Asia-Pacific Archive

SEOUL, South Korea — Time is running out for North Korea to make good on a pledge to denuclearize. In October, Pyongyang agreed to disable its main nuclear reactor and provide a complete declaration of all components of its atomic weapons program by Dec. 31. Now it appears unlikely that the Kim regime will meet the deadline. The timetable was set during the last official round of the six-party talks among North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China. In return for abandoning its nuclear arsenal, Pyongyang was promised energy and economic assistance as well as removal […]

TOKYO, Japan — While legislatures around the world wind down their sessions ahead of the New Year, the government in Japan announced earlier this month it was extending its parliamentary session in an effort to resolve a debate that has for the last couple of months brought the legislative process here largely to a halt. On Dec.15, the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced that the Diet session would be extended for another month, the first time in 14 years that a session has been extended into the new year. The decision was made to allow time to […]

The death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Thursday from wounds suffered in an attack on her party’s political rally has sent shock waves through Pakistan and the world, plunging the country into chaos and raising serious questions about the stability and future of the nuclear-armed state on the front line of the war on terror. Bhutto’s life was characterized by tragic deaths in her family, a historic rise to the pinnacle of Pakistani politics and corruption scandals that drove her into repeated exile as Pakistan’s well-oiled rumor mills ran wild. Bhutto was loved and reviled in almost equal […]

Round two of the trial of Salim Hamdan is now underway in earnest. Most will recall that round one ended when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the military commission established by an order issued by President Bush violated constitutional separation of powers limitations (with a plurality of the court also concluding the commission violated the humane treatment mandate of the law of war). Congress responded rapidly to that ruling by passing the Military Commission Act of 2006, providing the president with a statutory basis for resurrecting the commissions. Pursuant to that statute, Salim Hamdan was recharged […]

BANGKOK, Thailand — In the final days before an election that is supposed to herald the return of “democracy” to Thailand, protesters gate-crashed the national assembly in Bangkok. The protestors were angered by the unelected military-appointed national assembly’s last-minute passage of a slew of new laws before being dissolved — including a dubious and feared Internal Security Bill which would give the military highly questionable powers. The law, certain to be passed, enshrines the authority of the Internal Security Operations Command, a shadowy parallel military grouping with extensive powers under the prime minister. “It is unexcusable for the assembly to […]

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — The 13th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Bali over the last two weeks, had it all: anger, frustration, intense politicking, drama, tears, and finally a decision, although it was reached one day later than expected. The final document, nailed down on Saturday, is not the whirlwind of change that environmentalists had hoped for, but rather a gentle breeze that may pave the way to a cooler tomorrow in a warming world. The Bali Roadmap, as the final document is known, is the beginning of a long process that sets 2009 as the […]

CHINA URGED TO END CHILD LABOR IN SCHOOLS — Human Rights Watch Dec. 3 called on Chinese authorities to end the use of labor programs in Chinese middle schools because of rampant abuses. “China claims that it is fighting child labor, and repeatedly cites its legal prohibition against the practice as proof. But the government actively violates its own prohibitions by running large programs through the school system that use child labor, lack sufficient health and safety guarantees, and exploit loopholes in domestic labor laws,” Human Rights Watch Asia Advocacy Director Sophie Richardson said in a press release. The Chinese […]

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — As the 13th meeting of the parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) enters its second and final week, there has been mixed progress on the resort island of Bali, where representatives of some 190 countries have converged to plot a roadmap for mitigating global warming when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The second week coincides with the arrival of national delegations’ ministers and is meant to seal the deals negotiated by technicians during the first week. However, although most UNFCCC observers would agree with Emil Salim, head of the host […]

NEW DELHI – India’s Communists continue to wage an aggressive campaign to derail the landmark U.S.-India nuclear deal that would ensure stronger ties with Washington and the reliable energy supply needed to fuel India’s scorching economy. Debate over the deal in the upper house of Indian Parliament this week– replete with personal verbal attacks and walkouts — peaked Wednesday when leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declared that a “big majority” was against it and insisted the government not undermine democracy by trying to move forward. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI-M, challenged that “any move to […]

This week, world leaders and scientists are meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to articulate a global strategy to deal with global warming. Even though it remains unlikely that major policy initiatives will be announced, the venue provides an important platform to increase U.S.-Japanese leadership on global warming. Historically, U.S.-Japan relations have benefited from multiple layers of bilateral cooperation. As the U.S.-Japan bilateral relationship evolves, traditional military and economic cooperation will prove insufficient to guard against malignant stresses in the alliance. The recent meeting in Washington of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and President Bush provided the foundation for a new pillar […]

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s visit to Singapore late last month for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must have come as something of a relief to the challenges and confusion reigning at home. At the meeting, Fukuda had a chance to reconfirm the warming nature of the relationship between Japan and China, which had become strained under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, while ASEAN nations also made a point of praising the Fukuda Doctrine as outlined by his father and former prime minister, Takeo Fukuda, which emphasized mutual confidence-building between Japan and the […]

The Associated Press grimly reports that “Insurgents have staged more than 130 suicide attacks” in Afghanistan this year. Something called the “Global Islamic Media Front” is demanding that Germany and Austria withdraw from Afghanistan. “NATO’s shortfalls holding back progress in Afghanistan,” declare the Canadian media. On top of all that, we are reminded daily of Pakistan’s imminent explosion or implosion, which, by my count, we’ve been bracing for since October 2001. But there is other news from the Afghanistan front — news that’s not making it into the morning papers, at least not onto the front page. Resisting intense and […]

DENPASAR Indonesia — There is a double set of expectations in Bali this week, where about 15,000 are expected to converge Monday for the 13th meeting of the parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The meeting begins on Monday and runs through Dec. 14. In the wake of terrorist attacks in recent years, local residents hope that the 12-day conference signals to tourists worldwide that the island is a safe vacation destination. Meanwhile, the movers and shakers of the world’s environmental lobby hope it will pave the way for negotiations toward a new, binding deal to […]