Tag: economic development

Looking Back on China (8): Food Unsafety

In the past, when I asked my father whether he wanted to immigrate to another country, he refused without any hesitation. Now, he might hesitate due to a new concern – food. It’s not because he could not get enough to eat, but because there is very little food unpoisoned in China. Chinese people make …

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Lack of Infrastructure Hampering Growth in Indonesia

Indonesia has been a rising economy since the Asian financial crisis in 1997. It is currently the 16th largest economy in the world in which its economy is driven solely by consumption.  The country is composed by a large young population that is quickly urbanizing while increasing income levels. The standard of living has been …

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A Lost Legacy

As many of you know, Nelson Mandela, the Anti-Apartheid leader, Nobel Prize winner, Author, “Father of the Nation” (The New South Africa), former President and one of the 25 most influential people of our time, lies in hospital in a critical condition. Not much has been divulged of his condition and rightly so, as any patient, …

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Looking Back on China (6): People’s Republic of Copying

I miss home so desperately, every time I cannot download songs or movies free of charge in America. Infringements on intellectual property rights in China are so common that even no one perceives them as illegal. Of course, as a law student, I know what the law is. But I still enjoyed our “privilege” carelessly, …

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Looking Back on China (5): Goodbye, Engineer-Presidents

While 25 of America’s Presidents have been lawyers, China, for the very first time in its more than 60 years history, welcomes a former law student as one of the top national leaders. Li Keqiang, a Bachelor of Law degree holder from the Peking University, was nominated as Prime Minister in early March. Having been …

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“Failed” States?

Foreign Policy’s  annual Failed State Issue came out today, along with their 2013 Failed State Index, uses twelve social, economic, and political indicators to analyze nations and then ranks them accordingly, with 120 being the worst possible score a state can receive.  The states are then separated into five categories: critical, in danger, borderline, stable, and most stable. …

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Looking Back on China (3): A Fancy Chinese Dream

After Jiang Zemin’s “Three Representatives” and Hu Jintao’s “Harmonious Society,”  now Chinese overburdened high school students have one more theory to learn by rote. “Chinese Dream,” repeatedly emphasized by China’s new president Xi Jinping, is seemingly more catchy and captivating. In the arcane world of Chinese politics, slogans matter. They are the words that are …

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Are ASEAN’s Goals Achievable?

When I think of current events in Southeast Asia, the things that pop into my head are authoritarian regimes, ethnic tensions, border clashes, and so on. There is an entire list of current conflicts going on in this region. An example of a border dispute would be Thailand conflicting with neighboring Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos and …

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Looking Back on China (2): Socialism or Capitalism?

“No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat, as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.”  It was probably the most influential quote of Deng Xiaoping, the Chief Architect of Chinese Reform and Opening, who further interpreted that “Do not restrict yourself from the difference between Socialism …

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Extreme Poverty in Lao PDR

Lao PDR has one of the highest growth rates in Southeast Asia with 6% increase every year in the last decade. Even the level of poverty has been declining. However, the country is still one of the least developed in Southeast Asia and the level of poverty is still largely apparent in this economy. Laos …

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