In The News

Virus Ship Row as Spain Closes Gibraltar Border

Simon Jeffery November 3, 2003
Passengers on the British cruise ship the Aurora were hit by a virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting. The ship, coming from Greece, docked in Gibraltar at the onset of the virus. Spain, fearing a spread of the infection, then closed its borders. The British government describes Spain's decision as "unnecessary and disproportionate." Gibraltar, long a point of contention between...

A Winter of Discontent?

Robert A. Kapp November 3, 2003
The recent trade and currency disputes between the United States and China have given some in Washington the impression that a crisis is developing in US-China relations. The entire US Congress seems to be raging about China's unfair trade policies and manipulation of its currency. Robert A. Kapp, the President of the US-China Business Council, says here that the current stable US-China...

China's Factories Aim to Fill the World's Garages

Keith Bradsher November 2, 2003
As China’s economy grows, its domestic automobile industry has come to exceed that of more developed neighbors, like South Korea. Increased car travel has caused auto fatalities and air pollution to skyrocket, but may also be eroding the Communist Party’s political and social controls, says this New York Times article. And as multinational auto manufacturers increase investment in China, the...

Building an Independent and Self-Reliant Economy in Globalization

November 1, 2003
The ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam has confirmed that globalization is an inevitable trend. Consequently, the Communist Party has launched a policy that fosters integration with the global economy. A commentary in the official radio station Voice of Vietnam says that the country can work to use globalization to its benefit. Necessary ingredients to this success...

A Chinese Lesson for the US: How to Charm South-east Asia

Evelyn Goh October 31, 2003
When the Presidents of both America and China visited individual countries in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently, they seemed to have brought with them two different sets of agendas. According to this article in Singapore's Straits Times, while Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, spent his time "touring a market place", US President George W. Bush was "...

The Fine Art of China-Bashing

Neil King Jr. October 31, 2003
As the Bush administration pushes even harder on China to revalue the yuan, the real motivations behind the "China-bashing" by US officials remain shady. Is the administration's rhetoric really meant to "help U.S. manufacturers compete against Chinese companies", ask the authors, "or just help U.S. politicians score points with anxious voters"? When the US...

Safe Landing

Mostafa Al-Labbad October 31, 2003
Iran's decision to allow UN inspectors un-announced entry to its nuclear facilities was a shrewd diplomatic move, says this article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly. By first threatening to disengage from international discussions altogether, then slowly taking steps to permit more monitoring of its program, the author says, Tehran was demonstrating to the Bush administration in Washington...