January 27, 2020
Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has a belated new year’s resolution: establishing a “new era of Japanese diplomacy,'' according to a speech delivered to the Japanese Diet (parliament) on January 20th.
Certainly, this is nothing unexpected. Since coming to office in 2012, Abe has pursued a foreign policy that is exceptionally active compared to all his predecessors since 1945.
Most recently, he has attempted to position hi...
January 13, 2020
Both students and city-based student unions raised their voices against the brutal attack on students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which took place last Monday. The JNU students, mainly left-leaning and protesting against fee increases on campus, were targeted by masked men with iron rods and sticks. The violence injured around 34 people, according to the police.
Amongst the injured was Aishe Ghosh, president of th...
December 11, 2019
In the latest headline to provoke discussion over sexism in Japan, it has been discovered that some Japanese companies are not allowing female employees to wear glasses as they believe it contradicts the desired feminine image expected from female workers.
Social media in Japan has been flooded with the news that women working on makeup counters were told that they were not allowed to wear glasses, as it did not fit with the co...
December 9, 2019
What happens when an unmovable object is met with a seemingly unstoppable force? The intractable conflict between Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and the Chinese state might be instructive in this regard. Over the last six months, the streets of the wealthy semi-autonomous territory have been beset by successive waves of protests, which in turn have elicited responses of gradually increasing intensity by the authorities. At...
November 17, 2019
Despite nearly a decade of ‘flourishing’ ties between Taiwan and China under the presidency of Ma Jing-yeou, relations have taken a turn for the worse since the 2016 election. This is due to the pro-independence stance of the new Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, and her apparent rejection of the 1992 Consensus. This Consensus reached between Kuomintang (KMT) representatives and Beijing was fundamental in the development of t...
September 10, 2019
One can be spotted wearing a dupatta styled on her head in a manner reminiscent of Benazir Bhutto’s original, iconic look, accessorised with a casual Chanel brooch while the other can be seen emulating the Western runway with outfits fit for a modern, aristocratic, boss lady who might also happen to be a spoilt princess and heiress to a grand fortune. One is a self-appointed, uncertified cover girl for Habib Jalib’s “Nihati La...