Archives
Chinese Actions on North Korea Show New Assertiveness
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, April 7 — Recent Chinese moves to influence events in the Korean peninsula are part of a new assertiveness in Beijing that has dovetailed with closer economic and political ties with the United States, experts on Chinese-U.S. relations claim.
Tensions Simmer Despite High-Level Diplomacy
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, May 21 — With the leaders of South Korea and Japan paying back-to-back visits to Washington to meet with U.S. President George W Bush, tensions continue to mount on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes and the U.S. refusal to sign a non-aggression treaty with Pyongyang.
Catfish Wars Pit Vietnamese against U.S. Fish Farmers
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Feb 17 — Call it the catfish wars.
South Korea-U.S. Splits Deepen as Nuke Activity Picks up
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 — The news that U.S. intelligence satellites had picked up signs of intense activity around North Korea's nuclear power plant at Yongbyon has ratcheted up the U.S. standoff with Pyongyang another notch.
Asia Nurtures a Security Concept Different from U.S.
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Jan 26 — The United States, which has 100,000 troops based in North-east Asia, has expended huge amounts of diplomatic energy in recent months trying to resolve a nuclear standoff with North Korea that threatens to undermine U.S. concepts of regional peace and security.
SOUTH KOREA: Protests Show Rising Hostility toward U.S. Policies
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Nov 26 — The acquittals by a U.S. military court in South Korea of two U.S. soldiers, charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of two Korean schoolgirls, has sparked a wave of indignation against the United States and its 37,000 troops on the peninsula.
U.S.-Asia: Diplomacy, Not Unilateralism, is the Way to Go
by Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Nov 21— As the United States prepares for war in Iraq and expands its military role in Afghanistan, it faces serious challenges in Asia that require adroit diplomacy, including North Korea's apparent violation of its 1994 agreement not to develop nuclear weapons and Japan's economic slowdown.In confronting these issues, analysts say, the Bush administration would be wise to abandon its unilateral approach to global tensions — as it did recently when it sought U.N. approval for weapons inspections in Iraq — and rely more on its allies and friends in the Asian region.
POLITICS: Slowly, China Adopts Multilateral Approach to Diplomacy
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 — Chinese President Jiang Zemin's pledge to work with the Bush administration and the leaders of Japan and South Korea to develop a common approach to North Korea reflects Beijing's gradual shift toward multilateralism in its foreign policy, China experts say.
JAPAN: Painful Changes Can Boost Financial Muscle — Experts
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Oct 11 — As Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi moves forward on his government's plans to clean up the country's bad loans, he should also be formulating policies to maintain the competitiveness of its most advanced industries and expand the employment base.
JAPAN: U.S. Bases Complicate Ties, Foreign Policy — Diplomat
By Tim Shorrock
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 — The heavy U.S. military presence in Okinawa was "unnecessary after the Vietnam War" and should have been re-examined by the United States and Japan when the island was formally returned to Japanese control in 1972, a leading Japanese diplomat says.
