ALI AL-SABAH WRITES — Two hundred years ago, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte famously remarked that “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep for when she wakes up she will move the world.” The potential, the sheer will of the people, and the challenge that the country posed were not so…
Month: September 2020
JAPAN: THE GUNDAM GLOBAL CHALLENGE HEATS UP POP CULTURE AND ‘COUNTRY COOL’
MALCOLM KAM WRITES – Standing at 18 meters tall, Japan’s 1:1 scale animatronic Gundam is now fully assembled. The animatronic is modeled after the Gundam RX-78-2, a giant bipedal mech that made its debut in the 1979 anime Mobile Suit Gundam. Since then, Gundam has remained wildly popular, both in…
CHINA: BYTEDANCE SAVES TIKTOK FROM CLOCKING OUT OF THE US
TIA CARR WRITES — Just last week, the popular app TikTok was flooded with frantic posts from prominent figures saying goodbye to their beloved online forum and urging followers to keep up with them on other online platforms. This came in response to President Trump’s executive order, demanding that Apple…
INDONESIA: WHY I LEFT THE COUNTRY WHERE I WAS BORN
GABY RUSLI WRITES — Beautiful beaches, divine seafood, welcoming people, a wide array of flavors-those are the words I would use to describe Indonesia, my birthplace. I take pride in having lived there most of my life, but at the same time, I grieve the lack of progress in certain…
TOP PROF ADVISOR GRILLED OVER N. KOREA OUTRAGE
COURTESY OF THE PACIFIC CENTURY INSTITUTE — We are pleased to share PCI board member Dr. Chung-in Moon’s recent interview in a South Korean TV news special on “North Korean Killing of a South Korean Government Worker at Sea: Getting to the Bottom of the Truth with Moon Chung-in” that…
MYANMAR: ROHINGYA DROWNING IN BLAME FOR SECOND WAVE OF COVID-19
SARA ALTUWAIJRI WRITES — Myanmar is facing a second wave of COVID-19, new cases are skyrocketing and, with general elections coming November 8, officials are accusing Rohingya of spreading the second wave of COVID. Why the blame? So that those aiming for election or re-election can gain people’s support. As…
US: CAN JUDGE RUTH BADER GINSBURG’S PASSING PUSH FOR A FINAL CHANGE?
TOM PLATE WRITES — There was always something of the Goliath versus David, if you framed such a thesis/antithesis picture: of Ruth Bader Ginsburg up against Donald J. Trump – the diminutive versus the hulk, the thinker versus the non-thinker, the caring versus the uncaring. But someone of stature had…
ANNOUNCEMENT: APAICS CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDED
Asia Media International is proud to announce that its Executive Editor Michelle Nguyen has been awarded one of seven coveted national Congressional Fellowships offered this year by the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), the highly praised national non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation…
SOUTH KOREA: THE ACCIDENTAL TRANSLATOR
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Lizzie Buehler, 25, raised in Texas, is the translator of The Disaster Tourist, South Korean author Yun Ko-eun’s first novel to be translated into English and published in the US recently. This truly original book is about international tourists who thrive on visiting world-famous tragic sites…
A LETTER FROM AMERICA: BUT WHO WILL WIN THE ELECTION?
CHARLES E. MORRISON WRITES — Labor Day, in early September, traditionally marks the beginning of the U.S. presidential election campaigns. Now the race is almost continuous over a two-year period. But following the two national party conventions in last weeks of August, it has entered the final, two-month decisive stage.…
CAMPUS WEBINAR: ACCLAIMED CHINA SCHOLAR JONATHAN POLLACK
Dr. Jonathan Pollack is to host an LMU webinar “The Crisis in US-China Relations: Politics, Economics, and the Threats to Regional Stability” this Tuesday, 15 September AT 5pm. All are welcome: click here to register for the webinar. This prestigious virtual event comes courtesy of Loyola Marymount University’s Center for…
WORLD: CAN CHINA TRULY BECOME A GLOBAL LEADER?
MOON CHUNG-IN WRITES –To avoid a new Cold War with Washington, Beijing needs to clarify its national strategy and win over the international community A country where the Communist Party dictatorship oppresses its people. A country whose hegemonic ambitions threaten the world. The country responsible for spreading the COVID-19 virus…
CHINA DEBATE: IS THE PROFESSOR A PANDA HUGGER?
ROBERT SONG WRITES (courtesy the Korea Times, Seoul) — As the world grapples with the virus originated in China, an ominous dark cloud of worsening U.S.-China relations looms over the global arena. From human rights abuses, to unfair trade practices, to unlawful militarization of the South China Sea to thousands of…
AUSTRALIA: THE TECH TITANS ON TOP OF THE WORLD DO BATTLE WITH DOWN UNDER
DANICA CREAHAN WRITES – In response to Australia’s proposed legislation requiring both Facebook and Google to pay media companies for content that appears on their platforms, Facebook threatened to stop sharing local and international news in Australia. To be clear: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has begun drafting a…