Word: asianness
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...criticized for its unilateralist approach to foreign affairs and its hands-off approach to environmental issues. China, though, is knocked for its anti-freedom attitudes, many of which have been brought to greater light in recent months as a result of this summer's Beijing Olympics. And most Asian and Western nations express skepticism and concern over Chinese-made products, many of which have been subject to recall in the past year...
...there's nowhere to hide from higher oil prices, and several factors make the crunch particularly painful in Asia. The vast majority of countries in the region are net importers of oil. Only Malaysia and Vietnam are able to produce enough crude to be net sellers. In addition, several Asian governments for years have spent billions of dollars subsidizing fuel costs to keep it cheap for their poor and often quarrelsome citizens. But oil is now so expensive that subsidies and price controls are increasingly impossible to maintain. Over the last two weeks, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka...
...Despite the dose of economic realism that many governments are finally swallowing, there is one Asian country that has resisted any major easing of price controls. China has raised the retail price of diesel and gasoline by just 9% since January 2007. (Over the same period, the price in the U.S. has jumped 77%.) Observers say China will probably stand pat at the pump until after the Beijing Olympic Games in August. That could keep Chinese happily burning the midnight oil - and keep global oil prices high, since growing demand from China has contributed significantly to crude's price...
...there are the less honorable methods China has used to cultivate sporting success. Just before the Sydney Games, when antidoping officials announced they would be administering a new test for the synthetic endurance booster erythropoietin, the Chinese Olympic squad was suddenly pruned about 10%. Six years earlier, at the Asian Games, 11 Chinese athletes were caught doping. Of course, athletes from other countries cheat too--witness U.S. track star Marion Jones' downfall. But there's a difference between individuals making the choice to dope and kids unknowingly swallowing whatever their sports-school coaches give them, which is what several retired...
...Europe? Where's the debate there? Where are the intellectuals who take it upon themselves to educate the public on the possible roles that a small but prosperous peninsula of peninsulas can play in our century? Who is honest about Europe's economic challenge from the rising Asian nations? Who forces electorates to consider whether it is right, or wise, for the U.S. to shoulder such a large share of the world's peacemaking burden...