Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the PacificAuthors: Djisman S. Simandjuntak, Indonesia, and Lee Sun-Jin, South Korea
Recently, sales of Korean-made cars have surged in China while Japanese-made cars have sharply reduced. Korea and Japan agreed in October not to extend their currency swap agreements when they expire at the end of the month.
Authors: Joseph Franco and Yeap Su Yin, RSIS
With the signing of the new Cybercrime Prevention Act (CPA) into law on 20 September 2012, Philippine president Benigno ‘Noynoy’ S. Aquino III found himself sucked into a cyber-storm of discontent.
Both on and offline, protests came thick and fast against provisions of the new law, with most opposing the ‘cyber-libel’ and website ‘take down’ clauses. Read more…
Author: Yoshisuke Iinuma, The Oriental Economist
A new party has come on the scene in Japan, fed by widespread disenchantment with both the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
When the Kyodo news service asked voters what party they would vote for in the proportional representation segment of the lower house elections, the Japan Restoration Party (JRP) came in second, with 13.9 per cent of popular support. Read more…
Author: Thilo Hanemann, Rhodium Group
Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States has reached an inflection point. Since 2009, FDI flows have increased rapidly, growing from an annual average of around 30 deals worth less than $500 million before 2009, to almost 100 deals worth about $5 billion in 2010 and 2011.
Author: Hugh Patrick, Columbia University
After two lost decades it has become easy to underestimate Japan’s strengths and overstate its problems.
Japan’s economy will continue to be one of the world’s five largest at least for the next two decades, but it is clear that the country is in the throes of major economic and political uncertainty. Read more…
Author: Shiro Armstrong, Editor, East Asia Forum
Yesterday Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched the Australian government’s much anticipated Australia in the Asian Century White Paper.
Just over a year ago, in a landmark speech in Melbourne, Gillard announced that she was commissioning the White Paper to review the new economic and strategic circumstances in which Australia would have to shape its national and international interests in the years ahead.
Author: Andrew MacIntyre, ANU
The whole world — including Asia itself — is grappling with the impact of Asia’s rise on the global landscape.
Today, the Australian government launched its response to the challenge of Asia’s rise in a White Paper, Australia in the Asian Century.
Author: Tobias Harris, MIT
Japanese politics have entered a volatile phase.
The debate in Japan’s House of Representatives over raising the consumption tax resulted in a new rift in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) when Ichiro Ozawa took more than 49 followers out of the party in July and formed the new People’s Life First party. Read more…
Authors: Miaojie Yu and Wei Tian, Peking University
The processing trade, which has become hugely popular in China, involves domestic firms obtaining raw materials or intermediate inputs from abroad, processing them locally, and exporting the value-added goods.
Author: Richard Katz, The Oriental Economist
When it comes to the Democratic Party of Japan’s nuclear policy, only one explanation makes sense: Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is determined to prove that his party is the bunch of bungling amateurs that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) claims it is.
How else to explain the reversals, and then the reversals of the reversals, of the ‘no nukes’ policy? Read more…
Authors: Derek Scissors and Dean Cheng, Heritage Foundation
In late 2009, it was widely believed that the apparent effectiveness of China’s response to the financial crisis demonstrated the advantages of statist over market models. Now, it is generally recognised that the PRC must eventually return to the market path.
Author: Tridivesh Singh Maini, New Delhi
Two news stories over the last two weeks have reiterated the changing nature of India’s engagement with the outside world, which is no longer spearheaded by New Delhi.
First, the UK’s Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire revealed on 11 October that the British government, Read more…
Author: Ron Huisken, ANU
From the standpoint of stability and order, East Asia has turned in a rather poor performance over the past 2-3 years. The region has resembled a class of primary students whose teacher has been called out of the room.
Author: Yu Yongding, Beijing
China’s Twelfth Five-Year Plan calls for a shift in the country’s economic model from export-led growth toward greater reliance on domestic demand, particularly household consumption.
Since the Plan was introduced in 2011, China’s current-account surplus as a share of GDP has indeed fallen. Read more…
Author: Purnendra Jain, University of Adelaide
After years of low-level engagement or neglect by the Australian government, Prime Minister Julia Gillard signalled a dramatic shift in Australia’s India policy.
While visiting New Delhi last week, she announced that India will now be ranked in the same category of strategic importance for Australia as the United States, Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia. Read more…
