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April 30, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2001
Afghans' prospects grow worse by the day
By Farhan Bokhari
KABUL -- Surrounded by squalor, 9-year-old Naim Gul raises his hand to beg for a cheap pen.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2001
Blair's Labor looks set for the long haul
By Jonathan Fenby
Britain's general election on June 7 is shaping up as the most important political event the country has seen since Margaret Thatcher began to change the way the country worked two decades ago.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2001
Racial quotas widen social gaps, not rectify them
By David Chew
SINGAPORE -- When some 600 ethnic Chinese students who passed a string of examinations with distinction failed to gain admission to public universities in Malaysia recently, a controversy erupted in the media over a major flaw in university entrance criteria.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2001
Can Tanaka fulfill her duties?
By Kenichi Ito
The words and actions of Makiko Tanaka, who made a dashing entry onto center stage as foreign minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, are attracting attention from various quarters for various reasons.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2001
Rampant piracy posing political problems for Southeast Asia's policymakers
By Mark J. Valencia
Piracy is alive and well in Southeast Asia, and it is posing political problems for policymakers. Piracy incidents in and around the Straits of Malacca and Singapore have recently increased at an alarming rate -- in both number and severity. But these modern pirates are a far cry from the swashbuckling...
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2001
A new strategy for Asian energy
By Martha Caldwell Harris
Interest in "Asian energy security" is growing, suggesting the possibility of a divergence from the quest for national control of resources that inspired energy security policies in the past. Will Asian energy security take hold as an organizing concept that addresses Asian energy needs and contributes...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
May 23, 2001
Rookie president seizes the political initiative by zeroing in on a few core issues
By Bob Keefe
Our first MBA president is managing the agenda of action in Washington in textbook fashion. Unlike his predecessor or his father, George W. Bush is limiting his exposure to the myriad issues waiting to be tackled and fights available to be fought. By this time in his first year, President Bill Clinton...
COMMENTARY
May 22, 2001
Politics slides as style prevails
By Hugh Cortazzi
LONDON -- The British general-election campaign has started. The "spin doctors" are working overtime to show the party leaders and party policies in the best possible light and to provide good photo opportunities to illustrate their leaders' popular appeal. At the same time, the party leaders themselves...
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2001
Begrudgingly, Bush endorses dialogue
By Scott Snyder
SEOUL -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung last week clearly signaled that the United States will renew bilateral negotiations with North Korea, affirming similar assurances given by Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly at his April...
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2001
Settling Asia's sea of disputes
By Scott Snyder
Last month's spy-plane incident between the United States and China inadvertently highlighted South China Sea territorial disputes as a focal point of possible international confrontation. Although the incident is viewed primarily through the lens of U.S.-China relations, it demonstrates the international...
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2001
Better a wooden chicken than a tornado
By Ryuichiro Hosokawa
As soon as Diet member Makiko Tanaka was sworn in as foreign minister, a powerful "Tornado Makiko" rampaged throughout the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sending some of the officials way up in the air and forcing others to retreat to hospital. For onlookers, the greater the chaos the more fun it was to...
COMMENTARY
May 21, 2001
U.S. policy toward Taiwan defies reason
By Gregory Clark
In 1938 Nazi Germany tried to mediate the war between Japan and China. At the time Japanese troops were advancing far into south China, massacring large numbers of Chinese at Nanjing and elsewhere and cruelly seeking to bomb the Nationalist government into submission. If German mediation had succeeded,...
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
Counting the reasons why there are so few American cars in Japan
Tesla's store in Tokyo's Shibuya district. While sales of American cars in Japan appear to be shrinking, Tesla's presence in the country is growing.
Shohei Ohtani's example could change Japan's views on paternity leave
Shohei Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka announced the birth of their first child on April 19.
Nearly half of workers in Japan engage in ‘quiet quitting’
"Quiet quitting" is most common among the younger generation, with 46.7% of respondents to a survey in their 20s identifying with the practice, reflecting a less-motivated workforce more focused on work-life balance.
Japan worries Trump tariffs will push countries toward China
Liberal Democratic Party Policy Chief Itsunori Onodera (center) speaks at a think tank event Monday in Washington.
Could this be Japan’s year at the Kentucky Derby?
Christophe Lemaire rides Admire Daytona, who was bred in Japan, during the UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on April 5.
Counting the reasons why there are so few American cars in Japan
Tesla's store in Tokyo's Shibuya district. While sales of American cars in Japan appear to be shrinking, Tesla's presence in the country is growing.
Shohei Ohtani's example could change Japan's views on paternity leave
Shohei Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka announced the birth of their first child on April 19.
Nearly half of workers in Japan engage in ‘quiet quitting’
"Quiet quitting" is most common among the younger generation, with 46.7% of respondents to a survey in their 20s identifying with the practice, reflecting a less-motivated workforce more focused on work-life balance.
U.S. secretary of the navy weighs ‘dual-use’ shipbuilding with Japan
John Phelan at a Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. secretary of the navy in Washington in February

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami
By Alex K.T. Martin

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