The yuan keeps rising, inter-bank rates have shot up, and foreign exchange purchases have slumped, such conflicting trends have caused worries among puzzled China watchers. But are such fears justifiable?The yuan hit new highs on Monday in terms of the official central parity rate, rising to 6.1598 against the U.S. dollar before edging down on Tuesday. It has risen by more than 2 percent since the start of this year.While the economic fundamentals are out of line with the currency appreciation m

Viewpoints June 20, 2013

Talk of China’s future leaders usually revolves around those born in the early 1960s, such as Guangdong party boss Hu Chunhua and Chongqing chief Sun Zhengcai.But lately, the focus has been shifting to the “liu wu hou” cohort ― those born in or after 1965 ― as more emerge in key Communist Party and government posts.There are 15 now in the party committees governing China’s provinces and municipalities, making them a minority among the 400-plus provincial leaders nationwide.Another four post-1965

Viewpoints June 20, 2013

It’s the same old script, year after year. Right around this time, the clear blue skies in parts of our country and a few other countries in the region will turn grey.It is that time of the year when forests are being cleared the easy way by small-time farmers and big-time plantation companies.And so the fires rage on and, aided by the monsoonal wind patterns, bring unhealthy pollutants into our lives. The haze is no respector of geographical or international boundaries. It simply goes where the

Viewpoints June 20, 2013

Cheong Wa Dae has recently told the Cabinet ministries to temporarily halt the process of screening candidates for the top posts of the public institutions affiliated with them.What prompted the Presidential Office to stop the process was a growing outcry against former Finance Ministry officials taking top jobs at private and public financial institutions.Former officials of the Ministry of Finance are called “Mofia” here for their mob-like cronyism. The latest examples include Lim Young-rok, a

Editorial June 19, 2013

A set of toughened sex crime laws went into effect Wednesday, ushering in big changes in meting out punishment to sex offenders, protecting traumatized victims and overseeing ex-convicts.The most significant and welcome change is the abolition of the personal accusation system that made the prosecution of sex offenders impossible without the victims first filing a complaint.Under the old system, prosecutors could not bring charges against sex offenders if the victims chose not to file accusation

Editorial June 19, 2013

Hasan Rowhani’s victory in the first round of the presidential elections in Iran is presented in the international media mostly as an ignominious defeat to the hard-line clerics and Iran’s supreme leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei. Indeed, prima facie, Rowhani’s victory seems as a ray of hope for a change in Iran’s domestic and international policy. However, a closer look at the “democratic” procedure that took place in Iran last weekend and at its implications suggests that Khamenei and the hard-lin

Viewpoints June 19, 2013

Are Shinzo Abe’s days as Japan’s prime minister numbered? Many will dismiss this question as premature or naive ― perhaps both. The architect of “Abenomics” boasts a higher approval rating than any of the eight previous Japanese prime ministers. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party is heading to a big victory in next month’s upper-house election. Supporters are convinced he will use that mandate to end Japan’s 20-year deflationary funk with boldness, creativity and panache. There’s just one problem wi

Viewpoints June 18, 2013

The election of Hassan Rowhani as Iran’s president has drawn stern warnings, including from the Israeli prime minister, against the hope that his victory signals meaningful change. It’s too soon to know exactly what it signals ― but the result is a welcome surprise and an opportunity that should be cautiously explored. The June 14 vote replaces President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a cartoon extremist who would be funny if he weren’t so frightening, with a more approachable interlocutor. Rowhani isn’t

Viewpoints June 18, 2013

How do criminals get their guns? Are there observable patterns to gun crime? Who is at the greatest risk of injury, or causing injury to others, from firearm use? Which gun-safety practices are most effective at preventing accidental injury? The answers to these and other basic questions remain difficult and obscure in part thanks to a senseless ban, on the books for a decade, that limits research on gun violence and denies researchers and even police and prosecutors access to federal gun data.

Viewpoints June 18, 2013

Six months ago, Americans reacted with horror to the slaughter of 20 children and six school employees at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Suddenly, gun safety legislation was front and center everywhere, including Washington.Then in April, a recalcitrant Senate succumbed to pressure from gun manufacturers and the NRA’s leadership and failed to pass even the most modest measure, a bill to extend background checks to gun shows and Internet sales. The president was angry, the familie

Viewpoints June 18, 2013

North Korea’s abrupt offer to the United States for high-level talks has left many puzzled on its intentions. In a statement issued by the National Defense Commission on Sunday, the North proposed that the two sides meet to discuss issues of mutual interest, including easing military tension on the Korean Peninsula, replacing the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a permanent peace treaty, and the U.S. vision for a nuclear-free world.The agenda it suggests is nothing new. So what p

Editorial June 17, 2013

The central government is bracing for a long legal battle against the government of South Gyeongsang Province to salvage Jinju Medical Hospital, which the province’s stubborn governor, Hong Joon-pyo, is determined to abolish.Last week, the province’s council, dominated by Hong backers, revised a municipal ordinance to liquidate the 103-year-old medical institution, defying condemnation from the ruling and opposition parties as well as the medical community.The council’s act came about two weeks

Editorial June 17, 2013