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COMMENTARY

Sep 26, 2004

Curtain falls on China's 'strongman' era

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- The decision by 78-year-old former President Jiang Zemin to step down as head of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission in favor of 61-year-old Hu Jintao, his successor as party and state leader, is a milestone in China's political development, marking as it does the completion...

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 25, 2004

Subtle changes under Hu

By Richard Halloran

HONOLULU -- The ascent of Hu Jintao to the third of the top three posts in China's hierarchy will most likely cause subtle changes in Beijing's relations with the United States and with China's neighbors North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia -- but not on the sensitive issue of Taiwan....

COMMENTARY

Sep 25, 2004

High-tech barriers to better ties

By Brahma Chellaney

NEW DELHI -- Catchphrases like "enhanced engagement," "strategic partnership" and "sustained interaction" are bandied about to describe the new U.S.-Indian relationship. A novel, hyperbolic tag, NSSP, or Next Steps in Strategic Partnership, was added to the diplomatic lexicon when on January 13, 2004,...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Sep 25, 2004

Senate control up for grabs on election day

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- The meandering pattern of the presidential race has captured the attention of most Americans. But there are other important stakes that will be decided on Nov. 2, including 33 seats in the U.S. Senate and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 24, 2004

Bets off on Australian election

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- The long reign of Prime Minister John Howard is coming to an end if the latest pre-election opinion polls are any guide. But who believes polls? Certainly nobody caught up in a new round of election frenzy suddenly sweeping Australia.

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Sep 23, 2004

Putin's bloodless coup d'etat

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- In what amounts to a coup d'etat five years after he came to power in August 1999, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a number of measures annihilating the fragile system of checks and balances constructed during President Boris Yeltsin's tenure in the 1990s.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 23, 2004

Look for a larger Russian role in Korea

By John Barry Kotch and Lyudmila Yushina

SEOUL-- With the six-party talks in the deep freeze, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun is looking east to help break the ice. In his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week Roh is expected to both press Putin to play a more active diplomatic role in resolving the nuclear standoff...

COMMENTARY

Sep 21, 2004

Anwar release burnishes Badawi's image

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has unexpectedly taken a meaningful stride away from the authoritarian rule of former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammad. As a result, the charismatic former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will now be free to influence the course of Malaysian...

COMMENTARY

Sep 20, 2004

'Fat liberation' movement declares war

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- Another civil-rights movement is stirring in America. A "fat liberation" movement. Complains Marilyn Wann of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, "We're living in the middle of a witch hunt."

COMMENTARY

Sep 20, 2004

Curb spread of WMD in U.S.

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- The failure of Congress to renew a 10-year ban on the sale of assault rifles and other dangerous weapons may seem to politicians a simple price to pay to win the support of the National Rifle Association in the forthcoming presidential election.

COMMENTARY

Sep 20, 2004

Japan's diplomatic might

By Keizo Nabeshima

In late August, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi visited four Central Asian states to build a new framework of regional dialogue. The creation of the "Central Asia Plus Japan" forum means that Japan is pushing strategic diplomacy in the geopolitically important Silk Road region, surrounded by Russia,...

COMMENTARY

Sep 19, 2004

Indo-Pakistani relations: the next phase

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- The upcoming meeting between Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh marks another important phase in the nine-month-old peace process between South Asia's two nuclear-armed neighbors.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.

What comes after 100?

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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