Japan’s economy had record high deficits during 2012 due to falling exports to Europe and China in a trade gap estimated at $78 billion. Newly elected Liberal Democratic Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has proposed an aggressive round of stimulus spending to stoke the fires of economic development in the world’s third largest economy. The […]
Read MoreIn Pyongyang’s most challenging declaration yet, the world’s most isolated state announced that it would continue its provocative nuclear tests and missile tests with its target being the DPRK’s avowed enemy, the United States. Ever since the death of Dear Leader Kim Jong–il in 2011, the regime in Pyongyang was consumed with establishing his […]
Read MoreSingle women over the age of 27 in the People’s Republic of China are called ‘left over women’ or ‘sheng nu,’ a derogatory term meant to chide women into ceding independence for marriage. Social expectations on women to get married have made it a social stigma for Chinese women to be independent and unmarried past […]
Read MoreChina’s National Defense University Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu warns Australia not to dance with the ‘tiger’ (US) and the ‘wolf’ (Japan), raises the possibility of a nuclear attack on Japan. Diplomats are increasingly hoping for an eleventh hour miracle in the talks to resolve the ongoing dispute between two of East Asia’s greatest powers, the […]
Read MoreA recent report by a United States Senate Republican committee speculates that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) could prevent any potential reunification of North Korea and South Korea in the event that the Kim family is thrown out of power or the government of the DPRK collapses. Of course, such a scenario is not entirely implausible […]
Read MoreCurrent CNPC holdings in Iraq include three fields in the south producing more than 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. The largest foreign players in Iraq’s emerging oil industry are China and Malaysia. China National Petroleum Corporation has sought to expand its presence by acquiring the West Qurna 1 Field which holds reserves estimated to be […]
Read MoreStories about North Korea often focus on the hardships endured by its people. Whether it is from famine or persecution, deprivation or political oppression, rarely does a bright light shine out of North Korea. This is perhaps because what few bright lights there are in North Korea mainly glow in Pyongyang (평양), where it seems most, if any, perks to […]
Read MoreThe United States and Japan will be conducting a thorough review of their joint security arrangements after the election of Shinzo Abe returned the US-friendly Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (自由民主党) to power in Tokyo. Amid worsening tensions with China over the Senkaku Islands(尖閣諸島)/Diaoyu Islands (釣魚台列嶼), and the spectre of a nuclear North Korea capable of […]
Read MoreAs his first year as Supreme Leader concludes, analysts have an overall mixed reaction to Kim Jong-un’s style of leadership. Promises of economic reform, innovations in propaganda that has made it more outward facing in nature, and the introduction of a first family with his marriage to Ri Sol-ju are just three of the highlights of the newest Kim’s first year. While the […]
Read MoreThe pollution in Beijing is so severe that official government media outlets are having a hard time putting a spin on the situation in the capital of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Today, satellite imagery was released that shows Beijing is literally drowning in a miasma of smog. As reported earlier, the pollution in […]
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