Categories: Politics

GOP Senators Go After China's Huawei

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on August 23

China's biggest maker of telecom equipment is the subject of a new campaign by a group of Republican senators demanding the Obama administration investigate the company, which wants to sell...

Demand Grows Despite H-1B Fight, TCS Exec Says

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on August 18

The chop-shop fallout continues. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) caused an uproar in India recently after he called Indian IT outsourcing companies chop shops during debate on a proposal to double...

China's Military Parade and Foreign Journalists

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on October 01

China’s 60th anniversary celebration, in many ways was a huge success. Beijing no doubt wowed its own populace with its two-hour-plus colorful, well rehearsed extravaganza of synchronized performers plus military...

China's Sixtieth Birthday and Military Parade

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on September 30

It’s the eve of the big day: the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of China’s founding on October 1st, 1949, and Beijing has the odd feeling of being under some...

Sarah Palin to Speak at Hong Kong Investor Forum

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on August 31

Bill Clinton. Al Gore. Alan Greenspan. Sarah Palin? CLSA, the Hong Kong-based brokerage, announced today that the hockey mom who quit her job as Alaska governor last month will be...

Historic victory for DPJ in Japan's election

Posted by: Ian Rowley on August 30

After 54 years of almost unbroken rule Japan's Liberal Democratic Party government has been expelled from office. At 10:21 pm local time, national broadcaster NHK announced that the opposition Democratic...

South Korea Mourns Kim Dae Jung’s Death

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on August 18

Former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who died on August 18 while being treated for pneumonia, epitomized three key values of the country in the past four decades: democracy,...

Could Obama End North Korea's Nuclear Ambition?

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on June 17

President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung Bak on June 17 displayed a strong unity, both vowing to depart from a pattern of rewarding North Korea for...

In Australia, Indian Students Find Themselves Targeted

Posted by: Mehul Srivastava on June 03

While the media brouhaha continues over the attacks against Indian students in Australia, it is worthwhile to take a step back and ask what exactly is happening – and why....

Yet Another Dynastic Succession in North Korea?

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on June 03

Since 1998 when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il finally took over the official mantle of his father, Kim Il Sung, four years after the death of the senior Kim,...

Roh’s Death Underlines Political Immaturity in Korea

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on May 22

Former South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun’s suicide on May 23 is a vivid reminder that the country has a long way to go to reach political maturity. True, Korea...

Taiwan and China Mover Closer to Normal

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on May 01

There are some good things that come out of economic crises. We saw one the other day, with the Taiwanese government on Wednesday giving the green light for China Mobile...

More Trouble ahead for Thailand

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on April 17

It has been an incredibly tense seven days for Thailand. First protesters forced the cancellation of an 18-country summit meeting in the resort of Pattaya on the weekend, where several...

Japan: Emperor may visit Pearl Harbor in July

Posted by: Ian Rowley on March 02

Before becoming Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner wasted no time warning Japan that the Obama Administration would not welcome any attempts by Tokyo to weaken the yen. "It's very important for...

Japan's slurring Finance Minister steps down

Posted by: Ian Rowley on February 16

Shoichi Nakagawa has enjoyed his last drink as Finance Minister. In Rome at the weekend, a slurring, mumbling Nakagawa appeared to be drunk when addressing reporters. An ally of...

Cracks Form in Japan’s Ruling Party

Posted by: Kenji Hall on February 12

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is at war with itself after ex-prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, gave premier, Taro Aso, a dressing-down yesterday for talking critically about the privatized postal system,...

King's Cancellation Puts Thailand Back on Edge

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on December 05

It has been a remarkable week for Thailand. A potentially bloody confrontation between protestors and police at Bangkok’s two airports was averted after the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister...

Gloom and Sorrow in India

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on November 28

It has been now over a day since terrorists attacked Mumbai’s Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Victoria Terminus station, and other landmark targets on Colaba, the main shopping street....

Divorce, Thaksin Style

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 17

It’s certainly been an annus horribilis for former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In October he was sentenced to two years in the slammer for abusing conflict-of-interest laws before he...

The Arrest of Taiwan’s Chen Shui-bian

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 12

There was always something Bill Clinton-like about Chen Shui-bian. Like Clinton, the Taiwanese politician came from a poor family, grew up in the rural south of his country, went to...

Japanese anger as U.S. takes North Korea off terrorism list

Posted by: Ian Rowley on October 12

With Japan playing an important role in the current financial crisis, not least Mitsubishi UFJ's $9 billion bailout of Morgan Stanley, one might think the U.S. government would be trying...

Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim meets investors in Hong Kong

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on September 25

Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy prime minister of Malaysia and now the top opposition figure, was in Hong Kong yesterday to speak at a CLSA investor conference. For years, Anwar was...

Anime Stocks Rise with Aso's Prime Ministerial Ambition

Posted by: Ian Rowley on September 03

Would-be Prime Minister Taro Aso isn't expected to have much impact on Japan's economic prospects should he take over the top job in Japanese politics. But his candidacy is...

Another Japanese Prime Minister Quits But Can You Name Him?

Posted by: Ian Rowley on September 01

Big news tonight in Japan. The Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda just resigned. Appearing at press conference at 9:30pm local time, the 72-year-old leader blamed opposition parties, which have been using...

With Musharraf gone, what's next for Pakistan?

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on August 18

Call it a pre-emptive defensive strike. Faced with imminent impeachment proceedings against him, President Pervez Musharraf resigned today. I can’t say we didn’t see it coming. Musharraf had cancelled...

McCain, Obama and the Dalai Lama

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on July 25

People in the know seem to think that Beijing’s leaders prefer John McCain over Barack Obama, since Republicans typically take a more China-friendly approach to trade. And bellicose McCain rhetoric...

India votes for US alliance - and a change in destiny

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on July 22

What a day it's been in India - and what a victory for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After two days of bitter debate, India's Parliament voted in favor of forging...

India's changed coalition politics

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on July 09

The Communists finally quit the Congress party coalition in New Delhi. Not a moment too late. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, currently in Japan for the G-8 meeting, can at...

India's new sociology: RURBAN

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on June 09

Everyone thought that rural and urban India were too far apart, and never the twain would meet. The politicians especially thought that, and have been fighting their divisive electoral battles...

India's new sociology: being RURBAN

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on June 09

Everyone thought that rural and urban India were too far apart, and never the twain would meet. The politicians especially thought that, and have been fighting their divisive electoral battles...

Obama and India

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on June 05

Last summer, before most people were paying much attention to the Democratic presidential contest in the U.S., Barack Obama had to apologize after a staffer issued a statement that tried...

Anwar Ibrahim in India

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on May 16

Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime ministser and finance minister of Malaysia, was in Bombay today. It's his second visit to India in six months. He is friends with Dr....

Why Bhutan Matters to India and China

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on May 16

For a tiny country that has very little contact with the rest of the world, Bhutan seems to be in the news a lot these days. Today India's prime minister,...

Townships vs. Naxalism: which India will win?

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on May 09

About 11 years ago, a dynamic and thoughtful scion of a major Indian industrialial house, told me this. He worried, he said, about the divide in India. He worried that...

Beijing's audience

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on May 02

The backlash against the backlash has begun. For weeks now, we've been reading about Chinese officials, Chinese students overseas, ordinary Chinese at home, furious about the coverage of Tibet and...

India-Pakistan detente

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on April 04

Pakistan has seen a welcome and surprisingly mature return to democratic rule. The election victors have put President Musharraf in his place - an isolated spot on the top and...

U.S. Carrier Near Taiwan as Election Nears

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on March 20

For a ship that's about to get mothballed, the USS Kitty Hawk sure has a way of getting attention. Recall back in November, the Chinese government suddenly refused permission...

What Should India Do About Tibet?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on March 19

The other day I wrote about the impact the Tibetan crackdown might have on politics in Taiwan. It will be interesting to see if there's fallout in India, too. India's...

Will Tibet Swing Taiwan's Election?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on March 17

The death toll in Tibet is rising and unrest is spreading to neighboring provinces. Tibet’s Buddhists aren't the only ones angry at being part of China. Farther north, in Xinjiang,...

Hong Kong's Democrats Love Obama

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on February 28

As an American living in Hong Kong, I miss out on one of the most exciting parts of being a U.S. citizen – going to a polling place on Election...

Is Filipino President Arroyo at risk?

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on February 20

As I started reading last week in the New York Times that the Philippines was on high alert against a planned assassination attack against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, my blood...

China's crisis

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on February 01

Plenty of readers are angry at me for my story about the potential for social unrest in Chinese cities slammed by the weather-induced transportation chaos. According to some, I’m an...

Choosing the Least Undesirable in Korea

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on December 14

There’s no real excitement in South Korea only five days before the country’s presidential election. Few on the streets of Seoul doubt the candidate of the conservative opposition party, former...

Beijing Warms up to New Delhi

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on December 10

The U.S.-India nuclear deal is facing renewed criticism from members of the ruling coalition in New Delhi. (See, for instance, this Reuters story about the latest threat from India's Communists,...

Hillary Borrows from Bill's China Playbook

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 27

Back in 1992, Bill Clinton campaigned against the first President Bush by attacking his coddling of “the butchers of Beijing” in the aftermath of June 4th. Today, after countless Made-in-China...

Beijing's Big Turkey

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 22

Leave it to some bureaucrats in Beijing to screw up Thanksgiving. The Chinese government seems to have reversed its bizarre last-minute refusal to allow the aircraft carrier the USS Kitty...

Presidential Election Underlines Korea’s Immature Politics

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on November 19

Regional loyalty and corruption charges against rival candidates have long dominated South Korean elections, with policies on national issues playing minor roles in choosing the country’s leaders. Next month’s presidential...

India's Communists and the Nuclear Deal

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on November 16

The US-India civilian nuclear deal seems to be on again, thanks to a temporary reprieve from India’s Communist Party’s usual obstreperous stalling. The Communists are preoccupied with the events in...

Time for Musharraf to Go

Posted by: Manjeet Krpalani on November 06

A reader from Lebanon wrote in to ask about Pakistan: What does Musharraf have to do with the US’s policies in Asia? Is he really a dictator? What will become...

Happy Taiwan Retrocession Day!

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 25

Today used to be a public holiday in Taiwan, marking the end of Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and the return of the island to China. Reunification with the mainland...