The message from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Boao Forum for Asia was meant to reassure China’s nervous neighbors: China is committed to peaceful development and supports initiatives that strengthen maritime cooperation, yet would respond to “provocations” that destabilize the South China Sea...
BOAO, China – Premier Li Keqiang delivered a warning to Southeast Asian countries with whom China is embroiled in territorial disputes, saying that China will "respond firmly to provocations."
His remarks, in a speech also peppered with calls for...
Apps, designs, websites and other technology exports wield great cultural influence, argues Sean Madden in Wired, adding “Our iPads, Fuelbands and Xboxes may be made in China, but they’re the products of an emphatically American cultural mindset…. Even the major electronics innovators of Asia have...
Click here for the article in Wired.
The US economy focuses on spending, and the Chinese economy largely focuses on saving and lending to the US – “a pattern that has suppressed global interest rates, helped to reflate the developed world’s leverage bubble, and, through its impact on the currency market, fueled China’s meteoric rise...
Click here for the article in Project Syndicate.
Energetic and talented leaders, intent on contributing to Africa’s rise, gathered for the World Economic Forum on Africa 2013 in early May. The WEF is an independent international organization committed to engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional...
CAPE TOWN: Is Africa rising? Judging by the buzz and optimism of the young business leaders and political trailblazers from across the continent who gathered for the World Economic Forum on Africa earlier this month, the answer is a qualified “yes...
International observers had hoped that the Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader since 2011, would be less belligerent and more open to cooperation with neighboring countries. Instead, the country has launched a nuclear test, in violation of international law, once again challenging China, its key ally...
Click here for the article in The Financial Times.
For reasons that many observers feel are inscrutable, France voted "no" this weekend to the new EU constitution. The constitution, which guarantees health care, social services, and workers' rights to European citizens found united opposition from both France's ultra-...
The French predictably voted "non!" to the proposed EU constitution this weekend. While the outcome of the referendum was hardly surprising, the reactions of some US commentators to the vote were as collectively...
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may aggravate an ongoing territorial dispute with Russia. Mr. Koizumi indicated his intention to "inspect" four islands, the sovereignty of which has been contested since World War II. With Japanese business interests in Russian fuel...
Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister, on Wednesday threatened to reopen a long-standing diplomatic row with Russia when he said he might sail close to four Russian islands that are claimed by Japan.
Mr...
Muslim girls are the center of a debate that has been raging for 14 years in France; since 1989 (when "l'Affair de Foulard" occurred), the French government has tried to find a way to reconcile the Muslim headscarf with their conception of secularism, particularly within schools....
Muslim headscarves and other religious symbols are almost certain to be banned from French schools and public buildings after a specially appointed commission told the government yesterday that legislation was needed to...
