In the 1960s, “The Orient” captured a new interest among the post-World War II Beat Generation as the lures of Zen Buddhism, Indian music, Thai weed and related mind-altering experiences rippled through the hip communities of the West. While young American GIs were fighting the Vietnam War, more peaceable folks were donning backpacks and heading […]
Posted inNorth-South Korea
Moon’s right-hand man former friend to the North
This article was originally published May 14, 2017. Im Jong-seok has now been mentioned as President’s Moon’s possible nominee for the post of unification minister. As US investigators hunkered down last week to investigate whether US President Donald Trump’s election campaign colluded with a hostile government, South Korea’s new president was appointing a right-hand man […]
Posted inAT Financial
Asia Times Financial launches news service, China domestic bond index
Asia Times Financial (ATF) today launched news and index services – notably the Asia Times Financial China Bond 50 Index – to provide expert, fast and accurate narratives about key Asian credit markets. The ATF China Bond 50 Index is a product created by the collaborative strength of Capital Link International and its partners: media platform ATF and […]
Posted inOpinion
Revisionist powers will keep US engaged in Mideast
US President Joe Biden has yet to express his policy preferences regarding the Middle East, but considerable discussions already have arisen about his perceived effort to focus more intensively on the Pacific region and on China in particular. There is no question that East Asia and China have become a priority for the Biden administration, […]
Posted inAnalysis
Israel’s new leader needs to deliver change – and fast
Israel’s 36th government was approved on Monday with a slim majority of 60-59 in the Knesset, or parliament. The new prime minister is the leader of the national-religious party Yamina, Naftali Bennett. A religious person, a former commander in an elite army combat unit and successful high-tech entrepreneur, Bennett was forced to form a unity government with centrist Yair […]
Posted inOpinion
Lab-leak hypothesis plausible, because accidents happen
At the conclusion of the Group of Seven summit on Monday, leaders called for a fresh and transparent investigation to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic began. I welcome the renewed interest in the potential “lab-leak” origins of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. It wouldn’t be the first time an infectious pathogen was accidentally released […]
Posted inVietnam
Is there a hybrid strain in Vietnam? Not exactly
We recently heard a new “hybrid variant” of the coronavirus has been detected in Vietnam, amid a spike in cases in the country. The variant was originally described as a hybrid of the UK (now Alpha) and Indian (now Kappa B.1.617.1 and Delta B.1.617.2) strains of the virus. But what does this actually mean? And if […]
Posted inChina
China ready to launch first crew to space station
The first crew for China’s new space station prepared to blast off this week for the latest step in Beijing’s ambitious program to establish itself as a space power. The mission is China’s first crewed spaceflight in nearly five years and a matter of prestige for the government as it prepares to mark the 100th […]
Posted inAnalysis
G7 meet underscores fault lines on China
The Group of Seven (G7) has come a long way since its inception in the mid-1970s at the initiative of then-French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt to discuss the world economy and consult on an international economic policy following the first oil shock and the collapse of the Bretton Woods […]
Posted inMyanmar
Myanmar’s UN envoy calls for anti-junta measures
Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who has refused to leave his post despite being fired after the February coup, has called for “effective collective measures” against the junta, ahead of expected Security Council talks on the situation. “It is most urgent that the international community take effective collective measures to prevent any possible crimes […]
Posted inIndia
India’s Adani group companies’ shares nosedive
Shares of Adani group companies, promoted by India’s second richest man, Gautam Adani, suffered reverses on Monday following media reports of freezing of the accounts of three foreign portfolio investors that had invested heavily in the infrastructure conglomerate. The National Securities Depository has frozen the accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Crest Fund and APMS Investment […]
Posted inUS-China
The enduring triumph of Chimerica
NEW YORK – Hating China may be the only thing that American politicians agree about, but China remains the prop and support of the American economy. Americans can’t spend the trillions of dollars that their federal government has poured out in “stimulus” payments without Chinese imports. And the American Treasury can’t finance its projected US$2.3 […]
Posted inChart of the Day
All demand and no supply means inflation
The US federal government has doled out $5 trillion in demand during the past year. Where’s the supply? Except for information technology, there’s no pulse in capital equipment. Pundits who point to a rise in overall orders for non-defense capital goods (excluding aircraft) don’t look at the detail, in which the devil lurks. Outside of […]
Posted inUnited States
Elon Musk touts ‘super fast’ Model S Plaid
Why make, an electric car, that goes “crazy fast.” I mean, really. Aren’t EV owners supposed to travel efficiently and quietly to Starbucks, the Birkenstock store? The Apple store? Not so, says eccentric billionaire Elon Musk, who also believes in populating Mars. “Why make this really fast car that’s crazy fast?” the chief executive officer […]
Posted inUnited Kingdom
Virgin Atlantic going vertical with ‘flying taxi’
So this is the idea. Virgin Atlantic proposes, that an eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle) aircraft could pick people up from a city such as Cambridge and fly them to a major airport such as London Heathrow — thus avoiding terrible traffic jams. That aircraft is a Vertical Aerospace VA-X4, which will potentially […]
Posted inWorld
G7 more divided than united on countering China
In the official communique that rounded up the three-day G7 summit, statements on China were more muted than many had anticipated, sparking an only moderate response from Beijing. There had been hopes and fears in different quarters that the summit, held in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay, Cornwall, would further fuel the animosity between […]
Posted inAfghanistan
Al-Qaeda stirs as US withdraws from Afghanistan
PESHAWAR – Hundreds of al-Qaeda operatives including the terror group’s elusive leader Ayman al-Zawahiri are sheltering in the Pakistan-Afghan border region, a hidden presence that could come above ground as Afghanistan tilts towards a new era of civil war. A United Nations report released last week claims Taliban operatives consisting of Afghan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh […]
Posted inCovid-19
Novavax vaccine more than 90% effective
Novavax’s Covid-19 jab is more than 90% effective, including against coronavirus variants, the vaccine maker said Monday after a large-scale US study. The jab “demonstrated 100% protection against moderate and severe disease, 90.4% efficacy overall,” the company said in a statement, adding “the study enrolled 29,960 participants across 119 sites in the US and Mexico […]
Posted inAnalysis
Lots of tone, little substance at G7
Despite some notable novelties, there was a strong sense of déjà vu about the results of this year’s G7 summit of industrialized economies. It seemed to be a throwback to 2016, the final year of President Barack Obama’s time in office and the eve of Donald Trump’s. And why not? Current US President Joe Biden, […]
Posted inOpinion
India must bolster efforts to secure Andaman Sea
On June 9, the Indian and Thai navies began a three-day coordinated patrol in the strategically located Andaman Sea. The Indian Navy’s offshore patrol vessel INS Saryu and the Thai ship Krabi, along with Dornier maritime patrol aircraft from both navies, participated in the 31st edition of the India-Thailand coordinated patrol (CORPAT). The navies of both countries […]
Posted inOpinion
Biden’s B3W proposal no serious threat to China’s BRI
US President Joe Biden’s ill-defined program to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative is unlikely to pose a serious threat to the latter. Hubristically named after one of his domestic campaign slogans, “Build Back Better for the World,” or B3W, it aims to be an alternative multilateral funding program to the BRI for developing countries. […]
Posted inEssay
Is America back or not under Biden?
Looking at the global situation from China, Beijing still has a strong hand, but things could turn around very swiftly. Timing is very important and present posturing could be misleading. US President Joe Biden went to the G7 last Friday ready to strike and impress the allies against China. He rolled out a massive plan […]