China-ASEAN Relations Essay -- Foreign Policy

Despite its traditional mistrust of security regimes, China became one of the founding members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1994 – the first region-wide multilateral discussion of peace and security issues in Asia-Pacific. Besides, Beijing established military links with Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Malaysia. This extends not only to military aid and loans, bilateral talks on military issues, and signing of defense memoranda of understanding, but also includes joint production of military equipment and joint training exercises. During the 12th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the ARF in 2005, Chinese Ambassador Liu Yongxing stated that deepening mutual trust, respecting diversity, handling relations with other institutions properly, maintaining vitality of the Forum and achieving continuous development should be the main goals of ARF looking forward. In 2006, China also signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), i n which China promised not to threaten the security of other signatory states (ASEAN), to express China’s intention of establishing a strategic partnership with ASEAN for peace and prosperity. China is also willing to support ASEAN’s declaration of Southeast Asia as a nuclear weapons-free zone. With continuing norm convergence and growing trust, ASEAN may be persuaded that the region’s strategic future could be codetermined with China. The China-ASEAN strategic relationship, however, is not always a bed of roses. There remain serious issues between China and Southeast Asia which affected their relationship in the 1990s and will continue to complicate their relationship. The most prominent of all is the South China Sea dispute. Beijing has maintained that it has f... ... Shishi chubanshe, 2003). â€Å"ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations†. David Arase, â€Å"Non-Traditional Security in China-ASEAN Cooperation: The Institutionalization of Regional Security Cooperation and the Evolution of East Asian Regionalism†, Asian Survey, Vol. 50, No. 4 (July/August 2010) (pp. 808-833), http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/as.2010.50.4.808, accessed March 22nd, 2012. China’s Foreign Affairs 2006 published by the Department of Policy Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC (World Affairs Press, 2006), p.413-416. â€Å"Vietnam: Better Defense Cooperation to Help Build ASEAN Community,† Thai Press Reports, (April 30th 2010). â€Å"China’s National Defense in 2008†, Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, (Beijing, January 20th 2009) http://www.china.org.cn/government/whitepaper/node_7060059.htm, accessed March 22nd 2012.

A Family Study of Victor Frankenstein and his Monster Essay

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an exploration of the relationship between parent and child. Inspired in many ways by Mary Shelley’s own experiences as a motherless child and a grieving mother, Victor’s tale follows a linear trail of decline traceable to his mother’s death. Up until that point, though fascinated with alchemy and life science, Victor’s ideas retain a manner of scientific remove. His egotism is controlled and does not boast a power over life or death. It is only when confronted with death that the fissures begin to appear and the idyllic scenes from his childhood begin to show the full remove of affection Victor experienced. Unable to deal with this abandonment realistically, he manipulates death to create renewed animation of the body in place of actual life. In his creation of the monster, he assumes the role of mother to child in his single-minded manner but overcome by his own ego and lacking compassion he abhors and shuns his â€Å"child† as an abomination. Victor’s monster finds himself thrown into a society for which he was neither prepared nor accepted. His abandonment is immediate but his initial reaction differs greatly from the destructive creationism of Victor. His rage at being ostracized is at first controlled and in a newborn state he recedes into the woodshed of the De Lacey family where he learns of and comes to yearn for a familial connection. Being denied this connection, yet again, his rage consumes him but does not obliterate this desire. That the novel should center on the idea of the mother-child relationship and the deep-seated effects of rejection and abandonment is no surprise considering Mary Shelley’s own experiences with motherhood. Her own mother Mary Wollenscraft died from complications to childbirth when Shelley was only 10 days old (Adams 72). Throughout the author’s childhood and adolescence she experienced feelings of abandonment and guilt. As a child she saw her birth as the cause of her mother’s death. Shelley’s own experiences with motherhood were no less tragic having lost her first child when she was only 17, just one year before she began writing Frankenstein. Shelley used her pain, to turn the tables to have death create life. As Will Adams explains, â€Å"Shelley’s feelings and fantasies about killing her mother became on of the formative influences in her life [†¦] Frankenstein is a meditation on the destructive consequences of growing up without a mother (or consistent father [†¦]) (73). Art was Shelley’s coping mechanism to come to terms with her own internal demons stemming from the guilt from her mother’s death and her own helplessness in the face of her first child’s death. Similarly, Victor struggles with the absence of parental affection and the death of his mother, which permanently removes this possibility from his life. His efforts to reconcile the science of his youth with the realities of his emotional and familial life, while carrying potential, become perverted in his quest to overcome death. Though Victor clearly idolizes his mother, his affections for her are based on the ideal of motherhood and not interconnected with the woman herself. Through Victor’s descriptions we see and feel a symbol of motherhood but not the day-to-day tasks and affections one associates with motherhood. Victor’s relationship to his mother suffers from his inability see her as a person and not simply a maternal symbol. Victor’s sense of his mother is directly related to his parents’ relationship with one another and not Victor’s relationship to them individually. Viewed through his father’s eyes, Victor’s mother is a creature of adoration. As Victor explains his parents’ relationship, â€Å"There was a show of gratitude and worship in his attachment to my mother, differing wholly from the doating fondness of age, for it was inspired by reverence for her virtues† (Shelley, Chapt. 1). Critics have questioned the role that being an only child played in Victor’s reception and perception of his parents’ affections. Feeling left out of their love for one another, Victor childhood consists of a â€Å"love/hate relationship with his parents because he senses that they share an affection that in some way excludes him† (Claridge 15). Victor’s over the top representation the goodness of his childhood, compared to the man he becomes, ring false, â€Å"while during every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed by one train of enjoyment to me† (Shelley, Chapt. 1). Viewing this in hindsight of Victor’s adult persona and rejection of parenting, it is difficult to accept this statement at face value. Where, after all, were these lessons in helping to guide Victor away from his creation of the monster and in maintaining strong bonds with his remaining family? His mother’s death from scarlet fever rather than halting his idyllic fantasies of perfection, only deepen them into a form of denial and repression that prevent closure and emotionally stunt him as a father to the creature. Even in death, his mother retains her saintliness, accepting and â€Å"resigning† herself â€Å"cheerfully to death† (Shelley, Chapt. 3). This must have made death all the more unreal for young Victor. As Will Adams explains in his psychological evaluation of the tale, Victor is â€Å"a man who cannot bear the reality of death and suffers greatly because of this defensive denial† (65). For Victor the death of his mother is not merely tragic, but â€Å"evil† and it is this view, which propels him forward in his endeavor to recreate life. As Adams explains, â€Å"he daemonizes death, daemonizes a reality that is completely natural and unavoidable† (65). Death becomes a foe to be overcome; if life can be ended so easily, than death should be no harder to reverse, is Victor’s basic reasoning. As a result of his experiment in turning death to life, Victor ignores the living family he still has in his father, brother and Elizabeth. Victor’s deficiencies in coping and accepting his creation are seen by come critics to stem from his own childhood. Victor appears to be incapable of loving his family, despite his many assertions to the contrary. He obviously feels that family relationships should be shaped around mutual love and communication but his own attempts are stinted and selfish. After his mother dies, he leaves as scheduled and does not return for 6 years until tragedy requires he fulfill his family obligation. When his brother William is murdered by Victor’s creation, his guilt overcomes his grief making the tragedy more Victor’s than anyone else’s. Not only has he lost his little brother, but it was his creation which had broken yet another connection between Victor and his family. Propelled by ego, he placed himself into the role of creator and mother, without fully comprehending the responsibility. Uncertain in his feelings of acceptance from his mother, Victor has little on which to base the parent-child bond and his feelings toward his father cause an even greater friction in the role he should have rightly played in the creation of the monster. Given revisions performed by Shelley to the original text, in which Victor’s adolescent relationship to his father is made to become even more remote. In the first version of the novel, Alphonse Frankenstein shares his son’s fascination with science but in the later 1831 edition Victor’s interest is singular only to him. This estrangement in affection between father and son becomes no less stark with the death of Victor’s mother. Instead he pulls himself farther away from his father, who seems to be pushing Victor away as well. Without a strong paternal or maternal bond, it is no surprise that Victor does not make this connection between himself and the monster. As Will Adams notes, if Victor had â€Å"the courage, or we could say the ego strength, to consciously accept responsibility for his grand venture, everything may have turned out differently† (79). The two years, which culminate with the creation of the monster, are defined by a single-minded energy that though engineered through scientific brilliance lack ethics. His purpose for these two years is creation; something of which he expects will be of benefit to mankind. Victor’s reaction to the monster at his â€Å"birth† throw light onto the lack of actual forethought and responsibility inherent in its creation, â€Å"Victor’s reactions suggest that eqoic, self-serving, death-denying motivations outweigh his genuine wish to serve humankind† (Adams 77). It is therefore not surprising that in the end, deluded throughout his endeavor that Victor would shun the reality of his efforts. Pieced together from dead bodies parts, Victor is never able to reconcile these various parts into a semblance of humanity. In fact, by the end, he is unable to fully comprehend the steps, which had led to his ability to conceptualize his creation, â€Å"this discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps which I had been progressively led to it were obliterated, and I beheld only the result† (Shelley, Chapt. 4). This can be read as Victor’s inability to discover and explore the root of his fascination with death and further avoiding the resolution of feelings which would have either stopped him in continuing or better prepared him to father his creation. To imagine the â€Å"birth† from the creature’s perspective is particular saddening. Though considered an abomination by established science and religion, the creature is unaware of his distinction from the rest of mankind. On opening his eyes the first time, he sought to gaze upon his creator and to be nurtured. Instead, Victor turns away in fright and abandons the creature to his own devices. Like a newborn, the creature is helpless in understanding the mechanics of the world and is even further handicapped by society’s judgment of his appearance. His physical deformity did not directly lead to his monstrous and violent behavior but rather the world’s rejection of him, starting with the rejection of his parent. Before the creature has committed his first crime, he is deemed by Victor to be a â€Å"daemon. † Will Adams notes that Shelley’s use of the image of daemon is intentional, â€Å"For the past few hundred years, some writers have deliberately chosen the forms daemon, in part to emphasize the psychological and spiritual character of these being who are midway between humans and gods† (Adams 60). Defying the logics of life and death, the creature is caught between humanity and a solitary existence. Intentionally large, further highlighting his abnormalities of the creature, he has the stature of a god but the emotional baggage of a human. In his observance of the De Lacey family, the creature is able to learn the constructs of a family’s day-to-day lives. During his time in their woodshed, the creature learns not only language and history but also comes to understand the nature of love and family. He knows that his appearance causes fright in the average person and therefore keeps himself hidden from the De Lacey’s wishing to learn more from them before revealing himself. Through his daily watchfulness, the creature comes to love and feel kinship for the family even as they remain unaware of his presence. He finds himself caught up in their stories and sympathizing with their plight. Even the creature’s own basic desires for food draw into a more universal focus as he realizes that each bit of food he takes unaware from the family, is one less bit of food they themselves will have to eat. If not for the creature’s very human inclination toward companionship, he may have succeeded in living peacefully aside the family for many years. However, as each day passes and he finds their lives entangling his own, the creature wishes for a human connection. Though monstrous in appearance, each part of him was once human and in the De Lacey’s he sees the full potential of this humanity. â€Å"Even though he is rejected when the De Laceys become terrified by his horrible appearance, he accomplishes (for a while) what Victor is never really able to do. That is, the creature transcends his own egocentric perspective, sees through the eyes of another, feels love, and acts kindly† (Adams 81). Victor, on the other hand, reacts to emotional closeness by pushing his family away. In fact, it is not surprising given Victor’s relationships with his family, and the distance he cultivates, that he would completely abandon a creature, which did not live up to his dream of reality. Victor’s obsession with natural science is a means by which to divert all of his attention away from these relationships and to realize something within himself. With the creation of the monster, Victor realizes his folly in believing he can reverse death but never addresses the root cause. Instead, he focuses his negative energy toward recognizing and rejecting the humanity of the creature. It has been supposed that this rejection is in effect a rejection not only of the monster but of the deep seated issues which Victor refuses to address, â€Å"Even though the creature appears strangely alien – a singular, isolated, non-human being with no kin nor friend – he is also strangely familiar, universally understandable and intimately connected to Victor† (Adams 64). In the role of parent, Victor Frankenstein, is an utter failure. Poorly prepared by his own childhood to provide genuine affection and understanding to the creature, Victor actions perpetuate an endless cycle. The creature’s rejection by his parent and the people from which he has learned affection and companionship, lead his unraveling into the very â€Å"daemon† his appearance implies him to be. His one request from Victor for a companion is denied to him on these grounds. While he briefly receives understanding from his creator through the narration of his tale of the De Lacey’s, the issues, which have plagued Victor’s familial relationships, create a strong barrier and lead to Victor destroying his companion. Victor is unable to relate to the creature, as it is the living proof of his own parents’ failings in raising him and his subsequent failures at love. In the end, Victor dies as alone as the creature; their only communion to another being is through each other. Starting as creator and creation, they each die nurturing their own unhappiness and solitude through a fruitless hunt that leaves them both monstrous. Works Cited Adams, Will W. â€Å"Making Daemons of Death and Love: Frankenstein, Existentialism, Psychoanalysis. † Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 41. 2001: 57-89. 31 March 2009 Claridge, Laura P. â€Å"Parent-Child Tensions in Frankenstein: The Search of Communion. † Studies in the Novel 17. 1 Spring 1985: 14. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. 31 Mar. 2009 . Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Literature. org. < http://www. literature. org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/>.

Explore Neptune’s Frigid Moon Triton

When the Voyager 2 spacecraft swept past the planet Neptune in 1989, no one was quite sure what to expect of its largest moon, Triton. Seen from Earth, its just a tiny point of light visible through a strong telescope. However, up-close, it showed off a water-ice surface split by geysers that shoot nitrogen gas up into the thin, frigid atmosphere. It not only was weird, the icy surface sported terrains never before seen. Thanks to Voyager 2 and its mission of exploration, Triton showed us just how strange a distant world can be. Triton: The Geologically Active Moon There arent too many active moons in the solar system. Enceladus at Saturn is one (and has been studied extensively by the Cassini mission), as is Jupiters tiny volcanic moon Io. Each of these has a form of volcanism; Enceladus has ice geysers and volcanoes while Io spouts out molten sulfur. Triton, not to be left out, is geologically active, too. Its activity is cryovolcanism — producing the kind of volcanoes that spew ice crystals instead of molten lava rock. Tritons cryovolcanoes spew material out from beneath the surface, which implies some heating from within this moon. Tritons geysers are located close to whats called the subsolar point, the region of the moon directly receiving the most sunlight. Given that its very cold out at Neptune, sunlight isnt nearly as strong as it is at Earth, so something in the ices is very sensitive to sunlight, and that weakens the surface. Pressure from material below pushes out cracks and vents in the thin shell of ice that covers Triton. That lets the nitrogen gas and plumes of dust blast out and into the atmosphere. These geysers can erupt for fairly long periods of time — up to a year in some cases. Their eruption plumes lay down streaks of dark material across the pale pinkish ice. Creating a Cantaloupe Terrain World The ice depots on Triton are mainly water, with patches of frozen nitrogen and methane. At least, thats what the southern half of this moon shows. Thats all Voyager 2 could image as it went by; the northern part was in shadow. Nonetheless, planetary scientists suspect that the northern pole looks similar to the southern region. Icy lava has been deposited across the landscape, forming pits, plains, and ridges. The surface also has some of the weirdest landforms ever seen in the form of cantaloupe terrain. Its called that because the fissures and ridges look like the skin of a cantaloupe. Its probably the oldest of Tritons icy surface units and is made up of dusty water ice. The region probably formed when material under the icy crust rose up and then sank back down again, which unsettled the surface. Its also possible that ice floods could have caused this weird crusty surface. Without followup images, its hard to get a good feel for possible causes of the cantaloupe terrain. How Did Astronomers Find Triton? Triton is not a recent  discovery in the annals of solar system exploration. It was actually found in 1846 by astronomer William Lassell. He was studying Neptune just after its discovery, looking for any possible moons in orbit around this distant planet. Because Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea (who was the Greek Poseidon), it seemed appropriate to name its moon after another Greek sea god whose was fathered by Poseidon. It didnt take long for astronomers to figure out that Triton was weird in at least one way: its orbit. It circles Neptune in retrograde — that is, opposite to Neptunes rotation. For that reason, its very likely that Triton didnt form when Neptune did. In fact, it probably had nothing to do with Neptune but was captured by the planets strong gravity as it passed by. No one is quite sure where Triton originally formed, but its quite likely it was born as part of the Kuiper Belt of icy objects. It stretches outwards from the orbit of Neptune. The Kuiper Belt is also the home of frigid Pluto, as well as a selection of dwarf planets. Tritons fate is not to orbit Neptune forever. In a few billion years, it will wander too close to Neptune, within a region called the Roche limit. Thats the distance where a moon will start to break up due to gravitational influence. Exploration After Voyager 2 No other spacecraft has studied Neptune and Triton up close. However, after the Voyager 2 mission, planetary scientists have used Earth-based telescopes to measure Tritons atmosphere by watching as distant stars slipped behind it. Their light could then be studied for telltale signs of gases in Tritons thin blanket of air. Planetary scientists would like to explore Neptune and Triton further, but no missions have been selected to do so, yet. So, this pair of distant worlds will remain unexplored for the time being, until someone comes up with a lander that could settle down among the cantaloupe hills of Triton and send back more information.

Top 10 World War II Battles

Essay on the American Dream Revised in Song of Solomon

The American Dream Revised in Song of Solomon America was founded on the belief that all men are created equal. However, a question must be posed which asks who constitutes men and what is equal? Africans were taken from their country and enslaved in America. They had to fight to retain dignity and grace in circumstances that were deplorable. Even slaves who were well taken care of were not able to realize the dream of being free again. In her work, Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison relates a story of the dream of Milkman. Although he is not a slave, Milkman is enslaved by the fact that as a child, he was forced to participate in a shameful act that he wanted no part of. Even his nickname was derived from this†¦show more content†¦Instead of letting the situation be and making apologies, He comes to me with some way-out tale of how come and why (76). Milkman did not want to participate in this discussion, but he had no choice. Milkman must go on a difficult journey. He was never a slave. His family has money and education; however, Milkman is not satisfied. He longs to be connected to his past. He leaves everything behind to discover his roots, and his journey, though it leads to his death, is accomplished for he is free. His dream has been reached, but he cannot reap its benefits. Milkman cannot enjoy the success he shares with his family until he finds his people from the South. He retraces the history that he gathered from his family and recounts it to his people in Georgia where he discovers more truth and more myths. This revisiting of his roots is a characteristic of Africans, even if they are not direct descendants of Africa. Their dream cannot be accomplished until they are sure where their people belonged centuries before the recent generations existed. Pilate is a prime example of not existing in a traditional family setting. When their father died, Macon and Pilate were separated and sent to live with relatives or, in Pilates case, live a nomadic life traveling from place to place. They had no contact with each other because of a disagreement that occurred a few days after their father was murdered. PilateShow MoreRelated65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays 2nd Edition 147256 Words   |  190 PagesGRIFFIN NEW YORK 65 SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAYS, SECOND EDITION. Copyright  © 2009 byThe Harbus News Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 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Anthem by Ayn Rand Free Essays

To be in full control of a man, dictators must not only enslave his body, but also destroy his mind. A man’s mind and the knowledge that a man has is his most powerful weapon. By depleting the mind of knowledge, a man cannot be in control of his own self and therefore is more easily conquered. We will write a custom essay sample on Anthem by Ayn Rand or any similar topic only for you Order Now In Anthem by Ayn Rand, the leaders and society in her book seek to accomplish control by choosing the jobs for the people, keeping the word â€Å"I† unknown, and maintaining a sense of unity from birth. In Anthem the leaders of the society in the novel, the High Council, examine the students and based upon their observations, give the students their jobs accordingly. In Anthem’s society, students are given jobs not to who will fulfill them the best, but based on how intellectual the student is. A smart and eager student such as Equality 7-2521, the protagonist in the story, receives a job that will dull his brain. Equality 7- 2521 is given the job of a street sweeper; he is extremely smart and the council recognized what he is capable of. The High Council gives the more important jobs, such as Scholar, to the students who are unintelligent so that the High Council can more easily control them. By destroying the smart student’s mind, the council can control them and cause them to become more unintelligent. To have complete control over the society in Anthem, the High Council keeps the word â€Å"I† unknown. By keeping this word unknown, the High Council is not only causing the society to think of themselves as one, but they are also causing the people to fear what is outside their world. Each person believes that without each other, nothing is possible and that thought instills fear into the society’s mind. By implanting fear into the minds of the people, they are afraid of what would happen if something in society were to not be the norm. The society, together as a whole, rejects anything that violates their comfort level and they destroy it. We see this happen when Equality 7-2521 goes to the World Council and presents to them his inventions, electricity and the light bulb. The World Council decides that since this invention was created by one person and not a group of people that it would ruin their society and they threaten to kill Equality 7-2521 and obliterate his inventions. By maintaining unity from birth, the dictators and society in Anthem create a sense of constant longing for another person; this leads to the fear of being alone. Each year, the new group of babies born go into the Home of Infants, then they are transferred into the Home of Students and then are given their jobs. Because each person believes that he cannot live alone, it keeps the society together. Equality 7-2521 spent time alone while he was experimenting so he realizes that man can accomplish things alone. The people in the society are dependent on each other to create a sense of security. Without that dependence, the society would split apart and each person would do how he wishes. Just as a man’s knowledge is his greatest power, it is also his greatest enemy. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, the society is ridded of knowledge and that is what causes the leaders to have total control over the people. They accomplish control by choosing the jobs for the people, keeping the word â€Å"I† unknown and maintaining a sense of unity from birth. By doing these things they not only enslave the bodies of the people, but also destroy their minds. How to cite Anthem by Ayn Rand, Essay examples

Financial Statement - IASB And AASB Accounting Standards

Question: If it accepted that financial information should be useful for economic decision making in terms of deciding whether to make resources available to a reporting entity, as the IASB conceptual framework indicates, a subsequent element to consider is the qualitative characteristics that financial information should have if it is to be useful for such decisions. (Deegan, C. 2012, Australian Financial Accounting, Ed. 7E, p. 60. Describe what you understand by the above statement and explain briefly the qualitative characteristics. Discuss and describe two IASB / AASB accounting standards and the utilisation of the qualitative characteristics to promote decision useful information. Select a company from the Australian Securities Exchange website and download the most recent annual report. With regard to your chosen standards, and in the context of your company annual report, comment on the effect the qualitative characteristics have had on the financial statements. Answer: Introduction The qualitative characteristics of financial statements are quite important. The report has been prepared analysing the various factors such as the qualitative characteristics of financial statements as mentioned in the AASB accounting standards, discussion and description of two IASB / AASB accounting standards i.e. AASB 10 and AASB 138 and the utilisation of the qualitative characteristics to promote decision useful information and lastly the analysis of the financial statements of Origin Energy Ltd for the qualitative characteristics. Qualitative Characteristics of Financial Statements The qualitative characteristics of the financial statements are considered to be important for the effective and efficient decision making for the investors. The essence of the developing the accounting standard is to develop the financial information that can enable the investors and other decision makers outside the company to understand the different aspects of the business and to develop understanding on the competitiveness of the organization. These qualitative characteristics are beneficial for the companies as well, as it is the basis for the companies to take suitable actions. The qualitative characteristics as mentioned in AASB framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements are ( Beest, Braam Boelens, 2009) Relevance: The financial dealings of the company involve large number of transactions. There is accounting information that is presented to stakeholders internal and external to the business. The key characteristics of the relevant information contained in the financial statements are predictive value and confirmatory value. The predictive and confirmatory value is associated to the ability to accurately predict the earnings capability of the company. Further the relevance of the financial statements can be considered based on completeness. Unless the information provided in the financial statements has complete information it will not be relevant. This is the fundamental characteristic of the financial statements. Reliability: It is the quality that authorizes the users of the financial statements to rely on it with surety. It is regarded as faithful representation and is reasonably free from biasness and errors. The concept of reliability includes the following aspects Identification criteria that is backed by realistic demonstration Material and economic reality as divergent to legal form Impartial or detachment free from partial consideration or deformation of information Carefulness and vigilant guess so that overstatement of assets or revenues or minimization of liabilities or operating cost isnt there No errors, false assumptions or decapitating presentations and materiality is ensured Comparability: The representation of the accounting information in the financial statements should be such that not only assists in the assessment of an entity at a certain point or given period but should also assist in analysing the information from similar but different entities. It helps the users to identify the similarities and the difference of the events and conditions prevailing in two entities but also analyse the performance of the entities under similar condition. This is important from the viewpoint of resource allocation. One of the important aspects of comparability is the consistency. Consistency in employing the accounting practices greatly impacts the comparability as variance in accounting standards that are being employed will have huge impact on the profitability and other figures in the income statement (Hirst, Hopkins Wahlen, 2004). Understandability: It means the ability of the users to understand the information with the viewpoint of decision making. This is the user specific quality as the understanding of the users to comprehend a given set of information will differ. Thus it is important that the financial information is produced in such a way so as to have a reasonable understanding of business and economic activities and develop the willingness to study the information in order to gain financial expertise of reasonable level. It is important that information related to complex matters needs to be presented, if important or material needs to be represented in understandable level without compromising with the quality of information. The complete study of the qualitative characteristics highlight that the IASB conceptual framework, in this respect, does not provide any guideline on how the financial statements need to be prepared but does provide the basis for the preparation of the financial statements. These qualitative characteristics need to be supported by the characteristics such as verifiability and timeliness. These are considered as enhancing qualitative characteristics. Verifiability will provide the basis for ensuring that the information that is provided is correct and the timeliness of the information will ensure timely availability of information which is an important aspect in decision making (Beest, Braam Boelens, 2009). This understanding and the viewpoint for the preparation of the financial statements is quite important and adherence to these aspects will certainly impart quality to the financial statements that will assist in decision making. Utilisation of the qualitative characteristics in AASB Accounting Standard As discussed above the AASB established the standards for the preparation and presentation of financial statements. This was the basis of the other accounting standards that have been developed. AASB 10 for Consolidated Financial Statement and AASB 138 for Intangible Assets are quite important and essential for the development of financial statements. These have been discussed below AASB 10: Consolidated Financial Statements The accounting standard AASB 10 provides the principles for the preparation and presentation of the consolidated financial statements when one or more than one entity is being controlled by one entity. Certain conditions have been established for satisfying the controlling factor. These are (CPA Australia, 2011a) Power over the investee Rights to the variable returns as a result of the involvement with investee Ability to use the power to affect the returns to the investor However there are certain cases wherein there is no need to prepare the consolidated financial statements. These are (BDO, 2013) The parent company itself is the wholly owned or partially owned subsidiary and the other owners do not object to parent not presenting the consolidated financial statement The debt or equity instruments are not traded publicly The parent company of the parent company is producing the consolidated financial statement In case of non-controlling interests in an entity, the same must be shown in the statement of financial position separate from the equity that has been employed. AASB 138: Intangible Assets AASB 138 comprehensively deals with the intangible assets accounting. It replaces general requirements of the accounting standards for revaluation of non-current assets, depreciation, acquisition, revaluation and accounting for goodwill. This accounting standard isnt applicable for financial assets, expenditure on development extraction of oil related resources and Exploration evaluation assets while softwares are included in AASB 138. AASB 138 gives the definition of intangible assets, recognition, measurement and disclosure of intangible assets. Further classification of intangible assets as internally and externally generated. Further treatment of different intangible assets is described with illustrations (CPA Australia, 2011b). According to AASB 138 research cost can be expensed whereas the capitalization is to be done for the development cost. AASB 138 states that measurement of the intangible asset will be based on different consideration for each of the assets as separately acquired, acquired in business combination, assets acquired free of charge, assets acquired in exchange for non-monetary assets and internally generated assets that satisfy the recognition criteria. The two models that have been mentioned for the measurement of intangible assets are cost model and revaluation model (Lightfoot, 2013). Cost model is carried out by reducing the cost by the accumulated amortization and accumulated impairment losses. The revaluation model considers the fir value i.e. value as per the active market. The companies that are preparing the financial statements based on these regulations clearly highlight all the factors that have been mentioned above provide more clarity and knowledge on how the assets have been utilised. Further employing the fair value accounting in the valuation also ensures that value of the assets is aligned with the market parameters rather on the basis of book value. Further if there is any reduction in the valuation or impairment taking place, it will be included in the financial statements of the company. This would be backed by the performance of the company as the value of the intangible assets and the impairment, as identified above, is directly linked to the performance and the market forces. Overall considering the factors discussed above and inter-relating these factors with the qualitative characteristics clearly shows that these accounting standards do conform by these characteristics. However there may be issue with the understandability due to hig h level of complexity related to the aspects that have been covered by these accounting standards and the applicability of these standards for the assets of the company which are quite important. Financial Statement Analysis: Origin Energy Ltd With respect to the various aspects that have been discussed above the effect the qualitative characteristics have had on the financial statements have been analysed based on the financial statements of Origin Energy Ltd. included in the annual report for the year 2014. Firstly the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement and the statement of changes in equity clearly shows the value for the current year and the previous year. This enables the comparability with respect to different aspects such as interest, revenue, profitability, assets, liabilities, equity or any other aspect related to the cash flow. Secondly it has been reviewed that the financial statements include the notes to the financial statements. These notes discuss in detail the various aspects of the financial statements. The notes to the financial statements include separate discussion on each of the aspects. The key features as highlighted from the notes to the financial statement highlights that the company has included each and every aspect in the notes to the financial statements and complete detail on each and every aspect has been provided. For example the detailed discussion on aspects such as amortization, impairment or depreciation has been provided in much detail and thus assisting investors in understanding the level of impact on the performance. One of the most important and considerable factor that is to be considered is that the financial statement includes the statement for reconciliation of profit after income tax to net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities. This is quite useful in understanding the performance of the company. This highlights what are the aspects that impacted the cash flow and the liquidity in the company. Apart from these factors the annual report contains the message from the chairman and other high level management and their perspective on the performance of the company. Further the financial review, objectives from the coming year and the risks associated with the business have been identified. It enables the users of the financial statements to correlate these factors with the current years performance and the future profitability and the business environment. The annual report of the company also includes the sustainable report on the environment, land, employment and community specifying the key aspects and the strategy of the company in these aspects. Overall the above discussion with respect to the qualitative characteristics of the financial statements of the Origin Energy Ltd shows that company has ensured that the aspects related to the accounting standard for ensuring these characteristics in the financial statements is there. This has been done in quite detail which is very useful for the investors. For example the segment report seems to be quite inadequate and may require further detail on such aspects. Lastly considering the regulations that have been discussed above i.e. AASB 10 AASB 138 have been considered and information has been provided accordingly. The company has provided the complete details on the non-controlling interest that is there in the subsidiaries. The above discussion clearly highlights the company need to ensure that the company has prepared detailed financial statement with due consideration to the different accounting standards. References CPA Australia. (2011a). International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements. Available At: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-resources/reporting/ifrs-10-consolidated-fin-statements.pdf CPA Australia. (2011b). International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): IAS 38 Intangible Assets. Available At: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-resources/reporting/ias-38-intangible-assests.pdf Lightfoot, S. (2013). Research into the accounting for intangible assets. Available At: https://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/News-Media/Charter/Charter-articles/Reporting/2013-02-Research-into-the-accounting-for-intangible-assets.aspx BDO. (2013). Will the new consolidation and joint arrangements standards change your financial statements? Available At: https://www.bdo.com.au/resources/newsletters/accounting-news/accounting-news,-may-2013/will-the-new-consolidation-and-joint-arrangements-standards-change-your-financial-statements Beest, F.V., Braam, G. Boelens, S. (2009). Quality of Financial Reporting: measuring qualitative characteristics. Hirst, D., Hopkins, P. Wahlen, J. (2004). Fair Values, Income Measurement, and Bank Analysts Risk and Valuation Judgments. The Accounting Review, 79(2), 453-472.