China suffered a double whammy in the South China Sea last week as the US navy carried out a freedom-of-navigation operation, sending a destroyer to within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in t ...More
EJ Insight2015-11-02
It must have been a bittersweet moment for Xi Jinping, the head of the world’s biggest communist party, to be riding in a golden carriage seated next to Queen Elizabeth II -- the world’s second-longes ...More
EJ Insight2015-10-27
Fearing a disastrous outcome at presidential and legislative elections in January, Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang finally took the plunge and replaced its original presidential candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu, w ...More
EJ Insight2015-10-20
The agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, reached after five years of often nail-biting sessions that ended inconclusively, marks a triumph for the United States, especially for President Barack ...More
EJ Insight2015-10-14
China showed in its Sept. 3 military parade that it wants to be viewed not just as an economic power but as a major military and diplomatic player as well. And, while it trumpeted its desire for peace ...More
EJ Insight2015-09-15
While China’s dazzling military parade last week can be understood on several levels, the underlying purpose of the entire show, in which 30 heads of state or government participated, was clear and st ...More
EJ Insight2015-09-08
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
