In The News

China Cracks Down in ‘Asian Las Vegas’

December 5, 2005
A recent report revealed that, spanning the months of January through September, the Chinese government detained and arrested close to 1.2 million people on grounds of illegal betting. Police confiscated almost $300 million in cash and, most damningly, censured 8,740 members of the Communist Party for “cross-border” gambling with public funds. This anti-corruption purge follows growing concerns...

Indonesian Democracy’s Enemy Within

Sadanand Dhume December 1, 2005
The common wisdom that democracy will help subdue the Islamic militantism is being questioned in Indonesia. While the world condemns the terrorists who have struck Indonesia in recent years, Sadanand Dhume reports that one of Indonesia's own political parties embraces those terrorists' Islamist ideology. The Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) shares the radical beliefs of Egypt's...

Hundreds of Thousands Used ‘Lethal’ Water

Peter Goff November 28, 2005
Days after a massive chemical spill in industrial northern China, water supplies are still cut off in the major city of Harbin. Residents of Harbin must count themselves lucky, however, because their neighbors upstream learned of the contamination too late to avoid exposure to lethal levels of benezene. The authorities of Jilin and Heilonjiang provinces concealed the danger for 10 days, in...

A Party Girl Leads China’s Online Revolution

Howard W. French November 25, 2005
In early July, a Shanghai blogger introduced herself to China as an aspiring “Web cam dance girl”. Today, the 25-year old Communist Party member is regarded as the most popular blogger in China – thousands of avid fans tune in for her provocative dances and ironic political commentary – and one of the pioneers in a trend that is challenging government censorship. Chinese Web logs have exploded...

US-Vietnam: Discreet Friendship Under China’s Shadow

Raymond Burghardt November 22, 2005
After concerns that it had been distracted by the ongoing war in the Middle East, the Bush Administration is again focused on how to confront the rise of Chinese power in Asia. The US has found a strong bilateral relationship with Vietnam—one of Beijing’s longstanding rivals—to be instrumental in its approach to that challenge. US relations with Hanoi have come a long way since 1995, when they...

The Dragon and the Eagle Try to Get Along

November 21, 2005
The current relationship between the US and China is that of the world’s only superpower to a rapidly emerging rival. President Bush’s visit to Beijing this weekend revealed a cross section of potentially contentious issues and areas of possible cooperation. The major issues at play between the two countries can be classified as either security issues or issues of economic relationship. China’...

Asia’s Polite Reception To Bush Masks Declining US Influence

Daniel Sneider November 17, 2005
Following mass anti-American protests and blistering criticism at Mar del Plata, President Bush has found a bit of respite on his East Asian sojourn. But, as Daniel Sneider, columnist for the Mercury News, is quick to note, “beneath the polite appearance, however, there is no less a challenge to American leadership in Asia.” Plans are afoot, spearheaded by China, to forge an East Asian Community...