Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com WASHINGTON — A mood of collective celebration swept over the American capital as President Barack Obama entered his second term under clear skies in freezing temperatures. It was as though the country were taking a break from fears about the economy, the next “fiscal cliff” and debate on […]
Sol W. Sanders Tokyo – Japan’s new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is racing against time. His recent landslide victory was a vote against the fumbling incumbent Democratic Party of Japan, which was from its inception a collection of diametrically opposed ideological partners. It scooped up leftwing socialists and disgruntled conservatives who left Abe’s “government” […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com Fleeing North Korea has been increasingly difficult due to tightened border controls and stronger internal security measures since the country’s new ruler Kim Jong-Un assumed power a year ago, South Korean officials and sources say. But defectors in Seoul say that desperate North Koreans will keep trying to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com General Secretary and Commander-in-chief Xi Jinping is set to continue the “pro-Russian” policy of his predecessor, Hu Jintao, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership becomes more nervous than ever over Washington’s perceived “anti-China containment policy.” While meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in Beijing on […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com The visit of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt to North Korea this week raises intriguing questions about Internet usage there to which we may not get real answers for a long time. Belatedly, North Korea has had to open access to the Internet to highly select elite that includes […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Xi Jinping, newly anointed general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has lost no time laying down what will likely be a leitmotif of his 10-year tenure: promoting “constitutional Socialism with Chinese characteristics.” This so-called “Back to the [Chinese] Constitution” movement will be kicked off after fellow […]
Sol W. Sanders Perhaps more than Westerners, Chinese have a gambling streak. Even during the darkest hours of Maoist oppression and pretended Puritanism, Beijing tolerated gambling on its southern flank in the Portuguese colony of Macau. Now reincorporated into China, in 2012 the world’s largest casino, holding the country’s only legal gambling monopoly, raked […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com LONDON — There was a time when Korea was best known overseas for Samsung gadgetry and Hyundai cars. Now Korea is permeating the global consciousness in ways that would have seemed unlikely if not impossible two or three years ago. The latest proof positive is a New Year’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com North Korea watchers in Seoul have been paying keen attention to a mystery man who was spotted beside North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Un at a ceremony on Dec. 16 marking the first anniversary of his father Kim Jong-Il’s death. A senior South Korean government official said the man is believed to be […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Less than one month after becoming general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country’s commander-in-chief,Xi Jinping has displayed a flair for catchy slogans — and superior public-relations skills. The new chairman of the policy-setting Central Military Commission has also demonstrated a readiness to project China’s […]
