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The group “Occupy Wall Street” has been camped out for two weeks. On Saturday, the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down for several hours as protesters rallied against what they said was corporate greed, social inequality and other issues.

New York police said the protesters were arrested when they broke off from the bridge’s pedestrian lane and onto the roadway, blocking traffic. The majority were issued citations for disorderly conduct and released.

President Saleh has never been the perfect partner in counter-terrorism. Too many extremists were released or “escaped” from Yemeni prisons for America’s taste.  But for years he has said he is the last line of defense against the threat of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. And the U.S. responded with military and economic help that, intentionally or not, gave Saleh far more strength than his opponents believe he deserved.

Disappointment with U.S.

Many of the anti-government protests rocking Yemen this year do not have anti-Americanism as their root. But according to Hakkim al Masmari, an editor and columnist in Sana’a, demonstrators watched the U.S. reaction to other popular uprisings across the region and frustration set in.   

“The pro-democracy students are very ashamed at what the U.S. is doing. They feel that the U.S. is not playing it fair. They feel that the U.S. is not acting democratic and the U.S. is now supporting a dictator at a time when its called for democracy.”

Washington has said it supports reform, and backs a Gulf Cooperation Council proposal that would see a peaceful transition of power in Yemen. How forcefully U.S. officials press for that change, especially in the wake of the cooperation that led to al Awlaki’s death, is unclear. But Stephen Steinbeiser, with the American Center for Yemen Studies in Sana’a, says the potential for a partnership remains.

“The pro-democracy students identify themselves as being kind of the closest allies in Yemen that the U.S. currently has. They dismiss the current regime as being undemocratic, and they point to others as simply not adhering to U.S. democratic ideals.  But they are untested. And so it would really take some time to organize some political strengths and identify some strong leaders and only then begin to really articulate a policy that the U.S. would be interested in working with.”

Engaging others within the opposition

The U.S. has been working with other groups in Yemen. Editor Masmari says the outreach of American diplomats toward tribal leaders has led to very strong connections, in particular with the al-Ahmar family, which heads a powerful tribal federation and is among the most potent of the anti-Saleh forces. Despite a warrior-like image reinforced by fierce street battles in the capital, analyst Steinbeiser says the clan’s true interests may be more pragmatic.  

“The al-Ahmar family is a family of commerce. They’re a business family, so I think they’re more outward looking than a lot of people in Yemen might otherwise be. They have a number of concerns here in Yemen, including major telephone and cellular telephone networks. And I think that they could get on quite well with U.S. policy if it’s conducted on the level of kind of business, commercial exchange.”

Steinbeiser says that in terms of more complicated issues, he would be surprised if the al-Ahmar clan has formulated many specific policies.

A lack of future policy planning is perhaps understandable among others in the widely divergent array of anti-Saleh forces, focused now almost exclusively on removing the president from power.

But Steinbeiser feels at least in the short run, such groups as the al-Ahmar family, military defectors and the traditional opposition – those engaged in the current negotiations over the transfer of power – are likely to continue the current government’s largely pro-U.S. policy. He says that may extend even to many Islamist groups, not the extremists, but those who want a religion-based government.

“My impression overall is that all of the groups realize the imperative of trying to keep Yemen as peaceful and stable as possible right now. Even before this political impasse occurred, Yemen was facing surmounting problems that would pressure a more established, richer nation.  And to have this kind of political wedge thrown into the works right now is very, very dangerous, and potentially very disruptive to any course of progress in Yemen for any of the groups mentioned.”

While U.S. support of Saleh has bred resentment, the same military and financial aid he has enjoyed could well become building blocks for any future alliances, at least in the short term.

Watch this explainer of the situation in Yemen by Davin Hutchins in Washington, D.C, and Tom Finn in Sana’a:

China’s export strategy

U.S. officials have long complained that China intentionally maintains an undervalued yuan as part of an aggressive – some might say predatory – export promotion strategy.

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“China’s exchange rate policy is unfair, and hurts the interests of American producers,” said Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary.

A bill garnering bipartisan support in the Senate would treat currency manipulation as a foreign subsidy, triggering U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.

‘Illegal’ measures

“China illegally subsidizes their industries,” said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who is a sponsor of the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act.
“They underpay their workers. They skirt environmental regulations, and ignore the tenets of global trade rule after trade rule after trade rule. They get away with economic murder.”

Schumer says China’s currency practices have cost the United States more than two million jobs over the last decade.

Also backing the bill is Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who says it is time for the United States to defend its interests.

“During these tough economic times, we ought not to allow any of our trading partners to rig the game in their favor,” he said. “It is the job of American officials to defend the just and fundamental interests of the American workforce.”

Trade worries

Some U.S. industries squeezed by Chinese competition have welcomed the bill. But 50 trade groups representing many of America’s most vibrant export industries have written a letter to Senate leaders arguing the legislation would invite Chinese retaliation and should be rejected.

Trade expert Dan Ikenson of the Washington-based Cato Institute agrees.

“If we do something unilateral, we risk U.S. export sales to China and the jobs that go with it,” said Ikenson.

He says the World Trade Organization would likely reject an American bid to treat currency manipulation as a subsidy. Beyond that, Ikenson says, the bill before the Senate demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of trade in an inter-dependent, globalized economy.

“It used to be the case that it was our producers against their producers,” he added. “But now we have globalization, and there is a lot of value-added from different countries in products that we import from China, that are snapped together [assembled] in China, for example. So currency values cut in many different ways.”

Ikenson warns against sabotaging a vast and increasingly-lucrative export market for the United States, something highlighted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner while testifying on Capitol Hill last year.

“China is now consuming more and importing more from the United States,” he said. “As a result, China’s overall trade surplus has fallen sharply, by roughly half as a share of its economy. U.S. exports to China have rebounded much more rapidly than overall U.S. exports to the world.”

Chinese currency

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The Obama administration says China’s currency remains undervalued, but has not endorsed the Senate bill. Chinese officials argue against politicizing trade issues, and point out that, in fact, the yuan has gradually appreciated in value since 2005.

That slow appreciation does not appear to satisfy U.S. lawmakers. With the 2012 general election looming, some legislators seem eager for a fight that will allow them to point fingers and assign blame for America’s economic woes.

Should the bill pass in the Democratic-led Senate, its enactment is far from certain. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has not indicated it will take up the legislation.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its latest bulletin Sunday that Ophelia’s winds have decreased to 175 kilometers per hour and it is traveling north-northeast towards Cape Race, Newfoundland in Canada.

The eye is expected to pass near or over the Avalon Peninsula early Monday at near-hurricane strength.

The Canadian Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch beginning Sunday evening. Forecasters warn that large swells created by Ophelia will impact the South Coast of Newfoundland, with the largest waves arriving near noon (local time) Monday.

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The “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators forced the temporary closure of the bridge as they rallied against what they said was corporate greed, social inequality and other issues.

New York police said they arrested some of the protestors when they broke off from the bridge’s pedestrian lane and onto the roadway, blocking traffic.

The Brooklyn Bridge was shut down for several hours but has since reopened.

The “Occupy Wall Street” website describes the protest as a “leaderless movement,” and members have been camped out near New York City’s Financial District for the past two weeks.

In Boston, a similar “Take Back Boston” march rallied against the city’s Bank of America’s offices and more than 20 protestors were arrested.

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