A few years ago, if Americans had been asked to name the world’s most conservative countries, Canada likely wouldn’t have been on most people’s list. But as so many previous top contenders, including the U.S., slide into socialism, Canada is beginning to shine as a beacon of free-market success. After decades of Liberal Party rule, broken only by eight years of Conservative governance in the 1980s

The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo on May 21-22 as scheduled, even though Japan is still recovering from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, demonstrating the three countries’ consensus on regional responsibility.The leaders agreed to strengthen a future-oriented partnership aimed at constructing a nuclear power safety and disaster prevention system, and developing co

Who’s more influential in the Republican Party ― the so-called Tea Party, or Wall Street and big business? The answer will be critical in the weeks ahead as the House decides whether to raise the limit on the nation’s debt.Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warns that if the limit isn’t increased by Aug. 2, the federal government goes broke. It doesn’t just close down. It stops making lots of payment

America’s involvement in Pakistan and Afghanistan may be the most complex foreign-policy dilemma the nation has ever faced. And with the death of Osama bin Laden, along with Pakistan’s furious response, the knot is growing ever more tangled.Right now, Afghan officials are reviling their Pakistani counterparts. Pakistan is flirting with China. American officials are threatening to curtail aid to Is

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has called for an early resumption of the stalled six-party talks. According to Xinhua News Agency, Kim expressed his view that “the six-party talks should be resumed at an early date” during his summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Wednesday.Kim, who returned home Friday wrapping up his eight-day visit to China, was also quoted as saying that “the

Prosecutors in the southern city of Changwon are expanding their investigation into the nation’s first match-fixing scandal involving K-League professional soccer players. They have already arrested two gambling brokers on charges of bribing two active players in their bid to rig match results and win Sportstoto lotteries. The brokers allegedly gave 120 million won to a goalkeeper of a K-League cl

STANFORD ― Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, by winning an outright majority of seats in his country’s parliament for the first time since assuming office, continues a remarkable series of national election victories, backed by voters demanding at least a pause, and perhaps some reversal, of the growth of the welfare state.Moreover, Harper’s victory follows the Republican Party’s resounding

Earlier this month, The China Post reported that a meeting was held by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to discuss the possibility of relaxing some of the current restrictions on hiring foreigners as “white-collar” employees. Immigration officials and others in the fields of education and economics attended the conference, but the report stated that the meeting concluded without any consensus be

Chinese power companies are trying hard to make a big fanfare about the urgent need to raise the price of electricity to avoid the country’s worst power shortage in decades. The country’s leading power distributor, State Grid Corp., warned on Monday that some 26 provincial regions will suffer combined power shortages of 30 million kilowatts this year. Should that be the case, enterprises should br

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., one of the country’s three major banking groups, is being put to the test over whether it can evolve into a financial group with a sense of unity by carrying out necessary reforms.On Monday, the company announced a plan to integrate the operations of Mizuho Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank and other banking units under its wing in a few years.The integration is aimed at reg

Asia has not forgotten the “Asian Monetary Fund” (AMF). In fact, the case for the AMF has been much strengthened by the difficulty in reforming the governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).On May 4, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its three Northeast Asian partners China, Japan and South Korea met in Hanoi, Vietnam, and took an important step toward establishing the AMF.

If I were a Palestinian (and, should there be any confusion on this point, I am not), and if I were the sort of Palestinian who believed that Israel should be wiped off the map, then I would be quite pleased with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s performance before Congress this morning. I would applaud Netanyahu for including no bold initiatives that would have suggested to the world that Israe

In auto production, it only takes a shortage of one small part to bring the whole assembly line to a screeching halt. This was well demonstrated by the week-long strike at Yoosung Enterprise Co., a manufacturer of key engine parts.The company is the larger of the two piston ring producers in Korea. It meets 70 percent of the demand of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors and 20 to 50 percent of the demand

The National Pension Service is a big institutional investor in the domestic stock market. As of February this year, it had about 40.2 trillion won invested in local stocks, accounting for 3.8 percent of the market capitalization of the Korea Exchange’s main board or KOSPI. But the NPS has thus far limited its role as an institutional investor to proxy voting. It has never attempted to invoke such

An unprecedented scandal involving the former head of the International Monetary Fund has left the organization’s top post vacant.No time should be wasted in selecting a new IMF chief to ensure the organization will be able to regain its international credibility, which has been diminished by the scandal.Former IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested and indicted on charges

Love it or hate it, Medicare is driving itself and our country broke. The president’s proposed policy and that of Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, are viewed as miles apart. The reality is different. And the silly name-calling is obscuring their considerable common ground. It’s even confusing a major presidential candidate.President Barack Obama is relying on a special panel, to be

International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, known as the “Great Seducer” in his home country of France, flunked out at seducing New York Judge Melissa C. Jackson last week. Instead, she sent him to Rikers Island pending further court appearances in the wake of a Sofitel maid’s accusations that he attempted to force his charisma upon her before leaving for the airport and boarding a p

Finally, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has decided to resign as chief of the International Monetary Fund. The move is to prevent further damage to the institution, which is now playing a critical role in bailing out the peripheral euro-zone countries of Europe. Strauss-Kahn said in his letter of resignation that he wanted to focus his energy on defending himself against criminal charges that he sexually

President Obama’s recent speech in El Paso, Texas, addressing America’s broken immigration policy was very disappointing to immigrant advocates, the Latino community and anyone concerned about human rights.He offered only a vague assessment of the issue, and ignored calls by leading Latino politicians, most notably Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, to use his executive powers to take decisive actio

The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is really not so far out of reach. The outlines of a reasonable two-state compromise have long been known, and a couple of reasonable people could work out the remaining details tomorrow. But for stubbornness, cynicism, fear and violence, it probably would have happened years ago. The late Israeli diplomat Abba Eban was speaking of the Arabs when he