Populism and the West: How to save world’s most successful political idea
For as long as many of us can remember, to be modern has meant to be Western, and to be Western has meant being at the forefront of pretty much… Read more »
Search Results for: taiwan
After the Miracle: The End of the Asian Century?
East Timor is voting for a new president in an election that will test Asia‘s newest and poorest nation, VOA reports. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s ongoing crackdown against opposition politicians and… Read more »
China: Struggle at the Top
If democracy has an advantage over authoritarianism, it is that the struggles of interest, power, and ego that are the unavoidable stuff of human life take place in the open,… Read more »
Why defending democracy is no vice
Despite recent setbacks, there remain compelling moral and self-interested reasons to support democracy and human rights around the world, argues Michael McFaul, director of Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for… Read more »
What’s the state of China’s dissidents and non-state actors ?
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher Yu Jianrong, a rural sociologist known for his social commentary and vocal advocacy for political reform, recently adopted the tone found in central Party edicts… Read more »
‘Rebalancing’ to Asia falters in Laos?
Neither ‘Asian values’ nor any other form of regional exceptionalism can be invoked to justify authoritarian rule, President Barack Obama said in Laos today. “[D]emocracy can flourish in Asia because… Read more »
China to Strengthen Communist Party’s Role in NGOs
China has issued new rules demanding the establishment of Communist Party panels in non-government bodies, aiming to beef up the ruling party’s role in such social groups, amid a broad… Read more »
Vietnam’s growing protest culture explained
The Formosa scandal in Vietnam has recently made international headlines and offered the international community a rare glimpse into the fringe, but steadily growing, culture of protest and activism in… Read more »
China’s sham show trials ‘like a theater of the absurd’
Human rights groups and observers say China’s latest wave of “sham trials” against legal advocates, arrested amid an orchestrated crackdown last July, is mostly a political charade, and to some… Read more »
Why China is the big winner from Brexit
Publicly, China has lamented Britain’s decision to walk out on the EU. But there was a definite silver lining for Xi Jinping’s increasingly authoritarian China, “[and] it won’t have taken… Read more »