Tokyo's Trials: Can the DPJ Change Japan
Yoichi Funabashi

The rise to power of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) after half a century of almost uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could bring profound changes to Japan. It now stands a better chance of becoming a two-party system, with real political competition, than at any time since 1890, when it held its first election. However, ...

Changing North Korea
Andrei Lankov

When it comes to dealing with North Korea the United States and its allies have no efficient methods of coercion at their disposal; the regime is remarkably immune to outside pressure. Its leaders cannot afford change, so they make sure their state continues to be an international threat, using nuclear blackmail as a survival tactic while their unlucky subjects endure more poverty and terror. Since outside pressure is ineffective

Asia Treading Near Overconfidence
Andres Oppenheimer

Perusing the newsstand in the Hong Kong airport, I saw something that caught my eye: most of the books were about China's -- and Asia's -- allegedly unstoppable rise to the world's foremost superpower. Among the books were New Asian Emperors, A Bull in China, China Shakes the World and China into the Future. In the magazines section, you could see The Economist's cover reading, 'Asia's astonishing rebound.' I was surprised by this outburst of buoyancy because in several trips to Asia in recent years, I had found the opposite

Asia Economy: Tamed Asian Tigers, Distressed Chinese Dragon
by Brian P. Klein and Kenneth Neil Cukier

Since the 1960s, Asian economies have focused primarily on exports. It was the key to success in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Much of Southeast Asia and China soon followed suit. Over the past decade, the region's exports have increased from 37 percent to 47 percent of GDP. By hitching their wagons to exports, however, Asian countries left themselves vulnerable to a drop-off in Western consumption

Addressing China's Fear Of North Korean Collapse
Joseph S. Nye Jr. Interview

It is by now a cliche to say that greater pressure from China can force North Korea to change. The problem is that China has two objectives: They want a de-nuclearized North Korea, but they also want a North Korea that doesn't collapse into chaos on their borders. The consequence of these cross-purposes is that the Chinese have been reluctant to use the leverage they have

Indian Ocean: Center Stage for 21st Century Struggles Between India & China
by Robert D. Kaplan

Competition between India and China suggests that the Indian Ocean is where global struggles will play out in the twenty-first century. The old borders of the Cold War map are crumbling fast, and Asia is becoming a more integrated unit, from the Middle East to the Pacific.

Tiananmen's Enduring Challenge
by Wang Dan

Twenty years have passed since our landmark demonstrations in Tiananmen Square for democracy and free speech and against corruption. And during this time, China has changed in important ways. Economic reforms have allowed millions of Chinese people to lift their families out of poverty, and many in China find their lives changed for the better. But the central causes the Tiananmen generation, students and citizens alike, took up remain unresolved: corruption, workers' rights, free speech and the need for government reform to address the needs of China's 1.3 billion people.

 

Thai protesters vow to stay put
Thai 'red shirt' opposition demonstrators say they plan to stay in Bangkok indefinitely, albeit in smaller numbers.

UN body rejects bluefin tuna ban
A US- and EU-backed bid to ban trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna fails, raising fears for the species' future.

China irked by UK rights report
China accuses Britain of staging a political show after its official review of human rights is highly critical of Beijing's record.

Burma releases jailed US activist
Burma's military government frees a democracy activist and US citizen jailed in February for three years.

China warning on Rio Tinto trial
China warns against politicising the imminent Rio Tinto trial, after Australia expresses concern over how it will be conducted.

Kidnapped Chinese fishermen freed
Seven Chinese fishermen kidnapped from their boats off Cameroon's disputed Bakassi peninsula are released.

UK to produce Nissan electric car
Nissan is to build its new electric car, the Leaf, in Sunderland, safeguarding hundreds of jobs, the Japanese firm announces.

'Hobbit' island's deeper history
New tool discoveries push back the date for the earliest human occupation of Flores Island, home of the famous hobbit species.

Aid flown to cyclone-struck Fiji
Australia and New Zealand begin airlifting aid to Fiji, as it starts to pick up the pieces after a category four cyclone.

Hobbit film to begin shooting in New Zealand in July
Shooting of the long-awaited film version of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit is set to begin in New Zealand in July.

Chong Wei secures All England Badminton win
World number one Lee Chong Wei clinches his first All England Championship with a 21-19 21-19 win over Kenichi Tago.

Dominant Pacquiao beats Clottey
Manny Pacquiao dominates Joshua Clottey from the opening bell to retain his WBO welterweight title.

Blood curse
Symbolism and the supernatural used in Thai stand-off

Bryant's Australia
What advice would UK and Australian opposition swap?

In pictures
The Vietnamese teenagers hooked on online gaming

Thai views
'We don't talk politics at home to avoid big fights'

Culture clash
Greenpeace takes on Japan young's whaling apathy

Shopping spree
Man who bought gadgets for North Korea's Kim Jong-il

Missing Chinese lawyer Gao 'fine'
The brother of a missing human rights lawyer tells the BBC he is "fine", without shedding light on where he could be.

Japan increases stimulus measures
Japan's central bank increases a stimulus measure aimed at encouraging financial institutions to lend more.

Thaksin given Montenegro passport
Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been granted citizenship by Montenegro and is currently visiting the country, officials say.

UN says 227m escape life in slums
Nearly a quarter of a billion people escaped from a life in the slums over the past decade, the United Nations says.

Australia boat blast 'deliberate'
A coroner in Australia rules an asylum seekers' boat was deliberately set on fire by three Afghan refugees.

China GDP 'to grow 9.5% in 2010'
The World Bank raises its forecast for economic growth in China during 2010 to 9.5% from an earlier estimate of 9%.

Australia warns China on Rio case
Australia's prime minister tells China the world will be watching the trial of Rio Tinto employees, which begins next week.

Google clients seek China plans
Firms in China that sell advertising on Google demand clarity about the internet company's plans in the region.

Child migrant's 'stolen life'
A child migrant on the trauma of being sent Down Under

Xinjiang's 'internet prison'
Blogger in China's Xinjiang describes restrictions

Anger in China over censorship
Internet censorship has been one of the most widely discussed subjects in blogs, message forums and social media networks in China over the past month.

Beijingers get back on their bikes
Beijing's silent invasion of electric bicycles

Uzbek refugees in Sweden
Homesick Andijan survivors amazed by life in Sweden

Meeting China's non-communists
Meeting China's non-communist politicians

Legal limbo stalls Thai industry
Environmental limbo threatens Thai recovery

Beating the odds in POW camp
Survivor of Japan's POW camps breaks 65 year silence

Thailand's coup confusion
Rumours of plots abound as Thailand judges Thaksin

BBC News | Asia-Pacific | World Edition
Get the latest BBC News from Asia-Pacific: breaking news, views and analysis plus audio and video from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Time for shift to greater Afghan responsibility for peace and stability - UN official
The time has come to transform the relationship between Afghanistan and its partners to enable greater responsibility on the part of Afghans themselves and an increasingly supporting role for the international community as the country strives to achieve peace and development, a senior United Nations official said today.

Asia-Pacific nations must ramp up cooperation in health sector - UN official
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region must step up their cooperation to tackle the threat of highly infectious diseases - including H1N1 - crossing borders, a senior United Nations official said today.

UN agency uses local mills in Pakistan's Swat Valley to improve access to food
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has contracted eight mills in Pakistan's conflict-affected Swat Valley to produce fortified wheat flour in a bid to boost the local economy and make food more easily accessible to families in the area.

UNICEF emergency supplies ready for cyclone-hit Fiji, Solomon Islands
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is on standby with emergency relief supplies for thousands of people in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, which were pummeled by heavy winds and rains from two extreme cyclones.

Expert panel for Sri Lanka will not infringe on sovereignty - Ban
The panel of experts being set up by the United Nations as part of an accountability process following the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka will not infringe on the country's sovereignty, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

Sustainable public transit takes centre stage at UN forum in Seoul
Transport experts and municipal authorities from major cities across Asia have gathered today at a United Nations meeting in Seoul to examine how a well integrated system of buses, subways and trains can contribute to sustainable development.

Afghan reconciliation process must respect constitutional order, Ban says
Cautioning against a militarization of the overall effort towards greater peace and democracy in Afghanistan, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says there is growing consensus for a political process to end the conflict, as well as for the establishment of a programme to reintegrate low- and mid-level insurgents who wish to give up fighting.

Human rights situation in DPR Korea is bleak, independent UN expert says
The many instances of harrowing and horrific human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will continue unless certain measures at the national and international levels are taken, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the country said today.

Ban mourns death of deputy head of UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today mourned the death of his deputy envoy in Timor-Leste who passed away last night, paying tribute to his dedication to helping the people of the fledgling nation consolidate sustainable peace and stability.

No indication Myanmar will release prisoners ahead of elections - UN rights expert
An independent United Nations human rights expert who recently visited Myanmar said today that there is no indication that the Government is willing to release political prisoners ahead of national elections scheduled for later this year.

UN News Centre - Asia Pacific
A world of news from the world organization.

 

Nobel Laureates Urge Inquiry into Junta Crimes
Because the Burmese Constitution provides immunity for the junta and its crimes, the only hope for prosecution is through international law.

Japan and Southeast Asia Take Stock of China's Rise
As China's economic and political rise makes itself felt in Asia, Japan and Southeast Asia face serious foreign policy dilemmas in the coming years.

China-U.S. Rivalry Intensifies
Obama is set to meet the Dalai Lama, while the United States and China have already had a number of issues stoking the contention and competition between them recently.

Taiwan's Relief Efforts in Haiti
The people and government of Taiwan are no strangers to natural disaster, and their history has galvanized them to do as much as possible to help bring Haiti to its feet.

Forced Repatriation of Karen Refugees
Despite the risk of land mines and the fact that many refugees don't want to go, the Thai government is set to start moving Karen refugees back to Burma this month.

Announcement of Burmese Election?
Sources close to Burma's junta leader say that an announcement may be coming in February regarding a timetable for an upcoming election.

The Political Role of Nepalese Women
Although women in Nepal have made great strides in recent decades, taking on greater roles in politics, leadership is needed to further their advancement.

Nobel Laureates Urge Inquiry into Junta Crimes
Because the Burmese Constitution provides immunity for the junta and its crimes, the only hope for prosecution is through international law.

Chinese Public Opposes Great Firewall
Not surprisingly, the people of China are not happy with the way their government is monitoring and filtering material on the Internet.

Churches Bear Brunt of Anger in Malaysia
A court ruling to allow the use of the word "Allah" in Christian publications is causing divisions among the diverse people of Malaysia.

The Stolen Generations of Australia
Three decades after a brutal period in their history, indigenous Australians are still struggling for land rights and identity on their native soil.

Karen Refugees Have a White Christmas in Ireland
With the level of destruction in Burma on scale with Darfur, some Karen refugees are resettling in the cold climate of Ireland.

Lament over Democracy in Fiji
Fiji has been battling ethnic, political and military complexities for decades, complexities that tend to be oversimplified when diagnosed by media outlets of neighboring countries.

Burma Threatens Thailand's Stability
According to Bangkok's governor, the Myanmar army in neighboring Burma is a force of regional instability and fueling an arms race.

India and Pakistan Post-26/11
Since the attacks on Mumbai, India has taken steps to prevent another atrocity. Their Pakistani neighbors, however, are another story.

Looking Beyond the U.S.-Asean Summit
Although Obama may have met with leaders of Southeast Asia as a way to counter China, the economic interests of the United States, China and the rest of Southeast Asia are very much tied up with one another.

Hun Sen Upsets Thailand's Apple Cart
The Cambodian prime minister is rattling the cage of neighboring Thailand by offering its ousted ex-premier a position as an economics advisor.

The Yuan Underrated, China Overrated
Despite the appreciation that China's currency has seen, and despite the American debt it holds, China still had a long way to go if it is to step to the forefront of innovation.

Taiwan's Vision for International Climate Change Cooperation
Taiwan intends to share its environmental protection initiatives with the international community, working in multilateral collaboration to safeguard both environmental and human health.

China: Media Summit Participants Should Push for Press Freedom
Although the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, both Chinese journalists and foreign correspondents are regularly harassed, detained, and intimidated by government officials.

All in on Climate Change
Australian Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull is willing to put his leadership on the line over carbon emissions.

Nepali Students in New York Call for Government Accountability
Demonstrators aimed to remind Nepalis everywhere that they have to take an active role in holding their government accountable for its promises.

Short-Stay Trips to China
Even in a limited timeframe, a visit to Beijing and Xian can offer a remarkable package of destinations, from Tiananmen Square to the Great Wall.

Indian Festivals Celebrate Communal Harmony
Despite terrorist attacks in the country, Indian festivals continue to set examples of religious brotherhood and encourage unity in diversity.

Ten-Year Anniversary in East Timor
After 10 years of independence, which were preceded by 24 brutal years of occupation, East Timor continues its long, steady climb out of devastation.

Ghosts from Past Continue To Haunt India's B.J.P. Party
Internal struggles continue to stall India's political development, while a younger, more progressive generation tries to push toward modernity.

Encomium for the Life of Sardar Patel
India's influential statesman had a massive effect on India in terms of civil disobedience, the national liberation movement and diplomatic relations throughout his life.

Asian News from World Press Review
World News Review

 

Rating agency gives India vote of confidence
India received a vote of confidence in its economy when Standard & Poor's removed a negative outlook on the country's sovereign credit rating, citing the prospect that the budget deficit will begin to fall

Seoul cuts North Korean lifeline
South Korea is phasing out sand imports from North Korea in a big blow to the impoverished regime which is already suffering a loss of revenue due to confiscated arms shipments and bungled currency policy

China's exports powerhouse lifts wages
Guangdong, the province that produces about a third of China's exports, is to raise its minimum wage more than 20 per cent, fuelling inflation fears and dealing a blow to manufacturers emerging from the credit crisis

Asia's inflation genie leaps out of the bottle
As the rest of the world worries about economic growth, angry complaints from consumers have turned Asian policymakers' minds to a different problem: rapidly rising inflation

US believes top al-Qaeda planner killed
A US drone strike in Pakistan last week appears to have killed a top al-Qaeda planner who Washington believes helped organize December's deadly suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan, US officials said

Pakistan premier pushes for greater powers
Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, is strongly pushing for the imminent transfer of powers from the country's presidency to the prime minister's office in an effort to reverse a much-resented concentration of powers under military rule

War comes home for Brown in rural town
A loose band of residents have turned the rural town of Wootton Bassett into the place where the Afghan war literally comes home for Britain

Oil groups urge Indian wealth fund
India is facing demands from the local state-owned oil industry to create its first sovereign wealth fund to compete with China in the race to secure global energy assets

BoJ move is more than a smokescreen
The Bank of Japan's decision to lend an extra Y10,000bn to banks for three months at 0.1 per cent was not only a smokescreen, the move is also meant to show that it is ready to support a shaky economic recovery.

German creditor tires of Beijing big wheel
German investors in the world's biggest observation wheel face large potential losses after a creditor seized control of the project in Beijing

BoJ boosts bank loan programme
The Bank of Japan has moved to head off government and market pressure to do more about deflation by doubling the amount available to banks through a loan scheme

Thai protest fizzles out
Dramatic scenes of red-shirted protesters hurling blood at the house of the Thai prime minister have proved no more than impressive theatrics, as the 'million-man march' fizzles out.

World Bank raises China growth forecast
The World Bank has raised its growth forecast for China this year to 9.5 per cent, although it warned that tighter monetary policy and a stronger currency were needed to prevent bubbles and rising inflationary expectations

Burma's ethnic minority counts cost of war
The military state has widened its offensive against Karen guerrillas and villagers as Rangoon prepares for elections, pushing thousands over the border into camps where they live in misery

Beijing warned of business damage from text crackdown
Chinese internet company says crackdown on mobile text messaging is starting to hurt its business

FT.com - World, Asia Pacific
FT.com - World, Asia Pacific

 

A brash face rattles China
Bo Xilai has turned the city of Chongqing - home to such multinationals as Intel and Hewlett-Packard - upside down in the biggest crackdown on crime in China's recent history. The zealous Communist Party chief has endeared himself to people across the country for his unflinching graft-busting. For party leaders in Beijing, though, Bo's anti-corruption drive disguises naked political ambitions that need to be stopped. - Kent Ewing (Mar 18, '10)

Afghanistan spy contract goes sour
The Pentagon has placed one of its top officials under criminal investigation for allegedly running a covert network of contractors to supply information for drone strikes and assassinations in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the United States government. The situation raises the question: Was Mike Furlong running rogue operations or did he have tacit approval from his bosses? - Pratap Chatterjee (Mar 18, '10)

OBAMA GOES HOME : Jakarta return a unique opportunity
When President Barack Obama, known as Barry Soetoro when he was a schoolboy in Jakarta, meets President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who earned a master's degree in the United States, it will be a unique opportunity for the US and Indonesia to overcome decades of misunderstanding between two of the world's largest democracies. - Gary LaMoshi (Mar 18, '10)

Sensitive issues call for a soft touch
As well as a chance to emphasize the importance of Indonesia and Southeast Asia to American interests, Obama's visit to Indonesia is full of issues that require him to tread carefully. The role of Islam in the secular state, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the normalization of military ties are among sensitive topics. China's shadow looms large, and Obama may have India in mind too. - Peter J Brown (Mar 18, '10)

Karzai faces anger in Marjah
In the days following Afghan President Hamid Karzai's recent visit to Marjah, which was met with both outrage and praise, the number of civilian casualties in the US-led operation there remains disputed. According to the Helmand governor, only 15 people died, while local people put the figure at 40. Meanwhile, some refugees say the situation is still too volatile for them to return home. - Aziz Ahmad Tassal (Mar 18, '10)

US-Israel spat heads for a showdown
General David Petraeus, the chief of Central Command, has called Israel an obstacle to the strategic aims of the United States in the Middle East while Washington has canceled its peace envoy's trip to that region. Despite talk of an "unshakeable bond", relations remain tense ahead of the visit to the US of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. - Jim Lobe (Mar 18, '10)

Lights, camera, action ...
The show between Israel and the United States last week was aimed at impressing on the Chinese that the Israelis are serious about striking at Iran's nuclear facilities - so serious they are prepared to put US forces in the Persian Gulf in danger. The hope is that such scare tactics will bring China on board for even tougher sanctions on Iran. - David Moon (Mar 18, '10)

Shaikh takes on Pakistan economy
Hafeez Shaikh, who won praise when overseeing Pakistan's privatization drive under General Pervez Musharraf, is to take over former finance minister Shaukat Tarin's job as government finance advisor. With a tumbling rupee, high inflation and a widening trade deficit, Shaikh is not short of challenges. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider

US-China trade war talk heats up
United States senators Charles E Schumer and Lindsey Graham are ramping up pressure on the Chinese government to appreciate the yuan or face the consequences, showing that strained domestic economies are fertile ground for mud-slinging. - Eli Clifton

Stocks ride out Erdogan offensive
Turkey's stock markets have reacted with apparent equanimity to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's moves to shake up Turkey's Constitutional Court while also confronting opposition within the military. That points to the strength of the economy. A long-term provocative strategy by Erdogan may not be constructive. - Robert M Cutler

Russia, Kazakhstan mull trade revival
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart, Karim Masimov, have renewed pledges to boost bilateral trade. Increased Kazakh electricity sales to Russia could be one result. Early progress on other energy-related issues appears unlikely. - Sergei Blagov

Asia Times Online
News and business analysis from Asia

 

Change Comes to Myanmar, but Only on the Junta’s Terms
Myanmar may be slowly moving away from years of authoritarianism and Soviet-style economic policies that have left most of its people in dire poverty.

Taliban Hit Back in Marja With a Campaign of Intimidation
Though fighters have left the Afghan town, agitators have remained as part of an effort to undermine U.S. attempts to establish a strong local government.

China Accused of Selling Bad Vaccines
A newspaper article has reawakened a controversy over whether provincial authorities improperly stored vaccines, rendering them ineffective, and then let them be administered to children.

Tiger Deaths Raise Alarms about Chinese Zoos
A zoo where 11 rare Siberian tigers recently starved to death is fast becoming a symbol of the mistreatment of animals in China.

China Drawing High-Tech Research From U.S.
American companies with factories in China are now building high-tech research labs there as well.

Drone Strike Said to Kill a Leader of Al Qaeda
A recent drone strike killed a commander who helped plan the killing of C.I.A. staff at an Afghanistan base.

5 Americans Held in Pakistan Plead Not Guilty to Terrorism Charges
The Americans, who traveled to Pakistan from the Washington suburbs and were detained in December, pleaded not guilty.

As Deflation Fears Persist, Japan Eases Monetary Policy
The Japanese government has urged the monetary authorities to stimulate the economy further by flooding the banking sector with cash.

World Bank Urges China to Bolster Rates and Let Currency Rise
In its quarterly assessment of China, the organization forecast 9.5 percent growth for 2010 and 8.7 percent for next year.

N. Korea Is Said to Execute Finance Chief
The fate of Pak Nam-gi, who is said to have spearheaded a botched currency reform, became an object of speculation after absences from official functions.

Thai Protests to Continue
Antigovernment demonstrators said that they would continue their protests through the weekend, and announced plans for a parade through Bangkok.

China Fails to Dispel Mystery About Missing Dissident
The Foreign Ministry said the dissident, Gao Zhisheng, had been sentenced to prison but did not say where he was or whether it was referring to an old prison sentence.

Afghanistan Says It Enacted Law to Pardon War Crimes
Human rights groups have attacked the measure, which grants blanket immunity for acts committed before the fall of the Taliban.

Pressure Grows in U.S. Over China’s Currency
In light of the unemployment rate, members of Congress from both parties are calling on the administration to act.

Iran Unlikely to Develop a Nuclear Weapon This Year, Petraeus Says
Gen. David H. Petraeus said the country still remained the greatest threat to stability in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Terror Suspect Likely to Change Plea
David C. Headley, who has been tied to high-level figures in the militant group responsible for the Mumbai attacks in 2008, is expected to plead guilty.

World Briefing | Asia: Pakistan: Drone Strikes Reported
Two suspected American missile strikes killed at least seven militants in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, Pakistani officials said.

World Briefing | Asia: China: Film Star Responds to Accusations on Quake Charity
Zhang Ziyi, the best-known Chinese actress internationally, has denied accusations that she committed fraud while trying to raise money for earthquake victims.

World Briefing | Asia: Afghanistan: Pledge for Kandahar
The government will provide more than 1,000 police reinforcements for the southern province in response to Taliban attacks that have killed dozens of people there.

Names of the Dead
The Department of Defense confirmed the deaths of the following Americans on Tuesday.

U.S. Is Reining In Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan
Action by the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, was taken in part because of concern over civilian casualties.

The Female Factor: An Afghan Politician Pushes for a Comeback
Malalai Joya has received so many death threats that she lives what she calls a fugitive’s life in her own country.

China Compensates Evicted Artists
A small group who held a daring protest in Beijing last month is getting compensation for giving up claims to property, a representative of the artists said Monday.

Indian Cabinet Backs Foreign Schools
The bill, which awaits a decision by Parliament, suggested that the country’s higher education system cannot cope with rising demand.

World Briefing | Asia: Vietnam: Human Rights Advocate Is Released
Rev. Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2007 for disseminating antigovernment propaganda.

World Briefing | Asia: China: Scores Found to Have Lead Poisoning
At least 94 people living near a lead factory in Sichuan Province, 88 of them children, tested positive for lead poisoning, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

China Uses Rules on Global Trade to Its Advantage
Beijing uses inconsistencies in international trade rules to spur its own economy at the expense of others.

Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants
A Defense Department official set up a private network of spies in Pakistan and Afghanistan to gather intelligence on insurgents, according to officials.

For Philippine Family in Politics, Land Issue Hits Home
A disputed plantation is owned by the extended family of a presidential candidate, Benigno Aquino III, whose mother started a land reform program.

Shaken Afghan City Seeks More Support From Kabul
A day after a series of bombings, officials appealed to the central government to send more security forces and expand intelligence gathering in Kandahar.

China Issues Warning to Major Partners of Google
Authorities warned that Google’s partners must comply with censorship laws even if the search giant does not, an industry expert said.

Chinese Leader Defends Currency and Policies
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao charged that the developed world was seeking to force unfair changes in China’s economic policies “just for the purposes of increasing their own exports.”

Henry Kissinger Is Released From Hospital in South Korea
The former United States secretary of state was released after treatment for stomach pains, a spokesman for the hospital said.

Suicide Bomber Kills 13 at Checkpoint in Pakistan
The attacker was driving a motorized rickshaw and wounded more than 50 people.

Explosions Rock Afghan City, Killing Dozens
Two of the attacks occurred near Kandahar’s police headquarters and prison, while the other targets were still unclear, officials said.

Karzai Reverses on Vote Auditors
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has agreed to reverse an earlier decision and allow two foreigners on a commission that will monitor parliamentary elections.

Jailed Sri Lankan Opposition Leader Calls Charges Against Him 'Bogus'
The day his court martial began in Sri Lanka's capital, Gen. Sarath Fonseka, a former army commander and presidential candidate, managed to smuggle out answers to questions submitted to him in writing by Britain's Channel 4 News.

Under Fire, Reporters Befriend Afghan Frog
Stuart Webb, a cameraman for Britain's Channel 4 News embedded with British troops in Afghanistan, filed a video blog post on Tuesday that showed how he and a colleague, Alex Thomson, attempted to keep their cool while pinned down in a stream during a firefight - by making friends with a frog.

Video of Thai Blood-Spilling Protest
Opponents of the Thai government poured buckets of their own blood at the gates of the prime minister's office on Tuesday to

Video Shows Aftermath of Lahore Bombings
Video showed the aftermath of a bombing in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Friday.

A Host of Mummies, a Forest of Secrets
Chinese archaeologists unearthed a 4,000-year-old cemetery in Xinjiang Province that seemed to be a vanished people’s paean to the pleasures or utility of procreation.

Letter from China: China's Rich Debate Tax on Property
The biggest earners are influential in deciding whether China should implement a property tax. Most are against it, as it would come out of their pockets.

Pacquiao’s Focus Turns From Boxing to Politics
Manny Pacquiao won his latest fight, but the prospect of a bigger one against Floyd Mayweather Jr. hovers over his plans to run for a seat in the Philippine Congress.

NYT > Asia Pacific

 

China's exports powerhouse lifts wages
Guangdong, the province that produces about a third of China's exports, is to raise its minimum wage more than 20 per cent, fuelling inflation fears and dealing a blow to manufacturers emerging from the credit crisis

World Bank raises China growth forecast
The World Bank has raised its growth forecast for China this year to 9.5 per cent, although it warned that tighter monetary policy and a stronger currency were needed to prevent bubbles and rising inflationary expectations

China Mobile calls on Apple to adapt iPhone
Mobile group's head calls on Apple to include the country's local mobile standard in the next iPhone upgrade

China names date for Rio Tinto staff trial
The trial of Stern Hu and three other employees of the Anglo-Australian mining group detained nine months ago, and later charged with stealing commercial secrets and taking bribes, will begin on Monday in Shanghai

The weak renminbi is not just America's problem
The Chinese currency requires a multilateral rules based solution rather than a bilateral confrontation. What is needed is a new rule in the World Trade Organisation proscribing undervalued exchange rates, writes Arvind Subramanian

Poverty blights the dream of Hong Kong
A tradition of small government and a free-market philosophy of 'positive non-interventionism' have little to offer if you are living in a cage, writes David Pilling

German creditor tires of Beijing big wheel
German investors in the world's biggest observation wheel face large potential losses after a creditor seized control of the project in Beijing

Beijing warned of business damage from text crackdown
Chinese internet company says crackdown on mobile text messaging is starting to hurt its business

China and Germany unite to impose global deflation
Suggestions from Schäuble and Wen would hit their own economies if followed through, writes Martin Wolf. But it is not too late for a co-operative approach

China's property bubble is worse than it looks
If the renminbi is appreciated, overheating of export sectors will be slowed, while standards of living will improve with higher purchasing power, writes Takatoshi Ito

China asks US groups to back it on currency
China urged US multinationals to lobby the Obama administration against taking protectionist measures over the renminbi, just as attitudes towards Beijing appear to be hardening in the US Congress

Congress letter urges action on renminbi
More than 100 members of the US Congress on Monday called on the Obama administration to label China a currency manipulator, in a move that highlighted the pressure on Washington to take a more confrontational stance towards Beijing'

Obama faces test of ties with Beijing
Other issues pale in comparison with the overriding economic priority of, as Washington sees it, righting the balance with China specifically and Asia generally

China's irregular recyclers face scrapheap
China is often accused of destroying its environment in the name of economic growth. But the same naked capitalism is hard at work in Shanghai, cleaning up the mess

Chinese broadcasters sense change
Mainland TV industry, a bastion of information control for the country's ruling Communist party, slowly transforming from within because of pressure for commercial success

FT.com - China
FT.com - China

 

Kidnapped Sahil returns to the UK
Five-year-old Sahil Saeed returns to the family home in Oldham, as three people are charged with his kidnapping in Pakistan.

Indian children 'sacrifice' probe
Five children poisoned to death in a village in India may have been sacrificed, police say.

No pardon for Sri Lankan general
Sri Lanka's president rules out an early pardon for defeated presidential rival Sarath Fonseka.

Civilians shot by Pakistan forces
Security forces shoot dead at least two civilians in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

Key al-Qaeda man 'died in strike'
A key al-Qaeda man, wanted for a deadly attack on a CIA base, was killed in a drone strike, US officials believe.

'Lost' Indian boy to return home
An Indian boy found abandoned in London two years ago can now return home after he is granted travel documents.

Nepal bus crash kills at least 24
At least 24 people are killed in Nepal when a crowded bus veers off a mountain road and plunges into a river, officials say.

Indians sentenced for 'sex texts'
A string of steamy text messages results in a three month jail sentence for an Indian man and an Indian woman in Dubai.

US men on Pakistan terror charges
Five young Americans held in Pakistan since December are charged with terrorism offences, their lawyer says.

Second cash garland fuels row over India low-caste icon
Indian politician Mayawati defies her critics by accepting another money garland, worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Is India's Maoist insurgency a doomed revolution?
Soutik Biswas on life in India

Imran critical of Pakistan set-up
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan says the country's cricket structure needs to be changed to help revive the fortunes of the national team.

Pakistan postpones national games
The Pakistan Olympic Association postpones the country's annual national games, due to be held in Peshawar, for security reasons.

Security fears
But cricket fans still have fun at IPL game in Delhi

Stepping stone
Helping India's Muslims get into the best schools

War of words
Taliban reach out by harnessing power of the web

Indian paradox
Highly developed Kerala's economy is in a mess

Mother's joy
Relief over the release of Pakistan child kidnap victim

Soaring pay
But in India food prices are rising faster

UN says 227m escape life in slums
Nearly a quarter of a billion people escaped from a life in the slums over the past decade, the United Nations says.

Iran and Pakistan sign gas deal
Pakistan and Iran sign a $7.6bn deal to build a long-delayed pipeline to transport Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

Afghan burka-clad bombers killed
Afghan security forces shoot dead two burka-clad militants who attacked a charity in the city of Lashkar Gah.

Sri Lanka general trial adjourned
The second of two courts martial set up to try Sri Lanka's ex-army chief, Sarath Fonseka, is abruptly adjourned.

US Mumbai suspect 'changes plea'
A US man accused over the 2008 Mumbai attacks plans to change his plea to guilty on some charges, US court officials say.

Pakistan militants hit checkpoint
Five security personnel are killed by militants in an attack on a security checkpoint in north-west Pakistan, police say.

Dozens killed in Afghan bus crash
At least 32 people die when a bus crashes into a truck on a treacherous pass in northern Afghanistan, officials say.

Pakistan hit by twin drone strike
Eight militants die in the second suspected double drone strike in as many days in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

S Lanka denies 'hit list' charge
Sri Lanka's presidential office denies there is a list of activists and journalists who are targeted by the government.

Two UK soldiers killed in Helmand
Two British soldiers have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the MoD says.

Kidnapped Sahil found in Pakistan
The family of a five-year-old British boy who was kidnapped while in Pakistan say they are "ecstatic" after he is found.

India's Essar 'planning UK float'
Indian conglomerate Essar Group is reported to be planning to float on the London Stock Exchange, a move that could raise up to $3bn.

India to review economy stimulus
India's government unveils its annual budget, saying that stimulus measures introduced to boost growth must be reviewed.

Passions high
Proposed Indian nuclear plant angers farmers

Paradise lost?
Bulldozers menace remote beauty of Indian state

Bangladesh experts on the web
Doctors reach rural Bangladesh via the web

Cricket battle for Pakistan
Why Pakistan bans may have come five years too late

Thin red line against Taliban
Lone stand of anti-Taliban militia in Pakistan

'Liberation for Indian women'
Celebrated dancer Mallika Sarabhai explains what reserving parliamentary seats for women in India means to her.

BBC News | World | South Asia | UK Edition
Get the latest BBC News from South Asia: breaking news, features, analysis and debate plus audio and video coverage from across the South Asia region.

 

Where Have All the Fish Gone?
The collapse of America’s West Coast Salmon fishery has an eerily familiar ring to it. Are the oceans dying?

Rice Shortages Could Fuel Unrest
Food shortages in southeast Asia could foreshadow a coming global food crisis.

Selling America for Designer Boots, Top Hats and Thimbles
Like a near-concluded game of Monopoly, America is selling off its last properties to maintain its lavish lifestyle.

Russia Bolstering Its Position Via Strategic Arms Sales
Russian President Vladimir Putin is strengthening his Asian alliances using a potentially dangerous tool.

Australian Stock Market Plunges
Yesterday’s tumble in Australia’s stock market traces back to problems in the U.S. housing market.

China Plays Nice With Neighbors
Beijing continues its policy of courting rather than confronting certain states. It will remember to collect those favors.

Thailand's Royal Anchor
As civil unrest continues in the south of the country, the people of Thailand look to their enduring monarch as a firm anchor in a time of increasing turmoil.

Asia's Economic Integration Continues
Growth in trade between China and ASEAN is laying the groundwork for a free-trade zone throughout Asia. This trend has huge implications worthy of considering.

Bali Blasts: Terror Returns to Southeast Asia
What terrorism in Indonesia means for the Western world, Asia and radical Islam.

Asia's Dire Straits

Meltdown Ahead?

Changing of the Guard
The decline of U.S.-British control over the world’s sea gates

Why Indonesia Matters
Now that President Suharto has resigned, everything is back to normal in Indonesia, right? Wrong. Massive forces of anarchy are at work, and the potential for global economic disaster still exists. As much as one-half of world trade is at risk and radical Islam may be stalking Indonesia!

Rescuing the Rich
In Southeast Asia, currency devaluations and other austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund are devastationg common workers while wealthy investors and bankers are being bailed out. Fair? No. Typical? Very!

theTrumpet.com: Southeast Asia
theTrumpet.com -- Understand your world.

 

Obama Postpones Indonesia, Australia Trip Until June
President will remain in Washington to help push his health care reform plan through Congress

US, China Exchange Words Over Currency and Trade
Two countries should not let disagreements prevent them from working together on range of global issues, says US ambassador to China

Petraeus Stresses Avoiding Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
According to UN, 2,412 Afghan civilians died last year, a 14 percent increase over previous year

China Warns Australia Not to Politicize Rio Tinto Spying Case
Warning comes after Australian PM Kevin Rudd said world would be watching how China conducts trial

Ancient Japanese Art of Origami Thriving in San Francisco
American scientist Robert Lang gave up job to pursue origami, making him one of the few professional origami artists in the country

S. Korea Investigates Media Reports of N. Korean Execution Over Currency Reform
Pak Nam Ki spearheaded last November's surprise revaluation of North Korea's currency, now widely seen as an economic debacle

CIA Director: US Attacks Have Weakened al-Qaida
Leon Panetta says that in intercepted message, al-Qaida lieutenant urged bin Laden to come to group's rescue, provide leadership

Indonesia Islamic Leaders Urge President Obama to Address Mideast Policy
Muslim leaders in Indonesia say they would like the U.S. president to do more than just reach out to the Muslim world

Indian Committee Finds Games Construction Workers Exploited
Charges include laborers working and living in highly dangerous and deplorable conditions, earning less than stipulated minimum wage

Burmese-American Jailed for Fraud Released
Kyaw Zaw Lwin was originally charged with three counts, including plotting subversion

Australia Prepares for Obama Visit
US president will be guest of center-left government that shares many of his policies, but emergence of China could disrupt alliance

General Petraeus Says Training of Afghan Security Forces is Being Overhauled
He also says a recent decision about special operations is not linked to civilian casualties

Drone Strikes Kill 10 in Pakistan
Officials say an unmanned aircraft fired 5 missiles at vehicle carrying militants in North Waziristan

McChrystal: Kandahar Operation Has Begun
US, NATO forces commander in Afghanistan says Kandahar operation will continue for many months

Philippines Concerned About Burma Elections
Foreign secretary raises issue with Burmese counterpart about new laws that ban detained opposition leader from upcoming elections

VOA News: Asia
Asia Voice of America

 

Banyan: The rights approach

India's rights-based activism is bound to yield less than it promises

BESIDE the sluggish, stinking Yamuna river, on Delhi’s eastern edge, Kamli minds her two precious goats. These animals, a mud-built shelter and the fertile scrap of floodplain where the 35-year-old, her husband and five offspring are squatting, are all they have. Kamli sells milk, her husband vegetables, and he and three teenaged sons labour, when they can, on construction sites. This earns them a combined monthly income of around 3,000 rupees ($65). But poor though they are in fixed assets, Kamli and her family, like all Indians, have recently grown rich in legal “rights”. In theory these guarantee them education, health, food and many other boons. What good, students of Indian poverty wonder, does this do them?

So far, not much. None of the family, of dalits, as Hinduism’s former “untouchables” are called, has ever seen a doctor. Kamli says she once tried taking a sick child to a state-run hospital, but was rebuffed. The family’s school record is also poor: only a 14-year-old daughter has ever attended one. From the innumerable schemes that India earmarks for its 400m-odd poor, Kamli says the family receives nothing but some cut-price food—and then only half the ration it is entitled to. ...

Pakistan's role in Afghanistan: Tickets to the endgame

Pakistan wants a say in ending the war, and it knows how to ask

A HIGH-LEVEL delegation of Pakistanis is due to sweep into Washington for the restart on March 24th of a “strategic dialogue” with America. The Pakistanis have muscled their way to the table for what looks like a planning session for the endgame in Afghanistan. The recent arrest of the Taliban’s deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and a clutch of his high-ranking comrades, has won them a seat.

The Pakistani team, led by the foreign minister, will include both the army chief and the head of the army’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). America has upgraded its own representation at the talks, last held in mid-2008, from deputy-secretary to secretary-of-state level. The dialogue is supposed to cover the gamut of bilateral issues, including help for Pakistan’s fragile economy, and even, on its ambitious wish-list, civil nuclear technology. ...

Child pornography in Japan: Outraged innocence

A belated attempt to curb a pernicious form of child pornography

IN HER high-school uniform, neatly brushed hair and sweet smile, the young girl represents the innocence of youth. Next she is naked, having sex and seeming to enjoy it. The manga, or comic book Puru-Mero (Jiggle-Melons), picked up at a convenience store, is meant to titillate. But although children are depicted sexually, the images are not illegal in Japan, because they are illustrations.

This may change. The Tokyo municipal government plans to vote on March 30th to amend an ordinance against child pornography to include “non-existent minors”. Much Japanese porn comes in forms that escape rules covering photos and videos: manga; anime (cartoons); and video-games. Existing bans are meant to protect the child victims. “Virtual” porn—where there is no harm to a real person—is illegal in some countries to protect public morals and ensure a safe environment for children. Last month an American court sentenced a man to six months in prison for possession of Japanese manga child pornography. ...

Homosexuality in China: Collateral damage

Neither comrades nor spouses

“THERE are three ways of being an unfilial son,” argued Mencius, an ancient Confucian philosopher. “The most serious is to have no heir.” The desire for male descendants has had many baleful consequences in China, and in recent years one that used to be hidden has come to light. Millions upon millions of women are trapped in loveless and often miserable marriages to homosexual men. Thanks to the internet their cries for help have been heard widely enough in mainstream culture to earn their plight a commonly accepted abbreviation. They are known as “tongqi”, combing the words “tongzhi”, or comrade, Chinese slang for “gay”, with “qizi”, meaning “wife” in Mandarin.

It is estimated that 15-20% of gay men in America marry heterosexual women. But Liu Dalin, a pioneering sexologist now retired from the University of Shanghai, has put the share in China at 90%. If so, the number of tongqi in China may be as high as 25m. Li Yinhe, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explains this in almost the same terms as Mencius: “The name for a family without descendants is juehu, which means ‘a house that is severed’. That is considered the biggest tragedy and causes huge pain.” ...

Chinese foreign policy: Not pointing or wagging but beckoning

Defensive and assertive in its words, China for the time being has a bark that is worse than its bite

“WE ARE opposed to the practice of engaging in mutual finger-pointing among countries,” said China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, on March 14th, resisting for the moment his own index-finger-wagging habit. Speaking at a news conference, Mr Wen was at pains to dismiss suggestions that Chinese foreign policy was becoming more assertive. Not all Chinese officials seem to have got the message. In their dealings with a stricken West, they appear conflicted.

“There are already views about China’s arrogance, China’s toughness, and China’s inevitable triumph. You have given me an opportunity for me to explain how China conducts itself,” said Mr Wen. The opportunity was a rare one. Mr Wen is the only Politburo member to hold regular press conferences, just once a year at the end of the brief annual rubber-stamping session of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC). He has only two to go before he steps down in 2013. ...

Elections in the Philippines: Vote before the system crashes

Technology complicates life for vote-riggers and counters alike

RIGGED elections and the instability they create have been the bane of the Philippines for much of its democratic history. Filipinos are fervently hoping that the computerisation of the vote-counting in May’s presidential, congressional and local elections will solve the problem. But faith in the technology is less fervent. Many fear it is no solution.

In past elections voters had to write down the names of their preferences for up to 32 national or local positions on blank ballot forms. Their votes were tallied by hand at the precinct, municipal, provincial and finally national levels. Definitive results could take weeks to emerge, giving ample opportunity for vote-padding and shaving. Vote-rigging by President Ferdinand Marcos led to his downfall in 1986. The incumbent president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has had a shaky grip on power since she was accused of rigging her election in 2004. ...

China mulls a property tax: An odd sort of tax

That some liberals want and local governments fear

A GRANDMOTHER killed trying to stop developers flattening her home; university graduates forced to live in crowded slums: China’s ebullient property market has generated many tales of woe, and a promise from the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, to “rein in” the speculators. But calls for this to be achieved with a new property tax have put the government in a bind.

In the past year property prices have surged to new highs in some places, helped by a torrent of carefree lending from state-run banks. Mr Wen made his pledge on March 5th, in a speech to China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), launching its annual ten-day session. The NPC is filled with party loyalists. But some have fretted openly about property bubbles. The government says house prices in 70 cities rose 10.7% in February compared with a year earlier, the fastest rise in 20 months. There are early signs that this is denting sales. In both January and February the volume of housing sales fell sharply from the previous month. ...

Rigging Myanmar's election: Belt, braces and army boots

The generals leave nothing to chance

THE junta ruling Myanmar has had 20 years to digest the lessons from the country’s most recent election. It was trounced by the National League for Democracy, even though the opposition’s charismatic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was already under house arrest. This year on an unnamed date (perhaps its astrologers cannot agree) the junta will hold another election. It will not lose this one.

Election laws published this week do not quite spell out the result. But a “political-parties registration law” bars Miss Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, of whom there are more than 2,000, from belonging to a party because of their criminal convictions. Cut off from politics by her house arrest, Miss Suu Kyi is anyway barred from office as the widow of a foreigner. Her party now has to expel her and other detainees. The law also bans civil servants from joining parties, along with monks, who led anti-government protests in 2007. ...

Banyan : Not whaling but drowning

In a sea of international opprobrium. But a compromise may be at hand

IF YOU’RE tempted by a slab of meat gristle which surrenders little but an ooze of grease when chewed, then you’ll love whale. Add to the sensory experience the accumulated mercury to be found in whale meat. Consider the suffering caused by the hunt to these intelligent mammals; and a military-industrial approach to their extermination. Japan going a-whaling is, to borrow from Oscar Wilde, the unspeakable in pursuit of the almost uneatable.

As with foxhunting in Britain, views seem irreconcilable. Since 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling. Yet every Antarctic summer, Japan sends a whaling fleet south to catch hundreds of whales for “research”. And every year at the IWC’s meeting, pro- and anti-whaling camps gather in sullen deadlock. On the whaling grounds the Japanese fleet encounters the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The ocean warriors hurl rancid butter on Japanese decks, use warps to foul propellers and attempt citizen’s arrests of the whaling captains. Early this year a Sea Shepherd boat sank after a collision. Now an American film has turned a spotlight on Japan’s coastal hunt for cetaceans. “The Cove”, shot largely in secret, shows the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, a village on Japan’s main island. This week it won an Oscar. ...

Indian politics and women: Indian women on the march

An historic change in the offing; but India’s ruling party may be overreaching itself

YELLING dementedly, seven lawmakers mobbed the chairman of the Indian parliament’s upper house on March 8th and tore at the document, containing the women’s reservation bill, he was reading from. Yet the bill passed the next day, with the two-thirds majority needed to change India’s constitution. With broad political support, including from the Congress party that leads India’s coalition government and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the bill could soon clear the lower house and win the support it needs in at least 15 out of 28 state assemblies. The president would then sign it into law: imposing a 33% quota for women in India’s federal and state assemblies.

This would be momentous, especially for India’s half a billion, badly served women. Today’s Lok Sabha, or House of the People, as India’s lower chamber is known, contains 58 women, a record number, but fewer than 11% of the seats. By greatly boosting women’s membership of India’s legislatures, the proposed amendment, its supporters say, will also begin to make a dent in their more grievous suffering—in a country where female fetuses are often aborted, where wives are battered and women earn on average $1,200 a year, less than a third of the male average. A woman can take credit for this: Sonia Gandhi, Congress’s leader, who has pushed the long-mothballed bill against a furious band of dissenters—of a kind that persuaded previous BJP- and Congress-led governments not to touch it. ...

Koreans in Japan: Taxation without representation

The DPJ stumbles in its efforts to grant foreigners the vote

BY RIGHTS, giving long-term South Korean residents in Japan the right to vote in local elections should be uncontroversial. They pay taxes, speak Japanese, and come from families that have lived in Japan for decades. Most were dragged here to work under the colonial cosh before and during the second world war.

A limited move to enfranchise them came from the very top of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). It swept to power last September promising to end prejudices built up under the ousted Liberal Democrats. Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister, backs it. The DPJ’s secretary-general and puppeteer-at-large, Ichiro Ozawa, even assured Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s president, that he would soon push it through the Diet, or parliament. ...

Economic reform in Malaysia: Out with the new

Najib wavers over undoing affirmative-action policies

Update to this article

WHEN Najib Razak took office last April as Malaysia’s prime minister, the timing could hardly have been worse. The export-led economy was in recession. The ruling coalition was in the dumps after an unprecedented near-defeat in elections in March 2008. Opponents warned that Mr Najib’s government would crack down on political dissent to save its skin. ...

India's Muslims and job quotas: The call to poll

Politicians vie for poor-Muslim votes

FIFTEEN years after he migrated with his family to the bright lights of Delhi, Muhammad Naushad has little to show for it. An illiterate 20-year-old weaver, he earns 2,000 rupees ($43) a month, half of which he sends to his mother in the poor state of Bihar. Amid the evening babble of Nizamuddin, a fly-blown Muslim quarter in the heart of India’s capital, Mr Naushad says his only ambition is to get a better job. It is hard to guess what that might be.

He is all too typical of India’s 160m Muslims. Found mostly in its northern and eastern states, poor giants such as Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar and West Bengal, they are among the country’s poorest and least educated people. According to a 2006 government-commissioned report, Muslims are almost as badly off as dalits, Hinduism’s former “untouchables”—a finding made tragic by the dashed hopes it represents: many Indian Muslims once converted from Hinduism to escape that reviled low-caste status. ...

Vietnam's economy: The Tet effect

Worries about renewed overheating

DURING Tet, the lunar new year holiday, money is everywhere in Vietnam. It is dished out to children, gambled in roadside card-games, and splurged on gifts, feasts, and trips to home villages. This leads to an annual bump in inflation. And this year’s spike in the consumer-price index, which rose by 2% in February, seemed bearable at a time of rapid growth. GDP grew by 5.3% last year. It came, however, among some more worrying signs.

On February 10th, just before Tet, the central bank devalued the currency, the dong, by 3.4%, following a devaluation of 5.4% in November. The aim was to entice holders of dollars to buy dong. A dollar shortage has been starving Vietnam’s exporters of the currency they need to purchase imported parts and materials. ...

Thaksin Shinawatra: Divided loyalties

Some scent compromise; more fear a looming showdown

IN THAILAND politics has long been about compromise rather than conviction. Political parties run on expediency, not ideology, which makes it possible to cobble together all manner of oddball coalitions. But in recent years pragmatism has given way to more rigid loyalties. Rival camps rally their base with fiery talk of an all-out struggle for the nation’s soul, all the while tugging relentlessly at its seams.

Might compromise yet make a comeback? Some scented a whiff of detente on February 26th, when the Supreme Court ruled on the family fortune of the former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. But that still seems wishful thinking. The nine judges found Mr Thaksin guilty of abusing his powers while in office to favour Shin Corp, his family-owned telecoms group, which was sold in January 2006 to Temasek, a Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund. The court decided to seize $1.4 billion of the $2.3 billion in proceeds from that sale, which had been frozen after the army deposed Mr Thaksin in September 2006. ...

The feud in South Korea's ruling party: Feud for thought

The defining battle of Lee Myung-bak’s presidency nears its climax

ODDLY for a politician, South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak, has never hidden his loathing of politics. During his successful presidential-election campaign he vowed to “take politics out of Youido”, a reference to the island on the Han river that houses the National Assembly in Seoul. Mr Lee’s hero is the dictator Park Chung-hee, architect of South Korea’s rise from basket-case to industrial powerhouse. Much like him, Mr Lee believes politicians are impediments to his country’s progress. Unlike Park, however, Mr Lee has to operate in a robust democracy. He is making rather a hash of it.

In a bitter twist of fate, his nemesis is Park’s daughter, Park Geun-hye. She was the rival Mr Lee defeated in 2007 to become the presidential candidate of the Grand National Party (GNP). The two have never been reconciled. Mr Lee believes his election entitled him to rule without opposition within the GNP. But Miss Park has never accepted her defeat and still commands a group of as many as 40 loyalists in parliament. ...

Indonesia's parliamentary showdown: Unchaining the reformers

After a hard-won battle, President Yudhoyono has a chance to start again

FEZ-WEARING members of Indonesia’s parliament called each other transvestites, yelled and scuffled. Outside, the police turned water cannon on protesting students. The climax this week of a parliamentary investigation into a government bail-out of a private bank in 2008 superficially recalled 1998, and the chaos surrounding the fall of the dictator Suharto. But this time the stakes were smaller; the government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was never going to fall. At issue was how well it could govern.

The Bank Century scandal had riveted the press for months. But most of Indonesia’s 240m people have preferred chat shows and Hollywood movies, content that the economy has been doing well, growing by 4.5% last year. Inflation last year was just 2.8%, unemployment is down, and consumer confidence booming. That, however, did not deter Mr Yudhoyono’s enemies from plotting to embarrass him and paralyse his government. They managed to do both. Yet he still enjoys an approval rating of about 75%. ...

Banyan: The Chinese are coming

To a sitting room, mobile telephone or supermarket screen near you soon

ON MARCH 1st China Daily got its biggest makeover since the newspaper was launched in 1981 as China’s first English-language daily. As well as a new look, the paper is boosting the number of its foreign correspondents. With a new investigative-reporting feature, China Daily said that it was aiming to “set the news agenda instead of just follow it”.

So far, this agenda seems unlikely to set foreign pulses racing. Next to this bold new feature China Daily splashed an “exclusive” interview with the foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, under the headline “FM: China is doing all it can in foreign affairs”. Still, the makeover marks a departure for the vapid broadsheet. And China Daily is only the latest Chinese media organ to revamp itself in what President Hu Jintao calls an “increasingly fierce struggle in the domain of news and opinion”. ...

Tajikistan's flawed election: Change you can't believe in

A rigged vote keeps the ruling party in power in a failing state

TO THE surprise of no one, the governing People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections on February 28th, with almost 72% of the vote. Nor was anybody taken aback by the myriad irregularities on election day. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored the polling, said it “failed to meet many key OSCE commitments”. It noted a high prevalence of family- and proxy-voting and cases of ballot-box stuffing.

Preliminary results give the PDPT, led by Emomali Rakhmon, the president, 53 seats out of 63 in the lower house of parliament. The Islamic Revival Party, Central Asia’s only religiously based party, came second, with 7.7% of the vote and two seats. The party’s leadership, which expected to win around 30% of the vote, has cried foul, and plans to sue the election board. ...

The Economist: Asia
Asia