In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Japan’s frantic rescue efforts in response to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami catastrophe are now entering their seventh day. Over half a million evacuees are being housed in temporary shelters without adequate supplies…

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On September 8, the Charities Aid Foundation released the first-ever “World Giving Index” (WGI). The Index ranks 153 countries according to answers interviewees gave to three questions: amount of money donated, amount of time volunteered, and whether or not those interviewed “helped a stranger” in the month preceding the interviews. While one may well question [...]

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The new prime minister of Japan, Naoto Kan, who last week replaced Yukio Hatoyama after he abruptly resigned less than nine months into his term, certainly will have his hands full trying to reignite his country’s efforts to craft a coherent and sustained set of foreign policy goals and strategies. Hatoyama’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) [...]

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The Japanese foreign affairs establishment welcomed Secretary Hillary Clinton’s February 16-18 visit to Tokyo with a strong dose of positive pleasure and a tad of uncertainty–even anxiety. The country is delighted by the fact that Secretary Clinton chose to make Tokyo her very first stop on her inaugural trip as Secretary of State. The visit [...]

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In Chinese folk culture, “8″ is the luckiest and most auspicious of all numbers. So it’s no accident that the Beijing opening ceremonies for the 29th Olympiad will kick off at exactly 8 PM on the 8th day of the 8th month of the year 2008. The five mascots for the Beijing Olympics are cute [...]

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On Saturday, March 22nd, Taiwan’s 17 million voters will cast their ballots for a new president to succeed the incumbent Chen Shui-bian. All of the surveys show the KMT (Nationalist) party candidate, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, far ahead of his opponent, Frank Hsieh, the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) nominee, with a lead of around 20 [...]

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While all eyes are focused on Taiwan’s Presidential election in March, the more imminent Taiwan legislative election may generate more emotional heat and have greater long-term significance for the island’s 23 million people. Next week, on January 12th, Taiwan’s voters will for the first time choose their legislative representatives using a new electoral system. Once [...]

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