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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Feb 11, 2001

Yeltsin and Reagan revisited

By Constantine Pleshakov

This year there were two sad anniversaries in the first week of February: two former political superstars, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Russian President Boris Yeltsin celebrated their birthdays in the shadow of severe health problems. Confined to hospital, they were unable to appreciate the cheering...

EDITORIALS

Feb 10, 2001

The best politics money can buy

The deportation of fugitive French businessman Alfred Sirven from the Philippines throws a twist into the trial of Mr. Roland Dumas, the former French foreign minister and head of the Constitutional Court. Mr. Sirven is alleged to be the missing link in the scheme to use funds from Elf-Aquitaine, the...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 10, 2001

Reflections on a ticklish relationship

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- While I fully endorse the spirit and the letter of a recent article in The Japan Times by former British Ambassador Sir Hugh Cortazzi on civil servants and politicians, I am conscious that what follows may be dismissed as an instance of the well-known bureaucratic tendency to...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 10, 2001

Who's afraid of the WTO? Not China

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Among U.S. President Bill Clinton's wilder statements on China were those he came up with when recommending that Congress pass the Permanent Normal Trade Relations Bill. The bill, which Congress passed last September, was a necessary precondition for the United States' support of...

COMMENTARY

Feb 10, 2001

Upheaval on the horizon

By Kenzo Uchida

Diet debate started Tuesday on the fiscal 2001 government budget. The debate is likely to see head-on confrontation between the ruling and opposition forces. The government and the ruling coalition are hoping to pass the budget before fiscal 2000 ends March 31 in order to prepare for an Upper House election...

EDITORIALS

Feb 9, 2001

A mixed outlook for North Korea

North Korea, hit hard by unprecedented power shortages, is seeking emergency supplies from South Korea. Officials from the two nations are expected to conclude three days of talks in Pyongyang today after agreeing on needed arrangements. Visitors to the North say factories are running at just 20 percent...

COMMENTARY

Feb 9, 2001

Which 'global standard'?

By Glen S. Fukushima

At the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland last month, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara reportedly attracted more attention than Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 9, 2001

Musharraf blows chance to end impasse

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

NEW DELHI -- For a while, it almost seemed that the recent Gujarat earthquake would help advance the peace process for Kashmir, when Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, not only sent relief goods to the victims but also telephoned the Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to convey...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 9, 2001

Hope fades for reconciliation in Kosovo

By Glyn Ford

The West's intervention in Kosovo was a reaction to the Serbs' final solution to the problems of the recalcitrant province. The Serbs attempted to drive out the Albanian majority using soldiers and civilians for mayhem and murder. It was not an arbitrary, irrational act, merely a final inhuman escalation...

EDITORIALS

Feb 8, 2001

Fear is the winner in Israel

Israelis have elected a new prime minister. Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon has trounced Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a historic vote. The results cap a stunning comeback for Mr. Sharon, who was written out of Israeli politics after the 1982 invasion of Lebanon which he masterminded. The results also...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Feb 8, 2001

With Cabinet approved, Bush gets down to business

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush is off to a good and fast start. In his first days as U.S. president, he has begun to soften his relationships with his adversaries, organize his control over the vast bureaucracy of the federal government, initiate innovative programs and promote his promised legislative...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 7, 2001

Few lessons for Wahid in Estrada's fate

By Harvey Stockwin

There are a growing number of students on the streets of Jakarta who are hoping to do to Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid what was done last month to Philippine President Joseph Estrada: depose him through the deployment of people power.

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

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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