Financial Times (December 30)
“Faced with the choice between the romantic nationalism close to his heart, and the recognition that only bold economic and diplomatic measures can restore his country to prosperity, Mr Abe appears to have listened to his head and chosen the latter.”In reaching a final “comfort women” agreement, “both South Korea and Japan have showed courage, pragmatism and the willingness to risk a domestic backlash. The benefits of this rapprochement should not be underestimated, at a moment when east Asia confronts both opportunity and peril.”
Tags: Abe, Bold measures, Comfort women, Courage, Domestic backlash, Japan, Nationalism, Pragmatism, Prosperity, Rapprochement, Recognition, South Korea
Bloomberg (October 18)
“When Gen Nakatani arrives in Seoul on Tuesday he’ll be the first Japanese defense minister to visit South Korea in nearly five years, signaling that growing regional security risks are trumping the disputes over territory and history that have blighted relations between the countries.”
Tags: Defense minister, Disputes, History, Japan, Nakatani, Security risks, South Korea, Territory
Wall Street Journal (August 16)
“Some Japanese complain, with justification, that no apology would satisfy critics in China and South Korea who have their own nationalist axes to grind. But reasonable foreigners—including Americans—find it hard to credit Japan’s apologies as sincere when school textbooks whitewash atrocities…. We and other friends of Japan share Mr. Abe’s desire to see it become a normal nation not shackled by its past, not least so it can be trusted to stand with other democracies against potential Chinese aggression. Mr. Abe would bring that goal closer if he took his own advice and faced history squarely.”
Tags: Abe, Apologies, Apology, Atrocities, China, Japan, Nationalists, Sincere, South Korea, Textbooks, U.S., Whitewash
Wall Street Journal (July 20)
“The Lee family that controls the Samsung conglomerate won its showdown with minority shareholders on Friday, but the vote still represents a watershed for corporate governance in the world’s 14th-largest economy. Though Samsung won, the bell is tolling for South Korea’s chaebol system of corporate control.” The shareholder fight marked “a step forward for corporate reform in Asia” where “a new shareholder class has been mobilized.”
Tags: Asia, Chaebol, Conglomerate, Corporate governance, Lee, Minority shareholders, Samsung, South Korea, Watershed
The Economist (June 27)
“Electric buses in parts of South Korea, Italy, Britain and California are, today, recharging themselves from underground wireless chargers.” Wireless charging isn’t new. Nicholas Tesla used resonant induction in the 19th century, but it may finally prove revolutionary. From mobile phones to cars and kitchen appliances, “sales of such machines, now half a billion dollars a year, will grow 30-fold over the next decade.” Furthermore, the technology may succeed in “decarbonising the world’s road vehicles.”
Tags: Britain, California, Electric buses, Italy, Recharging, Resonant induction, Revolutionary, South Korea, Tesla, Vehicles, Wireless charging
Washington Post (June 4)
“The tragic sinking of a cruise ship on the Yangtze River on Monday night produced a reflexive reaction from China’s communist authorities: censorship.” This could backfire. “Mr. Xi’s attempt to impose Stalinist-style information controls may not work in 21st-century China. His regime would foster more trust were it to follow the examples of neighbors such as South Korea and Taiwan, which live-streamed video of rescue efforts after recent disasters and encouraged debate about what went wrong. In attempting to shield the regime from criticism, Beijing’s censors are only adding to public embitterment.”
Tags: Censorship, China, Debate, Disasters, Rescue, Sinking, South Korea, Stalin, Taiwan, Tragic, Xi, Yangtze
The Economist (May 30)
Amid the global fanfare over urbanization, “another pressing urban dilemma” is being overlooked: “what to do with cities that are losing people.” Germany, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea all have shrinking cities. Before long, China will too. To avoid blight, one of the best policies is to “return the land to nature” by knocking down old structures. Urban “planners are expert at making cities work better as they grow. Keeping them healthy as they shrink is just as noble.”
Tags: Blight, China, Germany, Japan, Planners, Shrinking cities, South Korea, Structures, U.S., Urbanization
New York Times (May 19)
“With North Korea in possession of nuclear weapons and a well-oiled machinery of oppression, a regime collapse may not happen soon. But the Kims will surely fall at some point, quickly and brutally, and when they do South Korea and its allies must stand ready to rescue a nation that has suffered horribly. In the meantime, the United States and America’s allies must remain vigilant and continue to search for ways to deter Mr. Kim.”
Tags: Allies, Collapse, Kim, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Oppression, Regime, South Korea, U.S., Vigilant
Wall Street Journal (April 23)
North Korea’s nuclear arsenal may be larger than previously thought,” as many as 40 warheads by the end of next year, according to Chinese nuclear experts. “A well-stocked nuclear armory in North Korea ramps up security fears in Japan and South Korea, neighboring U.S. allies that could seek their own nuclear weapons in defense.”
Tags: Allies, China, Defense, Experts, Japan, North Korea, Nuclear arsenal, Security, South Korea, U.S., Warheads
Washington Post (March 22)
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “was the democratic world’s favorite dictator.” Despite his virtues, he was “demonstrably unwise about democracy in Asia. While he was touting supposedly unique Asian values incompatible with liberal Western norms, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia became robust democracies and prospered economically.”
Tags: Asia, Democracy, Dictator, Indonesia, Lee Kuan Yew, Prospered, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Values, Virtues, Western
