HK may finally lift quarantine rules in Nov

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Hong Kong’s government is expected to announce this week a further relaxation of its Covid-19 quarantine rules by November to attract more international travelers and restore the city’s sagging standing as an international business hub, according to local press reports. All incoming travelers to Hong Kong must now stay at designated hotels at their own […]

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Race to hike rates guarantees global recession

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TOKYO — Punchbowls everywhere are becoming endangered species as central bankers scramble to yank them away with increasing urgency. Nowhere more so than here in Asia.

This metaphor is courtesy of William McChesney Martin, the US Federal Reserve’s longest-serving chairman who held the position from 1951 to 1970. He famously said a monetary authority’s role is that of a “chaperone who has ordered the punchbowl removed just when the party was really warming up.”

Since the 2008 Lehman Brothers crisis, the catchphrase markets most associate with central banks is “whatever it takes.” Mario Draghi, then-president of the European Central Bank, famously uttered these words in July 2012 amid debt-market turmoil on the continent. A year later, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda would embrace a similar mantra.

Today, officials are racing to do what they can to tame inflation and keep up with current US Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell’s tightening cycle.

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Kishida-Yoon sideline summit hangs in the balance

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SEOUL – Will they? Or won’t they? There are conflicting reports on whether Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will summit on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly held in New York this week. The two early-in-their-term leaders – Kishida took power in October 2021, Yoon in May […]

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US stance on Taiwan hardening amid China’s threats

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President Joe Biden has – not for the first time – suggested that the US would intervene “militarily” should China attempt an invasion of Taiwan._ In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” on September 18, 2022, Biden vowed to protect the island in the face of any attack. Pressed if that meant the US getting […]

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The road to war in Ukraine: fact vs fiction 

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The French political philosopher Pierre Manet once observed that “human beings are thinking animals who need tolerably accurate ideas and evaluations to orient themselves in the world.” He went on to note that “this is truer the more intellectually active and able the person concerned.” With regard to the war in Ukraine, we might reasonably […]

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HK’s Cardinal Zen in unholy morality row with China

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Cardinal Joseph Zen will stand trial on September 19, 2022, in Hong Kong for his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. This organization paid legal fees and medical bills for Hong Kongers protesting the Extradition Law Amendment Bill. This 2019 legislation would have allowed extradition to the People’s Republic of China. […]

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Widodo for vice-president gets a big thumbs-down

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JAKARTA – President Joko Widodo’s army of zealous followers hasn’t given up yet on their mission to extend his political career beyond the 2024 presidential and general elections, but even he appears genuinely perplexed at their latest push to have him run as a vice-presidential candidate. The novel idea of a former president standing for […]

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Are Western sanctions on Russia actually working?

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Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the United States, the European Union and other countries swiftly imposed a mix of wide-ranging diplomatic and economic sanctions. Russia was excluded from the Council of Europe and voted off the United Nations Human Rights Council. Russian diplomats were expelled by various Western countries. Travel […]

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As visa rejections mount, Turks sour on Europe

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In a recent poll, more than a third of Turks said that the European Union is a more valued partner than China, Russia and the United States combined. Yet if tourist visas are any indication, the EU doesn’t hold the same opinion of Turkey. Schengen visa approvals for Turkish travelers have fallen off a cliff in recent years, […]

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Korea’s Yoon in a deep, dark ratings hole

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On the eve of his victory in South Korea’s presidential election, President Yoon Suk-yeol promised to unite a divided country. That was always unlikely to happen. Yoon is a political outsider with no established support base within his People Power Party. He won the closest victory in South Korea’s democratic history following substance-free campaigns from both candidates. Yoon has never held […]

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