Author: Kozo Kiyota, YNU

The Japanese Ministry of Finance announced on 25 January that the country logged a trade deficit of 2.5 trillion yen (US$31.4 billion) in 2011, its first in more than three decades.

Japan’s imports rose 12 per cent while its exports fell 2.7 per cent compared with the previous year. Read more…

Author: Anthony J. McMichael, ANU

Over the next half a century and beyond, two major, contrasting shifts in population health will affect the social and economic burdens of disease and the causes of premature death in the Asian region.

Pervasive and disruptive population-health developments could also affect the movement of people, social stability and geopolitical security. These projected shifts will have major implications for Australia. Read more…

Author: Nicholas Lardy, PIIE

The imminent rebalancing of China’s economy has been forecast repeatedly over the past several years.

With the shrinking of China’s external surplus during 2011, proponents of this argument have all but declared victory. Read more…

Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment

Some Chinese astrologers have pronounced that 2012, the year of the dragon, will be particularly volatile.

But you do not have to believe in the Chinese zodiac to know that Southeast Asia is likely to have a tumultuous year. Read more…

Author: Yoshisuke Iinuma, The Oriental Economist

The household-electronics industry has long been equivalent in stature to Japan’s automotive industry, and is seen as a symbol of the country’s strong manufacturing sector.

But now its central product — television manufacturing — is on the verge of collapse and the major electronics firms are haemorrhaging red ink. Read more…

Author: Rodolfo C. Severino, ISEAS

For the second time in ASEAN’s history, Cambodia has taken over the chairmanship of this ten-nation association.

It first chaired ASEAN in 2002–03, when the country had been a member for only three years. Yet the world and the region have changed considerably in the last 10 years. Read more…

Author: Peter Drysdale, Editor, East Asia Forum

The idea that the world has entered the Asian century has wide and credible currency.

Its foundation, of course, lies in the rise of Chinese and Indian economic power and the integration of the East Asian economy that has accompanied China’s spectacular growth. Read more…

Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment

Political and economic reforms and the lifting of international sanctions have set in motion Myanmar’s re-entry into the family of nations.

Already, the release of over 600 political prisoners and other economic and political reforms, including the re-registration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy for the 1 April by-election, have paved the way for the restoration of diplomatic relations with the US and other Western countries. Read more…

Author: Sandy Gordon, ANU

Washington has now moderated Secretary for Defense Leon Panetta’s statement that the US, as a fighting force, would be in the barracks by mid-2013.

US forces may now come out to fight as and when necessary until their departure at the end of 2014. Read more…

Author: Renu Kohli, ICRIER

The recent depreciation of the rupee has been a costly shock for India’s financial and real economy.

The large and abrupt drop in the currency’s value has negatively impacted businesses and households by pushing up costs in an inflationary phase, increased price uncertainty and volatility, dented economic confidence, and worsened the critical macroeconomic aggregates. Read more…

Author: Dolores A. Donovan, USF

On 22 December 2011 the new Cambodian Civil Code went into effect. Its promulgation marked a turning point in the establishment of the rule of law in Cambodia.

Until its enactment, the country’s civil-law system had been dominated by public-law concepts that established the powers and structures of the state and delineated the duties, and only occasionally the rights, of citizens — a legacy of royal and Asian tradition. Read more…

Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment

With elections expected to be held in Malaysia this year, there is reason for concern that tensions could rise in the event of a close result — and a misstep by either side could lead to violence.

National elections have to take place by March 2013, but Prime Minister Najib Razak has indicated that they could likely be sooner. Read more…

Author: Shankaran Nambiar, MIU, Malaysia

The Najib government has given renewed focus to Malaysia’s international economic relations, including liberalisation and increasing interaction with the global economy.

This approach is understandable for a small, open economy that is particularly dependent on export-driven growth, and faces considerable pressure to attract FDI and increase its exports. Read more…

Author: Cheng Li, Brookings

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping’s current visit to the United States is important to both nations, but for different reasons.

Xi is expected to soon take over from Hu Jintao as leader of the world’s most populous country and second-largest economy. Read more…

Author: Chen-shen Yen, NCCU

With the ruling party returned to power after Taiwan’s recent presidential election, both Beijing and Washington have breathed a sigh of relief.

Peace across the Taiwan Strait appears to have been preserved for at least another four years. Read more…