The British government’s attempt to reverse its citizen Akmal Shaikh’s death sentence in China has met with very little sympathy from Chinese, internet reaction suggests. According to the website Global Voices Online, a common if unsurprising reaction seemed to be along the lines of “why should a foreigner deserve special treatment?” More interestingly, one fiery […]
The December 31st NYT had a great in-depth article on the US$2.9 billion Chinese investment in the Aynak mine in Afghanistan. While China’s Aynak investment is not a new story, it is certainly a fascinating case study in China’s bold mode of foreign engagement. With this deal to extract the enormously rich copper reserves in […]
Partisans of the BNP might think the Awami League corrupt; similar a devotee of the Awami League might think the BNP fascistic. Either way, there is always some ground on which to base these opinions. The Awami League cannot be thought good, through time all the time. Indeed, one might do well to always look […]
The Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer and Co.’s global policy think tank, has just published the Top Risks of 2010, its annual attempt to identify and characterize the most pressing global challenges for the year ahead. It should comes as no surprise that East Asia figures prominently into their calculations. The top risk of 2010, according […]
The onset of closer relations between Bangladesh and India has set off quite a bit of celebratory humming in the blogosphere concerned with South Asia–some of it distinctly emanating from my neck of the woods. Though the new developments are promising, nevertheless we may be calling the game too soon. Whatever the merits of the […]
We’ve only just begun/Before the rising sun we fly/ So many roads to choose/ We start out walking/ And learn to run/ And yes! We’ve just begun. The Carpenter’s pedigree is gleefully appropriate today: Bangladeshi domestic and foreign has been a planar patchwork of sawed and hacked retro-fitted pieces of woodwork and sawdust. The Awami […]
In a goodwill gesture aimed at improving relations with its eastern neighbor, India will make available a line of credit of $1 billion to Bangladesh. This was announced during a three day visit by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India. The two countries also signed agreements on mutual assistance in fighting terrorism, organized crime […]
Today the BBC published an article regarding the growing gender gap in China. The article highlights a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which states that 24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses by 2020. Currently, for every 100 girls born in China, 119 boys are born. In […]
Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese Prime Minister, is all over the internet. Indeed, the Democratic Party of Japan has done a good job keeping the Cabinet apace with social media technology. As a result, we now have a portal into the mind of the Japanese PM like never before. Hato Cafe, the PM’s blog (available only […]
ASEAN and China: This blog has spent considerable time following the ASEAN+China free trade deal from the perspective of various nations in the region. The Asia Times has a new article concerning the “win-win” possibilities of the deal and what the incentive is for ASEAN nations. It also provides some telling data: According to estimates […]
According to news reports, in 2009 China surpassed Germany as the world’s top exporter. China’s exports for 2009 were more than $2 trillion, slightly ahead of Germany, at $1.2 trillion. The last two months of the year saw the strongest increase, and helped China’s gross exports surge. “This is just one more step by China […]
Zainab Jeewanjee reports on Pakistani Artist Imran Mudassar’s recent work depicting War and weaponry in the Af-Pak war. Lauding CNN and Dawn News for their reports on Mudassar, Jeewanjee shares her thoughts on the artists poignant work.
The business and political media in Bangladesh in winding up for P.M. Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India. I’ll be following the news over the period of the 3 day visit. Already Sheikh Hasina’s itinerary is full and she’s committed to the multiple honoraria and cultural visits that foreign dignitary accede to in order to convey […]
In an article published in The New Republic, respected American journalist Nicholas Schmidle shares some of his experiences and observations about the over all paranoia and hysteria that has been increasingly visible across Pakistan’s electronic media. Specifically, Mr. Schmidle describes his awkward interaction with Shireen Mazari. Mazari had no information about Mr. Schmidle’s background, but […]
Those interested in East Asian economic and political issues have just lost one of their greatest resources: The Feer Eastern Economic Review (FEER). December brought the terminal edition of FEER, a once flagship journal on East Asian economics and politics that, according to its 1946 mission statement, sought to “analyze and interpret financial, commercial and […]
