In The News

Asia Will Struggle to Escape Its Export Trap

David Pilling June 29, 2009
Despite much talk of a rising middle class that can support domestic growth, Asia’s dependence on exports has increased, not fallen. Although interregional trade has risen, most of it is in components, with the finished goods destined for the US and Europe. And in China, personal consumption as a percentage of GDP has actually shrunk. Indeed, as one expert argues, export economies are set up to...

China Backs Down Over Controversial Censorship Software

Jonathan Watts June 17, 2009
China’s announcement that the Green Dam software would now be optional could become a parable of the power of the internet. From blogs to newspapers to internet sites, there has been a groundswell of criticism with individuals and organizations revealing glitches and weaknesses with the program as well as its more suspicious intent to limit free political discourse. For example, the computer code...

Tunnels, Guns and Kimchi: North Korea’s Quest for Dollars – Part I

Bertil Lintner June 9, 2009
Recent suggestions by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that North Korea could be re-listed as a state sponsoring terrorism raises the prospect of further tightening the economic noose around the regime. North Korea has got nuclear weapons but needs funds to keep the regime afloat. Yet, normal trading partners are loathe to transact with the pariah state subject to international sanctions. Hence...

Uygur Detainees: Canberra Caught in Diplomatic Vice

Jonathan Pearlman June 4, 2009
The US has asked Australia to resettle a small group of Uighurs that, though released from prison, remain at Guantanamo Bay. They were captured in Afghanistan during the US sweep against the Taliban, but no proof of their involvement as terrorists has been found. As a result, the Uighurs, a minority group within China, have become a diplomatic hot potato as Beijing has asked Australia not to...

China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants

Keith Bradsher May 12, 2009
As China’s rate of building coal power plants has increased in recent years, fears of global climate change have followed apace. But looking closer at the newer plants reveals that China’s massive construction scheme may actually help to reduce emissions. Many of the new plants are more efficient and also come with a government condition that an older, less efficient plant be retired to ensure...

Despite Setback, Asean Has Important Role

Simon Tay April 27, 2009
After a threat by rioting protesters led to the cancellation of the Asean – Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Summit, there have been fresh concerns about the relevance of the regional grouping. But Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, argues that despite the recent setback, Asean’s role as a hinge for regional cooperation makes it too important to be...

Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home

Hiroko Tabuchi April 24, 2009
After allowing low-skilled laborers of Japanese descent from South America to work there for years, Japan is offering them pay packages and incentives to return to their home country with only one condition: don’t come back. The policy – meant to stem rising unemployment – is related to the slump in Japanese manufacturing that has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis. Many academics...