2006
China Nurtures ‘Good Neighbour Policy’ in Asia
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (IPS) - China has embarked on a vigorous policy of engagement with regional institutions in Asia. From the steppes of Central Asia to the resource-rich waters of Southeast Asia, Beijing has implemented its own version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's ‘good neighbour policy’.
But this playing-well-with-others approach has presented China watchers with an intriguing riddle. Is China's new policy toward regional institutions a genuine commitment to regional and international norms, an attempt to displace the United States as the primary power in Asia, or simply a method to put smaller Asian countries at ease while China gradually builds up to superpower status?
JAPAN: Foreign Policy Needs to Focus on Asia -Experts
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (IPS) - After cultivating closer relations with its traditional ally the United States, Japan under new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe needs to refocus attention on Asia, say experts.
"Toward Asia, mainly because of the Yasukuni shrine issue, (former Prime Minister Junichiro) Koizumi's policy was quite a fiasco," Koji Murata, a professor of international security studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, said at a seminar this month on Japan's new foreign policy challenges that was organised by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
POLITICS-BURMA: More Uncertainty Lies Ahead
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (IPS) - Burma is in the middle of a national convention that its military leaders claim is the first step in a sevenfold path toward democracy. But what mix of toughness and engagement the international community should use on the country remains an open question, one that has drawn some comparison with North Korea.
'A Corrective Coup' in Thailand - Surin
By IPS Correspondents
North Korea Headache is Japan's Top Priority
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (IPS) – Many foreign policy challenges lie ahead for Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, but his most pressing concern is much closer at hand: North Korea, especially in the wake of its declaration of a nuclear test on Oct. 9.
Since then, Japan has been lobbying for strong U.N.-backed sanctions and implemented even stronger unilateral measures. This has now acquired urgency in Japan’s foreign policy environment, where officials were looking at China as an economic competitor and potential military challenge, and questions about Tokyo’s support for U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
NORTH KOREA: Talk Needed, But Toughness Too - Expert
BRUSSELS (IPS Asia-Pacific) - The “lack of solidarity” and divergence of opinions among key countries over the years created conditions that allowed North Korea to carry out its underground nuclear test in October, but negotiations with Pyongyang remain crucial to keeping it in check.
POLITICS: 'Europe, Asia Can Show U.S. the Multilateral Way'
By Peter Dhondt
BRUSSELS, Sep 13 (IPS) - Europe and Asia's continued investment in political and economic cooperation could reap huge dividends for multilateralism at a time of restiveness about the U.S. unilateral foreign policy, experts and officials at the just-finished Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Helsinki, Finland agree.
INDIA: In Search of 'Mind-boggling' Amounts of Investments from Europe
By Peter Dhondt
BRUSSELS, Jun 13 (IPS) - The Indian economy can start growing by 10 percent a year if India is able to attract the huge investments it needs in infrastructure and agriculture, including from Europe.
Common Interests Bring U.S, India Closer
WASHINGTON, Jun 10 (IPS) - One of the enduring mysteries in international relations was the hitherto cool relations between the United States and India. Both were, and are, proud democracies. Both are suspicious of Islamic fundamentalism. Both are deeply concerned with the rise of China. And yet, the two nations ended up in opposite camps during much of the Cold War.
Shifting Gears, China Wins Influence in South-east Asia
(Download the Chinese translation here.)
By John Feffer
WASHINGTON, Apr 20 (IPS) — As the world’s most populous country and the fourth largest economy, China has undeniable global influence. Chinese President Hu Jintao’s meeting this week in Washington with U.S. President George W. Bush, their fifth in little over a year, further underscores Beijing’s central role on the global stage.
