15 Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:26:14 GMT http://the-diplomat.comKnow The Diplomat, Know Asia http://feedoor.com/track/thediplomat/b926d1db1da4bf90b2c7fe4797b73609 Literally. On Thursday, China announced that it had sent a small, manned submarine to the floor of the South China Sea and planted a Chinese flag there. According to Reuters, the sub achieved the feat during one of its 17 dives between May and July, with the craft apparently reaching a depth of more than 12,000 feet -- a first for a Chinese submersible vehicle apparently. Two interesting questions arise. The first is why the government delayed announcing the dives until a month after they were completed? The second question is why it would try such a stunt when tensions in the area are so high. China was indignant when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a regional  security forum in Hanoi last month that the United States had an interest in seeing the various disputes between China and other South-east Asian nations resolved peacefully. China saw this as interference, especially ... Read More... ]]>Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:52:09 GMT1283003529Jason Mikshttp://the-diplomat.com/china-power/?p=963http://feedoor.com/track/thediplomat/c01f118b631e6c9d3257d8b37fe45e7c At the end of the first semester of the Special Curriculum one of our brightest students dropped out. It wasn’t because she wasn’t learning, and it wasn’t because she feared the instability. She’d received a C in gym class because she refused to go despite repeated warnings. Her mother came everyday to complain about the grade, but we refused to budge. ‘My girl has been the top of her class since kindergarten, and all her teachers love her,’ she told us. ‘But here you don’t care about her at all.’ While building the curriculum I discovered that our problem students were typically those who thrived in the traditional Chinese education system. They were also the very ones who questioned the value of the English curriculum, of learning critical reading and thinking skills, of participating in activities, of group work and co-operation, and of going to gym class. They preferred to memorize ... Read More... ]]>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:45:56 GMT1282923956Jiang Xueqinhttp://the-diplomat.com/china-power/?p=959http://feedoor.com/track/thediplomat/7c8b2ee38eb12b4d464d19e509d91f74 The Economist's cover story last week captured perfectly the discussion I see all around me--the ubiquitous India vs. China debate. The magazine, which showed a picture of a pair of hands locked in an arm wrestling contest, chose to call the rivalry ‘contest of the century’. But The Economist is far from the first publication in recent months to run such a story--reports on how China and India are pitted against each other are pretty much a daily occurrence for readers of business newspapers. While India's democracy, free speech and individual ingenuity are typically feted, China's formidable infrastructure, policy-led drive for growth and single-mindedness are admired. Recently, the Legatum Institute, an independent London-based think tank that focuses on what it says is an ‘understanding of global prosperity’, released an extremely interesting publication on what motivates Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs, and how these motivations compare and contrast with each other. Ryan Streeter, a senior fellow at Legatum Institute, ... Read More... ]]>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:34:59 GMT1282912499Shreyasi Singhhttp://the-diplomat.com/indian-decade/?p=1416http://feedoor.com/track/thediplomat/9b1231a2597f4f318673fa4c13f42472 The apparent sea change in the Pacific balance of power seemed to come all at once earlier this month. And it has seen the US military scrambling to find a new tack to allow it to preserve its dominance. For many, the most important news was perhaps also the most mundane. Economists revised downward the pace of the United States’ recovery from the recent recession, while highlighting an anticipated $1.4-trillion budget deficit for 2010—a depth of indebtedness that President Barack Obama declared ‘unsustainable.’ Meanwhile, on August 16, economists reported that China's Gross Domestic Product had outstripped Japan's in the second quarter of the current calendar year, making China for the first time the world's second-largest economy after the United States. The same day, the US Department of Defence released its annual report on Chinese military power. The 83-page document highlighted a rising China's ‘comprehensive transformation of its military,’ including more surface warships ... Read More... ]]>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:31:41 GMT1282901501David Axehttp://the-diplomat.com/?p=5608http://feedoor.com/track/thediplomat/2471f220f06f640a24d5fd60d97d417d Can ‘puppet opera’ create more Persian art and culture enthusiasts overseas? A renowned Iranian stage director is convinced that it can, and has recently gone as far as to approach Iranian officials and asked them to create a special budget to fund such cultural products. Behruz Gharibpur is known for founding puppet theatre venues in major Iranian cities and has reportedly even turned a Tehran slaughterhouse into the ‘greatest’ Iranian cultural centre. And he believes that Iranian puppet shows, including the country’s unique opera-style format, will have great appeal for international audiences—especially in the US. He has his reasons. Earlier this year, Gharibpur encountered ‘great enthusiasm’ in some American visitors who saw a Rumi puppet opera performed in his country, and were so captivated by the performance that they took DVDs tapings of it home with them. Moreover, it seems that after they returned home, the same tourists contacted Iranian expats there about ... Read More... ]]>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:17:23 GMT1282897043Ulara Nakagawahttp://the-diplomat.com/new-emissary/?p=2665http://feedoor.com/track/thediplomat/1a378a6fcf0ee2f07a7a791d710e3c78 Ichiro Ozawa’s decision to step out of the shadows and stand in next month’s Democratic Party of Japan leadership election against Prime Minister Naoto Kan will no doubt be applauded at party headquarters – that is, the headquarters of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party. The move by the DPJ’s manipulator-in-chief shows scant regard for the interests of his party or a nation sliding into economic gloom. Instead, it appears to be an opportunistic shot at fulfilling a long-held personal ambition. For while he has served as leader of the DPJ in opposition and secretary general in office, Ozawa has long been the kingmaker but never the king, and this could be his last chance to wear the prime ministerial crown. But does he have other motives for standing? Ozawa has been embroiled in a seemingly never-ending scandal over misreported funds, and public prosecutors plan to grill him on the subject for a fourth ... Read More... ]]>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:03:59 GMT1282896239Andy Sharphttp://the-diplomat.com/?p=5616