I was born in China in 1976, just a few months before the death of Mao Zedong. So when I saw footage of thousands of North Koreans in tears after the death of Kim Jong-il, their leader, two thoughts hit me hard. One: They must be brainwashed. And two: Were we Chinese that brainwashed under Mao? Curious, I called my mother in Shanghai. Both of my parents were survivors of Mao’s brutal Cultural Revolution. Like countless others, they were taken out of urban schools and sent to rural areas to be “r

The first comprehensive report on Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis is 507 pages of the most sobering reading of the year. The verdict by a government-appointed panel: Disarray among regulators, dismal safety preparations, operational blunders, amateurish communication breakdowns and institutional inertia led to the worst radiation leak since Chernobyl in 1986. The findings, although damning, offer Japan the kind of opening that doesn’t come along very often short of war or the sort of natural di

The year of 2012 is a year of elections, with the nation set to select members of the National Assembly in April and the next president in December. Having both elections in the same year happens every 20 years. Their outcomes will have a long lasting impact on the nation’s political landscape. The elections will determine which political groups, conservative or liberal, will lead the nation at a time when the world economy is coming out of one crisis only to be drawn into another. They will als

Now that we’re finally out of one unnecessary war, the drumbeats for the next one are growing louder. Let’s hope that this time the voice of reason prevails over the itchy trigger finger. The Next Big Enemy, of course, is Iran. And the danger in a presidential election year is that President Barack Obama will feel pressured to sound more hawkish about it.One of the key reasons Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries was his opposition to the Iraq War and her yea vote on a res

A few years ago, one of India’s private airlines started operating a flight from Delhi to the Himalayan city of Shimla, a few miles from my village. The brisk descent in a small turboprop aircraft isn’t for those with a fear of flying. The runway on a table-top mountain seemed particularly short last week, when the plane, breaking free of the fog over Delhi, came down to a wintry Himalayan mist. Still, cutting down journey times to a fraction, the flight seemed too good to be true; and, having e

Readers often ask me how they can help the people I write about, whether it’s Iraqis who are endangered because they helped Americans, or Afghan women, or Israelis and Palestinians working for peace.So, for those who haven’t completed their end-of-the-year giving, I’m listing a few charities ― some quite small ― that are working hard, and sincerely, on these problems. These are organizations that are run, or staffed, by folks I’ve come to know in the course of my reporting. I admire them for the

A new year has dawned. After a tough year, we naturally hope this one will be much better than the last. Yet 2012 promises to be just as demanding, if not more so, for the nation.This year, as in the one that just ended, economic growth is expected to be lackluster as the government will put the emphasis of economic policy on stability rather than growth in the face of escalating uncertainties.The government and the Bank of Korea both forecast that the economy would grow 3.7 percent this year, 0

Here’s an issue that doesn’t get much play in America, but is worth watching in 2012: The rise of Africa.The continent may seem far from our own concerns here at home, but the emergence of an African middle class would mean new markets for U.S. products ― and more jobs for American workers. The emergence of the Four Asian Tigers ― Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan ― certainly produced that kind of ripple effect here.Beyond the Arab spring headlines out of the northern part of the cont

Beijing will strive to become a world-class cultural center by the year 2020. As the capital, the city has never lacked the capacity to erect symbolic structures, but buildings alone do not make a cultural center. Yet what is particularly noteworthy about the proposal is the construction projects involved, such as the restoration of the ancient wall towers at the southeastern and southwestern corners of the old outer city wall. Dongcheng district government will also spend 800 million yuan ($126

Mass rallies to protest the high-handed political tactics of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin illustrate public discontent with his long-standing grip on power.It can be said that the contradictions plaguing Russia have come to the fore 20 years after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.Demonstrations began immediately after an election for the State Duma earlier this month, as protesters claimed there had been vote-rigging and called for the election to be held again. An image of alleg