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COMMENTARY

Feb 2, 2004

Chirac faces mixed fortunes

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- Poll ratings have suddenly begun to substantially improve for both French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. That said, a wide gap still separates the two men. While 56 to 58 percent of those polled have a favorable view of Chirac, Raffarin's confidence rating...

COMMENTARY

Feb 2, 2004

Setbacks have Chen scrambling for win

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has encountered unexpected setbacks in recent weeks that have slowed down his re-election campaign even though, at this point, the race between him and Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan is still neck and neck.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 2, 2004

Thailand paying the price for flu coverup

By Philip Cunningham

BANGKOK -- Thai politicians belatedly ceded center stage to the public health experts as a strategy was mapped out to curb and contain the rapidly spreading avian flu. Until Jan. 23, the Thai government emphatically and continuously denied, in the face of mounting evidence and allegations of a coverup,...

COMMENTARY

Feb 1, 2004

Paying more for education

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- Last week the Labour Party government of Prime Minister Tony Blair just barely won a vote in the House of Commons on the payment of "top-up" fees at British universities. The government had failed to consult widely in the Labour Party before announcing its policy on fees, and this was one reason...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 1, 2004

China-Southeast Asia relations blossom

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- Chinese worldwide ushered in the Year of the Monkey on Jan. 22. The outgoing Year of the Goat had been excellent for China -- despite the outbreak of SARS last winter -- and a relatively good year for Southeast Asia.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 31, 2004

U.S. oil firm leaves toxic legacy in Ecuador

By Alejandro M. Garro and Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Drilling for oil without adequate safeguards is one of the most destructive industrial activities both for people and for the environment. This danger has been particularly stark in the case of oil exploration and exploitation in the forested areas of the Amazon basin.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 31, 2004

Mad cow disease: a blessing in disguise

By D.P. Considine

Mankind's history is rife with examples of natural phenomena radically changing its existence, the ice ages and small pox to name two. HIV has had a profound effect on sexual behavior the world over. Now, a mysterious protein -- a prion -- is about to change the eating habits of many people in the West...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 28, 2004

Troubles cast a shadow on EU future

By Jonathan Fenby

LONDON -- Europe's currency has never been stronger. The European Union has been portrayed as a "post modern" association of states that have moved beyond the use of force to a more rational organization of their relations. Though still hobbled by inflexibilities, its economies are forecast to show stronger...

COMMENTARY

Jan 27, 2004

Changing the Constitution

By Keizo Nabeshima

Constitutional revision looms as a major political issue in Japan. It was a key agenda item at the January conventions of the two largest political parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan. The LDP decided to draw up a revision plan in 2005, the 50th anniversary of the...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 26, 2004

Trade, tourism thrive on DPRK border

By David Wall

LONDON -- I spent the first two weeks of this year on a whistle-stop tour of Northeast China -- an area once known as Manchuria. The term Northeast China usually means the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.

COMMENTARY

Jan 26, 2004

Avoid the road to isolation

By Kiroku Hanai

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once again showed insensitivity to the feelings of fellow Asians by going to Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day to honor Japan's war dead. Convicted Class-A war criminals are among those whose memories are enshrined there.

COMMENTARY

Jan 26, 2004

Fog of politics obscures war

By Brad Glosserman

For most Americans, World War II began Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. Europeans date the beginning of the war to the 1939 invasion of Poland. Few Westerners appreciate the length and savagery of the Sino-Japanese war that was already in full force even by then.

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

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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