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April 28, 2024
 

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Alexander K. Young
For Alexander K. Young's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2005
Waking up to China's threat
NEW YORK -- On Feb. 19, Japan and the United States issued a joint statement that maintaining peace and security in the Taiwan Strait is a common strategic objective. This was nothing extraordinary except for the fact that Japan, for the first time, joined the U.S. in voicing public concern about China's military buildup in the area and about growing tension between China and Taiwan.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2004
U.S. will also lose if it sells out Taiwan
NEW YORK -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, during a recent visit to China, provoked a diplomatic uproar when he said that Taiwan is not a sovereign state and that the United States seeks to bring about Taiwan's reunification with China.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2004
Taiwan opposition must swallow loss to live
NEW YORK -- On March 20 the governing Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) ticket of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu won re-election over the pan-blue ticket of Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Lien Chan and the People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong by a narrow margin of 30,000 votes out of 13 million cast.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2004
Future of Taiwan at stake in elections
NEW YORK -- No less than the future of Taiwan is at stake in the presidential election Saturday. If President Chen Shui-bian is re-elected, Taiwan's move toward becoming an independent state will accelerate and the Taiwan-China impasse will harden. If the Lien Chan/James Soong ticket wins, China will soon achieve its goal of unification with Taiwan.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2003
Chen winning back respect for Taiwan's position
NEW YORK -- Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president, recently made a whirlwind international tour. During a three-day transit in New York three weeks ago, he received the 2003 award from the International League for Human Rights. He attended centennial independence anniversary celebrations of Panama, then flew to Alaska, where Gov. Frank Murkowski conferred the state's highest award on him.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2003
Don't bargain Taiwan away
U.S. policy toward China underwent a major change in 2001. The new president, George W. Bush, viewed China as a rising power, intent on changing the Asian balance of power in its favor, and a threat to U.S. interests. In marked contrast to former President Bill Clinton, who called China "a strategic partner," Bush considered China "a strategic competitor." He embarked on a policy of containment and engagement by strengthening alliances with Japan, South Korea and Australia, and by improving relations with India and Russia.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2002
China has robbed Keio University, Japan's Foreign Ministry of their independence
NEW YORK -- Japan has been in an uproar since five of its citizens who were abducted by North Korean agents more than 20 years ago were allowed to return home Oct. 15. But an even more ominous event for the country, though not prominently reported by the mass media, occurred last month: the "kidnapping" of Keio University and Japan by China, robbing the two of their independence.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2002
Beijing forcing Chen to take own road
NEW YORK -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's posture toward China has undergone a significant change recently -- from showing infinite good will to proclaiming that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and that Taiwan's future should be determined by the people of Taiwan. He now supports legislation authorizing a referendum to decide the island's future. Chen's new posture will surely anger China.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2001
Lee Teng-hui on a mission to save his vision of Taiwan
NEW YORK -- Taiwan will hold an election Saturday to choose members of the national Parliament, mayors and county magistrates. The outcome will have a lasting impact on Taiwan's future -- in particular on its relationship with China.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2001
Taiwan deserves to be a U.N. member
NEW YORK -- The United Nations admitted Tuvalu, a tiny South Pacific island state, as its 189th member last fall, but not Taiwan despite the latter's efforts for the past decade. The U.N.'s action seems incongruous even by a simple comparison.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2000
Taiwan is worthy of a place in the U.N.
The United Nations' Millennium Summit in New York, attended by about 150 heads of state and governments earlier this month, pledged to make globalization a positive force for all the people of the world. It published a list of central values for 21st-century international relations. It also admitted Tuvalu, a tiny Pacific state of only 10,000 people, as its 189th member. But there was one glaring injustice amid all the lofty speeches, declarations and actions: the exclusion of Taiwan as a member.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2000
Voting on Taiwan's future
Taiwan's presidential campaign is moving toward the final stretch. It is being fought among three top contenders: Vice President Lien Chan of the Nationalist Party, Chen Shui-pien of the Democratic Progressive Party and James Soong, an independent. The second free, direct presidential election on March 18, now too close to call, will have a significant impact on the future of Taiwan's democratization program and its relations with China and the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 1999
End the 'one China' fiction
China is again rattling its sabers over Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui's recent statement that Taiwan will henceforth conduct its relations with China as "a special state-to-state relationship."
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo
Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo

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