relations with japan to

help sustain economic growth and maintain social stability chinese leaders apparently hope japan's change in government will lend them a chance to take a friendly approach. officials in beijing are closely watching how japan's new leaders will deal with territorial disputes and also pay careful attention to developments leading up to the upper house election scheduled for next summer. nhk world, beijing. the victory in the lib democratic party will likely signal a change in japanese diplomacy, especially towards the united states and china. sherri an spoke with former chinese ambassador to the u.s. >> now, the issue of american military bases in okinawa has strained relations between japan and the u.s. how should the new japanese administration approach

relations with the u.s.? >> japan should restore its political stability and economic viability and then japan and u.s. should solve first existing issues and consolidate our partnership. i think many asian countries -- asia-pacific countries would like to see that. >> right. and you mention japan should solve its own problems first, revive the economy would be one of them. how do you think the u.s.-led transpacific partnership free trade agreement would play into that? >> i think ttp is a great opportunity. we should accelerate our consultation and when we get into negotiations, i think we should try to make that agreement as favorable to us as possible and to the other countries as well. >> so, we should at least start talking? >> yes, i think so. >> as we heard earlier in the report, the dispute over territory in the east china sea has driven a wedge between japan and china. what's your take on this and how do you think the u.s. leaders

view this issue? >> i think i'd like to say three things. one, we should restrain, both of us, china and japan, and that's what we're doing. second, we should abide by the international laws and norms. we should not resort to use of force. third, i appreciate very much that u.s. is saying repeatedly that japan-u.s. security treaty, specifically article 5, covers the island because that constitutes an important deter republicans. >> we're seeing chinese leaders have been more authorititive in asia. how should officials in china and japan respond to that? >> china is an important partner and we should continue to engage china. however we would like to see them abide by international laws, norms and rules. i think we should continue to send that message to china.

the bank of japan was supposed to be independent from what the government says. that is with the past administrations, but today shinzo abe waste nod time to give his idea on where he wants to go with the economy along with boj policy. we have more on that. >> during his campaigning abe was very vocal about pushing for aggressive measures by bank of japan. he's putting his words into action. shinzo abe has gotten straight to the point with bank of japan governor. the ldp leader made a direct push for the bank to aim for a higher inflation target. boj governor visited ldp headquarters on tuesday. during their meeting abe urged him to consider setting up policy accord for 2% inflation target after the new administration is established. he declined to elaborate on his discussion with abe. the central bank's policy meeting starts from wednesday. abe repeatedly called for bold

monetary easing during his election campaign to help defeat deflation but the boj governor stressed the central bank has been providing the largest amount of market liquidity among advanced countries, implying the boj has already taken sufficient monetary easing. abe told business leaders he plans to pull through on promises and pull japan out of inflation. >> translator: we have to beat deflation, curb the strong yen and grow jobs. we'll do anything to grow the japanese economy. i deeply believe reviving the economy will lead to a stronger japan. >> members of the japan business federation want japanese negotiators to join talks on the transpacific partnership free trade deal. abe said he'll study the issue thoroughly. time to get a check on tuesday's markets. most european shares are higher,

tracking gains in new york. investors were fueled by expectations that u.s. lawmakers are close to reaching a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. fashion a lotaking a look a going on right now, london's ftse trading higher by 0.25% perform dax is up 0.30% and cac is down 0.6%. tokyo shares continued to benefit from a weak yen but a recent rally in chinese stocks kept investors from snapping up shares further. tok tokyo's nikkei ended up over 0.9% after nearly reaching the key 10,000 yen level. in china shanghai composite ended up 0.1%, while hong kong's hang seng slipped just about 0.1%. in india, the sensex closed up about 0.7%. the dollar is little changed against the yen. traders are awaiting the outcome

of the boj's two-day policy meeting start wednesday. dollar/yen changing hands at 83.87. euro/yen 110.50. they say a meeting between ldp and boj governor appears limit. foreign direct investment in china fell in november for the sixth straight month due to global uncertainties. a chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said on tuesday that overseas companies invested $8.3 billion in building factories and other projects last month. that's down 5.4% from a year ago. foreign district investment for the first 11 months of this year was $100 billion. that's a decrease of 3.6% from the same period last year. rising labor costs in china and a slowdown in global economic growth triggered by europe's debt crisis is seen as the reason behind the decline.

japanese direct investment in china rose 16% in november compared to a year earlier. that's a recovery from october when the figure fell more than 30%. reflecting the soured relations between japan and china over territorial disputes. chinese officials claim u.s. policymakers are unfairly blocking their attempts to invest in the country. they say they'll address the issue at an upcoming bilateral meeting in washington. a spokesperson for china's commerce ministry said the u.s. is using the pretext of national security to ban chinese investments. they say it's a clear example of discrimination. >> translator: the security checks are hindering ordinary investments, especially when a chinese company is trying to acquire another firm. in september u.s. president barack obama prohibited a chinese firm from acquiring a wind power company in the state

of oregon. the company was located near a military facility. obama cited national security concerns. chinese officials called on the u.s. government to make sure that the security checks were fair and transparent. they'll discuss the issue at the u.s.-china joint commission on commerce and trade in washington. the meeting begins on tuesday. chinese vice premier and u.s. trade representative ron kirk will attend the meeting. they're also expected to discuss u.s. restrictions on exports of high-tech products to china. that is the latest in business headline. here's a check on markets.

south koreans are wonder whog will lead them after they go to the polls on wednesday. two candidates are out in front and running a close race ahead of a presidential election. and they're running right up to the last hour. nhk world joins us live from central seoul. anna? >> reporter: gene, people have gathered behind me to hear a campaign speech. she picked a symbolic location. this is seoul's main street and she is speaking a short distance away from the blue house where the president lives and works.

the election race trying to stay ahead of her main competitor. he represents the opposition democratic united party. moon is wrapping up his second day in the largest city. they had been appealing to young voters and others who are undecid undecided. whoever gets their support stands a good chance of winning. >> reporter: she looks back on the outfalling six years ago. it came while she was campaigning on

. >> reporter: she will never give in. she says she appears to conservatives but doesn't reach young voters. candidates are adapted and campaign workers try to listen to what the young are saying.

this year they are trouble finding work. the staff promises to do something about the job shortage. >> our saenuri party is criticized for not understanding the young people. our candidate will listen to their complaints and help them. >> reporter: she has to work hard to attract young voters. but as he's also quoting people who haven't decided who they will choose. he is a campaign of his demographic united party. main targets anyone suffering from the widening income gap and the lack of jobs.

he is daughter of former president. moon's parents were poor and he uses his humble roots to appeal to the common people. ♪ moon's staff made this tv commercial. he's at home, relaxing. his behavior supports to show ordinary people he's one of them. >> translator: moon has revealed aspects of his private life for the first time as a presidential candidate. we're emphasizing his warm heart, simplicity and common touch.

he's proce . >> moon backe's government that hat done one thing good for the government. >> reporter: both candidates strive to influence the young. nhk world, seoul. >> reporter: park and moon have also fought over voters who have backed independent candidate suh. he resigned before the official campaign even began and asked his supporters to vote for moon. most of them are in their 20s and 30s. analysts say a high turnout would favor moon and low one would favor park. about 40 million people are eligible to cast their vote, and how many do that could determine who will win. gene?

>> all right, thanks for that, anna. nhk world's anna jung in seoul. a u.s. politician who helped nurture the alliance with japan has died. democratic senator inouye of how how was one of the longest members of congress. he died of a respiratory illness. he was elected to the senate in 1962 and served for half a century. he was chairman of the senate appropriations committee. he worked to promote exchanges between u.s. and japanese politicians. he helped support reconstruction efforts in northeastern japan and visited areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami. inyoue sat down for an interview with nhk. >> there's turmoil and disasters in asia-pacific area. we would be effected.

so, it's in our interest also. >> he served during second world war in an army unit made up of japanese ancestry. he lost his right arm in a battle of iitaly. president obama said the country has lost a true american hero. daniel inouye was. meteorologist has been keeping an eye on the cyclone. >> right now it looks like this cyclone evan is starting to pull away from fiji. it affected samoa, caused several death, widespread devastation. that skirted the northern coast of fiji before turning south. a category 3 storm, very strong, but out over water now. looks like it will continue to pull off to the south. new zealand, though, you want to watch this to the end of the week into the weekend. it's not going to be tropical but rain showers could be expected for the north island. farther back off to the north

into china where we have a lingering frontal area in southeastern china. the high pressure setting in from the north suppressing any weather activity across this area and carrying very cold air with it. that's going to be causing is the filter across sea of japan picking up moisture and dumping it along the sea of japan seaboard of and honchu. hokkaido, you could be picking up 17 centimeters of snowfall. you could be see 30 centimeters in portions of honchu. east coast of tokyo, things will expect dry. temperature will be dropping right off. tokyo, a high of 8 here on your wednesday. a low will be getting down near freezing. seoul at minus 4. beijing just at minus 1 for you in the midpart of your work. into the tropics, 33 for your high in manil.

to the americas we're watching a system pull off the east coast. the storm system did bring rough weather to the southeast. actually a tornado was reported in georgia. that's dissipating and pushing off to the east. expecting rain and a mix of freezing rain into the new england states as this continues to push off there. after that we have a break into the central plains around the ohio river valley. farther towards the west, you see this cloud cover here? that is the next series of storm systems. this has been hitting the entire rockies. in utah, 153 kilometer per hour winds were reported. not just that, we're also seeing heavy snowfall across much of this area and expect more in the next 24 hours in british columbia, over 20 centimeters can be expected here. even down towards south around wyoming, colorado, even over towards utah. some isolated areas could be seeing 60 centimeters of snowfall. we'll want to watch this throughout the remainder of the week. the same storm system as it spins up and off to the east, it

will be bringing rough weather and blizzard conditions around the central plains. the end of the week f you have any travel plans for the christmas holiday coming up here, you'll want to watch that across much of the northeast because that very well could be bringing some delays or cancellations to some of the major airports across this area as that snow and possibly even freezing rain continues to come down. as we take a look at temperatures, toronto, just 7 for your high on your tuesday. chicago as well. winnipeg at minus 6. farther to the south, houston remaining rather mild here in mid-december. 24 for your high going through tuesday. here's a look at your extended forecast.

we'll be back in 30 minutes with more news.

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with best-selling author. she is out with another critically acclaimed book this year, called "help, thanks, wow ." she explores three powerful prayers that can help us through difficult times. we are glad you have joined us. conversation with anne lamott coming up right now. >> there is a saying that dr. king had that said there is always the right time to do the right thing. i just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only halfway to completely eliminate