More Talk About An East Asian Community

More wind in the sails of the creation of an East Asian Community, but turbulent wind. The idea is being much discussed at the ASEAN heads of government meeting in the Thai resort of Hua Hin, at which China, Japan and South Korea are in attendance. Japan’s new prime minister Yukio Hatoyama was pushing the [...]

The Sun That Rises On Shanghai Sets On Tokyo

Attendance at the Tokyo Motor Show used to be mandatory for the world’s carmakers. At this year’s show, which opens later this week, there will be only three, all niche European manufacturers. The only leading car makers among the 108 exhibitors are Japanese firms like Toyota and Honda. The 45-year old Tokyo show has been [...]

China, Japan, South Korea FTA Could Be Kernel Of Something Bigger

There have been previous attempts to unite the nations of north-east Asia, some more ill-starred than others, of course. Some Japanese officials, and let’s go back no further than the 1980s, envisioned Asia’s economies flying like a skein of geese with their own country the lead bird. Regional economic cooperation has always been easier than [...]

Japanese And South Korean Families Ship Out Of Shanghai

The press officer at the South Korean consulate in Shanghai was unable to answer a question from the FT’s Patti Waldmeir about South Korean companies retrenching their presence in the city and emptying out Little Korea because her own job had just been cut and she was being recalled home.
An amusing anecdote, but she is [...]

China, Japan and South Korea Agree To Be Engine Of Recovery

The three countries that account for three quarters of east Asia’s economy say they must be the engine of growth for the world economy. China, Tokyo and South Korea agreed at their first three way summit to cooperate to counter the global slowdown. They won’t raise new barriers to trade or investment over the next [...]

Beijing Asks Tokyo To Send Military Planes To Sichuan

Another piece of earthquake diplomacy: Kyodo news agency says Beijing has sounded out Tokyo on sending Japanese military planes to help with relief efforts in the stricken zone. The Self-Defense Forces’ aircraft would be used to airlift tents and other supplies. It would be the first time Japan’s military would have been in China since [...]

Pictures From Sichuan And Updated Situation Map

EastSouthWestNorth has an extensive set of pictures of the damage and human tragedy wreaked by the Sichuan earthquake. They are culled from a variety of sources, and there are a lot of them, more than 150 and rising. None is captioned. But I found their very anonymity along with their sheer number made this mute [...]

Hu In Japan, Olympic Torch in Shenzhen

The events-of-consequence side of me feels I should be noting the progress in Sino-Japanese relations being brought by President Hu Jintao’s visit to Japan: agreement to an annual summit and generally being good eggs with each other, even though the dispute over gas in the East China Sea remains unresolved. China Economic Review has a [...]

Hu Visits Tokyo To Mend Fences

President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Japan will last longer, five days, than any other he has undertaken. While this will be a trip more about symbolism than substance, its length is a sign of the importance that Beijing now attaches to repairing its long fractious relationship with Tokyo.
Relations between the two countries have been [...]

No 4 as No 1. Some Mistake, Surely?

Just ran across this Gallup Poll from earlier this month, asking Americans which of China, the U.S., the E.U., Japan, Russia and India is the world’s leading economic power, now and in 20 years. China easily tops both lists, a contrast to when Gallup asked the same questions in 2000 and the U.S. was the [...]