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January 23, 2025

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COMMENTARY

Apr 20, 2004

Clash of ideas behind violence

By David Howell

LONDON -- Behind all the horrors and bloodshed of Iraq lies a clash of ideas. In the words of one mujahedin leader when asked to explain his hatred of America: "We do not want their capitalism. We do not want communism. We have our own ideas about how we want our country to be run in a Muslim way."

COMMENTARY

Apr 20, 2004

Hong Kong protesters roll up their sleeves

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- The April 11 protest against Beijing's decision to interpret the Basic Law's provisions in a way that makes it impossible for the Special Administrative Region, or SAR, to initiate moves toward universal suffrage marks the first large protest against the central government since the handover...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 19, 2004

Malaysia gives Islam a chance to shine

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- The 11th Malaysian general election March 21 was a historic moment in Malaysian politics and a political watershed in the country's history. It may also have been the turning point in the universal Islamic debate over religion and development, especially as these polls constitute the first...

COMMENTARY

Apr 19, 2004

South Korea's youth now in driver's seat

By Tom Plate

NEW YORK -- Veteran Asia-hand Nicholas Platt isn't quite ready to canonize Roh Moo Hyun as a great contemporary Asian leader -- notwithstanding last week's stunning endorsement of the populist president of South Korea in elections that catapulted the progressive, pro-Roh party to the top of the heap...

COMMENTARY

Apr 19, 2004

Karzai must address ethnic imbalance

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- The U.S.-backed regime of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, which has been promised more than $8 billion in international economic aid over the next three years, is still struggling to consolidate its political position.

COMMENTARY

Apr 19, 2004

Push Japan's good intentions

By Keizo Nabeshima

The lesson from the abduction and subsequent release of five Japanese civilians in Iraq is that the government should send a strong message to the Arab world that it is actively pushing humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in the war-torn country.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 18, 2004

Revisiting an evil stereotype

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- Each country has a reputation. For France, it is wine and food; for Italy, wine, food and the pope; for Holland, canals; for Austria, skiing; for Russia vodka, snow and bears.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 18, 2004

Seoul should offer Bush a dose of reality

By Eugene B. Kogan

WASHINGTON -- "A friend in need is a friend indeed," a saying goes. South Korea's decision on April 2 to send some 3,600 troops to Iraq is a fitting illustration of the adage. The deployment will make South Korea the largest U.S. coalition partner in Iraq after Britain.

COMMENTARY

Apr 18, 2004

Death of Deng's triangular relationship

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- One certainty emerges amid the democratic turmoil in Taiwan and Hong Kong and amid the authoritarian turmoil in the higher reaches of the Chinese Communist Party, which is skilled at concealing its innate factionalism: The triangular relationship between China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as envisaged...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 16, 2004

Alternative road map to launch Myanmar's democratic future

By Nyunt Shwe

T he ruling States Peace and Development Council of Myanmar (SPDC) has raised hopes that it will hold a national constitutional convention before the end of this year after its March 30 announcement that it would convene one on May 17. It had also hinted that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 14, 2004

Further thoughts on Yasukuni

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Although I am among those who wish that the Yasukuni Shrine controversy be put to rest quick- ly, I realize that the solution must come from inside Japan when conditions mature. Those with some distance from the emotional core of the issue may wish to ponder the new dynamic that...

COMMENTARY

Apr 13, 2004

Pakistani military tightens grip on power

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD In a year when Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has promised to step down as head of the military and continue only as a civilian president, his decision to back the Parliament's approval of a new national security council, or NSC, raises fresh concerns over the future of democracy....

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

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