In The News

Thais Flock to China for Higher Education

February 21, 2002
The number of Thais attending Chinese universities has grown six-fold in recent years. Lower fees, China’s growing economic power, and the fact that many are third generation Thai-Chinese are reasons cited for the increased enrollment. Favored courses include Chinese language, medicine, acupuncture and business. Despite having one of the largest education budgets, Thailand was ranked 45th out of...

Malaysian Employers Want Clampdown on Indonesian Workers Eased

Anon. February 17, 2002
“Malaysian employers have urged the government to relax a recent clampdown on Indonesian migrant labor sparked by workers rioting.” Though the government says that it will now only hire Indonesians for plantation and household work, Malaysian businesses noted that hiring non-Indonesians will not prevent further riots and will create further difficulties in language and cultural integration. In a...

India Asked to Join Central Asian Grouping

Atunl Aneja February 13, 2002
Kazakhstan wants India to join the security group Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which was originally founded to protect against terrorism flowing out of Afghanistan. Reasons for Kazakhstan’s support of India include geographical proximity and future predictions that India will be one of the largest consumers of engery in the world. Kazakhstan has large deposits of oil and natural gas....

China Under Pressure to Deal with 170 million Jobless

Mary Kwang February 8, 2002
As rural workers flock to the cities, unemployment in China seems unlikely to decline from its current level of 13 percent. The recent WTO membership is not a solution since most new jobs are expected to be in the professional sector. Most of the jobless come from rural areas where they make up 20 percent of the population. While government hopes that foreign companies and private investors will...

Labor Brings Witnesses to Tell of a Harsher Side to Growth

Steven Greenhouse February 1, 2002
This year’s meeting of the World Economic Forum, held in New York, brought business and government leaders of the highest level together to discuss the world economy. They also heard from less powerful people, including a Guatemalan garment worker detailing the harsh working conditions at some factories that produce for the industrliazed world. – YaleGlobal

Why Are Globalizers So Provincial?

Alice H. Amsden January 31, 2002
A quick review of the national origins of leaders at the upcoming 2002 World Economic Forum reveals the provincial nature of purportedly global economic organizations. In order for institutions like the World Trade Organization to live up to their name, says MIT scholar Alice H. Amsden, leaders from semi-industrialized countries like Brazil, Mexico and China must be allowed among international...

Korean Actors Oppose End to Quota on US Films

January 29, 2002
For the last several decades, mainstream American films made in Hollywood have found a lucrative market around the world, controlling over 80 percent of the entire world market. In Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, watching Hollywood films is a unique opportunity for many to vicariously experience 'America.' For American filmmakers, the overseas market for Hollywood films is a...