President Xi Jinping’s impending state visit to the United States will focus attention on the widening differences between the two countries rather than their common interests, despite slowing economi ...More
EJ Insight2015-09-01
Hong Kong is panicking at the discovery that drinking water supply at several public housing estates is contaminated, with samples showing lead that exceeds the World Health Organization’s guideline o ...More
EJ Insight2015-08-24
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe failed to grasp the nettle when he delivered a much-touted address on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. As Abe pointed out, more than 80 p ...More
EJ Insight2015-08-18
Despite strong opposition from China, Asean foreign ministers vigorously discussed the South China Sea at their annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur last week, together with foreign ministers of the United ...More
EJ Insight2015-08-10
Last week, Barack Obama visited Kenya, his father’s birthplace, for the first time since becoming US president in 2009. Also on his itinerary was Ethiopia. It was the first time a serving American pre ...More
EJ Insight2015-08-04
Two and a half years after the Philippines first sought international arbitration in its disputes with China over the South China Sea, the first hearings were finally held in The Hague this month by t ...More
EJ Insight2015-07-27
The historic agreement reached by the world’s major powers and Iran on that country’s nuclear program was the biggest diplomatic achievement of US President Barack Obama's administration in six years. ...More
EJ Insight2015-07-21
Since early this year, Beijing has been capitalizing on the fact that 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and has repeatedly sought to embarrass Japan by reminding the world of ...More
EJ Insight2015-07-14
China’s new national security law, enacted last week by the National People’s Congress, the country’s parliament, is worrying on several levels, both because of what it says and because of what is lef ...More
EJ Insight2015-07-07
As expected, the Hong Kong government’s electoral reform package, which had been the focus of heated debate, failed to pass in the Legislative Council, thus blocking Beijing’s formula for “one man, on ...More
EJ Insight2015-06-23
At a time when Chinese capital and Chinese tourists are flooding into every corner of the world, the Chinese government is seeking the return of hundreds, possibly thousands, of former officials who h ...More
EJ Insight2015-06-16
That old question, what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object, received a new answer on June 4 when tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong poured into Victoria Park for the 26 ...More
EJ Insight2015-06-09
Over the last two weeks, China and the United States moved dangerously close to the brink of war for the first time in almost two decades, but at the annual security forum in Singapore, the two sides ...More
EJ Insight2015-06-02
The Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, held annually on the South Korean island of Jeju, dedicates itself to ideas such as diversity and sustainability. This year, the forum has the theme of buildin ...More
EJ Insight2015-05-26
Generation gaps always create all sorts of problems, but not when it comes to core values such as press freedom. A day after news broke that the South China Morning Post was ditching four well-respect ...More
EJ Insight2015-05-21
Sino-American relations are poised to worsen despite another summit meeting between the two leaders being planned for September, President Xi Jinping having accepted President Barack Obama’s invitatio ...More
EJ Insight2015-05-19
With barely eight months to go before Taiwan holds its next general election, at which both a new president and the entire parliament will be chosen, there was a lot hanging in the balance as the new ...More
EJ Insight2015-05-11
Last week, on the eve of an annual ASEAN summit meeting, Beijing warned the 10-nation grouping to “refrain from entangling itself” in rows with China, which risked “win-win cooperation” with the emerg ...More
EJ Insight2015-05-05
The Hong Kong government's political reform package, unveiled last week, contained few surprises. But there are some positive features. For one thing, the establishment of a low threshold for those wh ...More
EJ Insight2015-04-27
For many years, as China grew stronger and more influential, the United States has been pressuring it to assume more global responsibilities. Ten years ago, a senior American official, Robert Zoellick ...More
EJ Insight2015-04-21