In The News

Voting with Confidence in the Future

March 11, 2004
In an editorial, the Taipei Times has come out strongly in favor of President Chen Shui-bian's re-election on March 20. A vote of confidence for the president, argues the paper, would be a boost to all struggling democracies world-wide. It would prove that other nations cannot influence domestic political elections while guaranteeing the validity of the democratic process. Taiwan should...

Dam Building Threatens China's 'Grand Canyon'

Jim Yardley March 10, 2004
Dam projects are often controversial, for they require the displacement of peoples, destruction of the riparian zone, and other environmental consequences. In China, most attention has focused on the large Three Gorges Dam, set to be completed in 2009 at an expense of $25 billion and the displacement of one million people. There is, however, another project worth paying attention to, though it...

Expat Perks Drying Up - Even for S'poreans Abroad

Chuang Peck Ming March 9, 2004
Singaporeans are losing their 'edge' as professionals in a globalized world, but they still demand high expat salaries, reports this article. In China, employers of large companies favor Singaporeans for managerial positions because they speak English and Chinese fluently, and being Asians with working experience in western multinational companies, they "provide a good balance of...

Stop Intervening: Greenspan

March 4, 2004
In what many consider an unusual display of criticism, US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan claimed that Japan's currency market interventions – aimed at preventing the yen from falling against the dollar – will no longer be sustainable. The accumulation of dollar reserves must eventually end, he said, and argued that Japanese intervention has kept the dollar higher than it...

Bush Signals Patience on North Korea is Waning

Glenn Kessler March 4, 2004
Proof of "complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement" (CVID) of North Korea's nuclear weapons programs is what President Bush and his team of aides wanted for last week's six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis. But given North Korea's intransigence on the subject, that wish failed to come true as the talks finished, and it may not be realized for...

Six 'Green' Mercs Heading Here for Test

Christopher Tan March 4, 2004
Singapore will soon host six of 60 environmentally friendly Mercedes-Benz cars built by DaimlerChrysler. The cars, which run on fuel cells powered by hydrogen, will be tested by a number of different firms, including BP Singapore, Michelin, and Lufthansa. Once complete, the tests will help to develop future models. While the estimated price of each vehicle – some say close to $1.8 million –...

Bush Envoy Briefs Panel After Talks on A-Bombs

David E. Sanger March 3, 2004
More insights into North Korea's nuclear program were offered to the US Senate this week by James A. Kelly, President Bush's chief negotiator at the 6-way talks just concluded in Beijing. In his testimony, Kelly suggested that North Korea may have been working to produce new atomic bombs even while negotiating with the US on the possibility of suspending its program. Kelly also said...