In The News

China to Hong Kong: You Can Vote, We Select the Candidates

George Chen September 11, 2014
After Beijing’s promise of universal suffrage for the 2017 election, Hong Kong, which was handed over to China by the British colonial ruler in 1997, had anticipated more democracy. But China dashed such hopes by announcing plans to pre-approve candidates for the election of a chief executive, explains George Chen, financial editor for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and a 2014 Yale...

Immigrant Vote Could Sway Tight Scottish Independence Referendum

Lisa De Bode September 10, 2014
Scotland will head to the polls on September 18 for a referendum on independence from Great Britain, and immigrants could represent one in five likely voters. Like other Scots, immigrants are divided. Ending the 300-year union with England and Northern Ireland would have economic and political consequences, reports Lisa De Bode for Al Jazeera America, including reduced power of the Labour Party...

Jokowi’s Sea of Troubles

September 5, 2014
As Indonesia prepares for incoming President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo taking office in October, the transition is rough. The government faces a range of challenges, including a need to reduce fuel subsidies. The outgoing president dashed hopes that he would launch the needed reductions. Fuel subsidies represent 14 percent of the budget, reducing government spending on infrastructure and social...

Obama Waits for Lawful Way to Fight Islamic State Terrorists

Harold Hongju Koh September 4, 2014
International observers and critics in the United States repeatedly ask why President Barack Obama does not simply bomb areas controlled by the Islamic State terrorist group inside Iraq and Syria. “Part of the challenge lies in the maze of domestic and international law that must be navigated,” suggests Harold Hongju Koh, Yale professor of law and former legal adviser to the US State Department....

Thailand’s Ultra-Monarchists Export Vigilante Justice

Michael Peel September 3, 2014
The rise of ultra-monarchism and harsh penalties for speaking against the monarchy in Thailand are heightening political conflict and tension throughout the diaspora. “Part-absurd, part chilling, the case highlights how the ever harsher application in Thailand of lèse-majesté laws protecting the frail 86-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej is spilling across continents in uncontrolled and...

Beijing Puts Hong Kong Business on Alert

Chris Dodd September 1, 2014
Hong Kong will have elections in 2017, but voters must select from candidates approved by China. Protesters plan to target the financial district. “Beijing’s intransigence and protesters’ plans to bring traffic in Hong Kong’s streets to a standstill are a threat to the city’s reputation as a stable financial centre,” writes Chris Dodd for AsiaFinance. Credit agencies and banks have issued...

Thai Junta Chief Nominated to Be Prime Minister

James Hookway August 21, 2014
Without a whimper and only three abstentions, the Thai legislature has nominated the general who seized power in May as prime minister. The king’s approval is also required, but that is considered a formality. “The 60-year-old commander has said he aims to win over voters and foreign investors, who are looking beyond Thailand and its troubles to other locations such as Indonesia and Vietnam,”...