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November 26, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

Sep 16, 2002

At last, the rise of people power in China

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Bits of the jigsaw are beginning to fall into place. Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's preferred candidate to take over from President Jiang Zemin, is beginning to show the confidence that suggests his position as the new party secretary...

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Sep 16, 2002

Foreign experts are part of the problem

By Jean-pierre Lehmann

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- One of Japan's problems in the global era arises from foreign academic experts on the country. The key qualification to be a foreign academic expert on Japan, or a "Japanologist," is to command the spoken and written language. Thus the late Professor G.C. Allen, who wrote some...

COMMENTARY

Sep 15, 2002

Weaning Afghanistan off militarization

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- The U.N. secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, could not have chosen a more precise way to underline Afghanistan's predicament. During his latest trip to the central Asian country, he favored spending more on reconstruction and development work to rebuild...

COMMENTARY

Sep 14, 2002

It's folly for U.S. to go it alone

By David Howell

LONDON -- "Go it alone" is clearly the prevailing mood in Washington. Officials and commentators alike argue that with the United States' overwhelming military might and Europe's alleged weakness, the world must be set right by unilateral American action, and the international community can either like...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 13, 2002

Handshakes may not soften U.S. line

By Victor D. Cha

WASHINGTON -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to North Korea next Tuesday is, in many ways, a double-edged sword. At first glance, the trip appears to be a positive development. In what has become the norm in Asian diplomacy of late, the surprise announcement reflects positively on Japan's...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 13, 2002

Malaysia's security law loses some of its Draconian bite

By David Chew

KUALA LUMPUR -- The focus of attention surrounding a controversial Malaysian security law has shifted to Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi after the country's highest court allowed an appeal of five opposition detainees in a dramatic decision last Friday. The legislation allows detention of suspects,...

COMMENTARY

Sep 13, 2002

Koizumi gambles for results

By Ralph Cossa

I'm not sure whether to be cautiously optimistic or pessimistic about Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to North Korea next Tuesday, but either way, "caution" is the watchword.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 12, 2002

Kashmir polls could be step to dialogue

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

Elections to the Kashmir Assembly will be held from Sept. 16 to Oct. 8. The million-dollar question is, will they be meaningful and bring about peace in a state that has been a bone of contention since 1947, when the British colonial masters divided the subcontinent into India and Pakistan before leaving?...

COMMENTARY

Sep 12, 2002

Brave trip to settle the past

By Keizo Nabeshima

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's one-day visit to North Korea on Sept. 17 is likely to have a profound effect on the security situation in Northeast Asia. The two nations started normalization talks in 1991, but thus far no substantial progress has been made because of the alleged abduction of Japanese...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 12, 2002

For Arabs, a year of growing darkness

By David Hirst

CAIRO -- There is no better place to take the pulse of Arab and Muslim sentiment than Cairo, pioneer or hub of the two great movements that have swept the region in recent times: the pan-Arab secular nationalism of which President Gamal Nasser was the champion and the "political Islam" that came into...

COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA

Sep 11, 2002

Japan and Asia: facing the troubled past is a prerequisite to forging a better future

By Jean-pierre Lehmann

In two previous columns I quoted from one of the writers whom I most greatly admired, referring to him as the "late Shigeto Tsuru." It has been drawn to my attention that I was misinformed, as Mr. Tsuru, I am embarassed but really delighted to report, is alive and well. I offer my most sincere apologies...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 11, 2002

Once again at ground zero

By Ronald A. Morse

LOS ANGELES -- Japan is once again at a historical tipping point, what could be called a political ground zero. Japan has been at ground zero two other times in its modern history and both times the outcome was not pretty.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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