The recent visit by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to Beijing has been widely interpreted as marking the restart of Sino-U.S. military ties, which were damaged by the Barack Obama administration’s decision to approve a $6.4 billion arms sale package to Taiwan in early 2010. Both sides described the visit as successful and positive and agreed to build stable military relations by taking gra

All the bluster on Capitol Hill about punishing China for suppressing the value of its currency misses the bigger picture: We and the Chinese need each other to remain strong.China holds almost $1 trillion in U.S. debt. That gives it a huge stake in our nation’s future. Much like a landlord or banker, China relies on us to pay our bills. Considering how the U.S. is asking the world to keep lending

Healthsense, a technology company based just outside Minneapolis, uses wireless sensors to provide an early warning system for health problems among the elderly or frail. The sensors send out an alert when they detect trouble ― a fall, for example, or a significant change in sleep patterns. Demand for this kind of innovation is soaring, and companies are responding with a host of new products that

When the needles of greed, corruption, and cronyism popped the economic bubbles of Asia between 1997-98, much of the Western world gloated and wasted little time in criticizing irrational Asians for their lack of financial transparency in borrowing and expanding beyond their means. From their mighty computers, some Euro-Americans thought it was self-evident that Asians were not only irrational, bu

The government and the ruling Grand National Party are at odds over the location of the planned International Science and Business Belt. The discord is not only creating a new fault line within the ruling camp but fueling friction among local governments keen to host the 3.5 trillion won science hub.The belt is one of the campaign pledges of President Lee Myung-bak. He promised to build the scienc

Korean companies’ facility investment surged in 2010 after sharply dropping for two years due to the global financial crisis. As overseas demand for their products soared, they rushed to invest in plant and equipment to ramp up production. The government’s plan to terminate a tax credit program for corporate investment starting 2011 also prompted many companies to make investment in strategic area

The major battle in the fight for the survival of the euro will be fought on Spanish soil. Greece, Ireland and soon Portugal should be regarded as skirmishes. But Spain is different, in terms of scale and solvency.If the strategy implemented by European Union policy makers is appropriate, the markets will shift their attention to other risks, such as inflation, after the decisive event has taken p

The dazzling steps China has taken recently to expedite wider and better use of the yuan in cross-border trade and investment mark the country’s latest efforts to make its currency truly international. This accelerated pace to internationalize the yuan was long overdue. But given the complexity and problems with the global financial and currency systems, Chinese policymakers need not go too fast o

The year of the rabbit has just begun, but in the first few weeks of 2011, it has been the tiger gaining all the attention. In a spontaneous Tiger Mask movement, anonymous citizens throughout Japan have been donating school backpacks and other items to orphanages and child welfare centers in the name of Naoto Date, the hero of the “Tiger Mask” manga and anime popular some 40 years ago. Date, a wre

New year, new crisis. No sooner had Europe’s bond traders, politicians and central bankers gotten back to their desks than it was time to begin tussling over the fate of a small economy on the periphery of Europe.This time around, it’s Portugal. And yet the script seems very similar to the one played out already in Greece and Ireland. Bond yields surge. The government denies furiously there is any

NEW YORK ― The assassination of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province in Pakistan and an outspoken critic of religious extremism, has focused attention on his country’s draconian blasphemy law. Adopted in its present form by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq’s military dictatorship more than three decades ago, the blasphemy law imposes a mandatory death penalty on anyone convicted of insulting

Republicans, riding high in Washington and in most state capitals, are sitting on a time bomb: immigration.There’s a division coursing through the party; many of the Tea Party types and social conservatives believe the tough-on-immigration posture paid dividends in the November congressional elections and want to ratchet up the pressure. Congressional leaders want to put the issue on the back burn

In the film, “The Social Network,” one of the Winklevoss twins digs in his heels when his furious brother urges a lawsuit against a fellow Harvard student for stealing their idea and turning it into Facebook.(Which twin was which, I don’t know. Who could tell the difference between Cameron and Tyler, played by the same actor?)But one of them, along with their partner, really, really wanted to sue

There are moments in a presidency when a leader delivers a speech and everyone goes about their business thereafter as if nothing happened. Other times, a president rises to the occasion in such extraordinary fashion that the audience is somehow changed.President Obama delivered a brilliant eulogy honoring victims of Arizona’s shooting rampage. He offered comfort to an aching nation.Americans of a

Legislators from five states have unveiled model legislation with complicated provisions but a simple and pernicious premise: that children born in this country aren’t citizens if their parents are illegal immigrants.That assertion, however, is no match for more than 100 years of Supreme Court precedent holding that anyone born in the United States is an American citizen. If the states enact laws

Anyone who thinks smoking isn’t government’s business should consider one number: 3.5 million. That’s how many people in the second-biggest economy will die each year from tobacco use by 2030, according to a report by prominent Chinese health experts and economists. More than lives will go up in smoke. So will productivity, public money and growth. China immediately should raise cigarette prices,

Can a nation spend its way to prosperity? We don’t have to guess. The experience of two countries over the last year ― Germany and the United States ― provides an answer.Prior to last summer’s summit of the G20 group of nations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spurned President Obama’s call to boost spending. For Merkel, control of government debt was the “urgently necessary” priority. Ultimately,

China’s President Hu Jintao will make a historic trip to Washington this week, appearing alongside President Obama on a stage likely to be dominated by two issues: righting the vast U.S.-China trade deficit and avoiding a catastrophic war on the Korean Peninsula. Both subjects matter. Both are manageable, if we work together.But lurking in the wings is an issue of even greater long-term importance

When President Obama performed his “Comeback Kid” act late last year, pushing through Congress a number of important bills, observers marveled at the sudden transformation. The president had morphed from the hapless, listless victim of the midterm shellacking and surprised everyone by becoming a new deft, cunning politician.But watching the Obama who came before the cameras on the day of the Tucso

The next 12 months will be a critical period for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the top leadership prepares to step down and hand over the reins next year.It will be no less critical for Vice-President Xi Jinping, named last year to head a new generation of CCP leaders who will take center stage at the 18th national party congress.No political succession takes place without intense po