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COMMENTARY

Feb 28, 2004

Rough sailing ahead for EU

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- On May 1, eight former communist countries, plus the islands of Malta and Cyprus, will join the European Union, expanding its membership from 15 to 25 countries.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 28, 2004

Rivalry threatens Sri Lankan ceasefire

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

COLOMBO -- There are growing fears that the recent political turmoil in Sri Lanka will seriously hamper the internationally supported effort to end the two decades of ethnic strife between the majority Buddhist Sinhalese and the minority Hindu Tamils.

COMMENTARY

Feb 27, 2004

Rightwing's political football

By Gregory Clark

Don't underestimate the depth of genuine public anger in Japan over the abduction issue with North Korea. At the same time don't underestimate the degree to which Japan's powerful rightwing is exploiting the issue to shift Japan even further to hardline foreign policies, a shift typified by the extraordinary...

COMMENTARY

Feb 27, 2004

Watershed for Hong Kong-Beijing ties

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- The relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing is at a critical point, with the central government having cautioned the special administrative region not to rush headlong into democracy while local people fear that their democratic aspirations may be frustrated.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 26, 2004

Japan misses the big picture

By Robyn Lim

Japan needs to see its strategic security through a wider lens than the resource concerns of its powerful economic ministries. Japan's decision to fund the development of Iranian oil "against Washington's objections" ignores this principle.

COMMENTARY

Feb 25, 2004

Six-party talks: prospects for success

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- The second round of six-party talks on North Korea's suspected nuclear-weapons program is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Expectations are currently running so low that many will call the meeting a success if the North Koreans merely show up, or if they don't walk out once the United States...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 24, 2004

Reserves could hasten Asian integration

By Pradumna B. Rana

Aside from a few indicators such as poverty levels that remain above precrisis levels (though they are coming down), East Asia's rebound from the Asian crisis of 1997-1998 is more or less complete. The capital-account crisis -- which was both a currency and banking crisis -- and Asia's increasing integration...

COMMENTARY

Feb 24, 2004

Abductions can't be buried

By Keizo Nabeshima

During the government-to-government talks in Pyongyang on Feb. 11-13, Japan and North Korea went no further than stating their respective positions on the abduction and nuclear issues. They did agree to continue negotiations.

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Feb 23, 2004

Casting calls begin for vice presidency

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has the Democratic nomination for president nearly wrapped up with his victory in Wisconsin last Tuesday, giving him victories in 15 of the 17 primaries and caucuses contested to date. There will be some mopping up, and then a cakewalk to his hometown of Boston...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK

Feb 23, 2004

Critical war questions beg for an answer

By Hiroaki Sato

NEW YORK -- First, my historian friend George Akita sent me a clipping of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's article that appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser (Aug. 7, 2003). Titled "We need rules for waging war," the piece begins with McNamara remembering the night of March 9, 1945, when...

COMMENTARY

Feb 23, 2004

Revise the antimonopoly law

By Kiroku Hanai

Experts agree that Japan must strengthen its Antimonopoly Act, push deregulation to promote economic reform, reactivate its sluggish economy and protect consumer interests.

COMMENTARY

Feb 23, 2004

U.S. harsh line won't help

By Tom Plate

The official U.S. negotiating position for the upcoming North Korean peace talks in Beijing was recently laid out by the top U.S. negotiator, a respected man of peace. But details of the position may actually be a prescription for war. This is alarming.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

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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