Trading With the Enemy: The Bear and the Dragon Update
April 29, 2011 3 min. read

In an update to the previous post, Russia is already accusing China of trying to fix market prices for the new Skovorodino-Daqing.  That’s very shocking, I know. Business Insider posted an article stating that the Russian government owned  pipeline company Transneft is not only accusing the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) of violating the terms […]

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Japan to reflect on nuclear safety
April 29, 2011 2 min. read

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he will launch an independent panel to investigate the causes of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. According to Kyodo News, Kan said “the myth of the safety of nuclear energy” was prevalent among government and utility officials and that Japan needs to “humbly reflect” on such […]

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Japan to join Hague convention on child abduction
April 27, 2011 1 min. read

Tokyo said yesterday that it will announce a plan to join the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction at the Group of Eight developed countries’ summit in late May in Deauville, France. The government is expected to instruct the justice and foreign ministries to develop necessary bills to have Japan […]

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Authorities limit volunteers to quake relief centers
April 27, 2011 2 min. read

Of the 65 volunteer-staffed disaster relief operation centers in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, 56 are restricting the participation of volunteers. Some are allowing only local residents to volunteer at the centers. The restriction is due to the inability to accommodate large numbers of volunteers, as well as concerns of increased traffic due to the […]

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Trading With the Enemy: The Bear and the Dragon
April 27, 2011 4 min. read

In the last installment of the two part “Trading with the Enemy” Series, this blog looked a serious issues of contention affecting Sino-American trade-relations, cyber-espionage and hacking.  Now we will examine a  little discussed area of discomfort,  trade between China and it’s very large northern neighbor, Russia.  Over the last two decades, the Sino-Russo “Cold […]

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Right to Education – Need for Innovative Approaches
April 27, 2011 6 min. read

Almost a year ago, I enthusiastically wrote about the recognition of Right to Education (RTE) as a Fundamental Right in India. Making elementary education an entitlement for children in the 6-14 age group, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 was expected to directly benefit close to ten million children who […]

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TEPCO cuts salaries, cancels jobs
April 26, 2011 2 min. read

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday that it will cancel plans to hire 1,100 new employees and cut the salaries of all its employees in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The company said in February that it planned to hire 1,100 upcoming graduates from 6,500 applicants. The company […]

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DPJ struggles in election
April 25, 2011 3 min. read

The Democratic Party of Japan fared poorly in the second round of nationwide local elections following losses in the gubernatorial and prefectural elections two weeks ago. Of the 10 municipal and ward mayoral elections in which candidates affiliated with the DPJ ran against candidates affiliated with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, the DPJ won three […]

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Gov't may help TEPCO pay damages
April 24, 2011 2 min. read

The Japanese government said Saturday that they may help Tokyo Electric Power Co. pay for damages caused by the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was crippled after the March 11 quake and tsunami, in the event that the company’s survival is at stake. The amount of compensation may be limited in […]

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Economic diplomacy for reconstruction
April 21, 2011 3 min. read

Japan plans to beef up its strategy of “economic diplomacy” to recover from the destruction caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The economy was further damaged by the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which has resulted in rolling blackouts in Tokyo, and hurt consumer confidence. In today’s post, I […]

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Gov't may hike consumption tax for reconstruction
April 20, 2011 4 min. read

The Japanese government is considering raising the consumption tax from 5 percent to 8 percent to pay for reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The government estimated the damage caused by the disaster could amount to 25 trillion yen (more than $300 billion). The Democratic Party of Japan is in favor of raising […]

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Trading With The Enemy: Sino-American Cyber-Espionage
April 19, 2011 7 min. read

China has over 400 million internet users, more than any other nation.  This exponentially increasing population of Chinese netizens entering the global  internet community has not come without serious negative externality.   Over the past decade, there has been a marked increase in cyber-espionage and hacking coming from Mainland China.  Espionage is not new, even between […]

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