In The News

Japan Must Acquire a Taste for Competition

Michiyo Nakamoto August 15, 2008
The Japanese food industry is creative, explains an essay in the Financial Times. But that industry heavily depends on imports. “Contemporary Japan’s rich culinary culture owes as much to the free flow of global trade in agricultural produce as to the creativity of its chefs,” writes journalist Michiyo Nakamoto. About 40 percent of Japanese calories are produced in the country, one of the lowest...

Spectatorship Is Also a Competition

August 6, 2008
Not only athletes, but China and spectators attending the Beijing Olympics are on display for the world, suggests this editorial from the People’s Daily Online. Like the athletes, spectators represent their home countries: Polite or enthusiastic, focused on sports or global issues, the onlookers can compete for attention. “Spectators are part of a competition's success,” the editorial...

Revisiting the “Axis of Evil” – Part II

Scott Snyder July 31, 2008
North Korea was a thorn in the side of the US long before President George Bush labeled the nation as a member of an “axis of evil,” along with Iraq and Iran, in his January 2002 State of the Union address. This three-part series analyzes the US approach to Iran and North Korea, and in the second article, Asia analyst Scott Snyder reviews the history of North Korea’s antics and crises since 1992...

Beijing and Taiwan Try Their Hand at Détente

Sandra Schulz July 28, 2008
After the Communist Party took control of China in 1949, opponents fled to the island of Taiwan, dreamed of someday resuming control of China, set up a government that transformed from dictatorship to democracy, and established a solid and wealthy economy. Years of strict separation, suspicion and military tension followed, and the Communist government in China has since maintained that that...

Beijing Olympics: Emergency Anti-Smog Plan Announced for “Greyjing”

Jonathan Watts July 28, 2008
A choking haze smothers the host city for the Olympics and China is taking drastic new steps to eliminate the smog before the games begin. The city has already removed more than a million cars from its streets and closed hundreds of factories, reports Jonathan Watts from Beijing. Sporting organizers express concern about the pollution’s effect on the health and capabilities of athletes...

Angry Youth

Evan Osnos July 24, 2008
Chinese youth study global news reports about emerging problems in the US and Europe, along with growing concerns in the West about China’s growing clout. Demonstrating nationalism and extreme patriotism, the youth lash out at any who dare to criticize China or suggest that the country needs to be “contained, explains Evan Osnos for the New Yorker. Polls suggest that nine out of ten Chinese...

China’s Rumble With Globalization – Part II

Jonathan Fenby July 24, 2008
Despite a turbulent history, China has enjoyed two decades of growth and self-confidence, boosted by diplomatic and business engagement with the rest of the globe. But China has only entered “the first generation of China's globalization,” described by Jonathan Fenby in this second article of a two-part series. Now entering its “second generation of globalization,” the world’s most populous...