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 […]
The Paradox of Women Leaders in Asian Democracies
Memo #277 By Timothy S. Rich – timothy.rich [at] wku.edu Political life in Asian countries is often characterized as a man’s world, especially compared to its Western counterparts. Yet we have also seen increasing political leadership opportunities for women in the region. Since 2000 alone, women have been elected prime minister in Bangladesh and Thailand, […]
Dealing with the Resource Curse in Myanmar: UN Global Compact and Institutional Capacity
Memo #276 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca Since it began its gradual opening and domestic process of change, Myanmar has become a great target of opportunity for a myriad of foreign players, especially global investors interested in its vast energy potential and other resources. The challenge for the country is how to turn […]
Voices from Indonesia’s Rising Policy Elites: a Confident, Flexible, and Creative Indonesia
Memo #275 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca Asia is in the midst of a great uplift, but also great social change and geopolitical transformation. In the midst of China’s rise, China-Japan tensions, India’s new voice, and the US pivot, how are Indonesians thinking and planning? Indonesia is only slowly waking up to its […]
At the Frontier of the Middle Income Trap: Remarkable Parallels between India’s and Indonesia’s Elections
Memo #274 By Yves Tiberghien – yves.tiberghien [at] ubc.ca India and Indonesia are both facing crucial elections this year: May for India and July for Indonesia (April for parliament). Although contexts are different and their ties are rarely explored, they face remarkably similar economic issues. Both are seen as successful emerging powers of the 2000s […]
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 […]
The Global Intensification of Supplementary Education
Memo #271 Featuring Julian Dierkes Recently, Ee-Seul Yoon of the Faculty of Education at UBC in coordination with the Asia Pacific Memo sat down with Dr. Julian Dierkes, Associate Professor and Keidanren Chair in Japanese Research at UBC’s Institute for Asian Research, to pose a few questions about Professor Dierkes’ recently co-edited volume, Out of the Shadows: The Global […]
To Be Queer and Christian: Organizing for Queer Youth in Korea
Memo #270 By Joseph Yi – joyichicago [at] yahoo.com & Daniel Payne – koreanrainbow [at] gmail.com South Korea has among the highest rates of suicide among developed (OECD) countries, peaking at 28.4 per 100,000 people in 2011. Hidden among these tragedies are LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer), whose sexuality is often rejected by Korean […]
Electoral Politics in Cambodia: A Challenge to Hun Sen?
Memo #269 By D. Gordon Longmuir – dglongmuir [at] gmail.com Cambodia has a liberal democratic constitution that provides for modern institutions and freely elected governments. But to challenge authority has never been a feature of Cambodia’s civic culture. The elections of July 2013 were the fifth since those mounted by the United Nations Transitional Authority […]