In The News

State Secrets Revealed in Vietnam

David Brown January 10, 2013
Though it’s rare for officials in Vietnam to speak freely on foreign affairs, a colonel’s speech to an academic audience was secretly recorded and posted online. “The occasion was a meeting of senior Party cadre who administer or teach at colleges and universities in the capital area, and who double as functionaries charged with propaganda and training,” writes David Brown for Asia Times. The...

Island Nations Play China, India

Harsh V. Pant January 9, 2013
As rising powers India and China compete for influence, Indian Ocean’s small island states like Maldives, Seychelles or Mauritius gain disproportionate prominence and attract new funding for their strategic space in the Indian Ocean. In domestic politics, parties take advantage of the rivalry and take sides. A recent example described by Harsh V. Pant of King’s College is the cancellation of a 25...

Laos Could Bear Cost of Chinese Railroad

Jane Perlez, Bree Feng January 8, 2013
China is financing a railway from Southern China to Laos, Thailand and Burma – “China considers it vital to its strategy of pulling Southeast Asia closely into its orbit and providing Beijing with another route to transport oil from the Middle East,” report Jane Perlez and Bree Feng for the New York Times. Laos is taking on tremendous debt for the project, and the bulk of trade benefits are...

Southern Weekly Reporters Confront China Censors

January 8, 2013
Journalists are often the biggest opponents of censorship and biggest proponents of government reforms. Many observers in China had anticipated new reforms with the transition in leadership. Yet propaganda officials continue to censor reports about corruption, dissent and government’s inability to tackle pressing problems. Former staff members and interns of a newspaper in China have urged the...

Put Doomsday on the Schedule

David Dapice January 7, 2013
Americans, like most citizens all over the world, resent paying taxes, but are fond of government programs that allow health care, education or science to flourish. The US is overextended, living beyond its means, and Congress is divided over how to ease the climbing debt: Liberal Democrats want to tax the rich, while conservative Republicans aim to reduce spending that help citizens. Congress...

How Chinese Economic Policy Could Save Club Med Countries

Mohnish Pabrai January 7, 2013
Deep in debt, desperate to borrow for reduced daily operations, Mediterranean countries contemplate unloading valuable properties. Instead of selling desirable properties, investor Mohnish Pabrai urges Greece, Spain and Italy to create special economic zones that bypass stringent national labor regulations and lease these properties to skilled managers who could then hire millions of unemployed,...

Nationalism Rises in Northeast Asia

Jean-Pierre Lehmann January 4, 2013
The job-creating economies of the Northeast Asia Pacific region are the envy of the world. China, Japan and Korea – the world’s second, third and eleventh largest economies, respectively – are significant global economic powers. China, Japan and South Korea are major trade and investment partners, each thriving by embracing economic globalization. But because of historical differences and...