Disclaimer: To protect the privacy of the subjects of this article, the names of the interviewees have been changed. AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — “It was a very atypical afternoon soccer game.” Will remembers the hushed tones in the voices of parents on the sidelines. It was unusually quiet and “parents…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: THE STORY OF THE FOREVER WAR, TOLD BY MEN WHO SERVED THERE
TOM PLATE WRITES — According to newspaper reports, on arrival in Washington Mr Qin Gang’s public tone seemed sort of chipper; and further, in the wake of his initial greet-and-meet with US officials, there surfaced simmering new communications between the US and China. Given the alarm with which many westerners…
Full Article SINO-US RELATIONS: IS THE EUPHORIA OVER CHINA’S NEW WASHINGTON AMBASSADOR JUSTIFIED AMID THE DREARY DIPLOMATIC REALITIES?
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Forget about Naomi Osaka, for a moment. For all the whining-and-dining out by the press on the tennis superstar’s mental health struggles, and her difficulty facing their not-so-friendly post-game fire, she is, after all, just one international superstar. One. Forget, too, about Britney Spears, if you…
Full Article JAPAN, KOREA, AMERICA: CAN YOUNG SUPERSTARS THE WORLD OVER EVER BE HAPPY?
TOM PLATE WRITES — The agony in Afghanistan makes for many sorrows. Beyond the scenes of chaos at Kabul airport is the unseen anguish of all those US veterans back home who are dealing with various psychological and physical traumas and are now especially unproud of their country; of families…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN AND BEYOND: CHINA MUST LEARN FROM US HUBRIS AND BLUNDERS
AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — By now, the stories have become almost familiar: elderly Asian Americans shoved to the ground, Asian students subject to racist harassment, xenophobic epithets shouted in public. According to the nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate, Asian Americans have reported over 9,000 incidents of hate since the COVID-19 pandemic hit…
Full Article ASIAN AMERICANS: FACED WITH RISING API HATE, CALIFORNIA CITIES RETHINK PUBLIC SAFETY
KISHORE MAHBUBANI WRITES (Reproduced from a copy of The Straits Times and courtesy of the author) — Dear Friends, Many Western minds believe that Western societies are inherently peaceful while East Asian societies (including China) are more belligerent. There’s some realistic basis for this assumption: prospects of war between any…
Full Article ASIA: SAY NO TO NATO
KATIE SHIEH WRITES — On the evening of March 16, 2021, a 21- year- old Caucasian man named Robert Long murdered 8 people: Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun JungGrant, Yong Ae Yue and Suncha Kim, in a mass shooting. This happened…
Full Article ASIAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM: THE AFTERMATH OF THE ATLANTA SHOOTING
SHAE KUROKAWA WRITES — In response to the recent shooting rampage in Georgia, in which three Asian spas were targeted and six Asian women were killed, investigators have begun to theorize that the massacre was not motivated by rising hate towards Asian Americans generated by the coronavirus. Instead, they say,…
Full Article ASIAN AMERICANS: UNDERSTANDING THE SEXUALIZED HISTORY OF ASIAN WOMEN
SOPHIA JARAMILLO WRITES – Chinese American fashion designer Sandy Liang has designed the ‘quarantine collection’ of a lifetime for Spring-Summer 2021—overflowing with childhood and familial nostalgia and bringing the designer back to the not-so-basics of her signature styles. Sandy Liang was raised in Queens, New York, and graduated from Parsons…
Full Article FASHION: SANDY LIANG AND HER NOSTALGIC SS21 COLLECTION
NATALIE CHRISTENSEN WRITES — On February 27th, I held a Black-Asian Solidarity March in Playa Vista. Prior to the march, LMU’s Saisei Taiko gave a drum performance at Central Park. We then marched down Millenium Avenue to The Lawn. Speakers included Reggie Watkins, the co-founder of the Valley of Change,…
Full Article ASIAN AMERICANS: BLACKS AND ASIANS UNITE OVER RISING VIOLENCE
JONAR COWAN WRITES — I am a 23-year-old Asian American raised in San Francisco for the majority of my life. San Francisco felt safe and accepting while I was growing up because I rarely experienced racism or anything that insulted my Asian heritage. In fact, I grew prideful of my…
Full Article ASIAN-AMERICANS: HOME DOES NOT FEEL LIKE HOME TO AN ASIAN AMERICAN YOUNG MAN
VALERIA GURROLA WRITES – Nuclear Orientalism deeply permeates US media. In December 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned the US of a “Christmas gift” dependent on the outcome of nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. Days after the announcement, satellite images uncovered new activity at the previously dormant Sohae…
Full Article NORTH KOREA: NUCLEAR ORIENTALISM AND THE HERMIT KINGDOM
GREGORY BENNETT WRITES — Hockey, in Japan? Never heard of it. Until now, the sports scene in Japan has been mainly dominated by baseball and soccer. Yet with the possibility of an NHL star being drafted to the top junior league in the United States, ice hockey in Japan is…
Full Article JAPAN: HOCKEY? NEVER HEARD OF IT
TOM PLATE WRITES — America must understand that China is different, emphasised the late Lee Kuan Yew when some 25 years ago I asked Singapore’s iconic modern founder whether my new newspaper column on Asia, then in the Los Angeles Times, might possibly do some good. His counsel was to…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: COLD WAR CONTAINMENT OBSESSION MUST BE DITCHED
MOON CHUNG-IN WRITES — While it doesn’t appear that the Joe Biden administration has completed its review of North Korea policy yet, the outlines of that policy seem to be slowly taking shape. Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said on Feb. 12 that the North Korean…
Full Article KOREAN PENINSULA: HOPES AND FEARS ABOUT BIDEN’S NORTH KOREAN POLICY
ALEX DASHWOOD WRITES — There exists a myth in the United States that the addition of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to food, which is predominantly used in Chinese cuisine, is a health risk causing negative side effects. Some consumers of it purport to experience symptoms such as dizziness and palpitations after…
Full Article CHINA: HOW THE RACIALLY-CHARGED MYTH OF MSG HAS TAINTED AMERICANS’ PERCEPTION OF CHINESE CUISINE