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January 24, 2025

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COMMENTARY

Jan 31, 2005

Zhao Ziyang: the death of a nonperson

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- While it seems unlikely that the death of China's former leader Zhao Ziyang will provoke mass unrest, the way in which it is being handled indicates the profound official insecurity still aroused by the mass unrest in 1989.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Jan 31, 2005

Far-fetched redesigns between the lines

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- "Contrapuntal reading," as Edward Said called it, is the ability to read between the lines. The reader must be able to have what is referred to, but not described, play off the main descriptive concern. This ability is particularly important with novels written while empire-building was in...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 31, 2005

Fires of hope for the leprosy-afflicted

By Yohei Sasakawa

There is a disease that is completely curable. It is phenomenally hard to contract. If caught early, it has little to no effect on those who have been touched by it. Yet, mention of this disease fills people with more dread, with more gut-level loathing, than any other. The disease is leprosy. It is...

COMMENTARY

Jan 30, 2005

A mountain of good will without strings

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- Now that a month has passed since the tragic earthquake and tsunami that wrecked widespread devastation across South and Southeast Asia, it is time to separate fact from fiction regarding the timeliness, level and intention of U.S. relief efforts.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 30, 2005

Neglect led to higher Indian casualty toll

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- In India, very few people had heard the word tsunami, let alone understood what these waves could do. Until Sunday, Dec. 26, hardly anybody had the vaguest inclination of the destructive ability of the sea.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 30, 2005

Looking up after bleak year

By Ramesh Thakur

Two years ago, the World Economic Forum launched a Global Governance Initiative that brought together a group of experts from around the world to map the state of the world on peace and security, education, environment, health, human rights, and hunger and poverty. The initiative provides an assessment,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 30, 2005

Treading softly on Jakarta's sensibilities

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Many observers believe the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster has opened up Aceh and the rest of Indonesia to the West. In fact, Aceh has been intermittently "closed" to international scrutin for 30 years amid the struggle by Acehnese secessionists to create an independent state. Now, as the Indonesian...

COMMENTARY

Jan 29, 2005

China's global impact grows

By David Howell

LONDON -- Suddenly China has become the No. 1 topic on the agenda of every Western policy forum and think tank. That the focus should be so sudden is in a way surprising.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2005

Foggy North Korean shuffle

By Soyoung Kwon and Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- Recent events in North Korea have been interpreted in various ways and, generally, the wish has been father to the thought. The truth is difficult to discern, but indications are that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has placed himself firmly behind a reform program that may finally bring...

COMMENTARY

Jan 26, 2005

Things look up to Downer

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- They say an optimist looks at the very same glass that the pessimist sees as half-empty and proclaims it to be half-full. By that measure, one of the world's foremost optimists has got to be Alexander Downer, Australia's minister for foreign affairs.

COMMENTARY

Jan 25, 2005

Medical reform needs help

By Kiroku Hanai

In its first report on medical reform, the council to promote deregulation -- an advisory body to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- recently recommended lifting some restrictions on "mixed medical care," easing conditions for the private operation of hospitals and reorganizing the government's Central...

COMMENTARY

Jan 25, 2005

Short shrift to a leader ousted by outlaws

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- The death of former Chinese Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang is a reminder of the tragedy that befell 15 years ago when the People's Liberation Army was called upon to shoot down unarmed demonstrators in Beijing, students as well as civilians. But it is also a reminder that China even today...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.

Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go

By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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