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East Asia
[Asia Round-up] Taiwan’s challenges over its sovereignty
By the NUMBERS Taiwan’s challenges over its sovereignty The debate over Taiwan’s sovereignty, status as a nation-state or part of China is being rekindled with its recent loss of diplomatic ties with Gambia. Many speculate about Taiwan’s position and role in the international community. In light of this, Taiwan’s “soft…
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East Asia
[Asia Round-up] Samuragochi’s shameful deception
Editor’s note: Followings are summaries of editorials from major Asian media on current issues. Samuragochi’s shameful deception The deception by the supposedly deaf composer Mamoru Samuragochi is twofold. Takashi Niigaki, a lecturer at Toho Gakuen School of Music, disclosed he had ghostwritten 20 music scores credited to Samuragochi for the…
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South East Asia
[Asia Round-up] Keeping people and tigers safe
Editor’s note: Followings are summaries of editorials from major Asian media on current issues. Keeping people and tigers safe As conservation of wild species becomes more successful, higher levels of human-wildlife conflict are being reported. The “man-eating tiger” incident in the Nilgiris district, which ended in the gunning down of…
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Politics
[Asia Round-up] Polls not likely to solve Thai crisis
Cajoling wild jumbos The Island, Sri Lanka The last few months have seen several protests against the government’s failure to prevent wild elephant attacks on far-flung villages. Affected people demand electric fences. But they won’t help so long as villages sit on elephant migration paths and forests continue to shrink,…
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East Asia
Confederation or instant unification
Over the last few months we have seen a number of signals which indicate that Marshall Kim Jong Un, the young North Korean dictator, is really serious about changing his country. Most likely, he wants to turn his country into a mini-China, where cutthroat capitalism will be practiced under the…
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Nepal’s PM Koirala expands cabinet
Sixteen days after he was elected to the top executive post, Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala Tuesday expanded his cabinet by inducting two deputy prime ministers, 16 ministers and one state minister. Row between the two large parties–Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML)–…
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South East Asia
Aung San Suu Kyi for President?
Recent signs point to Aung San Suu Kyi being able to vie for president in the 2015 elections. First, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has formally proposed amending a proviso in the constitution that bars her from being a candidate for the top leadership post. Clause 59(f)…
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East Asia
China’s conditions to accept a ‘unified Korea’
Recent months have seen an unusual amount of noise and a sense of crisis in Northeast Asia, a region in which nationalist passions have not run this high for decades. Sino-Japanese relations have hit a nadir, while US commitments to Japan have been strongly confirmed. While South Korea’s President Park…
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South Asia
Pakistan’s Musharraf appears in treason case as court defers indictment
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf appeared Tuesday for the first time in front of a court tasked with deciding whether he committed high treason, a sharp blow for a man who was once the most powerful in Pakistan. The appearance is also a blow to the prestige of the country’s…
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South East Asia
Hasina wins election: political conflict persists
The Bangladesh Awami League (AL) president Sheikh Hasina has become the prime minister of the government again for the third time, as her party has achieved massive victory in the just-concluded parliament elections. The AL secured 232 seats in the 300-seat unicameral Jatiya Sangsad (parliament). Sheikh Hasina, who was sworn…
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