Eastern Asia

Rumors have it that the remaining months of 2020 may bring drastic and explosive changes in the world’s financial system. But such “doomsday” rumors have been floating around every beginning of fall during the last few years. Why? – The US dollar is getting weaker and weaker. It is not quite on a free fall, but still remains a major trading currency and a key world reserve currency. And for many economists that’s difficult to understand.

The upcoming US presidential election is yielding a series of books designed to analyze how Donald Trump has performed and, more often than not, put forth a rationale why everything went wrong during his tenure. The book Rage occupies a notable place among those; the author is Robert “Bob” Woodward, who is an American cult journalist and an associate editor at The Washington Post.

During the summer and autumn 2020, the author has, on more than one occasion, come across reports by analysts or statements by politicians about the possibility that North Korea could conduct a nuclear weapons test or at least, fire a submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead in the run-up to the presidential election in the United States.

As reported earlier in the New Eastern Outlook, tensions around Taiwan are continuing to intensify. An increasingly more defined foreign policy course pursued by Washington aimed at normalizing its diplomatic relations with Taipei and at allowing Taiwan to transform into a fully-fledged independent country is the main reason behind these negative and highly dangerous developments on the global political arena.

Over the past few years, due to the policy followed by the White House, relations between the US and China have been spiraling downward at a rapid pace.

The Minister of Justice position is deemed to be extremely important in South Korea because an individual in this post is responsible for overseeing rule of law and security institutions, particularly law enforcement agencies. De facto in this person’s power to undermine any given investigation or to stage a show trial irrespective of whether or not a defendant is actually guilty.

On September 2, 2020, the main opposition force of the Republic of Korea, the conservative United Future Party changed its name. Of the three options proposed to the leadership of the party, the name People’s Power Party (PPP) was chosen.  The new name implies “the power coming from the people, exercised for the people and uniting the people into one whole.”

On 16 September 2020 Yoshihide Suga, the former Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, was appointed as the prime minister after Shinzo Abe retired due to chronic health problems.  Suga will head the ruling party until the end of September 2021, meaning until Shinzo Abe’s term of office expires. Then new elections will take place to elect a chair for the party for a three-year term.