Let’s just make one thing clear: Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou did not endorse the “One China, two governments” idea revisited by the Chinese scholar Chu Shulong in an Apple Daily interview.Before we go any further, let’s look at some of the talking points in the Tsinghua University professor’s proposal. Published by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, Chu’s article

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has finally clarified his hitherto vague “conditions” for resigning his post.At a press conference on Monday, he said he is ready to step down after securing Diet passage of the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, as well as passage of two bills. One bill concerns special measures to promote renewable energy ― by obliging utilities to buy electricity gene

Thailand’s parliamentary election on Sunday is looking like a continuance of unfinished business. This would be the least helpful scenario for a governance process already muddied in recent elections by military interventions and constitutional tinkering. The opposition Puea Thai party, which leads narrowly in the polls, will relish victory as vindication for its absent putative leader, Thaksin Sh

Starting July 3, JW’s Grill at the JW Marriott Seoul will offer a new brunch on Sunday. Fresh-squeezed juices and organic salad options are available at the Healthy Counter. The Seafood Counter has sea bream, tuna and other sashimi while the Carving Counter is mobile with one trolley serving slices of sea bass and roasted Tomahawk rib eye. The dessert counter offers cakes, tea, tiramisu, fine brea

The German National Tourist Office said Dinkelsbuehl, the medieval city in Germany, will hold a festival for kids “Kinderzeche” from July 15 to July 24. The festival originates from a legend that several groups of children in Dinkelsbuehl found the courage to ask a Swedish soldier to give up the village after the Swedish army invaded the village in 1632. Highlights of the festival include a colorf

Air Busan said the travel demand flying from Seoul to Fukuoka has almost recovered since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. According to the carrier, the number of travelers who left for Fukuoka and Osaka from Seoul in June was 900 per day on average, almost nearing the normal average of 1,000 in January and February. The number had declined to about 700 in April. Air Busan said the Busan-Tokyo

Ayana Resort & Spa Bali in Bali, Indonesia, said it will hold a “Role Models” dinner on Aug. 11 to create jobs for underprivileged youth. Seven illiterate teenagers, who have not received proper education, have been invited to the resort for 10-weeks training in serving, table setting and taking orders. On Aug. 11, they will serve the resort’s dinner, which will be a four-course meal. The dinner i