The Korea Herald

[Kori Schake] These empty rocks matter

A little-known court in the Netherlands rattled Asia this week. The Permanent Court of Arbitration concluded that China has no legal basis for its expansive claims in the South China Sea, where China has been attempting to intimidate its neighbors into conceding their rights.　While the overlapping claims are devilishly complicated, the main point is that China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have competing claims in the South China Sea. The U.N. Convention on the Law o

July 15, 2016

[Jeffrey Frankel ] Brexit, Trump and globalization

Two political events that are attracting global attention these days -- the vote in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the United States -- have much in common. Just over half of U.K. voters chose Brexit, a result that has cast a long shadow over their country’s political system and economic prospects. Perhaps understanding the parallels between the two campaigns will help U.S. voters avoid taking a similar path in November.　One parallel is

July 15, 2016

[Alito L. Malinao] With the China threat out, who needs the U.S.?

The ruling on the Philippines’ case by the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which is scheduled to be handed down today (July 12), has been rendered anticlimactic by the recent major policy announcement of President Rodrigo Duterte.Last week, the president said that whether the ruling of the Arbitral Tribunal would be favorable to the Philippines or not, his administration was willing to start bilateral negotiations with China on the conflict in the South China Sea that ha

July 14, 2016

[Ravindra Kumar] Has the poison done its work in India?

This is the second in a new series of columns on global affairs which will be written by top editors from members of the Asia News Network and published in newspapers across the region. --Ed. This week and in the midst of news of far greater moment from around Asia, India is being asked to focus its energies on the latest instalment of a long-running soap opera that ought either to have ended or been taken off the air a few years ago. This episode has left hanging a question that those writing t

July 14, 2016

[Ravindra Kumar] Has the poison done its work in India?

[M. Veera Pandiyan] Face Islamic State’s terrorism boldly　

With the first Islamic State group-related terrorist attack in the country, brazen gun killings and brutal machete murders, we can no longer pretend that Malaysia is still as safe and secure as it used to be.We are beset by the twin perils of rising crimes and the looming threat of terrorism.So far, the authorities have done little to reassure us of our basic rights to safety, other than providing contrary statistics.The numbers provided by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, for examp

July 14, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] Racial discord a useful tool for leftist politicians

Why have race relations in the United States so drastically disintegrated under a president who had set out to improve them? The answer lies in the leftist ideology of the president in question.Activist groups staged nationwide protests last week after two black men -- one in Louisiana and one in Minnesota, each reportedly carrying a gun -- were fatally shot by police. At a protest in Dallas, five law enforcement officers were killed by a man who, according to police, had “stated he wanted to ki

July 14, 2016

[Robert B. Reich] A guide to upcoming conventions

I’ll save you the guesswork. On July 21, Donald Trump will become the Republican nominee for president of the United States. On July 28, Hillary Clinton will become the Democratic nominee.Trump’s pending coronation won’t please elected Republicans who put the nation’s welfare above party loyalty. Nor will it please demonstrators who in all likelihood will storm around parts of downtown Cleveland to protest the nomination of someone who has gone out of his way to denigrate Latinos, blacks, Muslim

July 14, 2016

[Robert B. Reich] A guide to upcoming conventions

[Lee C. Bollinger&Karl P. Sauvant] How investment agreements can protect free media

At the beginning of this year, Al Jazeera sued the Egyptian government for $150 million. The Qatar-based news channel presented its case before the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington. But much more is at stake than a simple commercial disagreement in which Al Jazeera is attempting to enforce Egypt’s obligations under a bilateral investment treaty with Qatar.In its suit, Al Jazeera alleges that its offices were closed, its transmissions and broad

July 13, 2016

[Noah Smith] Government holds the promise of faster growth

One of the U.S.’s biggest economic challenges is the slump in productivity. After climbing steadily for many decades, productivity has slowed dramatically since 2011.　　Productivity is the key to long-term prosperity. It represents a hard ceiling on the amount of valuable things that a society is able to produce. If productivity flatlines, it means that the pie isn’t growing, and there will be less to divide up among us. So finding the cause of the slowdown is a big, important task.　Some pessimis

July 13, 2016

[Gareth Evans] The South China Sea is not a Chinese lake

To no one’s surprise, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has upheld all the key arguments of the Philippines in its case against China on the application of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the South China Sea. In its ruling, which employed even tougher language than most expected, the tribunal cut the legal heart out of China’s claim that the sea is, in effect, a Chinese lake.The PCA ruled that China’s “nine-dash line,” a 1940s-era delineation that implies own

July 13, 2016

[Gareth Evans] The South China Sea is not a Chinese lake

[Thitinan Pongsudhirak] Defusing Asia’s arms race

The ruling against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will be met with relief in the region’s capitals. But it is unlikely to reverse one of Asia’s most worrying trends: an alarming regional arms build-up.According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Asia now accounts for almost half of the world’s arms expenditure, which is more than twice the total expenditure of countries in the Middle East and four times g

July 13, 2016

[Thitinan Pongsudhirak] Defusing Asia’s arms race

Keeping calm in South China Sea　

China was widely expected to reject a ruling against its maritime claims in the South China Sea, and it didn’t disappoint. Declaring Tuesday’s 479-page decision “null and void,” China said it “neither accepts nor recognizes it.”　More important than what China says, however -- and Tuesday’s statement is more measured than last week’s, when Chinese leaders denounced the opinion in advance as “a piece of waste paper” -- is what China does. Its neighbors and the U.S. should make clear how dangerous

July 13, 2016

[Kim Seong-kon] Convenient, but not yet graceful

Recently, a middle-aged Korean-American man wrote about his impressions of Korea on Facebook after a sojourn in Seoul. First of all, he was quite impressed by the convenient electronic devices pervasive in Korean society. “Thanks to the automatic identification system installed at the entrance,” he wrote, “Korean drivers can smoothly drive though the parking lot without stopping to pull out a parking slip.” He was also impressed when he saw Koreans efficiently transfer between the subway and bus

July 12, 2016

[Kim Seong-kon] Convenient, but not yet graceful

[Kim Jong-deok] Arts and cultural exchange between Asia, Europe

As minister of culture, sports and tourism of the Republic of Korea, I am pleased to send heartfelt congratulations on the 20th Anniversary of the Asia-Europe Meeting, a central forum for cooperation between the two regions. Cooperation requires unceasing efforts for mutual understanding, and for this reason, I am grateful to ASEM and the Asia-Europe Foundation for taking the principal initiative in promoting such efforts.Underlying the recent tragic terror attacks in Paris and all other conflic

July 12, 2016

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Advanced economies need to learn

Since the onset of the global financial crisis, I have pointed out that advanced economies should learn policy lessons from the experience of the developing world. This argument has been reinforced by two developments last week: the destabilization of the pound after the Brexit vote in the U.K., and indications that the U.S. now has less influence over the yield curve for its government bonds.For decades, three key beliefs structured our understanding of the economic and financial underpinnings

July 12, 2016

[Lee Jae-min] International law and sea dispute

When I mention my profession, the first question people usually ask is how international law is enforced. As a matter of fact, international law has a relatively weak enforcement mechanism. While some of the newer norms are equipped with stronger mechanisms of enforcement, such as trade or investment), there are other norms that are characterized by the lack or absence of enforcement mechanism. One thing people usually miss here, however, is that states abide by judgments of international courts

July 12, 2016

[Lee Jae-min] International law and sea dispute

[Federica Mogherini] A strategy to unite and safeguard Europe

The purpose — and even the survival — of the European Union is being questioned as never before. In fact, Europe’s citizens and the world need a strong EU now more than ever.Europe’s wider region has become less stable and more insecure in recent years. Moreover, the crises within and beyond the EU’s borders are directly affecting the lives of all European citizens.In challenging times such as these, a strong EU is one that thinks strategically, shares a vision, and acts together. In the wake of

July 12, 2016

[Noah Smith] Freedom is receding around the world

The economic dangers of Britain’s exit from the European Union are probably exaggerated. The U.K. is in a bit of trouble, since falling real estate prices might spark a recession there. But it seems unlikely that the spillover to the global economy will be severe. British trade policy probably won’t change much, and extremists in the U.K. Independence Party, which spearheaded the “Leave” campaign, are unlikely to take power. The EU itself is on shaky ground, but that was just as true before Bre

July 11, 2016

[Noah Smith] Freedom is receding around the world

[Trudy Rubin] After Brexit, French start looking to own elections

These days, there is one overriding issue on the minds of the French. It isn’t “Brexit.”Nor is it whether France will copy Britain and “Frexit” the European Union. Pas du tout.What is fixating the French is whether their national soccer team will beat Portugal in the final of the Euro 2016 championship tournament. Raucous celebrations for France’s semifinal win over Germany went on most of Thursday night outside the Paris apartment where I’m staying.The national team, with its “Black, Blanc, Beu

July 11, 2016

[Dan Rodricks] Anger, frustration in U.S.　

Be despondent, America. Acknowledge your humanity. Surrender to the nagging instinct to feel hopeless about the level of anger and violence in the country, and the number of guns in our midst that allow one man to instantly cause the death of others -- numerous others, or one at a time; a police officer shooting a civilian, a civilian shooting a police officer; a disturbed man shooting children and their teachers, or churchgoers, or sheriff deputies, or a wife or girlfriend; a woman killing her

July 11, 2016