Jul 3, 2012

Show restraint over Senkaku Islands

As the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties on between Japan and China on Sept. 29, 1972, draws near, friction between the two neighboring countries is increasing over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Both sides must refrain from taking ...

Jun 23, 2012

Negotiating with Russia

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Los Cabos, Mexico, prior to the Group of 20 summit and they agreed to “reactivate” talks on the long-standing territorial dispute over the Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan islands ...

Jun 22, 2012

Heed sentiment on Osprey

The government is trying to persuade local governments concerned in Okinawa and Honshu to accept a U.S. plan to station 24 MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to replace the same number of CH-46 Sea ...

Jun 21, 2012

Tepid vote for Europe in Greece

Greece and Europe have gained some breathing room — but not much — after Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Greece. A victory by the conservative New Democracy (ND) party offers hope that the country will support a government that backs the existing austerity program, permitting ...

May 17, 2012

Argentina's old-school economics

Resource nationalism was supposed to be a throwback, a discredited school of economics that failed the governments that embraced it. Apparently, Argentine President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner never got the memo. Instead, she decided in mid-April to seize a majority stake in one of ...

Mar 22, 2012

China's military buildup breeds distrust

by Michael Richardson

Since China announced another big rise in its military spending earlier this month, Chinese officials in Beijing and diplomats posted in Asia-Pacific countries have been trying to spread an orchestrated message to the region: Don’t be alarmed. China is in a bind. Its declared ...

Mar 19, 2012

Syrian crisis shadowed by outcome in Libya

by John J. Metzler

As the conflict in Syria churns out a ghastly human carnage, diplomatic efforts to halt the violence are shadowed by last year’s intervention in the Libyan conflict, which resulted in a six-month-long military operation to topple a tyrant. So, when the U.N. Security Council ...

Mar 1, 2012

Labor showdown in Canberra

by Gregory Clark

It was a battle of the opposites. On one side we had ex-Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, 54, a former diplomat with baby-face looks, devoted wife and family, carefully cultivated religious persona and impeccable CV. Opposed was current Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 51, ex-lawyer, ...

Dec 12, 2010

The dead weight on Taiwanese aspirations

by Frank Ching

HONG KONG — The ruling party of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou — in an election carefully watched in Beijing — has managed to win three of five mayoral races in Taiwan, reversing a losing streak in legislative by-elections since Ma’s presidential election triumph in ...