In The News

US Visa Rules Deter Chinese researchers

Catherine Brahic December 14, 2004
Heightened security measures surrounding US visa applicants have weakened the collaborative relationship between American and Chinese scientists, as a recent opinion poll of graduate students in China showed. Stricter rules regarding research in the United States have produced a climate in which foreign admissions to graduate schools have decreased greatly, with the largest drop among Chinese...

Taiwan Averts a Crisis

Jonathan Fenby December 13, 2004
With polls predicting a win by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and Beijing threatening dire consequences, cross-Strait relations seemed headed for turbulence. However, to the relief of nervous observers, Saturday's legislative elections resulted in a victory for the opposition alliance led by the more conservative Kuomintang Party...

If UN Fails, We All Do

Fareed Zakaria December 9, 2004
The military or humanitarian “failures” of the United Nations over the years must be recognized as collective failures of member countries, argues Newsweek Editor Fareed Zakaria. The Rwandan genocide a decade ago is a case in point: Decisions made among the most powerful U.N. member nations, including the US, the UK, and France, led to completely botched peacekeeping operations. Now on the brink...

A UN for This Century, Not the Last One

Robin Cook December 3, 2004
Amidst mounting pressure over external and internal scandals, this is a truly embattled time for the United Nations. On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan received the report of a high-level panel outlining possible reforms to the governing body. Formed in the wake of the invasion of Iraq, the panel investigated ways by which the organization could better adapt to the exigencies of...

Bush Backs US Tariffs on Shrimp

Martin Crutsinger December 2, 2004
In a victory for beleaguered US shrimp producers, the Bush administration yesterday upheld the penalty tariffs imposed on Chinese and Vietnamese shrimp imports. The ruling came in a case brought by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which says that artificially low prices from foreign importers have almost ruined the US shrimp industry. But foreign shrimp producers say the US needs imports to meet...

No Fair Trade Without Free Trade

Herbert Oberhaensli November 29, 2004
Those critical of globalization often see neo-liberal business interests as one rapacious, profit-hungry monolith, eating away at the pockets of starved workers and consumers. Such conceptualizations perhaps oversimplify the complexity of the global economic landscape. According to Herbert Oberhaensli, head of economics and international relations at Nestlé, free trade does more good than harm....

Worldwide Effects of Sinking Dollar

David R. Francis November 22, 2004
As the value of the US dollar continues its dive, observers worldwide continue to debate the consequences. The gaping US trade deficit is seen as the culprit for the devaluation, which has sped up markedly since President Bush's re-election. Most recently, concerned G20 officials called for the United States to rein in its federal deficit. As Chinese citizens, fearing a revaluation of...