How many Edward Snowdens are there and why aren’t we tracking N. Korea?

How many Edward Snowdens are there and why aren’t we tracking N. Korea?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com Sometimes you have to wonder when reading the top stories how much people are really thinking about some of the implications. Take this running story about Edward Snowden. It’s a fun read, and it would not be a good idea to put him in jail for a lot […]

The sons also rise: Xi Jinping grooms more and more princelings for top slots

The sons also rise: Xi Jinping grooms more and more princelings for top slots

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Given the apparent ease with which President Xi Jinping has consolidated his hold on power, it is perhaps not surprising that the princeling (a reference to the offspring of party elders) is actively nurturing the careers of younger members of the “red aristocracy.” In the past year, several […]

Not so superpowerful: Obama, Xi talk but the days of grand summits are past

Not so superpowerful: Obama, Xi talk but the days of grand summits are past

Sol W. Sanders   There was less than met the eye at the two-day summit of China’s Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama. Neither party was in a position to tackle the growing list plaguing the relationship between the superpower and the superpower-wannabe. That might or might not have been a product of their particular […]

Forgotten then and unreported now: The bloodletting inspired by ‘Maoism’

Forgotten then and unreported now: The bloodletting inspired by ‘Maoism’

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com NEW DELHI — The late “Great Leader” Kim Il-Sung no doubt drew upon the teachings of Mao Zedong when he formulated his philosophy of “juche” or self-reliance, but one word you never hear on visits to North Korea is “Maoism.” If North Korea recognizes Mao Zedong as an […]

Beijing’s divide-and-conquer ‘diplomacy’ splits alliances, public and private sectors

Beijing’s divide-and-conquer ‘diplomacy’ splits alliances, public and private sectors

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com The usually deferential official Chinese media has characterized Premier Li Keqiang performance during his just-completed four-nation visit as “Li-style diplomacy.” The last leg of Li’s first overseas trip as head of government – a mere two-day stopover in Berlin – has demonstrated the hard edge of enhanced hard-power […]

North Korea missile tests seen advancing the threat south of Seoul

North Korea missile tests seen advancing the threat south of Seoul

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com SEOUL — North Korea is thought to be progressing with the development of KN-02 ballistic missiles and is also testing longer range 300 mm-caliber rockets that can reach beyond Seoul to strike U.S. bases, military sources here said. The North launched six short-range projectiles from the country’s east coast — […]

Woe is not us: From one new energy revolution (shale gas) to another (fire ice)

Woe is not us: From one new energy revolution (shale gas) to another (fire ice)

Sol W. Sanders   As the shale gas revolution begins to ripple through, reordering the world economy, another fossil fuel revolution is in the offing which will again torpedo most conventional wisdom concerning energy. So-called “peak oil”, the end of petroleum exhausted by expanding consumption and diminishing discoveries, the love story of environmental fanatics, has […]

Kim Jong-Un shifts focus to economy from military escalation

Kim Jong-Un shifts focus to economy from military escalation

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un who mobilized the military and threatened U.S. allies with Weapons of Mass Destruction for the past months has shifted his focus to the economic front. On March 31, the Workers’ Party adopted the country’s “new strategic course of parallel economic construction and nuclear weapons development […]

N. Korean paratroopers exercise near China to block defections; border villages demolished

N. Korean paratroopers exercise near China to block defections; border villages demolished

Special to WorldTribune.com By Lee Jong-Heon, East-Asia-Intel.com North Korean troops have demolished villages near the border with China and forcibly relocated residents to prevent defections that could threaten the Kim Jong-Un regime, sources in Seoul said. “North Korea has been tearing down villages along the Duman (Tumen) River and relocating villagers to places further from the border,” […]

‘Get ready to fight’: China shifts from Deng’s ‘low profile’ to Mao’s aggression

‘Get ready to fight’: China shifts from Deng’s ‘low profile’ to Mao’s aggression

Special to WorldTribune.com By Willy Lam, East-Asia-Intel.com Nothing illustrates better the conservative turn that Chinese politics and foreign policy have taken under the Xi Jinping administration than the way ministers and senior cadres are reviving the credos – and familiar sayings – of Chairman Mao Zedong. Consider the reaction of the new Chinese ambassador to […]