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value declines and, more impor-tantly, when it goes up,” Sen.Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), aleading congressional critic ofChina’s currency policies, said ina statement.

One bill that would open thedoor to tariffs on Chinese goodshas garnered support from morethan half of House members inrecent years. Similar Senate leg-islation also has drawn promi-

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ton, with lawmakers in bothparties pressing the Obama ad-ministration to push Chinaharder to loosen its grip on theyuan. Many in Congress haveaccused China of currency ma-nipulation and said the coun-try’s practices have restrainedU.S. exports and cost Americanjobs.

“China needs to allow theyuan to act as a fully market-driven currency both when its

the world’s second-largest econ-omy so that it is less dependenton investment and exports andmore reliant on domestic con-sumption. A freer yuan couldgive Chinese consumers moreflexibility in terms of spendingand investments by making iteasier for their cash to be con-verted into other currencies.

But China’s management ofits currency has long been asource of friction in Washing-

continued rise and to introducegreater two-way volatility intoits trading, these people say.

The move is the clearest signyet that Chinese leaders arepressing ahead on financial re-forms, which include a morefreely traded currency, amidhopes the yuan could one dayrival the U.S. dollar as the defacto global currency.

A market-driven yuan fitsinto a broader plan to remake

BEIJING—China’s centralbank engineered the recent de-cline in the country’s currencyas part of its efforts to preparethe tightly tethered yuan forwider trading, according to peo-ple familiar with the centralbank’s thinking.

By guiding the yuan weaker,Beijing intends to thwart short-term speculators betting on a

Tensions in Asia StokeRising Nationalism in Japan

WAR WOUNDS

Bank lending for land devel-opment and construction is turn-ing up after hitting a 14-year lowearly last year, a sign that thesupply crunch for new homescould ease in coming months.

Data released Wednesday bythe Federal Deposit InsuranceCorp. show that the outstandingbalance on loans for land acqui-sition, development and con-struction rose in the fourthquarter to $209.9 billion, com-pared with $206 billion in thethird quarter. While that’s a rela-tively small gain, economistsnote that if the overall balance isgrowing it means that origina-tions of new loans are likely ris-ing even faster. It was the thirdconsecutive quarter of growth.

An increase in lending wouldspur additional home construc-tion and possibly put downwardpressure on prices, which havebeen rising rapidly over the pasttwo years and weighing on thehousing recovery. Last year, theaverage price of a new U.S. homewas $322,100, up 10.2% from 2012and the highest annual figuresince the Census Bureau begantracking new-home prices in 1963.

While the rising prices aregreat news for sellers, the tightsupply of homes has pricedmany would-be buyers out of themarket.

Robert Ray has spent sixweeks combing the Tampa, Fla.,market for a new home in hisprice range. So far, sticker shockhas stymied his search.

Surprised by howmuch higherprices are than he anticipated inthe local market, where home val-ues have increased by 44% fromtheir nadir in late 2011 accordingto Zillow Inc., Mr. Ray is reassess-ing his strategy. He and his wife,Teresa, have increased their bud-

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DJIA 16198.41 À 18.75 0.1% NASDAQ 4292.06 À 0.1% NIKKEI 14970.97 g 0.5% STOXX600 337.70 g 0.2% 10-YR. TREAS. À 8/32 , yield 2.675% OIL $102.59 À $0.76 GOLD $1,328.20 g $14.80 EURO $1.3687 YEN 102.37

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What’sNews

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World-WidenWestern officials suggestedit could take months beforeaid for Ukraine arrives, evenas its economy declines. A8nUkraine’s protest leaderspicked activists for a “govern-ment of national unity.” A8n Putin ordered a drill for150,000 Russian troops, in-cluding some near Ukraine. A9n The FDA is proposing tosignificantly revise nutritionlabels on packaged foods for thefirst time in two decades. A3n The Obama administrationis seeking approval to retainrecords of millions of phonecalls stored by the NSA. A3nArizona’s governor vetoed abill that would have let busi-nesses refuse service to cus-tomers on religious grounds.A2n Lawmakers asked theWhiteHouse to scrap a plan thatwould limit the types of drugsavailable throughMedicare. A4nPlans to improve transpor-tation infrastructure receiveda bipartisan boost from Obamaand a top GOP lawmaker. A4nAfghan candidates for pres-ident are holding coalitiontalks as they seek backingfrom the Pashtun majority. A11n Scientists discovered 715planets around distant stars,including four that could po-tentially be suitable for life. A3n A federal judge struckdown a Texas law banningsame-sex marriages. A6nHezbollah vowed to retaliatefor an Israeli airstrike near Leb-anon’s border with Syria.A10nThe Syrian governmentsaid its forces killed dozens ofrebels near Damascus. A10

i i i

China’s central bank en-gineered the recent

drop in the yuan as part ofan effort to prepare the cur-rency for wider trading. A1n Bank lending for land devel-opment and construction isrising, a sign the supply crunchfor new homes could ease. A1nU.S. companies increas-ingly are using nonstandardearnings measures whenawarding executive bonuses. C1nU.S. stocks rose slightly inlight trading. The Dow edgedup 18.75 points to 16198.41.The S&P 500was nearly flat. C4n Tesla said its proposed bat-tery plant would cost up to $5billion and allow it to sell upto 500,000 vehicles a year. B1nA $14million SEC awardwas paid for a tip about an al-leged scheme to defraud inves-tors seeking U.S. residency. C1n Credit Suisse’s CEO saidefforts to help Americansevade taxes were limited to asmall group of bank staff. C1n Target’s data breach andlosses from its push into Can-ada took a toll on the retailer’sresults, as net fell 46%. B3nVerizon is investigatingpossible security breaches attwo unidentified retailers. B3n Stanford’s Ponzi-schemevictims can sue third partieson allegations they aided thefraud, the high court ruled. C3nBoeing filed plans for asmartphone aimed at defenseand security customers. B1nPatton Boggs is in mergertalks with Squire Sanders overa potential law firm tie-up. B2

Business&Finance

BY KRIS HUDSON

HopefulSigns onNew-HomeCrunch

BY LINGLING WEI

TOKYO—A movie glorifying the life of a WorldWar II kamikaze pilot recently topped the box-of-fice charts in Japan for two months. Tokyo bookstores have set up corners for titles disparagingJapan’s neighbors. Anonymous authors with radi-cal nationalist views, known as neto uyo, short for“right-wingers on the Internet,” are thriving onTwitter and chat pages.

Across Japan, there are signs that the collectivemood—long shaped by pangs of regret over WorldWar II—is in the midst of a shift as tensions withrivals, especially China and South Korea, escalate.

Fearful of Beijing’s muscle-flexing in nearby wa-ters and worried about Japan’s economic future,more people are expressing feelings of nationalism,mistrust and sometimes outright hostility towardtheir neighbors.

“Ideas that have long been suppressed andlocked away, like the desire to hate and discrimi-nate, are now pouring out from many corners ofthe country and amplifying each other in an echochamber,” says Kiyomi Tsujimoto, a veteran oppo-sition lawmaker. “That’s fueling anti-Korea andanti-China sentiment.”

Pacifism still runs deep in Japan, and the shiftto the right is in its early stages. But the tone is al-ready influencing Japanese politics, with the emer-gence of a new wave of candidates—mainly in their30s and 40s—who hold staunchly conservativeviews similar to those of America’s tea party.

In a Tokyo gubernatorial election earlier thismonth, Gen. Toshio Tamogami, a former air-forcechief who heads a right-wing group known for itsxenophobic rallies, snared an unexpectedly largeshare of votes, even though the country’s tradi-

PleaseturntopageA12

BY YUKA HAYASHI

Local and state governmentsacross the country are tappingthe brakes on red-light cameras.

After a decade of steadygrowth, the number of communi-ties using cameras to catch driv-ers who run stoplights has fallenabout 6% since 2012, to 508, ac-cording to the Insurance Insti-tute for Highway Safety, a non-profit research group funded bythe automobile-insurance indus-try.

Seven states currently banthem altogether, according to theNational Conference of StateLegislatures, and several more,including Ohio and Florida, areconsidering such prohibitions.

Studies of whether cameras,typically mounted on fixtures be-side the road, improve trafficsafety are numerous and oftenpoint to contradictory conclu-sions. Many locations, including

Pleaseturntothenextpage

BY ASHBY JONES

CommunitiesSlow DownOn Red-LightCameras

There were grumbles in 2009when the U.S. Marine Corps or-dered troops to keep their handsout of their pockets except toquickly “retrieve something.”But when the Corps’ comman-dant later decreed that Marineshad to stop rollingup their sleeves, alongtime fashionstatement, the leath-ernecks went intoaction.

“That’s what sep-arated us from everyother branch, oursleeves,” said FirstSgt. Shawn Wright,a career Marine whowas a drill instructor. Troopslaunched petition drives andpeppered superiors with ques-tions. Some complained it hidtheir tattoos.

The top brass did an about-face this week and returned the

right to bare arms, startingMarch 9.

“I can’t tell you how manytimes we have been asked thepersistent question, ‘Comman-dant, are we ever going to returnto SLEEVES UP?’” said Gen.James Amos, Commandant ofthe Marine Corps, in a Facebook

post on the Marinesaccount late Tues-day. “I’ve thought alot about this overthe past 2.5 years; Irealize that it’s im-portant to you.Sleeves up clearlyand visually sets usapart. WE HEARYOU MARINES!”

The general’sFacebook post garnered morethan 30,000 likes and nearly3,000 comments in less than aday. “The roar of approval fromacross the Corps has been deaf-ening,” said Lt. Col. David Nev-

PleaseturntopageA12

BY BEN KESLING

Hello to Arms: Marines ReinstateA Corps Fashion Principle

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After Rancor in the Ranks, CommandantLets Leathernecks Roll Up Their Sleeves

Marine sleeves up

Meet the NewNeighbors

WORLDS APART: NASA scientistsannounced the discovery of 715new planets around distant stars,including four that might be thetemperature for liquid water andpotentially suitable for life. A3

NASA

/AssociatedPress

Heard on the Street: Be carefulwith home-builder stocks......... C1

China Intervenes to Lower YuanCentral Bank Moves in Bid for Looser Trading as Part of Effort to Remake Economy, Rival Dollar

Ukraine Riven as Economic and Ethnic Strains Grow

BITTER DIVIDE: Pro-Russian protesters and Crimean Tatars clashed near the Parliament building in Simferopol, Crimea, in southern Ukraine on Wednesday.Meanwhile, Russia ordered surprise military exercises near Ukraine, whose currency plummeted as the West deliberated over an aid package. A8, A9

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