In The News

Can the ADB Resurrect Itself?

Pana Janviroj March 2, 2004
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), beset by poor results and politicization, needs to reform. It has been overshadowed by the World Bank and been mired by its own factional infighting, says this article in The Nation. Based originally in Manila, the ADB now plans to open a satellite office in Bangkok. This could be the change it needs. Far from inter-office rivalry, the satellite will help oversee...

Aussies Too Fire Broadside at Outsourcing

Kalinga Seneviratne March 1, 2004
For the last several weeks, US politics have been dominated by discussions about the shift of information-technology (IT) jobs to lower-wage nations. Now, Australians are joining in to register their protest. A new deal between American company IBM and Australian telecom giant Telstra threatens to move 450 Australian jobs to India, where IBM has said it will base the conglomerate's IT...

China Clamps Down on Web News Discussion

Mark Magnier February 26, 2004
China has cracked down on the internet once again. This time, the government has targeted news discussion groups, which often feature independent reporting not approved by the government. While it is common for Beijing to quiet dissenting voices before an upcoming National People's Congress (one is scheduled for next week), some see this latest crackdown as particularly heavy-handed. In one...

The Fallout of Pakistani Revelations on North Korea

Phillip C. Saunders February 23, 2004
North Korean nuclear programs have long been a puzzle for the international intelligence community to solve. No one is quite sure when they started, how they started, or how far along towards producing weapons-grade uranium and plutonium they are. The recent revelation by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan that he sold technology to the North Koreans could begin to unravel the mystery. Talks this...

Little Headway Seen in 6-Party Talks

Seo Hyun-jin February 18, 2004
Prospects for the upcoming talks between the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan, and Russia already look bleak. Although officials of the participating countries – particularly South Korea – are trying to stay optimistic and are suggesting measures to regularize the multilateral talks, many feel that there is little hope for a successful outcome, unless the deadlock between Washington and Pyongyang...

China's Taiwan Dilemma

Michael Yahuda February 18, 2004
China's leadership believes strongly in the goal of a unified country - and for Beijing that means preventing Taiwan from declaring independence. For many Chinese, uniting with Taiwan is a matter of national pride. China scholar Michael Yahuda argues that pushing the issue politically or militarily would stimulate hostility abroad and cause an economic downturn at home, possibly leading to...

Singapore Hooked on External Demand

Eddie Lee February 17, 2004
Singapore's foreign currency reserves jumped 17% in the last year, an increase not seen since before the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. Other countries in the region have also seen large increases due to substantial trade surpluses, which may suggest that the Asian economy is on firmer ground. Previously, large foreign reserves in Southeast Asia were the result of foreign capital...