Stories about East Asia from August, 2012
31 August 2012
Philippines: Facebook Photos Removed for International Day of the Disappeared
'Please take down your profile picture on August 30, Thursday, in solidarity with the friends and family of the missing, from the Martial Law days up to the present, who...
30 August 2012
Controversial Tibet Theme Park Project Launched
Tibetan dissidents have described the USD 4.7 billion Chinese project as the “Disneyfication of Tibet.“ The park will first be used to shoot 'Princess Wencheng', a film about the niece...
Tracking Counterfeit Medicines in the Developing World
Some 700,000 people die annually from fake malaria and tuberculosis drugs alone. The WHO reports that the annual earnings from substandard or counterfeit drugs stand at about USD 200 billion....
29 August 2012
South Korea: K-Pop Video ‘Gangnam Style’ Goes Viral Internationally
South Korean singer Psy's tune 'Gangnam Style' has gone viral internationally, with its YouTube video surpassing 70 million hits as of today. This has got many Koreans talking and the...
28 August 2012
Maritime Row with China Forces Philippines to Upgrade Defenses
The tension in the South China Sea has forced the Philippines to review its defense capabilities. In particular its maritime dispute with China boosted the demand to upgrade the country’s...
Taiwan: ‘National Health Insurance’ System in Crisis
The National Health Insurance system in Taiwan is quite often used as a model for reform in countries where health care depends on private insurance system. Yet, the inconvenient truth...
27 August 2012
Hong Kong: Occupy Central – Before Forced Eviction
The Occupy Central campaign in Hong Kong has lasted for more than 10 months and is probably one of the longest among the worldwide occupy movement. Recently the HSBC obtained...