Year: 2020

Who Gets to Breathe Clean Air in New Delhi?

“Around 7 in the morning, Monu, 13, lifts his mosquito netting and crawls out of bed onto a dirt floor. Outside, his mother cooks breakfast over an open fire. A few miles across New Delhi, the world’s most polluted capital, 11-year-old Aamya finally gives in to her mom’s coaxing. She climbs out of bed and treads …

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Opinion | What the Asian-American Coalition Can Teach the Democrats

“In coalition politics, every part of the coalition matters, especially when elections are close. For Democrats, Asian-Americans are suddenly crucial: They are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. electorate, constituting 4.7 percent of the voting population — enough to make a difference in the presidential contest in Georgia, where Joe Biden won …

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Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United States Ambassador to China Max Baucus, Press Roundtable, Lost Heaven Restaurant, Beijing, China | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in China

Tony Blinken keeps repeating the same good talking points on the TPP, without explaining how any one them might actually work. This PR is not that impressive, unless, it was all too new what would work and what wouldn’t. “Press: I have three questions.  The first is, the Obama administration has continued saying that the United …

Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United States Ambassador to China Max Baucus, Press Roundtable, Lost Heaven Restaurant, Beijing, China | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in China Read More »

‘Trump Is Better’: In Asia, Pro-Democracy Forces Worry About Biden

“BANGKOK – A dissident once branded Enemy No. 1 by the Chinese Communist Party is spreading conspiracy theories about vote-rigging in the American presidential election. Pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong are championing President Trump’s claims of an electoral victory. Human rights activists and religious leaders in Vietnam and Myanmar are expressing reservations about President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s ability …

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Opinion | Cooperative Competition Is Possible Between China and the U.S.

This is a well-crafted op-ed with many excellent points. But what about self-determination for the Uigers, the Taiwanese, or the other countries, the ASEAN countries, that also call the South China Sea home? Hopefully Joe Biden will bring the US back into the TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership. Acting editorial page editor Kathleen Kingsbury wrote …

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After Trump, Biden Faces Pressure to Stand Up to China by Embracing Taiwan

“TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Trump has made cultivating closer ties with Taiwan a critical part of his efforts to counter China’s rising influence. He has significantly increased weapons sales to Taiwan’s military, vowed to step up economic cooperation, and generally bolstered relations with the self-ruled democratic island — even in his waning days. His successor, President-elect Joseph R. Biden …

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Opinion | Xi Jinping’s Strength is China’s Weakness

“SYDNEY, Australia – President Xi Jinping has accumulated legions of powerful critics in China since he took office in early 2013. There are the once-powerful officials who have been felled by his sweeping anti-corruption campaign. There are the economists who resist his statist instincts. There are the academics who have objected to his authoritarian measures, …

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Opinion | John Kerry: China’s Chance to Save Antarctic Sealife

“Even as the United States and China confront deep disagreements, there is a global challenge that simply won’t wait for the resolution of our differences: climate change. While some have decided that we are entering a new Cold War with China, we can still cooperate on critical mutual interests. After all, even at the height …

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The Jailed Activist Left a Letter Behind. The Message: Keep Fighting.

BANGKOK – The outspoken Vietnamese journalist and activist Pham Doan Trang knew it was only a matter of time before the police came for her. She wrote a letter last year and gave it to an American friend with instructions to release it upon her arrest. In the letter, she asked that her friends not just …

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