In The News

The Greatest Threat

Nicholas D. Kristof October 29, 2002
In the fire-breathing style that has become the hallmark of North Korean propaganda, an unofficial spokesman of the country threatened retaliatory attack on the US mainland if Washington decided to hit its nuclear reactor. Not that the US is planning to do that but the danger is that an effective annulment of the 1994 agreement by stopping the supply of fuel oil to North Korea may set in...

Occupancy Rates Plunge to Only 11 Percent in Bali

A’an Suryana October 25, 2002
Recent terrorist bombings in Bali have pushed the island to the brink of an economic crisis. With an occupancy rate of 11 percent in the 1,400 hotels, tourism is almost non-existent. Bali derives about 40% of its income from tourism and side services that cater to tourists. But there seems to be little the island can do. Most of the countries from which the victims of the bombing hailed have...

F.B.I. to Open Liaison Office in Beijing, Ashcroft Says

Elisabeth Rosenthal October 24, 2002
The US will set up an F.B.I. liaison office in Beijing to help the Chinese in their fight against terrorism as well as smuggling and money laundering – two criminal activities often found to provide material support for terrorists. In a country where the police are weak, due process is sparse, and the legal system is relatively undeveloped, how this help will manifest itself is still uncertain....

Beijing’s $2b Reminder to US Varsities

Jason Leow October 24, 2002
Recent clampdowns on immigration have prevented Chinese students from attending US universities. China Central Television claimed that China leads the world in providing graduate students to the US. Since 2001, however, larger numbers of Chinese students have had their visa applications rejected. A Beijing scholarship center noted that Chinese students contribute close to US$2 billion to...

N. Korea: China echoes U.S. concerns

P. S. Suryanarayana October 23, 2002
China is North Korea's close neighbor and strongest ally in Asia. But the Chinese government joins the US and others in wanting to keep the Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons. As Jiang Zemin prepares for a US trip, Beijing is advocating diplomacy and dialog between North Korea and the US. - YaleGlobal

Don't Rock the Boat

Nayan Chanda October 23, 2002
When George W. Bush meets Jiang Zemin in Texas this Friday, he is likely to find a skeptical but polite interlocutor who will make sure that Iraq does not get in the way of an improving relationship between China and the United States. This will reflect China's cold calculus of its immediate interests in a U.S.-dominated world. For both economic and political reasons, China's leaders...

North Korea's Latest Nuclear Gambit

Andrew Mack October 21, 2002
This essay focuses on the consequences and future implications of relations between North Korea and the United States given the North Korea's surprise admission of a clandestine nuclear weapons program via enriched uranium. It argues that the United States is in a lose-lose foreign policy situation due to potential accusations of hypocrisy (vis a vis its foreign policy with Iraq) and...