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November 29, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Apr 28, 2003

Asian politicians slowly embrace the Net

By Ronald Meinardus

MANILA -- Irrespective of ideological leanings, all politicians are keen on receiving media coverage. As one U.S. political campaign publication noted, "If you don't exist in the media, you don't exist."

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 28, 2003

A silver lining to the SARS epidemic

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is sending shivers down the spines of Asian governments and citizens alike. China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam have been the most affected by this scourge, while other Asian countries are desperately trying to prevent the disease...

COMMENTARY

Apr 28, 2003

Mixed marks for the Iraq war

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The removal of the evil despotism of Saddam Hussein in Iraq is an important benefit for the peoples of Iraq and the world in general. The ending of his regime will be welcomed by some neighboring countries that felt threatened by Iraq. It should in the long run be beneficial to the Arabs as...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Apr 28, 2003

America is the greatest abuser of WMD

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- One duplicitous aspect of the United States' war on Iraq has been the use of the term "weapons of mass destruction" (WMD). No, I am not talking about the kinds of weapons that are assumed in the question raised by the conservative Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak on April 7 -- "Where...

COMMENTARY

Apr 28, 2003

Fair, transparent foreign aid

By Kiroku Hanai

Last September the Japanese government was stunned by a lawsuit filed with the Tokyo District Court by 3,861 residents of Indonesia's Sumatra Island. The plaintiffs said their life had been disrupted by a dam for hydroelectric power and flood control built with Japan's official development assistance....

EDITORIALS

Apr 27, 2003

Iraqis and their antiquities

The looting, ransacking and burning of Baghdad's great repositories of historical antiquities came as a shock to many -- including, apparently, U.S. troops in the field -- even though scholars all over the world had warned that a war could cause catastrophic cultural damage in Iraq. But now the damage...

COMMENTARY

Apr 27, 2003

Bush faces long-term burden of triumph

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- Aggression pays, and naked aggression pays handsomely. That may sound like the moral of America's occupation of Iraq after a faster-than-anticipated military triumph that threatens to herald a more muscular U.S. foreign policy. That moral may be reinforced by the way the Bush administration...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 27, 2003

War vindicates U.N. stance

By Ramesh Thakur

Are not the scenes of joy and jubilation from Iraq an embarrassing indictment of the United Nations' failure to support the war? Well, no, not really. On the contrary, the course and outcome of the war is a strong vindication of the U.N. stance. To argue that military victory bestows legitimacy is to...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 27, 2003

A shorter leash on China's Communists

By Jonathan Fenby

LONDON -- Governments and political parties habitually find it hard to admit to having made mistakes. Ministers and party officials who resign after getting things wrong cover their tracks with talk of seeking new horizons or spending more time with their families. The more authoritarian a regime, the...

EDITORIALS

Apr 26, 2003

Lessons of a cult guru's trial

In the marathon trial of Aum Shinrikyo cult leader Chizuo Matsumoto (also known as Shoko Asahara) at the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors on Thursday demanded the death penalty. "The accused promoted teachings that even approved of murder," they said in a closing argument. "He planned and ordered indiscriminate...

COMMENTARY

Apr 26, 2003

An opportunity for APEC

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- The rapid spread of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is a compelling demonstration of the need for a truly global health network to fight future epidemics. The particulars of this outbreak also highlight the role that the Asia-Pacific region will have to play in this effort. The...

COMMENTARY

Apr 26, 2003

A Pyrrhic victory in Iraq

By Kenzo Uchida

When the war in Iraq began March 19, speculation was rife about its likely duration. Predictions ranged from very short (less than 10 days) to fairly long (over a month) to very long (a protracted Vietnam-type war). As it turned out, the fighting effectively ended in a little over three weeks. But it's...

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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