Frank Ching - The Japan Times

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Frank Ching

Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer who has covered developments in China for several decades. He opened The Wall Street Journal’s Bureau in Beijing after the U.S. and China established diplomatic relations in 1979, becoming one of the first American reporters to be based in China since 1949.

For Frank Ching's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

Mar 5, 2011

China isn't ripe for a Jasmine Revolution

HONG KONG — The so-called Jasmine Revolution sweeping North Africa and the Mideast has caught the world's attention and there are now attempts to spread the flames to China as well. But is China ripe for a Jasmine Revolution? Unlike the countries in the Arab world experiencing unrest, China has...

COMMENTARY

Feb 17, 2011

Beijing's likely lesson? Ratchet up repression

HONG KONG — China, which has been obsessed with political stability ever since it called out its army to crush a massive albeit peaceful protest in Beijing 22 years ago, is likely to step up repressive tactics against its population in the wake of the toppling of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak...

COMMENTARY

Feb 7, 2011

Hedging the glad hand to China

HONG KONG — The joint statement released during the state visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao is in some ways strikingly different from a similar joint statement issued in November 2009 during American President Barack Obama's state visit to China.

COMMENTARY

Jan 21, 2011

China 'reasonably' pre-empting N.Z. justice

HONG KONG — Last October, when the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, official Chinese spokesmen waxed indignant. A spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court, which had sentenced Liu to 11 years in prison on...

COMMENTARY

Jan 7, 2011

China shows signs of recognizing its limits

HONG KONG — After behaving in an assertive, sometimes arrogant, fashion through most of 2010, when it at various times took on the United States, Europe and Japan, both Beijing and the people of China appear to recognize the need for greater caution and restraint in the coming year. For one thing,...

COMMENTARY

Dec 23, 2010

A peek at the dark side of Chinese diplomacy

HONG KONG — For some people, the very name Guantanamo has come to stand for something repulsive about America — in particular the difference between what it preaches about human rights and what it practices.

COMMENTARY

Dec 12, 2010

The dead weight on Taiwanese aspirations

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 2008.

COMMENTARY

Nov 30, 2010

Beijing flubs art of ambiguity in Nobel affair

HONG KONG — The value of ambiguity in international diplomacy has long been recognized and widely practiced by such proponents as Henry Kissinger and by Chinese leaders.

COMMENTARY

Oct 29, 2010

Joint projects would build Japan-China trust

HONG KONG — While the immediate crisis over Japan's seizure last month of a Chinese fishing vessel that rammed two Japanese coast guard patrol boats has ended with the release of the captain, the repercussions will long be felt.

COMMENTARY

Oct 16, 2010

Beijing's reaction justifies Nobel Committee's choice

In China's upside-down world where black is white, the great honor of the Nobel Peace Prize being given to Liu Xiaobo, a writer, intellectual and human rights activist, has been denounced by the government as a "desecration" of the award because it was given to "a criminal who broke China's laws."

COMMENTARY

Sep 30, 2010

Ebb and flow of hedging in Southeast Asia

HONG KONG — Last week, when the China-Japan dispute over the detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing trawler was hanging fire, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said American efforts to improve relations with China must "go through Tokyo" because Japan was vital to the United States.

COMMENTARY

Sep 5, 2010

The yin and yang of human rights in China

HONG KONG — The only lady vice minister in China's Foreign Ministry is Fu Ying, a well-coiffed, mild-mannered 57-year-old, an ethnic Mongol who speaks flawless English, who has served as ambassador to the Philippines, Australia and Britain, and who is known for her media skills.

COMMENTARY

Aug 19, 2010

Mixed views in rising China

While voices in China continue to be raised against American naval exercises near the China coast and asserting Beijing's increased influence in global affairs, other voices are now being heard questioning the wisdom of China's increasing assertiveness.

COMMENTARY

Jul 29, 2010

A clash of interests in Asia

The show of force mounted this week off the Korean Peninsula by the United States and South Korea was the biggest in decades and was intended to warn North Korea not to take aggressive action against the South.

COMMENTARY

Jul 15, 2010

Creative diplomacy papers over the Cheonan incident

The dispute over the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March has been papered over with a presidential statement unanimously approved by the 15-member United Nations Security Council.

COMMENTARY

Jun 17, 2010

U.S. military has Chinese seeing red

Although China voted with the United States and other countries to impose another round of sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security Council, there is still little political trust between the two countries, especially between their militaries.

COMMENTARY

Jun 3, 2010

North Korea: the region's 'uniter'

Ever since international investigators concluded that the South Korean naval ship Cheonan, which sank in March with the loss of 46 lives, was struck by a North Korean torpedo, China has been under growing pressure to condemn its close friend and ally in the United Nations Security Council.

COMMENTARY

May 23, 2010

Can 'true friends' talk to China about rights?

PARIS — In September 2007, when Chinese President Hu Jintao was visiting Australia, he was pleasantly surprised to encounter the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Kevin Rudd, who upstaged Prime Minister John Howard by delivering a welcoming address at a state lunch in fluent Chinese.

COMMENTARY

May 11, 2010

Ma jockeys for domestic and Chinese favor

HONG KONG — Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou did something unusual late last month. With the next presidential election almost two years away, he held a televised debate with the leader of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai Ing-wen, thereby giving her the status and media exposure she...

COMMENTARY

Apr 30, 2010

America's star is rising in world opinion

Despite widespread talk of a rising China and an America in decline, the latest BBC World Service poll shows not just strong residual American soft power but actually an increase. At the same time, the data depict a China whose influence is viewed as more negative than positive in an increasing number...

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

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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