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December 23, 2024
 

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Eric Teo Chu Cheow
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2006
Chen raising the ante in cross-strait ties
SINGAPORE -- As preparations are made for Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States and a presidential election is scheduled for spring 2008 in Taiwan, there are indications that the next two years could prove challenging for the main parties involved in cross-strait relations -- Beijing,...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2006
Diplomatic reposturing in the Mideast
SINGAPORE -- Certain Middle East nations are repositioning themselves diplomatically, a move that holds great significance in the international arena.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2006
From shame to governance
SINGAPORE -- Asia has been hit by three recent scandals involving a renown scientist, an upstart IT entrepreneur and a national charity in South Korea, Japan and Singapore, respectively -- Asia's three most developed economies. What lessons can one draw from them? What repercussions will they have on...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2006
Battling to win the hearts of Taiwanese
SINGAPORE -- As flights cross the Taiwan Strait at the start of the Year of the Dog, hopes have been high for a possible rapprochement in ties between Beijing and Taipei. But observers are split on whether to expect "a new spring" or renewed tensions across the strait in the next two years before Chen...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2006
Concern grows in Japan over Asian ties
SINGAPORE -- From a Southeast Asian perspective, recent developments underscore an internal angst in Japan over the growing "China threat" and how Japan will come to terms with its military aggression of the 1930s and '40s. Meanwhile, debate continues in Japan on revising its "pacifist" Constitution...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2006
U.S.-China ideological rivalry heats up
WASHINGTON -- Two recent events in Asia have again directly underscored the "ideological" tussle between Washington and Beijing, which is increasingly seen as a benevolent power and even as offering a model for socioeconomic development. As Asian leaders gathered last month in Kuala Lumpur for the East...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2005
Religious revival fills a void in China
SINGAPORE -- As constitutional debate gathers steam in Japan over the separation of state and religion, Japanese ma want to consider China's efforts to resuscitate participation in religion.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2005
Japan-China feud clouds EAS launch
SINGAPORE -- The East Asia Summit gets under way in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday under Malaysia's chairmanship. The EAS will be held concurrentl with the summits of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the ASEAN-Plus-Three (Japan, China, South Korea) grouping.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2005
China juggles growth, stability
SINGAPORE -- As China's annual Central Economic Conference gets under-way in Beijing early this month, Beijing looks set to sustain the new social-economic shift that was laid out by the 5th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in mid-October. The plenum signaled the...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2005
Sino-Japanese relations continue to cool
SINGAPORE -- China appears to be in a political and diplomatic quagmire as it contends with a "new" Japan that is described by Chinese observers and analysts as growing increasingly conserva- tive, hawkish and nationalistic. Beijing is alarmed by Japan's so-called return to "normalcy" under the orchestration...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2005
Can DVDs help stabilize and unite Asia?
SINGAPORE -- Despite and beyond the copyright infringement issue, the booming "DVD phenomenon" in Asia appears to have a strategic importance to governments and a real psychological value to consumers. In fact, the DVD is replacing the video cassette as the best-selling item on the consumer market in...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2005
Get ready for a newly confident Japan
SINGAPORE -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's landslide election victory, which saw his ruling coalition gain control of more than two-thirds of the Lower House, could open a new era for Japan as the country faces the future with greater confidence and seeks to redefine its role in East Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2005
Crucial time for U.S.-China-Japan ties
SINGAPORE -- This week will be crucial for the U.S.-China-Japan relationship as U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao begin their summit in Washington on Wednesday, five days ahead of a key general election for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Bush's closest ally in...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2005
Southeast Asia watches Koizumi's gamble
SINGAPORE -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took an unprecedented political gamble in dissolving the Lower House and calling a snap general election for Sept. 11 -- after the Upper House rejected his postal privatization bills Aug. 8. The privatization of Japan Post symbolizes Koizumi's reform plans...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2005
Consolidating against conflict, disaster
SINGAPORE -- Despite some initial difficulties, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserved its cohesion as a credible regional organization to end a weeklong series of annual meetings on a good note late last month in Vientiane:
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2005
How London blitzed Paris for the Games
SINGAPORE -- London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympics at the 117th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Singapore came as a surprise July 6. The IOC voted 54-50 for London after Madrid, New York and Moscow were eliminated in the earlier rounds. French newspapers were already reporting...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2005
Beijing aims to politically isolate Koizumi
SINGAPORE -- The feud between China and Japan over the contents of Japanese history textbooks, sovereignty of the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's periodic visits to Yasukuni Shrine came to a head in April when anti-Japanese riots broke out in some Chinese cities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2005
EU lessons for East Asian regionalism
SINGAPORE -- Recent referendums in both France and Netherlands dealt a blow to European integration as voters overwhelming rejected the proposed EU Constitution 55-45 percent and 64-37 per- cent, respectively. Nine countries, including Germany, Spain and Italy, have already approved the constitution...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2005
China showing a knack for taking risks
SINGAPORE -- A China that is willing to take ideological and political risks is emerging not only in affairs involving Hong Kong and Taiwan but also in the increasingly troubled relations with Tokyo and Washington.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2005
Jakarta and Beijing cozy up
SINGAPORE -- During Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent visit to Jakarta and Bandung for the Golden Jubilee Commemoration of the 1955 Bandung Conference, Indonesian organizers underscored China's place at the conference and Hu stayed an extra day to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement between Indonesia...
Zelenskyy to replace Ukraine ambassador to Japan
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky delivers a speech during a handover ceremony of Self-Defense Force vehicles to Ukraine, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, in May last year.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Honda and Nissan consider mutual production of vehicles, report says
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2023.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
North Korea aiding Russia where it needs it most, Canadian general says
North Korean special forces soldiers march and shout slogans during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang in April 2017.

Podcast

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