New York Times' Thom Shanker on world reaction to Communist Korea

Thom Shanker comments on the diplomatic visits by U.S. Secretary of State Rice in northeastern Asia in "News Analysis: A fragile consensus on North Korea" (International Herald Tribune, 22 October 2006.) .... South Korea feels most threatened by the North's nuclear program, but also the most exposed, and a number of opinion leaders in the South are doing all they can to rescue Seoul's policy of engaging, not isolating, the North, redrawing their lines in the sand while North Korea keeps blowing over them. ... Rice acknowledged during her journey that Iran, with its own nuclear ambitions, was watching her efforts. She left one senior advisor in Asia to continue discussions of sanctions, while another spent time at the working-group level to devise specific goals and rules for monitoring and inspecting North Korean cargo. Administration officials say these initial steps forward already may be influencing North Korean decisions to hold off on a second test, and that over time a strict sanctions architecture can be erected to contain the North's nuclear ambitions and prevent the transfer of weapons to another state or terrorists. ... Another interesting webpage: An interactive graphic on the North Korean border with China and Russia accompanies an article by Norimishu Onishi, "Tension, Desperation: The China-North Korean Border," in the New York Times (22 October).

British media's coverage of the late Wang Guangmei, wife of the late Liu Shaoqi

The Guardian (Friday 20 October, 2006) published an obituary of Wang Guangmei who died on 13 October at the age of 85. Wang's husband, Liu Shaoqi, died and Wang herself spent years in prison during the Cultural Revolution. The Telegraph published (Telegraph Blogs, Richard Spencer, 18 Oct 06 11:07) "Remembering the Cultural Revolution" and commented on Chinese newspaper coverage of her passing.

Telegraph's Peter Foster blogs on Sri Lanka

"Don't hold your breath for Sri Lanka" (Telegraph Blogs, Peter Foster, 21 Oct 06 13:31) "It is very hard to see where the break-through is going to come from at the moment. The gulf between the two sides is just too large. I found myself in a heated conversation last night with some Sri Lankan friends who accused me, and the 'foreign media' of exaggerating the attack on Galle. It was 'just a skirmish' said one of those friends, why make it into a 'war'. ... Sri Lanka's situation is often compare with Northern Ireland's, but it seems from my interviews here that both side are nowhere clear to making the kind of leap of faith that brought the IRA into the political sphere. ..."

A story about Arnold!

"Schwarzenegger Story Gets Another Rewrite" by Peter Nicolas, Sat. 21 October, Los Angeles Times. .... From a nadir at which he was being compared with Jesse Ventura, the pro wrestler who flamed out as governor of Minnesota after one term, Schwarzenegger rose to be the front-runner in the Nov. 7 election.His governorship has been a string of such moments: spontaneous decisions that have carried large consequences, for better and for worse. New to professional politics, he has been learning as he goes. He has overreached; called officials "stooges" and worse; flip-flopped, wasted time and money. All in full view of California voters and in the face of enormous expectations that came with the historic 2003 recall election.But over the last 11 months he has righted himself, relying on competitive instincts that told him if he was to survive he needed to drop the hubris and build a centrist government more in step with California voters.It worked. His approval rating is up to 56%, according to the latest Los Angeles Times poll, a rise of nearly 20 percentage points in one year....

Thoughts on Communist Korea and Communist China

I attended two guest lectures recently by Gordon Chang, author of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World (Random House, 2006), and Minxin Pei, author of China's Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy (Harvard University Press, 2006). While neither has all the answers, both makes excellent observations in their books and speeches. Now that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has institutionalized brinksmanship, Chang advocates a change in diplomacy--one that combines a reduction in the American nuclear arsenal and applications of all available leverage on the Republic of Korea and Communist China. Now that the People's Republic of China has compartmentalized being classically liberal abroad and positively illiberal at home, Pei advocates critical engagement--one that combines associating and talking to Chinese Communists and being honest enough to criticize them they are paying a price when there is a gap between economic growth for an increasing number of Chinese people and the monopoly of political power in the Chinese Coummunist Party. By the way, the journal Foreign Affairs (July/August 2006) has a review of Pei's book. I recommend both books.