In The News

Textile Industry Seeks Trade Limits on Chinese

David Barboza July 25, 2003
Over the past two years, 270,000 American textile and apparel workers have lost their jobs. The industry is blaming China, accusing the country of unfair trade policies and demanding that the Bush administration take action to protect American manufacturers from being entirely destroyed. According to the agreement made when China entered the WTO, the United States can put quotas on certain...

Japan's Neglected Resource: Female Workers

Howard W. French July 25, 2003
Inequality in Japan's workplace is not only keeping Japanese women down, but also Japan itself. With population decline threatening huge labor shortages and possible economic collapse, it would seem Japan might be eager to tap into an underutilized segment of the population. Indeed, many experts maintain that expanding the role of women in the workplace could be the best stimulus for Japan...

Jump in Piracy Attacks Off Bintan

David Boey July 24, 2003
Pirates are not confined to history or storybooks alone, as modern-day ships also face uncertainty on the high seas. According to a new report released by the International Maritime Bureau, violent pirate attacks have reached an all-time high. Some 234 incidents have been reported so far this year, more than a quarter of them occurring in the waters off the Indonesian island of Bintan. Other...

75% of Singaporean Expats Willing to Jump Ship: Poll

Anna Teo July 23, 2003
As companies expand their operations overseas, managing their workforce can become a much more complicated task. A poll of 240 Singaporean professionals assigned abroad found the majority frustrated with their companies’ repatriation process. Nonetheless, most of those polled were happy to go abroad, because they believe that managerial development and international experience gained overseas...

What the Millennium Development Compact Means

Romeo Austria Reyes July 23, 2003
Although slow progress in aid, trade, and debt relief casts doubt on the feasibility of the Millennium Development Goals and the sincerity of rich nations to the Millennium Development Compact, Indonesia is generally making good progress toward realizing the development objectives. However, inter-provincial inequalities are plentiful. To ensure the good national trend is matched at the sub-...

Spirit of the Tiger (and Wild West)

Jane Perlez July 22, 2003
A traditional Javanese dance drama has begun to incorporate elements from American movies. Javanese men perform the traditional dance - a depiction of the historic indigenous resistance against Dutch colonialists - at important village events. This traditional art form has survived in spite of modernization and the increased integration of the Javanese region into the global economy. However,...

Beijing is Losing the People's War in Cyberspace

John Gittings July 21, 2003
While Beijing spends hundreds of millions of dollars installing surveillance equipment to restrict access to “harmful” information, an emerging civil society is gaining more and more freedom. To this increasingly demanding and sophisticated public, it's a choice between hearing rumors on the street and “going on the web,” and they increasingly choose the latter. Moreover, the growing...