author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Frank Ching
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer who has covered developments in China for several decades. He opened The Wall Street Journal’s Bureau in Beijing after the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations in 1979, becoming one of the first American reporters to be based in China since 1949.
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2010
Hong Kong treads the democracy tightrope
The Hong Kong government announced earlier this month that it had nominated a leading jurist, Justice Geoffrey Ma, to be the next head of the judiciary, succeeding Chief Justice Andrew Li, who served in that post since the former British colony became a special administrative region of China in 1997....
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2010
Did China trash a treaty?
The high profile case of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu closed with the three-judge court sentencing the Australian citizen to 10 years in prison on charges of corruption and stealing commercial secrets.
COMMENTARY
Mar 18, 2010
China's hollow constitution
In many ways, the Chinese Constitution is a marvelous document. It guarantees Chinese citizens a host of rights, including "freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration."
COMMENTARY
Feb 16, 2010
China's reaction raises doubt about its intent
HONG KONG — China's reaction to the announcement by Washington of a large arms sales package to Taiwan suggests that, 20 months after Taiwan replaced hostility with cooperation in its dealings with the mainland, Beijing still believes it will ultimately need to use force to bring about unification....
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2010
Citizens lose in Google vs. China
The challenge thrown down by Google last week seemed unequivocal: Either China accepts uncensored information on Google.cn or the Internet giant will shut down its operations in the country.
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2009
No winners emerge from COP15 conference
If the climate change conference in Copenhagen failed to meet the expectations of both developed and developing countries, it did make one thing clear: The United States remains the most powerful developed country and China is acknowledged as a leading representative of the developing countries, though...
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2009
U.S.-China relations shifting
Observers analyzing the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to China, not unnaturally, looked for signs of a shift in the world balance of power — and they found them.
COMMENTARY
Nov 13, 2009
Highlighting the return to a neglected region
HONG KONG — U.S. President Barack Obama plans to include the prime minister of Myanmar (aka Burma), a country long shunned by Washington, when he meets this week with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2009
Missiles crimp Taiwan's thoughts of peace
HONG KONG — Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, in his first interview after taking on the chairmanship of the ruling Nationalist Party (Kuomintang), again urged China to scrap missiles that stand along its coast, aimed at the island. The number of such missiles, rather than decreasing, has risen in the...
COMMENTARY
Oct 16, 2009
Summit highlights media problems in China
HONG KONG — It seems that almost every week brings new signs of China's rise, with a commensurate increase in its international influence and soft power as well as in its economic, political and military clout.
COMMENTARY
Sep 18, 2009
Beijing's 'internal affairs'
HONG KONG — Ever since the 1950s, China has subscribed to the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries, which was first written into a treaty that it signed with India in 1954. China has loudly upheld this principle and criticized those who, in Beijing's view, interfere...
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2009
World sympathy lies with Tibet, not Xinjiang
The rioting in Xinjiang last week echoed violence in Tibet last year but, interestingly, the international reaction has been very different.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2009
Suspect in stabbing death a national hero
HONG KONG — A public outcry in China over the case of a woman arrested for stabbing to death a local official who assaulted her after she refused to provide sexual services reflects the widespread distrust of officials and sympathy for the underdog — even someone who may face murder charges.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2009
'Mr. Democracy' fell short after 1919 demonstration
HONG KONG — Ninety years ago this week, thousands of students from Peking University and elsewhere gathered in the then much smaller Tiananmen Square before marching through the city in protest.
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2009
Welcome development in U.S.-China dialogue
HONG KONG — All indications are that the first summit meeting between the new American president, Barack Obama, and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, went extremely well. The American leader has already accepted an invitation to visit Beijing later this year.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2009
China shelves dispute over right of passage
HONG KONG — Ahead of the first meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, scheduled to take place in London next week, China has backed down, temporarily at least, in its dispute with the United States over whether U.S. Navy ships require Chinese permission before...
COMMENTARY
Mar 16, 2009
Clinching a free trade accord with Beijing
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao recently offered to hold political and military talks with Taiwan in order to end the state of hostility between the two sides, which has existed for 60 years. Taiwan immediately rejected the offer, with President Ma Ying-jeou saying through a spokesman, "At this stage, we...
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2009
Clinton gets off to a good start in China
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to China — the most important leg of her trip to Asia, which included Japan, Indonesia and South Korea — went off well, in part because she had indicated publicly ahead of time that differences over human rights would not be allowed to inhibit progress...
COMMENTARY
Feb 12, 2009
Dalai Lama's very existence frays relations between China, Europe
HONG KONG — At the core of Chairman Mao Zedong's revolutionary theory was the strategy of the united front: Identify the main enemy and then isolate it by forming a united front with as many other classes, groups or elements as possible. Once that is done, the process can be continued with the identification...
COMMENTARY
Jan 15, 2009
China steps up global diplomacy
Almost two decades ago, China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping issued a series of instructions regarding the orientation of Chinese foreign policy in which he emphasized the need for Beijing to keep a low profile and never take the lead. Up until a few years ago, China has for the most part maintained...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER