Asia News

The Daily Signal delivers Asia-Pacific news with reporting and conservative commentary on regional security challenges, U.S. military alliances, China containment strategy, Taiwan defense, North Korea threats, economic competition, and America’s vital interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
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  • opinion

    The Problem with Japan’s “Womenomics”
    On October 20, two female ministers in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet, Yuko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima, resigned over alleged improper use of campaign funds. Their resignations raise questions about the viability of one of the Prime Minister’s central social and economic policies: “womenomics.” The essence of womenomics is to increase the number of…
    Arthur Oaden
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  • opinion

    Asia’s Essential Contributions to America
    America is inextricably linked to Asia; whether through trade, investment, or immigration, the United States and Asia have been and will continue to be vital and lasting partners. The Heritage Foundation’s latest product, the 2014 Asia Update: What’s at Stake for America, visually represents the myriad of factors that make Asia so important for America….
    Olivia Enos
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  • opinion

    U.S., South Korea Reverse Plan to Turn Over Military Command
    Washington and Seoul wisely decided during senior-level military talks on October 23 to abandon a 2007 plan to dissolve the existing allied military command structure on the Korean Peninsula. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and South Korean Minister of Defense Han Min-koo agreed to postpone indefinitely the planned return of wartime operational control (OPCON) of…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    No Justice for Persecuted Christian Aasia Bibi in Pakistan
    Pakistan has, yet again, demonstrated that it does not respect religious liberty. Yesterday, Pakistan’s Lahore High Court upheld the death penalty for Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, on blasphemy charges. Bibi’s lawyers will appeal the case to the Supreme Court, but, as of now, Bibi will be hanged for blasphemy. Bibi, a farm worker and…
    Olivia Enos
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  • opinion

    Japan’s Lousy Economy Is a Warning for U.S.
    Japan is flush with national pride this week, thanks to Kei Nishikori, the tennis phenom who knocked off seemingly indestructible Novak Djokovic to reach the U.S. Open finals and become the first Japanese to reach a grand slam final ever. If only Japan's economy could perform half as well. For also this week, Tokyo announced…
    Stephen Moore
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  • opinion

    Al-Qaeda Announces New Affiliate in South Asia
    Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s video announcement launching an al-Qaeda wing in the Indian Subcontinent is almost certainly part of the organization’s efforts to compete with the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq for recruits, money and ideological supremacy. The recent military gains by the IS—an al-Qaeda breakaway group–in Iraq and its increasing efforts to recruit militants…
    Lisa Curtis
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  • opinion

    Japan: Abe Needs to Take Diplomatic Hippocratic Oath
    Upon graduating from medical school, physicians typically take the Hippocratic Oath. Though the oath doesn’t actually contain the phrase “first do no harm” that is so prevalently linked to it, the underlying premise is there. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would do well to adopt such a code for his foreign policy. Abe’s needless and…
    Bruce Klingner
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  • opinion

    Historical Tensions in Northeast Asia: An Obstacle to Improved Security and Policymaking in the Asia Pacific
    Tensions in Northeast Asia are at an all-time high, particularly between South Korea and Japan. North Korean belligerence and Chinese aggression contribute to rising tensions in the region, while animosity from historical issues, recent insensitive commentary, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Yasakuni shrine in December 2013 have exacerbated tensions between Japan and…
    Olivia Enos
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  • opinion

    Japan in a Virtuous Cycle to Nowhere
    Preliminary data from Japan show a 6.8 percent drop in quarterly gross domestic product. Although a drop in consumption was expected after Tokyo raised the consumption tax rate from 5 percent to 8 percent in April, the decrease is more than experts had expected. And while the government of Japan sees increasing the consumption tax…
    Riley Walters
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  • opinion

    Northeast Asia: Opportunities for Alliance Cooperation
    “Japan needs Korea as a strategic partner and friend,” said Takeo Kawamura, senior member of the House of Representatives in Japan at an event on alliances in Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation. In recent years, tensions between Japan and South Korea—two of America’s key allies in Asia—have increased. But rather than dwelling on downward…
    Olivia Enos
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  • opinion

    Collective Self-Defense Is Good for the U.S.-Japan Alliance
    On July 1, a prime-minister-appointed security advisory panel determined that Japan has the right to collective self-defense, a right guaranteed to all nations under the U.N. charter but previously not exercised under Japan’s pacifist constitution. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to implement collective self-defense will strengthen the U.S.–Japan alliance, but he faces strong opposition domestically…
    Riley Walters
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  • opinion

    U.S. Shortwave Broadcasting to Asia Is Muted
    Once again, the U.S. government’s international broadcasting is at the center of a storm of its own making. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) announced deep cuts in services for Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia shortwave transmissions to Asia, effective end of business June 30. These cuts include programs…
    Helle Dale
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  • opinion

    Japan’s Robot Revolution
    Japan is one of the few countries in the world likely to experience something that popular movies have predicted for years: a robot revolution. That isn’t to say that the human race is at risk of extinction from Skynet taking command of a robot army (The Terminator, 1984), or needs Will Smith to shut down…
    Riley Walters
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  • opinion

    Japan’s Last Shot: Abenomic’s Third Arrow
    Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan has finally released details of the long-awaited third arrow in his economic reform commonly known as “Abenomics.” As with each of the first two arrows, there is debate as to whether the third arrow, also known as the Japan Revitalization Strategy, will be enough to jumpstart Japan’s economy and…
    Riley Walters
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  • opinion

    Asian Nations, Once Again, Among the Worst Human Trafficking Offenders
    An estimated 30 million people are trapped in the mire of human trafficking, with over half of trafficking victims living in Asia. Profits from this global scourge amount to around $150 billion. The State Department’s 2014 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report downgraded Thailand and Malaysia to Tier 3 for their negligence in combatting human trafficking….
    Olivia Enos
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  • opinion

    U.S. Needs Asian Allies to Share North Korea Threat Information
    As long suggested by the U.S., there are indications that Japan and South Korea may cooperate on resurrecting a planned military information sharing agreement that was scuttled in 2012. This is a good thing; the U.S. should stay focused on making an agreement happen. Presidents Barack Obama and Park Geun-hye agreed during their April summit…
    Bruce Klingner
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