In The News

US, Other Nations Condemn North Korean Launch of Long-Range Rocket

Ralph Ellis, K.J. Kwon and Tiffany Ap February 8, 2016
North Korea launched a satellite into orbit around the earth. The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting and condemned the launch. “U.S. officials have said the same type of rocket used to launch today's satellite could deliver a nuclear warhead,” reports CNN. “China, the Soviet Union and the United States have all used intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, to launch...

A Window of Opportunity for Reforms in Vietnam

Dien Luong February 4, 2016
Vietnam has a long history of conflict with its large neighbor to the north, China. Conservative and incumbent Nguyen Phu Trong bested populist Nguyen Tan Dung in a contest for chief of the Vietnamese Communist Party. “Reforms will continue, albeit at a slower pace, as would increasingly closer ties with the United States,” explains Vietnamese journalist and Fulbright scholar Dien Luong. Likewise...

A World of Scandal Descends on Malaysian Prime Minister

John Berthelsen February 3, 2016
Some political leaders might hope that by blocking media reports of investigations into corruption can eliminate the consequences, but the efforts often draw more global attention. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak has been linked to investigations, some on arms deals, in Switzerland, France and Saudi Arabia. John Berthelsen of Asia Sentinel describes a “government desperately scrambling to...

Why Are Chinese Fishermen Destroying Coral Reefs in the South China Sea?

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes February 1, 2016
Good stewardship typically accompanies a sense of ownership – but greed can interfere and claims over ocean commons are difficult to enforce. A BBC News report by Rupert Wingfield-Hayes backed up claims from Filipino politicians, suggesting “that Chinese fishermen were deliberately destroying reefs near a group of Philippine-controlled atolls in the Spratly Islands.” The reporter describes reefs...

Hidden Truths Behind China’s Smokescreen

Tim Harford February 1, 2016
Amid reports on China’s ongoing battles with pollution, Tim Harford searches for patterns. “In the early 1990s, Princeton economists Gene Grossman and Alan Krueger coined the phrase “environmental Kuznets curve” to stand for the idea that as countries become richer, their emissions first rise but then fall, as richer citizens demand cleaner air from the governments they elect and the companies...

Bank of Japan Stuns Global Markets by Announcing Negative Interest Rates

David Scutt January 29, 2016
The Bank of Japan narrowly approved a three-tiered system on rates including one in the negative territory, -0.1 percent for “excess reserves parked at the bank by financial institutions,” reports David Scutt for Business Insider Australia.The move essentially encourages lending and charges banks for storing cash. The central bank also announced further rate cuts may be issued as needed. “The BOJ...

Publish and Perish in Hong Kong

Frank Ching January 28, 2016
The odd disappearance of five staff members of a Hong Kong book publisher raises questions about China’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” arrangement with Hong Kong. One man was taken from Thailand, another from Hong Kong and three detained in China. Two are foreign nationals, and no charges have been filed. “By openly flouting its commitment to respect Hong Kong’s political system...