As far as stealth fighters are concerned, the Chinese prototype J-20 is perhaps too eye-attracting. On Dec. 22, 2010, photos of a taxiing test at the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute of the fifth-generation twin-engine fighter aircraft emerged on the Internet and triggered a firestorm in the international media. On Jan. 11, hours before U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates met with Chinese Preside

Jan. 19, 2011

The major battle in the fight for the survival of the euro will be fought on Spanish soil. Greece, Ireland and soon Portugal should be regarded as skirmishes. But Spain is different, in terms of scale and solvency.If the strategy implemented by European Union policy makers is appropriate, the markets will shift their attention to other risks, such as inflation, after the decisive event has taken p

Jan. 19, 2011

Last year saw good momentum in China’s strengthening ties with other Asian countries, as indicated by the frequent high-level exchanges and the expansion of two-way economic and trade links. The high-level exchanges greatly boosted bilateral political trust, while China remained the largest export market for Asian countries ― its imports from the rest of the region totaling $446.5 billion, up 41.1

Jan. 19, 2011

President Hu Jintao’s state visit to the United States starting from Jan. 18 comes 14 months after President Barack Obama’s November 2009 visit to China. The intervening period has seen many problems in U.S.-China relations, despite progress on some fronts. President Hu’s visit will, therefore, be especially important for recalibrating the tone and direction of U.S.-China ties. The U.S.-China join

Jan. 19, 2011

Children cry watching the TV news as a dozen piglets and their mother are shown being dumped into a hole in a farm in a foot and mouth disease-infected area. Internet users are saddened to read the diary of a young man in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, who had to kill and bury 121 cattle because a truck that visited his farm the day before was found to have earlier stayed in a confirmed FMD-infected pla

Jan. 18, 2011

The dazzling steps China has taken recently to expedite wider and better use of the yuan in cross-border trade and investment mark the country’s latest efforts to make its currency truly international. This accelerated pace to internationalize the yuan was long overdue. But given the complexity and problems with the global financial and currency systems, Chinese policymakers need not go too fast o

Jan. 18, 2011

The year of the rabbit has just begun, but in the first few weeks of 2011, it has been the tiger gaining all the attention. In a spontaneous Tiger Mask movement, anonymous citizens throughout Japan have been donating school backpacks and other items to orphanages and child welfare centers in the name of Naoto Date, the hero of the “Tiger Mask” manga and anime popular some 40 years ago. Date, a wre

Jan. 18, 2011

New year, new crisis. No sooner had Europe’s bond traders, politicians and central bankers gotten back to their desks than it was time to begin tussling over the fate of a small economy on the periphery of Europe.This time around, it’s Portugal. And yet the script seems very similar to the one played out already in Greece and Ireland. Bond yields surge. The government denies furiously there is any

Jan. 18, 2011

Republicans, riding high in Washington and in most state capitals, are sitting on a time bomb: immigration.There’s a division coursing through the party; many of the Tea Party types and social conservatives believe the tough-on-immigration posture paid dividends in the November congressional elections and want to ratchet up the pressure. Congressional leaders want to put the issue on the back burn

Jan. 18, 2011

In the film, “The Social Network,” one of the Winklevoss twins digs in his heels when his furious brother urges a lawsuit against a fellow Harvard student for stealing their idea and turning it into Facebook.(Which twin was which, I don’t know. Who could tell the difference between Cameron and Tyler, played by the same actor?)But one of them, along with their partner, really, really wanted to sue

Jan. 18, 2011

There are moments in a presidency when a leader delivers a speech and everyone goes about their business thereafter as if nothing happened. Other times, a president rises to the occasion in such extraordinary fashion that the audience is somehow changed.President Obama delivered a brilliant eulogy honoring victims of Arizona’s shooting rampage. He offered comfort to an aching nation.Americans of a

Jan. 17, 2011

Legislators from five states have unveiled model legislation with complicated provisions but a simple and pernicious premise: that children born in this country aren’t citizens if their parents are illegal immigrants.That assertion, however, is no match for more than 100 years of Supreme Court precedent holding that anyone born in the United States is an American citizen. If the states enact laws

Jan. 17, 2011

Anyone who thinks smoking isn’t government’s business should consider one number: 3.5 million. That’s how many people in the second-biggest economy will die each year from tobacco use by 2030, according to a report by prominent Chinese health experts and economists. More than lives will go up in smoke. So will productivity, public money and growth. China immediately should raise cigarette prices,

Jan. 17, 2011

Can a nation spend its way to prosperity? We don’t have to guess. The experience of two countries over the last year ― Germany and the United States ― provides an answer.Prior to last summer’s summit of the G20 group of nations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spurned President Obama’s call to boost spending. For Merkel, control of government debt was the “urgently necessary” priority. Ultimately,

Jan. 17, 2011

China’s President Hu Jintao will make a historic trip to Washington this week, appearing alongside President Obama on a stage likely to be dominated by two issues: righting the vast U.S.-China trade deficit and avoiding a catastrophic war on the Korean Peninsula. Both subjects matter. Both are manageable, if we work together.But lurking in the wings is an issue of even greater long-term importance

Jan. 17, 2011