In The News

Asia's Tourism: Boon and Bane

Patricia Kowsmann December 10, 2008
The global crisis, precipitated from the US financial market's losses, affects real economies in Southeast Asia: As travelers feel the squeeze, countries lower prospects for their once-lucrative tourism industries. Across the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, authorities revise estimates for 2008 and no longer forecast a large annual gain in the tourism...

Japan's Doing Better Than You Think

Philip Bowring December 5, 2008
Financial analysts in the West often point to Japan as an example of what not to do during an economic downturn. “[A]voidance of the Japan experience with deflation is often given as a reason for the United States, the United Kingdom and the Eurozone as a whole (trying to drag Germany with it) to justify almost any level of bailout-outs and fiscal stimulus to revive their economies,” explains...

Mice Starting to Win in the Beijing Blogosphere

Kirsty Needham December 4, 2008
Computers add to the challenges of censorship in the world’s most populated nation. “Tens of millions of mice over-ran China's internet trap this year, swamping it with chatter, nibbling towards freedom of speech,” explains Kirsty Needham, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald. China has more than 100 million bloggers, and natural disaster, political protests, business fraud and corruption...

Renewal or Irrelevance: With Asia's Rise, Global Governance Must Be Reformed

Hitoshi Tanaka November 14, 2008
Existing global governance systems have foundations in the consequences of World War II and the Cold War, and Asia's recent emergence necessitates a shift in the power structure of these global institutions. Hitoshi Tanaka, former deputy minister of Japan and senior fellow at the Japan Center for International Exchange, sees Asia's rise as a departure from the postwar recoveries of...

As China's Losses Mount, Confidence Turns to Fear

Ariana Eunjung Cha November 5, 2008
A global credit crisis has prompted consumers worldwide to slow spending, leading to shuttered factories in China. Leaders of China, like those throughout the world, worry that economic crisis could trigger political instability and demands for change. Growth in the domestic national product, whiles till approaching 10 percent, has been slow by Chinese standards. The government has acted...

Microsoft Described as “Biggest Hacker in China”

Tania Branigan October 23, 2008
In demonstrating a prowess in combating online piracy, Microsoft has infuriated Chinese internet users. “The new version of its Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy programme turns the on-screen background black every hour if the installed software fails a validation test,” reports Tania Branigan for the Guardian. Chinese internet users argue the company should target producers who violate...

Asia's Fear of a Weak America

Philip Bowring October 17, 2008
East Asia has been the site of many "economic miracles" of the past half-century. Starting with Japan's post-World War II boom, continuing through the "Asian Tigers" and China, successes led to speculation that this is to be the "Pacific Century," as noted by columnist Philip Bowring in the International Herald Tribune. Yet those successes relied on the US...