Fifty-two years ago, the United States and Japan signed the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security. Forged just 15 years after a brutal, racially charged war between the two nations, the treaty was an exercise in realpolitik. It was written with an eye toward not only Japan‘s security but the containment of communism across Asia. The […]
Countries with ageing populations can reap a “longevity dividend” with the right measures on healthcare, pensions and legal protection, according to a new UN report published on Monday. But while important progress has been made by many countries in adopting new policies and laws on ageing, more needs to be done to fulfill the potential of older […]
As nationalist war-mongering goes, the anti-Japanese demonstrations taking place across China have been relatively tame. Chinese authorities have maintained tight control over the protesters, some of whom call for an armed response against Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea: Plastic bottle-throwing is allowed, glass bottle-throwing discouraged. For all the jingoistic talk, the […]
Countries battling high public debt must combine policies that support economic growth with lasting changes in government spending and taxation, a new study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concludes. A chapter in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook notes that public debt has surpassed 100 percent of GDP in Japan, the United States, and several European countries in recent […]
ONCE again, the Japanese public must be wondering whether politics only serves to inflict cruel jokes upon them. On September 26th the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chose Shinzo Abe, a nationalist former prime minister, to lead it into the next general election, even though he quit as leader after just a year in 2007 […]
“Brand Japan” has long benefited from the strength of Japanese companies in industries as diverse as automotives and music, or “J-pop.” The recent situation in China shows how that close association can also hurt businesses when nationalist sentiments go against them. As big businesses — fairly or unfairly — become the short-term targets of populist […]
“I UNDERSTAND that the end does not justify the means…I apologise to the victims hurt by my father’s dictatorial rule in this regard.” These were the words offered by a leading hopeful for the presidency, Park Geun-hye, on September 25th. She was taking the bull by the horns, addressing what her opponents and other critics […]
China has raised the politico-diplomatic ante with Japan over the disputed islands in the East China Seain a definitive manner through a formal Cabinet-equivalent announcement in Beijing and the follow-up of this assertion at the foreign minister level in New York on Tuesday (September 25). Territorial disputes with certain key Asian countries is a high-octane issue […]
China appears ever more willing to use its economic muscle to strategic ends. Japan is the most recent target, as tensions flare over a maritime territorial dispute. Customs processing has been delayed for some Japanese goods, and visas are somewhat less forthcoming. There are concerns about consumer boycotts, especially of Japanese cars. It’s reasonable to […]
China has just taken another step in the direction of becoming a military power. On Tuesday, it put into service its first aircraft carrier, named the “Liaoning” after China’s northeastern Liaoning Province. According to the Ministry of National Defense, the carrier’s entry into service “has important meaning for raising the level of the modernization of China’s […]
looking beyond borders 