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Curtis S. Chin
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2014
APEC: Does what happens in China remain in China?
China may not kill its journalists, but imprisonment, explusions and visa delays vex foreign news organizations. As host of this year's APEC Forum, China has a chance to turn a page by allowing open coverage of events.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2014
Think of Somalia when making business policy
Few Japanese are likely to follow in the footsteps of two Americans who have pioneered businesses in Somalia, but government policymakers should think of Somalia when they consider what it takes to move up the global ranks for ease in doing business.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2014
Obama's Asian 'pivot' went flying off like a divot
Even in Washington-centric Washington, President Barack Obama gets the award for having the worst year in Asia. His 'pivot to Asia' looked more like a divot.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2014
Business tie-ups that help the Himalayan poor
The private sector can be a powerful partner in any endeavor just as it is with commercial satellite launches. This must include the fight against poverty in Hindu Kush-Himalayas.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2013
Myanmar-North Korea link
With investments by Japanese, American and European companies on the rise, it is worth asking how much the once-pariah state of Burma has really changed since the days of military rule.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2013
Obama's lesson in losing face
The White House is likely hoping that APEC leaders do not take President Obama's cancellation of a planned trip to Southeast Asia because of a budget impasse as a slap in the face.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2013
Business partnerships in the fight against poverty
The private sector must be a critical partner if we are to sustainably lift people out of poverty. It is small- and medium-size enterprises that consistently drive job creation and economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2013
Dr. King's message for Asia
Imagine if a visit to the work of a once-obscure Chinese sculptor at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial were added to the itineraries of the throngs of Asian tourists.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2013
Taking stock of Burma, Japan and 'pivot to Asia'
Hope and change remain alive in Burma even as serious concerns continue about human rights violations and growing internal religious and ethnic tensions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2013
There's no putting Asia's Gini back in the bottle
Protests in the reputedly 'equal' nation of Sweden — attributed in part to young, unemployed immigrants — raise interesting questions about equality in Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2013
New opportunities for ADB
Once again a leader from Japan has the opportunity to bring the Asian Development Bank into the modern world and to elevate the organization above backroom deals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2013
From ADB to BOJ: a 'twofer' for Abe?
As President Barack Obama struggles to get his Defense and Treasury choices in place, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has his own personnel challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2012
U.S. pivot to Asia needed in education, business
In the face of China's continued rise and increased assertiveness, strengthened U.S. engagement in Asia — as evidenced by U.S. President Barack Obama's official visit to Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar so soon after his re-election — is good news for Japan and the region, whether you refer to it as...
COMMENTARY
Jul 28, 2012
Myanmar's budding miracle
More than three months ago, on April 21, amid great fanfare, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at a Japan-Mekong summit pledged $7.4 billion in development aid to five Southeast Asian nations in an effort to promote cooperation with countries in the Mekong region. The prime minister also said Japan...
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2012
China's time to cut the cord
This week Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi and a large Japanese delegation will join some 4,000 participants gathering in Manila for the 45th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank. By tradition led by a Japanese — typically a former Ministry of Finance official —...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2012
Reconstructing Tohoku to fit today
The official and unofficial memorial ceremonies marking one year since the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region of Japan, killing some 16,000 people, are now past. The question remains though: Will Japan's politicians and bureaucrats come together and heed a simple...

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