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 Tom Plate

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Tom Plate
Tom Plate, a veteran American columnist and career journalist, is the Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Affairs at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His many books include the "Giants of Asia" series, of which book four, "Conversations with Ban Ki-Moon: The View from the Top," is the latest.
COMMENTARY
Mar 1, 2010
Woods' apology whips up media incapable of behaving with class
LOS ANGELES — At times my loyalty to my chosen profession of journalism cannot be taken as a given. This is one of those times.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2010
Taiwanese perspective on Sino-U.S. relations
LOS ANGELES — Unless they somehow manage to entwine us in World War III with China, our friends in Taiwan truly are our friends.
COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2010
China's unwritten chapters feed speculation
LOS ANGELES — We were lucky enough the other night to attend a dinner party where the fare was California fusion and the killer item on the menu was serious table talk about Asia. So much food for thought was offered that, when the evening was over, few had much of an appetite for dessert. Which was...
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2010
Will the Tiger find a way out of the Woods?
LOS ANGELES — Buddhism is one of the historic religions of Asia, and today its influence remains strongly felt throughout the world. One has only to scratch the surface of this religion that originated in India in the fifth or sixth century B.C. to know that it has much to say about suffering.
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2009
Star artists reveal the essence of a nation's bureaucratic ways
LOS ANGELES — In America, trying to understand what makes other complex countries and cultures tick is usually done in the university classroom, through travel abroad or by following the mass news media. But there's another option that sometimes produces gold: Peering into other cultures through the...
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2009
Wake up a friend about China at Christmas
LOS ANGELES — Attention last-minute holiday shoppers: We have an easy-to-purchase gift to recommend. And we guarantee that it will fit all sizes, shapes and tastes. This is assuming your intended recipients are intelligent, literate and eager to learn about the world.
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2009
Disgusting surfeit of anti-Obama remarks
LOS ANGELES — Some necessary context for President Barack Obama's long-awaited Afghanistan policy speech: Foreign policy performance is anything but the total measure of a president's worth. America's domestic politics, not to mention its elections, are more often than not driven by the forces, and...
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2009
Two smart guys trying to figure it all out
LOS ANGELES — The two looked over the precipice and gasped at the steepness of the drop. They looked down at a desert of dashed hopes and old skeletons, scraping the bottom of the canyon.
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2009
Paranoids feast on China's 'peaceful rising'
LOS ANGELES — Paranoid people tend to live longer, goes the old joke. And so it is in this spirit only — not out of a desire to engage in Cold War China-bashing — that we raise concerns about China. So here's the paranoid's question: Just what is China really up to?
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2009
Another twist and shout from North Korea
LOS ANGELES — Like the baby that hurls its rattle out of the crib to grab attention, North Korea has never been known for a subtle diplomatic style. Right now, though, it appears to have abandoned, temporarily at least, the crude infantile approach for a more adult turn.
COMMENTARY
Sep 10, 2009
Words of wisdom from Hatoyama
It was just this side of comical. The leader of the new ruling party of Japan barely finishes acknowledging his Democratic Party of Japan's landslide win and a public relations disaster strikes. The result: an ignominious international climb-down.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2009
Scrutinizing the Chinese threat to Taiwan
LOS ANGELES — In the United States we refer to it as the Powell Doctrine. And it helps unravel a bit of mystery about what China is up to these days. Remember Colin Powell? Before Barack Obama rode into the U.S. scene on his white horse, Powell was America's most admired black public political figure....
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2009
North Korea's way of trying to break the ice
LOS ANGELES — You will never get anything of significance done with North Korea unless you go right to the top. The essence of its political culture is a feral fusion of Asian family values ("father knows best") with rigid communist hierarchy.
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 2009
Japan reaches a crossroad
With all eyes on a rising India, an awakened China and a roiling Islam, we tend to take good old solid Japan (still the world's second-largest economy, please don't forget) as a given. But that is a mistake: These are the times that try Japan's soul.
COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2009
Like it or not, China is not about to go away
KUALA LUMPUR — There was never the slightest doubt in the mind of a single reputable expert anywhere in the world that China was a caldron of ethnic unrest ready to boil over. Nor was there the slightest possibility that the masters of the People's Republic of China would be able to escape, within...
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2009
Old killer press still admired if not emulated
SINGAPORE — Everyone knows the American news media is proud as papa of its reputation as the storied giant-killer of politicians and as the watchdog of government. Aggressive journalism decades ago by The Washington Post and other major media institutions actually dethroned an elected president, Richard...
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2009
Jailing U.S. journalists could prove costly
LOS ANGELES — Call me a dupe of the commies if that makes you happy — I really don't care at this point. Maybe all these years I have been wrong to argue that we can negotiate with North Korea; maybe my critics are right and the regime does need to be either ignored and further isolated or, in the...
COMMENTARY
May 31, 2009
Why isolate a global pariah even further?
LOS ANGELES — On the question of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, better known as (a) North Korea, (b) notorious charter member of former U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" and (c) pain-in-the-neck threat to world peace and stability, here are a few humble observations in light...
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2009
California dream-makers in the driver's seat
LOS ANGELES — Sometimes it's not that easy living in Los Angeles. Despite splendid weather, sprawling beaches and gorgeous mountain ranges — not to mention the well-tanned Hollywood stars — you face the unrelenting, withering scorn of smug colleagues long established in New York and Washington....
COMMENTARY
May 6, 2009
China and Taiwan try a practical approach
LOS ANGELES — On the surface of things, it might not seem like such a big deal. Taiwan is to get recognition as an observer at an important world health meeting in Geneva to be held later this month. But in the context of Asian diplomatic history, it is a big deal.

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?