It wasn’t so long ago that rivers of bicycle commuters coursed through Chinese cities. As a means of navigating urban roads, two wheels couldn’t be beat. They were cheap (and China was poor), and Chinese cities were compact enough to allow for conveyance by pedal power alone. As recently as 1986, 63 percent of Beijingers used a bike as their primary mode of transportation.By 2013, however, those numbers had plummeted to 14 percent. Nationwide, bicycle usage declined between 2 and 5 percent annua

The minutes of the September meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee released Wednesday explained why three Fed board members had dissented from the majority’s “close call” decision to keep rates unchanged. The highly anticipated transcript provides insights into internal and external developments, illustrating the “unusual uncertainty” that policymakers must contend with.　The transcript is an important reminder of how difficult it has become to maintain a high level of conviction

The permanent members of the UN Security Council have chosen Antonio Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, to succeed Ban Ki-moon as secretary-general. The appointment to the initial five-year term still needs approval by the 193-member UN General Assembly but that should be a formality.There is little question that Guterres, 67, is up to the job. Portugal, a country of nearly 11 million, has a complex economy and foreign policy that spreads across the world, as a result of Portugal hav

There were differences and reservations but when push came to shove, the deal was done.　A historic UN consensus to cap carbon emissions for the aviation sector has received solid backing from major countries, including those in Southeast Asia.　Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia are among 64 countries that have agreed to participate on a voluntary basis in a global market-based measure to control carbon dioxide pollution from international flights.　Together, these countries account for a

I continue to hear from many people who call themselves progressives or liberals but tell me they won’t vote for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming election. With due respect, I believe they’re wrong.The following are their three major arguments and my responses.Some claim that Clinton is no better than Donald Trump. “He’s bad, but she’s just as bad,” they say.I’m sorry, but anyone who equates Trump with Clinton hasn’t been paying attention.Donald Trump is a dangerous, bigoted, misogynistic, narcis

During this ugly presidential campaign, Republican Donald Trump has shown enough about his character and temperament to prove himself unfit for the Oval Office. But on the issues facing this country, Trump has given voters little to go on, offering mainly bare policy outlines and vague generalities. Perhaps that’s because his ideas are poorly thought out -- or they don’t work as advertised.　Take Sunday’s presidential debate, for example. When asked how he would make the wealthy pay their fair sh

Watching Donald Trump skulking behind Hillary Clinton on the debate stage Sunday night, muttering about locking her up if he wins, was a reminder that we are drifting toward a kind of bullyboy-world, where power is everything. You see this coarsening climate of relations around the globe, in the debasement of the norms that make civilized life possible. Dictators push the limits of power in new ways almost daily: China brazenly builds military bases on disputed rocks and sand in the South China

Three months ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to the resources in the West Philippine Sea (also known as the South China Sea), and thus that the Philippines has exclusive rights to the territory. China rejected the ruling, and an icy chill overcame the once-friendly bilateral relationship. It is time to bring back some warmth.Soon after the ruling, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte unexpectedly designat

Some of Korea’s global conglomerates are in trouble. It is feared that this trouble will not only cut into their earnings and brand image, but also the reputation of Korea Inc. that they helped to build.The problem is that the biggest ones -- Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor -- are facing difficulties similar to those that battered Japan’s automaker Toyota in 2009/2010 and Germany’s Volkswagen.The two foreign cases reminded everyone in the market that any big firm can lose what took decades

The international order is undergoing structural change, not just from the rise of emerging economies, but from the way technologies, social and mobile, are revolutionizing the way information flows within and between societies.　We live at a turning point in history, full of promise but also of danger. We are seeing a resurgence of hard nationalism, a backlash against the globalization and the liberal global order.　Voters everywhere are confounding all previous expectations in voting against exi

It all began with a letter from a self-styled Christian pastor. The sender of the registered mail to 1 Hyoja-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, named Choe Tae-min, was totally unknown to the addressee, Park Geun-hye.The contents of the letter were not made public, but, judging from what transpired afterward, it must have carried very moving words to console the young lady who was grieving the death of her mother by an assassin’s bullet.According to legend circulating in media circles, Choe claimed in his l

This is the time of year when you wake up and discover the alma mater you cherish and support isn’t even in the fourth tier of some expert’s widely publicized idea of the best colleges in the nation.　Just when you — having steadily contributed to the institution’s welfare since your own graduation, even when you couldn’t afford it — were planning to send your kid there for a gazillion dollars a year, some bozo or group of bozos comes along and tells you East Blah U. ranks No. 450 out of 500 in t

Who would have imagined the name “Kim Young-ran” would cause so many ripples. Named after the lawmaker who proposed it, the so-called Kim Young-ran law is said to be one of the toughest pieces of corruption-fighting legislation in the country’s history. Its primary purpose is to weed out corruption among government officials, the corporate sector and the media. Despite the barrage of criticism it has faced, particularly from the media for including it in its scope, I see no real problem with the

“One town’s very like another / When your head’s down over your pieces, brother,” according to the lyrics in the musical “Chess.” That is probably not the case when your head has an unfamiliar, unwanted piece of cloth draped over it because of the town -- and the country -- you are in and because you are a woman.So you have to wonder what (and whether) world chess officials were thinking when they decided to hold next year’s women’s world championship in Tehran, where the Islamic Republic comman

Unfavorable factors are simultaneously casting an ominous shadow over the Korean economy.　Aside from many of the OPEC members, some non-OPEC countries are reportedly poised to move to curtail crude oil output. International crude prices have surpassed the highest level in a year to hover at around $50 to $53 a barrel.　Future prices are up to producers -- Russia, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Nigeria -- which have taken an ambiguous or wait-and-see stance toward the uniform reductions. The coming choice

While major government players are distracted by the three-ring circus otherwise known as national politics, the Zika virus has steadily and explosively spread throughout Southeast Asia, triggering travel alerts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Already, there are 12 reported Zika cases in the Philippines, including one involving a pregnant woman in Iloilo. Those infected had no history of travel to any affected country prior to the illness, which meant they must have acquir

Last week’s incident in which Chinese fishing vessels rammed into a South Korean Coast Guard speed boat and caused it to sink should prompt authorities to regard Chinese fishermen engaged in illegal fishing as a serious threat to our maritime sovereignty and national security.  It is no news that some Chinese fishermen violating our territorial waters resort to violence in resisting crackdowns by the Korean Coast Guard. It is common for them to wield weapons such as knives, axes and steel pipes.

In Korean society, if you snitch on others who violate certain laws and report them to the authorities, you will be given reward money. This has given rise to people who make money by constantly snooping around and taking photos of others committing offenses. Such behavior is wrong for many reasons and is an aspect of society that should be changed. Firstly, it is shameful and disgraceful to spy on others and report them to the authorities for the sake of a reward. Of course, you should report a

In Washington on Sunday night, the popcorn was popped, the pitchers of election-themed cocktails given a final stir. And then a hush fell over the city as the streets emptied and the professional political class gathered huddled around screens to find out whether Donald Trump would somehow rescue his improbable campaign, or whether he would pound the final nails into its coffin after a brutal weekend of scandalous recordings and cascading Republican disendorsements.　The consensus going in was th

There is only one thing I say to people when asked about the incident involving Baltimore Oriole’s outfielder Kim Hyun-soo and a Toronto Blue Jays fan during Tuesday’s wild card game.  “Every city has its fair share of idiots, and Toronto is no exception.”  The wild card game was a great game to watch. It had everything a game requires to make it great: big hits, big catches, double plays and a walk off home run. It was exciting and emotional for both players and fans. It was the type of game th