Asia
Asia
Fair Observer provides insightful and informed analysis of the important issues, events and trends in the unique nations of Asia.
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360° Analysis / Beijing / China / Chinese / Communist Party of China / Egypt / Eric Lowe / Fair Observer / Politics / Taiwan / United States / Xi Jingping / BRIC / AsiaBy Eric LoweReforms in judiciary and governance to stamp out corruption and abuse of power are long overdue in China. The question, however, is how far and how fast they would be achieved under the new Chinese leadership. Historically speaking, China has problems with the law. The older generation does not see laws as rights but rather as rules that are thrust upon them, to be obeyed without question. Chinese proverbs such as “the one who creates the law dies by the law” or “turbulent times demand harsh laws” make laws sound negative but necessary without any notion of justice. It was the wise judges who interpreted the laws that were praised in literature and folklore instead...
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360° Analysis / Bangladesh / Democracy / Dr / Imran Khan / India / Ishtiaq Ahmed / Islam and Democracy / Pakistan / Pakistan Elections 2013 / Pervez Musharraf / Politics / Zardari / AsiaThere is no denying that the erstwhile modernist Pakistani leadership tried to make Pakistan both democratic and Islamic. However, no constitutional formula could find the proper balance. The Pakistani general election is most likely to be held as planned. After nearly 66 years, a milestone would be reached: an elected government will succeed another elected government with a brief interlude of a caretaker administration. The vetting process carried out by overzealous inquisitional examining officers has, mercifully, on instructions from their superiors, abated and the election commission has very wisely forbidden the invocation of religion and sect. No doubt, democracy is better...
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360° Analysis / Bhutto / Gateway House / Imran Khan / Islamabad / Karachi / Masood Hasan / Pakistan / Pakistan Elections 2013 / Politics / Zardari / AsiaBy Masood Hasan The national election in Pakistan looks like a game of polarisation, but if democracy is meant to provide some relief and prosperity, all political parties have flopped, bottom up. The field is now wide open, and anything can happen — including a hung parliament. Thank God I am many things but not a political pundit. That species grows on trees and bushes in present-day Pakistan. Another election commences – and as some cynics put it, and so is more heartbreak! With the deadline now into hours, the field is wide open. Anything can happen. A few days back, Imran Khan helicoptered to eight cities amid much mingling with the great unwashed, making speeches and...
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360° Analysis / Asim Jahangir / Benazir Bhutto / Female Pakistani Voters / Huma Khan / Imran Khan / Islamabad / Musharraf / Pakistan / Pakistan Elections 2013 / Pakistani Elections / pakistani women / Politics / Zardari / AsiaAs Pakistanis cast their ballot, Asim Jahangir and Huma Khan pose the question: Can female voters change the outcomes of the country's general elections? Pakistan is due to commence its 10th General Elections to elect the National and Provincial Assemblies. As political parties prepare to lock horns for electoral support, they face an uphill battle of getting the voter to come out and vote. Voter turnout in Pakistan has been dismal with only 44% registered voters coming out to cast their ballot in 2008. Given the emergence of new political forces and the consequent split in traditional voting banks, the party that is able to convince most voters to vote is likely to gain a dominant hand...
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Benazir Bhutto / Elections 2013 / General Elections / Heba Al-Adawy / Imran Khan / Islamabad / Pakistan / Pakistani / Parliamentary elections / Pervez Musharraf / Politics / Zardari / 360° Context / AsiaAs Pakistanis head to the polls, the elections could mark the first democratic transition between two elected governments in the country’s history. Background As the general elections 2013 commence, fear is mingled with hope and resilience in Pakistan. The streets of the major cities and the small towns are draped with political banners, each showcasing its own election symbol — a tiger, an arrow, a kite or a cricket bat. While former President Pervez Musharraf has been pushed out of the political scene after his dramatic house arrest two weeks prior to the elections, new political forces have entered the battlefield, whether through slogans of “Naya (New) Pakistan”...
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360° Analysis / Gateway House / Kim Jong-Un / Korean peninsula / North Korea / Nuclear / obama / President Park / Pyongyang / Reshma Patil / Seoul / South Korea / United States / Washington DC / Global Security / AsiaBy Reshma Patil The new provocations from Pyongyang heighten the risk of a military showdown with the US, South Korea and Japan. China, the only power with sway over the regime, is exercising limited options for peace on the peninsula. An untested 30-year-old dictator declares a ‘state of war’ with South Korea, threatens to set Seoul ablaze in ‘a sea of fire’ and launch missile strikes on US military bases. He rules a rogue nuclear state; its army as large as India’s and its isolated population as small as Mumbai’s. Just how dangerous is North Korea now? Since taking over in December 2011 from father Kim Jong-il as the supreme leader of North Korea, the...
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Afghanistan / India / Islamabad / Manmohan Singh / Mumbai / New Delhi / Pakistan / Politics / Prakhar Shama / South Asia / The Economist / Focus Article / BRIC / AsiaIndia needs to make structural, ideological and strategic transformations to assume a greater role in the world. Any astute observer of India’s strategy in South Asia would infer that the country is not only passive in its approach, but it also continues to punch below its weight. The sight of a regional power resigning to the unfortunate turn of events rather than taking charge in its own backyard is somewhat baffling. This dichotomy – between increased economic profile and global stature, and a disconcerting reluctance to understand and exert its power – is apparent most notably in Afghanistan. Despite having invested 2 billion dollars and being the sixth largest...
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360° Analysis / China Press Freedom / Hu Jintao / Karl Marx / Politics / Professor Zhan Jiang / BRIC / Arts & Culture / AsiaBy Zhan JiangChina’s idea of the free press differs from the Western idea of an independent fourth column. Professor Zhan Jiang looks at how a Marxist model of press freedom can be developed under the existing system. During and after the 18th Party Congress, party and state leaders restated that China should be ruled by law and governed according to the Constitution. They also said that the supervision of power should be tightened, including oversight through public opinion by news media. “Four Rights” The 17th Party Congress report of 2007, mentioned citizens’ “Four Rights” — the rights to stay informed about, participate in, express views on, and oversee...
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1950 / 360° Analysis / Atal Bihari Vajpayee / Chinese incursions / Chinese military / Chinese troop / Communist China / Indian Army / Indo-China / Ladakh / Manmohan Singh / Nehru / Northern India / People’s Liberation Army / Politics / Salman Khurshid’s / war in 1962 / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Mayank SinghWith the recent incursion of PLA soldiers inside Indian territory, Mayank Singh argues that the bilateral trade agreement with China needs to be made an instrument to resist Chinese aggression. “Not a blade of grass grows there,” proclaimed Jawaharlal Nehru in 1959, while referring to the Chinese incursion in Aksai Chin in the Ladakh region of Northern India. Nehru was then at the peak of his popularity. Therefore, the few dissenting voices who contested Nehru’s myopic view of Indo-China relations and sought to know the truth behind the Chinese incursions, received this self deceptive reply. Emboldened by the craven policies of a leader warped in the...