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Vaclav Havel
For Vaclav Havel's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2011
A time to demonstrate solidarity with Japan
PRAGUE — The shattering earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 have wrought devastating physical damage — aggravated by the threat of a nuclear disaster — across the country's northeastern coastal areas, and have rekindled grave fears in the only country to have experienced fully the atom's potential for horror.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2010
China must release Liu or lose its credibility
LONDON, THE OBSERVER — We no longer live in a unipolar world. Western nations do not enjoy a monopoly on economic and political power. This is an encouraging shift and one that is bringing greater equality and prosperity to the world. With this progress, developing countries are increasingly influential and, in this regard, China reigns supreme. While China's economic and geopolitical progress over the past three decades is cause for celebration, its support for abusive regimes and the brutal force with which it crushes dissent within its own borders demonstrates that substantial reform is needed if China is to be viewed within the international community as a true leader.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2010
Political murders are killing justice in Russia
PRAGUE — The death of Eduard Chuvashov, a judge killed in cold blood April 12 in Moscow, is another in a long and growing list of murders perpetrated on those in Russia who try to seek justice for the victims of crimes — an essential task for the future development of the Russian society.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2010
A Chinese champion of peace and freedom
PRAGUE — On this past Christmas Day, one of China's best-known human rights activists, the writer and university professor Liu Xiaobo, was condemned to 11 years in prison. Liu is one of the main drafters of Charter 08, a petition inspired by Czechoslovakia's Charter 77, calling on the Chinese government to adhere to its own laws and constitution, and demanding the open election of public officials, freedom of religion and expression, and the abolition of "subversion" laws.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2009
Ghost of appeasement still haunting EU ties
PRAGUE — One of the fundamental pillars of Europe's political architecture is a strong and enduring belief in the universal validity of equal, universal, and inalienable human rights.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on