In The News

China Spending Billions to Better Universities

Howard W. French October 27, 2005
In its latest bid to rise to great power status, China is spending billions of dollars to transform its universities by wooing top scholars and building cutting-edge research facilities. Yet despite China's astounding expansion of education – the number of undergraduates and PhDs in China has increased fivefold in the past decade – many educators lament the dearth of academic debate in...

China, India Superpower? Not so Fast!

Pranab Bardhan October 25, 2005
Every day, countless commentators prophesize the ascendance of the world's next superpowers, China and India, the two "Asian giants" shaking off their ancient slumber and rising to the call of the 21st century. According to popular punditry, their place in the firmament of globalization's success stories is already guaranteed. Yet economist Pranab Bardhan argues that a much...

China Builds Its Dreams, and Some Fear a Bubble

David Barboza October 18, 2005
China is experiencing a building boom, the scope of which means that cities like Shanghai now dwarf New York in terms of skyscrapers and vast networks of upscale apartment complexes. As a result of its unprecedented construction sector growth, China is scouring the world for energy and natural resources so that its cities, 170 of which have more than 1 million people, can meet and surpass Western...

'Protect Regime Now, Feed People Later'

Shim Jae Hoon October 18, 2005
Locked in a food shortage approaching crisis proportions – which reportedly caused two million deaths in the past five years – the government of Kim Jong-il has been wooing neighboring China and its brethren to the South for more far-reaching aid. As Seoul-based journalist Shim Jae Hoon reports, this move comes at the expense of broader, international emergency efforts coordinated by...

China's Rise in Southeast Asia: Implications for Japan and the United States

Elizabeth Economy October 10, 2005
As China rises to the position of a major economic power in Asia, it is taking an increasingly active role in international politics. This is particularly apparent in Southeast Asia, where Chinese officials are starting to compete with their Japanese and American counterparts, the traditional regional powers, for dominance. US policy towards Southeast Asia – "a policy of relative neglect...

Aboriginal Remains Will Be Returned

James Button October 6, 2005
Five years ago, world media focused its attention on Gaborone, Botswana, to watch the repatriation of a corpse. The stuffed body of a 19th century African, who had been on display for over a century in European museums, was returned to his native soil. Indigenous populations outside of Europe, from the "Hottentots" of southern Africa to the Maori of New Zealand, were long the subjects...

The Barbarians Learn How to Lobby at the Gates of Industry

Scott Kennedy October 5, 2005
While critics accuse the West of thumping the bible of market liberalism with one hand and maintaining protectionist tariffs with the other, China seems to be embracing a more consistent approach to globalization. This approach, reports Scott Kennedy, might be attributed to the concurrent interests of local companies and foreign investors. Whereas American industries often seek protection from...