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January 19, 2025

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COMMENTARY

Jul 25, 2001

A nasty taste of things to come

By David Howell

LONDON — Conventional wisdom has it that the future is impossible to predict, or at least to predict with any accuracy.

COMMENTARY

Jul 23, 2001

Seek justice, not provocation

By Kiroku Hanai

China has reacted strongly to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's announcement that he will visit Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, Japan's anniversary of the end of World War II. Coupled with the history textbook issue, the statement has again unsettled Tokyo's relations with Beijing.

COMMENTARY

Jul 23, 2001

'Fair' easier said than done

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The term "fair competition" is a word like "motherhood." We all regard it as desirable and a good thing. But it is an economic proposition that is not easily attainable, and if it is achieved can only be maintained by constant vigilance. Some of those who pay lip service to the concept show...

COMMENTARY

Jul 23, 2001

Creating enemies and losing influence

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES — In Moscow and Genoa this past week, the faint outlines of a reactive global containment policy toward America emerged.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 23, 2001

Exploitation of children takes terrible toll

Agnes Chan, ambassador of the Japan Committee for UNICEF, as well as a popular TV personality and pop singer, visited the Philippines from June 2 to 6 on a fact-finding mission for the UNICEF Japan group to see for herself the plight of children there, especially conditions surrounding the commercial...

COMMENTARY

Jul 23, 2001

A textbook lesson for Japan's leaders

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- The controversy over middle school textbooks continues to damage relations between Japan and South Korea. Last week, the Seoul government announced that it was canceling military exchanges and the introduction of Japanese cultural products in retaliation for Tokyo's failure to meet South...

COMMENTARY

Jul 22, 2001

Bush places the country on autopilot

By TED RALL

NEW ORLEANS -- The nation is reeling in the aftermath of a startling revelation from the White House: For the first time in its history, the United States is functioning entirely without an executive branch.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Jul 22, 2001

CCP is going nowhere fast

By Constantine Pleshakov

When the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the 2008 Summer Games, the decision was widely publicized as a move that would promote reforms in China, improve its human rights situation and eventually open China to the world. This is not unlike the rationale for awarding the 1980 Summer Games...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 22, 2001

Foreign Ministry troubles exact a high toll

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It is with hesitation that I write about the current imbroglio involving the Foreign Ministry. First, this is a matter for the Japanese to sort out. Second, suspicions of partiality may arise, given my diplomatic background. But in spite of these valid points, I humbly put forward...

COMMENTARY

Jul 22, 2001

Yet another example of victor's justice

By Gregory Clark

Victor's justice is a two-edged sword. The attempt to bring former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before a war-crimes tribunal in The Hague may satisfy the West's urge to find a bogeyman to justify its own irresponsible behavior toward the former Yugoslavia. But it is unlikely to impress those...

COMMENTARY

Jul 21, 2001

What happens after the Agra summit?

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- If India and Pakistan, South Asia's two nuclear-armed neighbors, were conscious of global concerns over the breakdown of the summit between their leaders at the historic city of Agra, they took little time before sending out identical messages.

COMMENTARY

Jul 21, 2001

Pakistan outmanuevered India

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- Behind the blame game over the collapse of the India-Pakistan summit in Agra, a harsh reality faces New Delhi. The expectations and calculations that prompted Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to make a dramatic U-turn in his Pakistan policy and invite Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf...

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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