In The News

Protection of Native Resources Demanded

Pennapa Hongthong March 13, 2003
Intellectual property rights experts and farmer's rights activists in Thailand are up in arms over their government's proposed native-resources protection bill. The bill, designed to protect the country's native animal and plant species, has been drafted to help Thailand comply with the World Trade Organization's agreement on trade in intellectual property. The main fault in...

Microsoft Pact Not Much of a Deal

Jerry Fong 馮震宇 March 11, 2003
US-based Microsoft Corporation, manufacturer of the Windows operating system that runs the majority of computers around the world, has embedded itself more deeply into yet another country. Taiwanese IT companies and IT analysts are not too thrilled about the ROC Fair Trade Commission’s new pact with Microsoft. Jerry Fong, professor of Law at National Chengchi University, highlights major faults...

Top Chinese Varsities Take After US Colleges

Jason Leow March 11, 2003
Through international conferences, journals, and the internet, educational theories and models are extremely mobile. Although most of China’s universities and colleges still require high school applicants to list their three most preferred schools and a corresponding major, 3 prestigious institutions are now switching to a system modeled after US colleges. Students at Qinghua, Beijing, and...

Broadband Driven by Online Games

Sirivish Toomgum March 11, 2003
Although the Minister of Information and Communications Technology in Thailand raised concerns over the effects of the massive population of players of online games, it is clear that these gamers are driving up the demand for broadband service. One particular game, Ragnarok, has a registered community of Thai players passing 700,000. Paradoxically, as Thai broadband technology develops, matching...

Why North Korea is Different

John R. Bolton March 6, 2003
U.S. Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton writes in this week's Far Eastern Economic Review on the difference between Iraq and North Korea, and why they deserve different responses from the United States and its allies. Mr. Bolton says that while the US has "run all conceivable diplomatic and economic options to their logical conclusion without a modicum of success" in Iraq, in...

U.S.-N.K. Tension Unlikely to Lead to War, Experts Say

Seo Hyun-jin March 6, 2003
Talking in Seoul, experts on Korean politics proclaimed that North Korea’s interception of a US reconnaissance plane was a pre-negotiation effort designed to pressure Washington. North Korea, said one analyst, is hoping to begin talks with the US before Washington enters into a war in Iraq. – YaleGlobal

Why the United States is Reacting Quietly to N. Korea’s Provocations

Howard LaFranchi March 5, 2003
The United States does not want to negotiate directly with North Korea; it has stated again and again that its partners in the region – particularly Japan, South Korea, and China – should be involved in any talks. Even in the face of military provocations such as last weekend's tailing of a US surveillance plane by North Korean fighter jets, says Howard LaFranchi. "By appearing to...