JOANNE PANG WRITES FROM HONG KONG CHINA – Ah, you ask about the lovely coronavirus pandemic that has made millennials insanely and basically harmlessly obsessed with TikTok to a whole other level? Hong Kong seems to tell a different tale. As COVID-19 began to strike the West (UK and US),…
ASIAMEDIA WRITES — Whatever the actual degree of utility of the medical mask, there is no doubt in Asia of their current ubiquity. These sample shots below, in order, come from the world-famous Shanghai Ballet; a recent wedding in Seoul, South Korea; yet another anti-government protest in Hong Kong; and…
TOM PLATE WRITES — Without becoming too defensive about America at this rocky passage in its political history (well, it is difficult to defend), I nonetheless will offer something of a defense, since almost no one else wants to try, but maybe someone ought to. So we start with this: Whether…
TOM PLATE WRITES — There’s often little more than a thin line between admirable principle and annoying stubbornness, and that line is not always easy to identify. Lost in the miasma of mutually exclusive righteousness, each side says the other is wrong or evil or both. The tragic consequence is that…
From the NEW STATESMAN (famous London weekly) – … Hong Kongers are not only revolting against social inequalities, declining standards and the threat of becoming part of China’s authoritarian state. They are also rebelling against an entrenched political order left over by the British. Hong Kong has never been truly…
TOM PLATE WRITES — American foreign policy rarely rises to the level of coherence recommended by its policy intellectuals and thoughtful diplomats; but without their persistence, it would be bereft of any coherence at all. When World War Two ended, for example, the American establishment came to rally around the containment…
From Asia Media International in Los Angeles — Congratulations, Hong Kong! Under conditions of the greatest stress, you have pulled off a mainly spotless and brilliant territory-wide election whose results resonate worldwide. Clean and clear elections are not that easy to pull off. (We in the U.S. are learning more…
DANIEL ZAND WRITES– High priced athletic shoes have driven “sneakerheads” — shoe enthusiasts who collect and trade the products, particularly in basketball and skateboarding—to fake (as in knock-off) sneakers. The demand for them is booming, as the makers of brands like Nike and Adidas are well aware. Chan, a seller of fake sneakers in…
HYUNG JUN YOU WRITES — Men and women of all ages, from high school students to retired grandmothers, took to the streets to demand democratic reforms. Calm streets turned violent. Stores and broadcasting stations that were friendly to the government were burnt down. The leaders at the top believed the…
ANDRE HACOBIAN WRITES—Recently, against the backdrop of escalating violence, protesters marched through the streets of Hong Kong, waving American flags while singing the Star Spangled Banner. They love freedom, democracy and the American way—as they perceive it. They also want America’s help. A lot of it. Recently, as police fired…
DIANA CASTILLO WRITES- Just to bring us all up to date: In Hong Kong, an extradition bill was introduced in April that could have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China, where they could have faced unfair trials and been subjected to violence. In addition, the extradition bill…
ASIA MEDIA WRITES – The following succinct commentary was solicited by the editors of USA Today and provided by our founder and president, Prof Tom Plate. It was published in this well-known national newspaper on Thursday 15-16 August. Please see: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/08/15/donald-trump-right-china-over-hong-kong-editorials-debates/2024883001/ TEXT By Tom Plate The notion that the U.S. should…
[Pix above of US Secretary of Sate Mike Pompeo] TOM PLATE WRITES – Let’s get some simple facts straight: Hong Kong is not in the sovereign hands of the People’s Republic of China due to crass invasion or communist subversion or anything nefarious. This historic territory was semi-willingly deeded back…
TOM PLATE WRITES — Australia has a China problem, and it’s not clear that anyone can help it out of the box it’s in. Yes, it’s a China box: The ground underneath the Asia-Pacific is starting to shake, and the incipient foreign-policy shakeout ‘Down Under’ may well tell those of…
TOM PLATE WRITES – One of the most significant political events in years and potentially one of the most historic will be known as the Battle for Hong Kong. And it is anything but played out. Beijing achingly wanted Hong Kong and decades ago got what it wanted. But is…
TOM PLATE WRITES — How should citizens react when Big Government does a bad thing that screams out for correction? One approach is to slip into denial and imagine nothing at all happened, because leaders are apt to err, so the best thing for your mental health is to look…
