Japan needs to tap its hidden strengths ― women

In the year since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, the nation’s many deficits have been cast in stark relief. The budget deficit is widening as the cost of rebuilding the northeast mounts. The growth shortfall is worrying politicians more than ever and making it hard for Yoshihiko Noda, the sixth prime minister in five years, to keep his job. Deflation is a chronic downer. News that the trade gap disappeared last month was, for now at least, a rare hint that better days may lie ahead.

March 30, 2012

Administrative certainty is Hong Kong’s best bet

The election of Hong Kong’s third chief executive under Chinese sovereignty followed a well-worn pattern. The candidate favored by Beijing won. Earlier, however, there were some twists to the script. Just when the race appeared to be on auto-pilot, there surfaced revelations one would associate with boisterous democratic contests elsewhere. This will boost the expectations of Hong Kongers to directly elect their leader one day. But the overriding concern now is for administrative certainty so th

March 30, 2012

World leaders must stop N.K. missile launch

The second Nuclear Security Summit, which is being held in Seoul, is aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism.Top leaders and Cabinet members from 53 countries are participating in the summit, along with representatives from the United Nations and three other international organizations.The summit is considering what specific measures must be taken to prevent potential nuclear menaces from threatening world security.The leaders taking part in the summit must press North Korea, a country with a nucl

March 30, 2012

Stability is Hong Kong‘s best bet

The election of Hong Kong’s third chief executive under Chinese sovereignty followed a well-worn pattern. The candidate favored by Beijing won. Earlier, however, there were some twists to the script. Just when the race appeared to be on auto-pilot, there surfaced revelations one would associate with boisterous democratic contests elsewhere. This will boost the expectations of Hong Kongers to directly elect their leader one day. But the overriding concern now is for administrative certainty so th

March 30, 2012

Security and safety nexus

The two-day Seoul Nuclear Security Summit ended on Tuesday, with the leaders of 53 nations signing a document translating the political pledges on combating nuclear terrorism into concrete action plans. The leaders adopted the Seoul Communique at the end of the final session, which emphasized that participating countries have made “substantive progress” on the political commitments made at the first summit, but that sustained efforts are required to “address the issues of nuclear safety and nucl

March 30, 2012

World leaders must stop North Korea‘s missile launch

The second Nuclear Security Summit, which is being held in Seoul, is aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism.Top leaders and Cabinet members from 53 countries are participating in the summit, along with representatives from the United Nations and three other international organizations.The summit is considering what specific measures must be taken to prevent potential nuclear menaces from threatening world security.The leaders taking part in the summit must press North Korea, a country with a nucl

March 30, 2012

Japan needs to tap its hidden strengths ? women

In the year since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, the nation’s many deficits have been cast in stark relief. The budget deficit is widening as the cost of rebuilding the northeast mounts. The growth shortfall is worrying politicians more than ever and making it hard for Yoshihiko Noda, the sixth prime minister in five years, to keep his job. Deflation is a chronic downer. News that the trade gap disappeared last month was, for now at least, a rare hint that better days may lie ahead.

March 30, 2012

Taiwan stands to gain from one country, two areas

We all know what it means to break the law. It is perhaps the most fundamental fact governing our social behavior that we understand the constraints and the pressures to stay within the law and the consequences of not doing so.Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Wu Po-hsiung’s shocking “one country, two areas” remark, believed to be President Ma’s message, is precisely laying the groundwork for cross-strait relations, eliminating surprises and stepping forward from the current “1992 Consensus” toward i

March 30, 2012

All Americans lose if health care law is overturned

As much as we’d like to see the U.S. Supreme Court allow the entire federal health-care law to stand, it’s perfectly possible that, when it rules in a few months, the court will toss the whole thing. If it finds that the individual mandate, the requirement that Americans either have insurance or pay a penalty, is unconstitutional, the court may also decide the rest of the law is so inextricably tied to it, everything must go. That would bring the nation back to square one on health-care reform.

March 29, 2012

Fire up America’s jobs factory with aid for startups

Politicians, even those who vilify corporate America, inevitably laud small businesses. They are right to appreciate the enormous role that entrepreneurship plays in the U.S. economy, but it’s not clear how much public policy can do to conjure up entrepreneurs. Last week, with broad support, the Senate passed an amended version of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (or the JOBS Act). Because the bill had already been passed by the House on March 8, and is supported by the White House, it se

March 29, 2012

The G20 remains a process

The G20 is at a crossroads and the world is watching. A lack of continuity, legitimacy and credibility are shadowing the G20 in 2012. This year’s Los Cabos Summit takes place only seven months after the Cannes Summit, yet it has a very ambitious agenda: green growth. Last year’s agenda was hijacked by European crisis management. This time, green growth has been criticized as having a lack of clarity in terms of where it is leading to.On the topic of economics and finance, a financial inclusion,

March 29, 2012

Forging Syria’s Opposition

Syria’s crisis is now a year old, with close to 10,000 people, mostly civilians, dead -- and no end in sight. The country is at a stalemate: the opposition is unable to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and Assad’s forces are unable to quash the resistance.Both sides are adamant: the opposition is determined to bring down a regime that it views as illegitimate, sectarian, corrupt, tyrannical, and stained with blood, while the regime’s hard-line core believes that by persevering it will

March 29, 2012

The G20 remains a process

The G20 is at a crossroads and the world is watching. A lack of continuity, legitimacy and credibility are shadowing the G20 in 2012. This year’s Los Cabos Summit takes place only seven months after the Cannes Summit, yet it has a very ambitious agenda: green growth. Last year’s agenda was hijacked by European crisis management. This time, green growth has been criticized as having a lack of clarity in terms of where it is leading to.On the topic of economics and finance, a financial inclusion,

March 29, 2012

Hong Kong election denies will of the governed

Leung Chun-ying, a former adviser of the Hong Kong government and property consultant, was declared winner of the election as the Chinese city’s next chief executive. He won 689 votes from a 1,200-member election committee composed mainly by pro-Beijing business leaders and other elites.Given the circumstances, Leung ran a clever race. He first worked hard to build up public support by announcing policy proposals popular among the general public such as increasing social housing, despite the alm

March 28, 2012

Fuming about gas prices

When the price of gasoline rises, the supply of hot air expands.Just look at the recent GOP attacks blaming President Obama for prices that exceed $4 a gallon in some parts of the country.Not only is Obama responsible, according to some Republicans, he’s downright pleased. As Mitt Romney put it last week to Fox News, “There’s no question that when he ran for office, he said he wanted to see gasoline prices go up.”But there are some problems with Romney’s statement. First, it’s false. Obama never

March 28, 2012

No pain no gain

The state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council is drafting its funding plan for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period and proposing to subsidize five energy companies and two power grid companies. It will not be the first time that the electrical power industry has received such a financial subsidy. But the question is: can such cash injections really contribute to the development of China’s power industry? The losses from the thermal power generation bu

March 28, 2012