In The News

'Bad Press' Causing Headaches for Beijing

Paul Mooney July 22, 2004
Although SARS may have served as a wake-up call to China's leaders on the importance of free speech and openness, over the past year and a half Beijing seems to have been backsliding. Writing from Beijing, Paul Mooney notes that one newspaper was shut down in March 2003 for criticizing Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin for being autocratic. Another paper's editors were...

Germany a Gateway to Europe for Chinese Businesses

Mark-Werner Dreisörner July 16, 2004
For years German investors have taken advantage of China’s low wages and huge market potential to expand their operations, but a recent trends show investment flowing the other way: from China to Germany. Hamburg alone now hosts over 300 Chinese businesses, and growth in Chinese investment across the country is likely to continue since Germany is seen as a gateway to Europe. Wang Yan of...

Ex-Dictator Had Millions in U.S. Bank

Andres Oppenheimer July 15, 2004
Augusto Pinochet, the dictator of Chile from 1973 until 1990, was found by US Senate investigators to have deposited upwards of $8 million in Washington-based Riggs Bank under names of phony firms. According to American law, US banks are supposed to investigate deposits of foreign government officials for drug trafficking or corruption problems before opening an account. The Senate...

Alternative Globalization

Bharat Jhunjhunwala July 2, 2004
The author of this editorial in the Ethiopian newspaper questions the wisdom of developing countries staying within the WTO and letting themselves be squeezed by the developed countries. He says that the basic inconsistency of the WTO is that it provides protection to the monopolistic control of technologies but prohibits the monopolistic pricing of natural resources. He argues that the...

Can Corporations Safeguard Labor and Human Rights?

Susan Ariel Aaronson June 24, 2004
Recent scandals over US mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan have badly tarnished America’s human rights record. Grave as the abuses are, says globalization scholar Susan Ariel Aaronson, the Bush administration can help restore at least a measure of goodwill by promoting human rights and labor protections in the factories of US-based multinational corporations. The anti-...

U.S. Drops Plan to Exempt G.I.'s From U.N. Court

Warren Hoge June 24, 2004
With only one week left before a special exemption for US troops was set to expire at the United Nations, Washington has said it will no longer seek to protect its military from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. For two years running, the US has received a special one-year exemption from the UN Security Council that prevents its civilian and military personnel taking part in peace...

Inside America's Secret Afghan Gulag

Duncan Campbell June 23, 2004
In May graphic evidence of American soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners was presented to the worldwide media, causing an uproar and leading to charges of abuse that have reached into the highest levels of American policymaking. With the world's attention focused on Iraq, say the authors of this article in the UK's Guardian, similar – if not worse – abuses have been carried out in...