The US dollar has had a good run during the last year or so. Is that run coming to an end? Some currency-market players think so. For example, on May 31 UBS, a Zurich-based bank, switched its outlook to “dollar neutral,” saying the “USD rally has run its course, and we see limited upside from […]
Posted inGallery
Asia’s houses of the holy
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 inNortheast Asia
Yoon and Kishida meeting not a summit – but a start
The meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on September 21 was notable mainly for the fact that it took place. It was a brief exchange – some 30 minutes – taking place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. The two governments […]
Posted inOpinion
Fossil fuel profits driving climate devastation
What do Pakistan, Puerto Rico and Jackson, Mississippi, have in common? They’ve all recently experienced climate-related catastrophic rain and flooding, resulting in the loss of homes, electricity, and running water. But even more important, they are all low-income regions inhabited by people of color – the prime victims of climate injustice. They face inaction from […]
Posted inJapan
Japan in urgent search of new strategic balance
In the 1970s, Japanese prime minister Masayoshi Ohira developed a concept of “comprehensive security” that emphasized the need to broaden the scope of security to non-military domains. The concept built upon the ideas outlined in the 1969 Nixon Doctrine, where the United States encouraged its allies to take “primary responsibility” for their own defense. This […]
Posted inMedia
US-Russia state media in hot war for hearts and minds
The battle over Ukraine extends across the world: Information warfare is quickly evolving as key nations seek to influence public opinion and gain political support. As during the Cold War, Russia and the United States are the two main combatants. Some efforts are clandestine, but plenty of material is broadcast to the public as each […]
Posted inJapan
Japan becomes global contender in industrial lasers
More than 20 companies are active in the field of ultrashort pulse (USP) lasers worldwide, according to Laser Focus World,. Most of them are European and American; a few are from China. Now there is a new, potentially powerful Japanese entrant. Hamamatsu Photonics is enlisting European support to expand its laser-related product line and develop […]
Posted inMilitary
China may now have air superiority over US in Pacific
China’s jet fighter force may have already caught up with the quality and quantity of the US, prompting new urgent calls in Washington to build up and modernize the US fighter fleet. US Air Combat Command Chief General Mark Kelley said that America’s combat air forces are 12 squadrons short of multiple aircraft types at […]
Posted inInterview
How war in Ukraine resembles past conflict in Yugoslavia
Dragana Trifković is the general director of the Center for Geostrategic Studies in Belgrade, Serbia. On September 8, a session was held in the UN Security Council on the topic of arms delivery to Ukraine by the West. In the introductory part of the session, Trifković spoke about the weapons that were delivered to the […]
Posted inUnited States
Pointed at China, US spreads THAAD all around Guam
The Pentagon wants to scatter its surface-to-air Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile launchers and radar onto diverse tiny islands around Guam, instead of currently concentrating everything at one site there, to survive possible US-China warfare in the West Pacific. Guam’s strategic air and naval facilities, including Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, […]
Posted inNorth Korea
Did Russian pride nix North Korea arms deal?
SEOUL – North Korea has indignantly refuted a widely-reported US intelligence analysis alleging that it is engaged in supplying Russia with artillery ammunition. “We have never exported weapons or ammunition to Russia before and we will not plan to export them,” an unnamed vice director general within Pyongyang’s General Bureau of Equipment said via the […]
Posted inIndonesia
Why cyber hackers have such big eyes for Indonesia
JAKARTA – Indonesian legislators have finally passed the country’s first personal data protection law, but despite being labeled a historic moment, critics already point to worrying loopholes and question whether it will change a bureaucratic culture that largely ignores cybersecurity measures. The passage of the legislation follows a series of digital attacks, including one incident […]
Posted inCambodia
Khmer Rouge trial ends with mixed legacy and unclear impact
A United Nations-backed tribunal in Cambodia has just concluded its largest trial, concerning crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. The tribunal’s appeal judges yesterday confirmed the conviction against 91-year-old Khieu Samphan, the former head of state, for his role in these crimes. Yesterday’s decision was a turning point. After this, there will be no […]
Posted inChina
Hong Kong to end hotel quarantine on Sept 26
Hong Kong will cancel its hotel quarantine rule and negative PCR test requirement before boarding for international travelers from September 26, the government said today in a long-awaited policy shift to revive the city’s sagging status as an international business hub. Hong Kong will adopt a so-called “0+3” arrangement whereby incoming travelers will no longer […]
Posted inRussia
Doctors, teachers and bankers prepare to fight for Russia
Fares for flights out of Russia rose dramatically in the 24 hours after President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization of reserve troops and suggested a possibility of wider conscription. Protests against Putin’s announcement have taken place in around 30 towns and cities across Russia. Doctors, teachers and bank workers are being asked to prepare for […]
Posted inAT+
Weak yen on a collision course with strong yuan
TOKYO — As Xi Jinping puts the finishing touches on securing a third term as Chinese president, his team has a Japanese yen dilemma on its hands. And so does Tokyo. On Thursday, the Bank of Japan made a sudden foray into currency markets. It was Japan’s first effort to prop up the yen since […]
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Posted inTech Wars
Spookish report fingers tech-hoovering Chinese scientists
China is luring back its US-trained and educated talent to work for the Chinese military’s high-tech weapons programs, effectively using US expertise and resources to advance its research in cutting-edge military technology and its applications, a new in-depth private intelligence report claims. Provocatively entitled “The Los Alamos Club”, the Strider Technologies report shows in graphic […]
Posted inOpinion
The mechanics of recession, inflation
How do they do it? Analysts speak metaphorically when they say, as I also sometimes do, current problems with recession/inflation (r/i) are due to governments’ policy of printing too much money. As well, when they discuss the “cure.” they blithely speak about raising the interest rate, as if such action is equivalent to turning down some […]
Posted inOpinion
Solutions to big problems – dreams, reality, and fraud
Big industrial problems attract entrepreneurs with big ideas and investors with a high risk appetite. Starting with good intentions, some end up as disastrous frauds as promised products prove to be unachievable. How does this happen? Such situations are rare but some entrepreneurs end up misleading themselves and investors in the mistaken belief that obstacles will be overcome with […]
Posted inOpinion
Mideast construction boom is about more than dollars
A defining image across Asia over the past few decades has been the construction crane looming over a horizon of tall, box-style buildings, the air speckled with dust from whirring industrial machines and the ever-present buzz of cars and motorbikes. From Shanghai to Mumbai to Dubai, the construction of real estate and infrastructure projects has […]
Posted inOpinion
How Russians read the conflict in the Caucasus
In the early hours of Tuesday, September 13, Azerbaijan launched an aggressive military assault along the borders of the Armenian Republic. Observers of politics in the post-Soviet space may be forgiven for thinking that the center of fighting was the disputed, Armenian-inhabited region of Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh by Armenians). In fact, however, the attack […]
Posted inChina
US pulls the plug on more China telecos
China has expressed its strong opposition to a new US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to ban three Chinese telecom companies from selling equipment to its internet development fund. On Tuesday, the FCC said it had put Chinese telecom firms China Unicom (Americas), Pacific Networks Corp and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) on its “Covered […]