Here we go again. Japan has a new prime minister. This is a truly momentous event – momentous, that is, for anyone who has managed to maintain a smidgen of interest in who runs the Japanese government these days. So this one goes out to all three of you.
Yoshihiko Noda will be sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday after being elected leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Monday afternoon.
Drum roll. Tan-Tan-Tan-Tan. And the winner is…Tony Tan. After the tightest of electoral races, Dr Tan was on Sunday declared the president-elect of Singapore, beating out three other candidates who also happen to be called Tan.
The post is largely ceremonial. But the slimmest margin of victory for the government’s preferred candidate – just 0.34 percentage points over his closest rival – suggests there is something stirring in Singapore’s once predictable political scene.
Just what the world needs – another think tank. Except that maybe, just maybe, this is a good idea. This week saw the launch of the Fung Global Institute, a self-styled Hong Kong-based independent research institute that wants to be the Brookings of Asia. Its mission is to produce “business-relevant research on global issues from Asian perspectives”.
There are a few red flags here, of which later. But the idea itself is timely. If Asia continues to grow at anything like its current pace, it will play an increasingly important role in the global economy. Yet it lacks anything like a coherent, intellectual voice. The global dialogue is being held in Washington, New York and London. Asia’s views deserve to be heard more – and not just in cacophony of a forum like the G20.
I have just returned from a trip to Tohoku, the north-east region of Japan pulverised by the worst tsunami and earthquake to hit the country in decades. More than 20,000 people are dead or missing and some of the coastal towns in the worst-affected areas lost up to 10 per cent of their inhabitants. Some 200,000 homes and shops have been washed away, nearly 80 per cent of the buildings in some places.
There had been hope that the shock would jolt some sense into Japan’s politicians. Sadly, that seems not to have occurred.
Aung San Suu Kyi on August 14, 2011. Getty Images.
There are some strange things going on in Burma, the country renamed Myanmar by the generals who have ruled it since 1962. On Sunday, Aung San Suu Kyi returned to her home after leaving Rangoon, the former capital, for the first time since she was released from seven years of house arrest in November.
The 66-year-old Nobel prize winner opened a library, donated food to some flood victims, and made a couple of speeches to several hundred supporters in which she asked for their patience.
US debt, Greek debt, and Indonesian growth
In this week’s podcast: Obama and the US debt limit – the president avoids default at the 11th hour; Greece, we ask whether the second bail-out package is enough to stem contagion across the eurozone; and, Indonesia’s growth trajectory attracts foreign investment.
Presented by Rob Minto with James Crabtree, Martin Sandbu and Gideon Rachman, in the studio in London and Anthony Deutsch in Jakarta – interviewed by Serena Tarling.
Produced by LJ Filotrani
Good luck to Yingluck, she is going to need it. The electoral victory of Thailand’s Pheu Thai party, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, could bring to an end a turbulent phase in Thai politics. If the Thai establishment and the Bangkok middle-classes accept the opposition’s victory, then the country’s first female prime minister might be able to break the cycle of coups, riots and instability that has plagued Thailand for the first five years.
Audio Nato, Greece, Vietnam
In this week’s podcast: scathing criticism of Nato from the US calls the alliance’s future into question; the political instability in Greece compounds the sovereign debt crisis and causes arguments within Germany; strains over contested islands in the South China Sea could see an unlikely alliance between old enemies, Vietnam and the US.
Presented by Gideon Rachman, with James Blitz, Quentin Peel and Ben Bland
Produced by LJ Filotrani and Rob Minto
Audio: US/UK relations, Spanish unrest, the Arab spring and Japan’s nuclear future
In this week’s podcast: the essential relationship between the US and the UK; Spain on the edge of a sovereign debt crisis; stalemate in Libya – what next for the Arab spring; and, we look to the future for Japan’s energy policy post Fukushima.
Presented by Shawn Donnan with Sarah Neville, David Gardner and Abeer Allah in the studio in London, Peter Spiegel in Brussels, Victor Mallet in Madrid and Mure Dickie in Hong Kong. Produced by LJ Filotrani
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