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Seoul, South Korea -- Iran's decision to release the 15 captured British sailors and marines is as puzzling as the question of how and why they were captured in the first place. We will know what really happened now, as they return home, but it won't be the most important part of the story.
Seoul, South Korea -- Poor Pakistan! The main question is not so much “For how long can President Musharraf hold on to power?” as “What follows next?”
The international journalists covering the world have been guilty of many shortcomings, but losing neutrality in their coverage of the Palestine conflict or of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is certainly not one of them. When compared with their counterparts from other parts of the world including the Middle East, journalists from the U.S., Europe and open societies in Asia can stand any test as far as fairness and impartiality is concerned.
Seoul, South Korea -- East Asian cities like Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore, where high standards of public security are maintained, are relatively safe from the threat of car bombing. Car bombing has developed mainly as a unique weapon of desperation in the hands, mostly, of Islamic extremists. It is seldom used by their peers from other religious groups.
Seoul, South Korea -- Taiwan has been effectively independent from mainland China for a very long time, even predating the 1949 movement of Chiang Kai-shek to the island after his defeat by Mao Zedong's forces. The island was under Portuguese and Dutch rule before Japan formally annexed it in 1895-1945. The island was seriously populated only from the 17th century, when fishermen from China's southern coasts began arriving in numbers. Before that, Taiwan had -- as it still does -- it own "aborigines." Even today, people claiming roots from China constitute just 14% of the populace, with the rest composed of people whose ancestors began arriving three, four or more generations ago.
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