East Asia

In stand-alone terms, Hong Kong’s statistics are impressive. It was the world’s 12th largest trading economy in 2007, with a GDP in excess of US$200 billion.

The dramatically titled World at Risk report released in December 2008 by a US congressional commission predicting that a bioterrorist attack is likely in the next five years may have been aimed primarily at a domestic American audience, but it has also served to remind Asian nations of their vulnerability.

Hong Kong’s strong institutional framework, location and flexible workforce have positioned it as an ideal place to do business in Asia, particularly as an entry into mainland China.

Living in Kemalist Turkey is instructive in how a country can nourish a Great Leader cult and still veer short of dictatorship.

India’s launch in late October 2008 of its first lunar mission marked its ascendancy to an elite group of nations.

A once-in-a-hundred-year snowstorm marked an ominous beginning for a supposedly magnificent year for China.

America has made a mighty effort to destroy capitalism, and China is taking the opportunity to save it.

Japan’s constitution may prevent it from possessing an offensive military force, but as the ships on display during the Japan Coast Guard’s 60th birthday.

The glowing blue ripples of China’s National Aquatic Centre – better known as the Watercube – have made the Australian-designed 2008 Olympic Games venue a Chinese icon.

China’s public signage, as the friends of many serial email forwarders have discovered is second perhaps only to that of Japan in its ability to delight, baffle, and send native English speakers into spasms of hilarity.

Xinjiang is a critically important region to the Chinese government. Firstly, Xinjiang’s Tarim Basin has the country’s fastest-growing oil and gas fields, and potential reserves could also make them the largest.

Tibet is much more than just the Chinese-controlled province of the TAR. Taking into account the real size of Tibet…