In The News

Back to the Soeharto Years?

May 31, 2004
The Indonesian government has recently taken a hard-line stance in dealing with foreign non-governmental organizations in the country, shutting down one and “closely monitoring” the actions of 19 others. The rationale for the shutdown is based on claims by Indonesia's National Intelligence Agency that the NGOs, through reports on political freedoms, human rights and other issues, aim to...

Washington Hopes for the Best; Beijing Prepares for the Worst

Richard Baum May 24, 2004
In the weeks leading up to Taiwan's presidential election and referendum, China issued repeated warning against any move towards independence. The narrow win by President Chen Shui-bian, considered by Beijing as “splittist” and “troublemaker” has not helped to defuse tension. Leading China scholar Richard Baum of University of California in Los Angeles says that while Chen moderated his...

Cannes, a k a Asia West

A. O. Scott May 21, 2004
At this year's prestigious Cannes Film Festival, it may be easy to forget you're in France, not the Far East. With the plethora of entrancing Asian films being screened, says movie critic A. O. Scott, one could be forgiven for walking out of the Palais des Festivals and thinking the sea outside is the Pacific Ocean, not the Mediterranean. A full six out of 19 films in the competition...

Burma: Feel-Good US Sanctions Wrongheaded

David I. Steinberg May 19, 2004
President Bush's recent decision to extend sanctions against Burma for another year is emotionally satisfying but ineffective as a means of promoting democracy in the military-ruled state, argues David I. Steinberg, Director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Although US allies like India or Southeast Asian nations share its concern about the junta...

On China's Rise

Ernesto Zedillo May 18, 2004
Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former president of Mexico, recently visited China, where he attended a regionally important Asian economic conference. In this column in Forbes Magazine, he pens his impressions of China's economic development, gathered from public and private meetings with Chinese government officials during his trip. Zedillo...

Some Chinese See Positive Lessons in Iraqi 'Torture Gate'

Anthony J. Spires May 14, 2004
To China, which has repeatedly faced American pressure to respect human rights, the international condemnation of US abuses in Iraq may seem like an ironic role reversal, writes China scholar Anthony J. Spires. While the Chinese government and official media have relished “returning the favor” by calling on the US to respect the Geneva Convention, Chinese internet bulletin boards - a proxy...

Kids Born Abroad to Singapore Women to Inherit Citizenship

Joan Ho May 14, 2004
Up until this month, Singaporean women living overseas could not pass citizenship rights onto their children born out-of-country – only men were given this privilege. Children of expatriate women were forced to apply for citizenship. Yet as more Singaporean men and women leave the country to work and study, the government is amending the constitution to make citizenship rights more gender-...