The latest news in Japan is Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara recalling ambassador to Russia over Russian President Medvedev's recent trip to some disputed island between the two countries. The disputed islands are near the most northern tip of Japan. (Coverages from: Japan Times, China Daily, and Russia Today.) Map to the left with the 'A' flag is one of the islands under … [Read more...] about Japan recalls ambassador to Russia over Medvedev trip to disputed islands
politics
Rare Earth Rebalancing
Peter Lee recently penned an interesting article in the Asia Times. There has been a lot of posturing and false reports about China's use of rare earth ban as political leverage against Japan - and maybe even against the U.S. and the E.U. Despite the hot air, none of these reports have been substantiated and most are probably media reports (i.e. propaganda) planted by … [Read more...] about Rare Earth Rebalancing
A lesson from the history books – “Our Chinese Allies”
In response to Wukailong's recent comment, I dug up an old post I had left undone from a few months ago. In the run up to the World expo, I was surprised to see how the coverage of Shanghai in the West had been much less politicized than those on Beijing (and China in general) in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics. Check out for example, these interesting articles on Shanghai … [Read more...] about A lesson from the history books – “Our Chinese Allies”
Is it Ever Possible for the West to See a “Responsible” China?
Many in the West have tried to coax China to act more "responsibly." But is it possible for China to ever act "responsibly"? I don't think so - not because China is inherently not "responsible," but because an "irresponsible" China is born out of the imagination of an insecure West. In this atmosphere, the only way for the West to deem China to be "responsible" is for China to … [Read more...] about Is it Ever Possible for the West to See a “Responsible” China?
Top 5 things I thank, wish for in the U.S. of A.
America being the victor of the Cold War means she is the undisputed super power right now. The last two decades could have gone worse, but if we look back, there are a lot of positives. In the context of China, America finally accepted her into the WTO and abolished the discriminatory MFN exclusion. We saw inflow of capital into China which helped China's continued growth … [Read more...] about Top 5 things I thank, wish for in the U.S. of A.