Eva Cheng

  • Japanese government punished for air pollution

    Japanese government punished for air pollutionIn a landmark court ruling on July 5, the Japanese government and its Hanshin Expressway Public Corporation were ordered to pay 65 million yen to 18 victims — some of

  • Health fallout from nuclear tests

    In 1963, when the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain announced their plans to stop atmospheric nuclear tests, the French governor of Tahiti claimed, "Not a single particle of radioactive fallout [from France's pending

  • Economic rifts undermine US-Japan military pact

    The drastically changed balance of forces and increasing contradictions between US and Japanese capitalism have cast a serious doubt on the future of the US-Japan Security Treaty. This pact has played a central part in the

  • Appeal for arrested Chinese unionists

    An international appeal has been launched to free three Chinese activists arrested last year for attempting to form an independent union. A July 16 press release from the Hong Kong solidarity group April 5th Action reveals that

  • Government prepares to bail out Japan's shaky banks

    Japanese banks are sinking in a sea of bad debts, threatening to drag the already ailing economy down with them. Japan is a key supplier of capital to many countries, including the US. A financial collapse there could have serious

  • Whose bank now?

    In 1993, finance minister (now treasurer) Ralph Willis publicly assured us that the federal government has "no intention whatever" of reducing its ownership of the Commonwealth Bank to less than 50.1%. The statement was made

  • US-Japan conflict threatens trade

    In an ultimatum issued last month, the US threatened to charge a punitive tariff of 100% on 13 models of luxury Japanese cars, a move that would make these cars almost twice as expensive and strangle their sales. It will be enforced

  • Beijing arrests more dissidents

    During May, the Chinese government threw at least 24 dissidents into jail and detained another 41 in a wave of arrests that followed three petitions by activists and leading intellectuals. The petitions called for the release of

  • Explosions fuel anger in South Korea

    A gas explosion in Taegu on April 28 in which 101 PEOPLE — mostly children — were killed is the latest in a long list of disasters in South Korea which are suspected to be caused by substandard construction or maintenance.

  • Nuclear dumping in Japan

    Nuclear dumping in JapanJapan's central government and power industries have dumped 14 tons of highly radioactive waste in the northern fishing and farming town of Rokkasho despite strong objection from the local residents.

  • Beijing admits holding democracy activist

    Beijing admits holding democracy activistChinese officials have at long last indirectly confirmed that veteran pro-democracy activist Wei Jiangsheng is in their custody, a year after he had disappeared into a police van.

  • The super scam

    Changes to workers' superannuation announced in the federal budget last week amount to a new tax levied on lower income workers and foreshadow the eventual abolition of the age pension. Under the scheme, workers will pay 1%, 2%