Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win visited North Korea on Oct. 27 to hold the first high-level meeting since diplomatic relations were severed 25 years ago. When the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in April 2007, the reaction was largely twofold: banal and alarmist. The banal views argued that both authoritarian states were merely re-establishing formal diplomatic relations severed after North Korean agents bombed the Martyrs Mausoleum in Rangoon in 1983, killing several members of the South Korean cabinet.
Posted November 6, 2008

Even though the American establishment is still not prepared to consider the possibility that the all-powerful U.S. military could be defeated by a handful of ragtag militants, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen's bold confession to the U.S. Congress that “America might be losing the war” and that “it was time to consider other strategic options” forced a rethink. It was inevitable that, amongst other options, initiating a dialogue with the Taliban would come under consideration.
Posted November 3, 2008

The Malaysian government has applied its Internal Security Act (ISA) several times in recent weeks in order to protect citizens from the imminent threat of . . . bloggers. That’s right. The sixty-some jihadi militants, foreign agents and ethnic “rabble-rousers” locked away without prospect of trial in the country’s infamous Kamunting Detention Center were joined recently by a handful of minor opposition figures working the Internet fringe of Malaysian politics.
Posted October 29, 2008

Now that the Bush administration has removed North Korea from the State Department’s list of states that sponsor terrorism, the regime in Pyongyang has resumed dismantling the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. But there is no reason to celebrate. To the contrary, this could be a large step towards Japan’s concluding that it needs nuclear weapons for its security.
Posted October 22, 2008

Asia is just beginning to feel the effects of shrinking export demand and capital flight while the worst of the economic crisis has yet to arrive even for the U.S. and Europe. As consumer sentiment declines, purchasing slows, and new orders shrink, most export dependent countries in Asia will feel the brunt of the downturn. The next few months will give a clearer indication of the depths of the recession as consumer spending leading into the U.S. holiday season becomes clearer and corporate quarterly results are announced. Asian countries will need to shift from financial-system intervention to more fundamental economic support measures as the crisis worsens.
Posted October 23, 2008

In the shift to ideological tendencies, Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has lost the coherence it had when it was primarily a union of factions all dedicated to the simple mission of keeping the LDP in power. Ideologues existed before, but with the factions increasingly irrelevant and policy increasingly more important than patronage, the LDP’s ideologues now have policy goals that are as important as the goal of keeping the LDP in power. Can the LDP last as a party pursuing several distinct and contradictory policy agendas? Will Taro Aso or a future party leader be able to impose a uniform policy agenda on the party? Or will the next general election prove a catalyst for a party realignment that breaks up the LDP as it exists today?
Posted October 19, 2008

For decades the only way for foreign companies to do business in China was through joint ventures with Chinese companies. It was a perilous route. The failure rate for joint ventures was more than double that of the success rate. Multinationals breathed a sigh of relief when the government finally allowed foreign players to acquire domestic companies in all but a few proprietary businesses like automobiles. But rough as they can be, joint ventures provide a viable alternative for multinationals finding it hard to compete with the domestic businesses that are flourishing and proving to be efficient competitors.
Posted October 17, 2008

Fundamentally, Asia should be dramatically less exposed to the financial fallout than America or Europe. Yet it is important that Asian policy makers—and most particularly Beijing—respond to the shock of the slowdown in U.S. consumption in a constructive way. This means increasing efforts to move their economies away from excessive reliance on export-led growth. If they react in the opposite way, and engage in competitive devaluations, they will delay the long-overdue rebalancing of their export-driven economies and could spark a global trade war.
Posted October 14, 2008

China is widely believed to be immune from the economic shock waves making their way around the world from the U.S. to Europe and Japan. Although it is relatively unaffected by subprime mortgages and the credit crunch, China’s economy is actually facing a fundamental structural adjustment that has arrived much earlier than expected. Decreasing foreign demand for inexpensive manufactured goods, the misallocation of vital investment, and product safety concerns are straining China’s manufacturing base and challenging the tenuous linkages between continued economic growth and a rising middle class.
Posted October 1, 2008

Troops in the streets of Bangkok, teargas against demonstrators, two dead and hundreds injured. Thailand's political crisis took a turn for the worse on Tuesday, Oct. 7, when thousands of protesters, who have occupied Government House since Aug. 26, left the area and began marching on the Parliament. Their target was Thailand’s new prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, who they see as a crony of Thaksin Shinawatra.
Posted October 8, 2008

China would be wise to use its clout to nudge Iran toward cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.N. Security Council to verify that its nuclear programs are entirely of a non-military nature. If it does not, the result could be intensified rivalry and insecurity in the Gulf, chain-reaction nuclear weaponization across the Middle East, or even war. None of these outcomes comports with China’s basic interest in stable, secure access to Persian Gulf oil.
Posted October 11, 2008

Taro Aso became Japan’s third prime minister in less than 24 months last week with one goal in mind: survival. He inherits the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party at the most perilous moment in its 53-year history. The LDP’s fate and Mr. Aso’s will be decided by the next general election for the Lower House of the Diet, which may come as early as next month. Most observers believe the LDP will likely lose its absolute majority in the Lower House to the Democratic Party of Japan, thus leading to the first complete opposition take over of government since 1955.
Posted September 29, 2008

Were there an Olympics medal for the scramble for Africa, China would likely lead the pack. 2008 is already proving to be a good year for Sino-African relations. Earlier this year, Malawi severed longstanding ties with Taiwan to establish links with China, leaving Taipei with only four allies on the continent. Trade, continuing its steady ascent, reached about $70 billion, up from just $11 billion just six years ago.
Posted October 7, 2008

Tan Twan Eng is a Malaysian author whose 2007 debut novel, The Gift of Rain, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The book, which focuses on the Malaysian experience during World War II, unflinchingly examines this oft-neglected period of Malaysian history. Mr. Eng is currently working on his second novel, also set in pre-independence Malaysia and splits his time between Penang and Cape Town, South Africa.
Posted October 1, 2008

We are disappointed with the decision finding against the Far Eastern Economic Review in the libel actions brought by Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew. It is notable that the court has determined that the public interest privilege that is available in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, is not applicable in Singapore. We are considering an appeal.
Posted September 25, 2008