A Canal Runs through It: Seoul’s Ara Waterway at Two
Memo #293 By Daniel Kane – danielkane [at] gmail.com The Han is the river of the South Korean capital of Seoul, and for most of that city’s history it served as highway to the Yellow Sea, some twenty kilometers to the west. To be sure, it still does, but since 1953 and the Korean War armistice […]
Engaging China: Myth, Aspiration, and Strategy in Canadian Policy from Trudeau to Harper (Video Interview with Paul Evans)
Memo #291 Behind the Book: Dr. Paul Evans discusses his latest book Engaging China: Myth, Aspiration, and Strategy in Canadian Policy from Trudeau to Harper Last month the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Paul Evans to discuss his recently released book, Engaging China: Myth, Aspiration, and Strategy in Canadian Policy from Trudeau to Harper […]
North Korean Insiders: Some Give and Take with the Founders of Koryo Tours
Memo #290 Despite the often invoked image of North Korea as a closed, “Hermit Nation,” tourists—mainly from China, but also from Western countries—do visit there, currently to the tune of around 15,000-20,000 visitors per year. Of these, some 5000 are citizens of Western countries. For over a decade now, Koryo Tours, under the leadership of […]
Decision Time for Hong Kong Democracy Fast Approaching
Memo #288 With a raft of elections in the offing, Beijing must soon decide if it will give Hong Kong its promised democracy. By Jonathan Manthorpe – jonathan.manthorpe [at] gmail.com This June 4 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Chinese government’s crackdown on the pro-reform demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Nowhere will that memory […]
Of Sea Squirts and FTAs
Memo #283 By Hyung-Gu Lynn – hlynn [at] mail.ubc.ca Ten years ago today, April 1, 2004, the Chile-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) came into effect. This landmark agreement marked Chile’s first FTA with an Asian country, and South Korea’s first FTA altogether. But what do sea squirts (Korean meonggye/Spanish piure) have to tell us […]
Japan’s Economy & Trade (A Video Interview with Watanabe Yorizumi)
Memo #280 Featuring Watanabe Yorizumi Last month the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Watanabe Yorizumi, since 2005 a member of the Faculty of Policy Management at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University. Professor Watanabe came to his academic career with a distinguished diplomatic background, having served several appointments in Japan’s foreign service, […]
Rebuilding a Broken House: Healthcare Reform in China
Memo #279 By Jiong Tu – jt457 [at] cam.ac.uk Since the 1980s, when China began to adopt market reforms, its health care system experienced a transition from fully state-run and financed care toward more privately financed and delivered health care. These changes led to soaring medical fees, minimal medical insurance coverage, and poor access to […]
Violent Disputes in the Chinese Medical Sector: the “Yinao” Phenomenon
Memo #278 By Jiong Tu – jt457 [at] cam.ac.uk The medical sector in China has witnessed increasing disputes between doctors and patients over the past several years. According to a 2012 report, medical disputes in China had increased at the rate of 22.9 percent annually since 2002, and are now one of the country’s biggest […]
Reforming “Regular” Employment in Japan: A Target of Abenomics’ “Third Arrow”
Memo #273 By Scott North – north [at] hus.osaka-u.ac.jp “Regular” employment in Japan connotes unlimited samurai-style devotion by employees, with employers responsible for worker well-being and employment stability. Japan’s courts cite this relationship ideal to restrict employers’ legal right to dismiss workers. Therefore, to cut costs, employers have turned to increasing non-regular employees, which now […]
Resolving the Senkaku/Diaoyu Island Dispute: The Limitations of International Law
Memo #272 By Keshav Kelkar – keshav.kelkar [at] alumni.ubc.ca Among the many issues causing friction in Sino-Japanese relations, none has as great a potential for generating armed conflict as the dispute over the Senkaku, or Diaoyu Islands. And in attempts to resolve the impasse, international law has if anything proven to be a problem rather […]