In The News

Asean-China FTA must get priority, says Singapore Prime Minister

Loh Hui Yin November 21, 2003
At the end of a six-day visit to China, Singapore’s Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong announced that he would not pursue a bilateral trade agreement with China until Beijing finalizes a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The China-Asean agreement will enhance economic integration between the regional grouping and the mainland, while allowing for bilateral...

Resurgent Taliban Threatens Afghan Stability, US Says

Steven R. Weisman November 19, 2003
The US-led forces that overthrew the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan two years ago still have a lot of work to do to secure the state. Though President Hamid Karzai, a pro-western Pashtun leader, is in office, local ethnic conflicts and power struggles continue to dominate the political arena. Despite devoting more than 16,000 soldiers and peacekeepers to the country, the US and its allies...

China's Factories Aim to Fill the World's Garages

Keith Bradsher November 2, 2003
As China’s economy grows, its domestic automobile industry has come to exceed that of more developed neighbors, like South Korea. Increased car travel has caused auto fatalities and air pollution to skyrocket, but may also be eroding the Communist Party’s political and social controls, says this New York Times article. And as multinational auto manufacturers increase investment in China, the...

Putin Appeals for Calm as Russian Bourses Dive

October 27, 2003
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the head of Russia's largest oil and gas company, Yukos, was arrested over the weekend for corruption and tax evasion. In response, Russia's stock market, the MICEX, dove 12% on Monday, reflecting the jitters felt by Russia's business leaders. The development of Russia into a privatized, capitalist economy after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 has long...

Taliban Officials Tell of Plans to Grind Down the Americans

David Rohde September 12, 2003
Taliban fighters still alive in Afghanistan plan to wage a grinding guerilla war against US troops, similar to the strategy waged against the Soviets during their occupation in the 1980s. Such fighters claim that Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar still resides in Afghanistan, hidden and directing operations. Fighters also foresee growing support for their cause as a result of the lack of...

Moscow Seeks to Take Advantage of Iraq Conflict to Reassert its Leadership in CIS

Igor Torbakov April 9, 2003
Some political analysts believe that the war in Iraq presents Russia with a "golden opportunity" to integrate the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

SARS Virus Begins to Take Toll on Global Economy

Jacqueline Thorpe March 31, 2003
Fears over the war in Iraq, aftereffects of September 11th, 2001 and high rates of unemployment in the US have already taken their toll on the global economy. Making matters worse, the recent outbreak of the SARS virus, an acute respiratory illness, is hitting hard at an already struggling travel industry. SARS has kept people at home in the worst-affected Asian countries. In Hong Kong, for...