LOS ANGELES — Intellectual precision is especially vital in times of geopolitical passion. The full totality of evil of the Syrian government is now on display for the entire world to see. The brutality of President Bashar Assad is beyond immense. And so the blame game has begun. The obvious…
Month: February 2012
WE ASK / THEY ANSWER: Getting to the Bottom of the Top Secrets
Recently I attended a presentation at the University of Southern California’s US-China Institute about the play Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, which last year debuted in China. Afterward, I had an opportunity to talk with Geoffrey Cowan, the distinguished co–author of the play (along with the late…
THAILAND: Media Controversy Ends Up A Mountain Out of A Molehill
Thailand’s media has been obsessing over an alleged hotel meeting between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and four business leaders on February 8, 2012. Before leaving for a one-day visit to Malaysia, the Prime Minister responded to journalists about the controversy claiming the meeting was open and “in fact, the media…
CHINA: They’re Taking a Bite out of Our Apple!
The iPad is one of the most recognizable pieces of consumer technology on the market today, changing the way people get information on a daily basis. But was Apple really the first company to develop such a device? Some Chinese say no. On February 17th, the Chinese Proview Technology Company…
BANGLADESH: All Wild and Wireless from Dhaka
On Sunday, February 19th, the UNB Connect, the first fully computerized wire-service news source for Bangladesh, reported that third generation (3G) compatible mobile phones will be initially introduced in Bangladesh in April. The post and telecommunications minister, Razjuddin Ahmed Raju, told reporters that subscribers of Teletalk will be the first…
JAPAN: Facebook Comment Sparks Controversy
Controversy over a proposed high-speed railway, known as the Linear Chuo Shikansen, has erupted after the head of Nara prefecture’s general affairs department posted a scandalous comment on Facebook earlier this month. According to the Mainichi Daily News, Japan’s highly-respected second leading daily, the official, whose identity hasn’t been disclosed,…
MALAYSIA: Journalists Accused of Prostitution… Or is it “Compensated Dating?”
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) of Malaysia’s national election publicity bureau chief Hew Kuan Yau apologized this week for posting remarks on Facebook in which he likened journalists to prostitutes. Hew allegedly claimed that his post, which was originally in Mandarin, never compared journalists to “prostitutes” but instead used the…
HONG KONG: Mainland Professor Says Hong Kongers Have Gone to the Dogs
Public Radio International’s The World reported on February 21st, that two viral videos depicting a verbal altercation between a Hong Kong native and a mother from Mainland China have fueled further animosity between the island and the Mainland. The controversy began on a subway train when a Hong Kong man…
BOOK REVIEW: TOO KIND … BY FAR!
This review of ‘Conversations with Thaksin’, in the Giants of Asia book series by Tom Plate, the founder of ASIA MEDIA, appeared in The National, a newspaper of the Gulf States based in Abu Dhabi. The reviewer is New Statesman writer Sholto Byrnes. The review ran as follows: Conversations with…
SINGAPORE: Citizen Journalists Get Their Facts Right
Thanks to the advent of social media sites, so-called “citizen journalism” is on the rise. Myra Martin of The Straits Times, Singapore’s largest and most influential daily, reports that a recent survey found a majority of these casual writers are between the ages of 15 to 24. Conducted by students…
NORTH KOREA: A Happier ‘Pen’ for Defected North Korean Writers
Twenty writers claim they are ready to use their “pens, which are mightier than swords, to lead the spread of democracy in North Korea,” reports the Chosun Ilbo, a widely circulated South Korean daily newspaper. These writers, once considered among the elite in North Korea before they defected and continued…
PACIFIC PERSPECTIVES: Keep the Bickering in Private When Nurturing a Serious Relationship
Don’t get me wrong. Abject kowtowing is no way to forge an honest and productive relationship with anyone, including the People’s Republic of China. We have differences with Beijing ― and Beijing with us. Covering them up or ignoring them will allow them to fester. Relatively minor issues can become…
CHINA BLOG BLOTTER: Beijing Puts On A Serious Face Against Foreign TV Series
On February 13, 2012, Mainland China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) announced an official restriction on imported TV series. So exactly how is this partial-ban going to work? Pretty exactly, it would seem! The SARFT have issued no less than seven detailed ordinances for television broadcasters. One,…