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November 22, 2024

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EDITORIALS

Mar 5, 1999

Dispel illusions in Sino-U.S. relations

The last few weeks have been difficult ones for Sino-U.S. relations. The U.S. canceled the planned sale of a satellite to a Chinese-led consortium, the annual State Department human-rights report released last week slammed Beijing's policies and the Pentagon has warned of an ominous Chinese missile buildup...

EDITORIALS

Mar 4, 1999

Japan passes a medical milestone

The nation breathed an almost audible collective sigh of relief this week, thankful that a successful precedent has now been set for organ transplants. Apart from the media hullabaloo and a short-lived controversy over the diagnosis a couple of days before the verdict of legal brain-death was pronounced,...

COMMENTARY

Mar 4, 1999

Sunshine alone isn't enough

By Ralph Cossa

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's announcement of a proposed "package deal" with North Korea, put forth once again on the first anniversary of his inauguration, represents a valiant attempt to save two very important initiatives: his own constructive engagement policy with the North (also known as...

EDITORIALS

Mar 3, 1999

Pick priorities, Mr. Clinton

Last week, U.S. President Bill Clinton set out his foreign-policy framework and goals for the last two years of his term. In a speech to California business and political leaders, he urged Americans to "embrace the inexorable logic of globalization." For Mr. Clinton, that translates into a policy of...

COMMENTARY

Mar 3, 1999

Japan's other big Year 2000 problem

By Gregory Clark

For over 40 years now, the ritual has been the same. Each new Japanese administration resolves firmly that it will solve Japan's festering territorial dispute with Moscow, once and for all. Delegations and prime ministers visit Moscow. And each time the results are zero.

EDITORIALS

Mar 2, 1999

Kosovo's tentative peace

No one expected much from the Kosovo peace talks that were held last month in the French town of Rambouillet. Yet even with those diminished expectations, few people are much satisfied with the results. The talks have recessed until March 15, no party signed anything, fighting has already erupted between...

COMMENTARY

Mar 2, 1999

A world bereft of leaders?

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Hardly a day goes by without someone deploring the lack of political and economic leadership in our world. Commentators bemoan that with the departure of politicians like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl the world is bereft of political leadership....

EDITORIALS

Feb 28, 1999

Shiny happy people

The elusive butterfly of happiness has been fluttering before humanity for a long time. America's Thomas Jefferson declared the pursuit of it an inalienable human right over 220 years ago. But a good 1,800 years or so before that, another great farmer-philosopher had seen the urge to chase happiness...

COMMENTARY

Feb 28, 1999

Constitution unfit for a sovereign nation

By Ryuichiro Hosokawa

Most Japanese do not realize that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty is a military alliance pact. Unlike a conventional military alliance treaty, however, the pact is not based on reciprocal obligations. For the U.S., the treaty is unfair and is not really bilateral.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 28, 1999

Avoiding a N. Korean crisis

By Scott Snyder

Will 1999 bring the second North Korean nuclear crisis in five years, perhaps leading to a military confrontation similar to the recent U.S. attack on Iraq, or can such a confrontation be avoided? Although heightened tensions may be inevitable in the coming months, the ability of policymakers in Washington,...

EDITORIALS

Feb 27, 1999

A wakeup call to the nation

After six months of racking their brains, members of a prime ministerial advisory council have produced yet another blueprint designed to nurse the seriously ill Japanese economy back to health. The worthy work of the Economic Strategy Council should be commended. In their final report to Prime Minister...

EDITORIALS

Feb 26, 1999

A year of triumph for Mr. Kim

It has been a tumultuous first year for South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. On every front -- political, economic and diplomatic -- he has faced enormous challenges. His moral authority, his willingness to make hard choices and his vision have stood him in good stead. By virtually every measure, South...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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

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