Asia

China Experiences Surprise Drop In Exports

4:31am October 14, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Chinese exports dropped point 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier. It was the worst performance in three months. Analysts think much of the drop was due to plunging demand from Southeast Asia. Investors have been pulling money out of the region on concern the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut bond purchases and the money supply will tighten.

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A zoo in central China's Henan province swapped a dog — a Tibetan mastiff like the one shown here — for a lion, in another story that recently swept Chinese cyberspace.

Too Weird To Be True? In China, You Never Can Tell

5:47pm October 09, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Foreign news coverage of China is often deadly serious: corruption, pollution and the like. Then there's the funny and bizarre that often goes viral — like the zoo that swapped a dog for a lion. A number of websites are making these offbeat and satirical tales increasingly available in English.

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President Obama listens as Chinese President Xi Jinping answers a question after a bilateral meeting in California on June 7.

World News

Asian Allies' Anxieties Rise Amid Washington Paralysis

7:24pm October 08, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

President Obama cancelled a planned trip to Asia this week to deal with the political crisis at home. That's disappointed — even worried — some of America's friends in the region who are counting on the United States to stand up to an increasingly assertive China.

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The university is currently located on the leafy campus of East China Normal University. Next year, NYU Shanghai will move to a 15-story building in the city's financial district.

For Some NYU Students, A Sweet Deal To Study ... In Shanghai

9:58am October 08, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

New York University's new Shanghai campus is the first Sino-U.S. joint-venture university. Chinese students get a Western education without leaving home. American students get to live and study in China, with many enjoying big breaks on tuition and other costs.

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In May, a large piece of the General Motors Building in Manhattan was purchased by a Chinese real estate developer.

Asian Investors Find Hot Market In U.S. Properties

9:51am October 08, 2013

by Jackie Northam

Sales in commercial real estate in the U.S. have soared over the past year. Asian nations, particularly China, are scooping up trophy properties and investing in some large, long-term development projects at a record pace.

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A woman surnamed Chu (left), 77, attends the hearing of a case against her daughter and husband in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu province, on July 1. Chu's daughter has been ordered to visit her at least once every two months, in the first case under a new l

World News

Ethical Tradition Meets Economics In An Aging China

9:44am October 08, 2013

by Anthony Kuhn

As people around the world live longer, many nations are having to find new ways to care for their aging populations. In China, a new law requires adult offspring to visit and look after their elderly parents. China's one-child policy complicates the issue further, and some dismiss the law as another attempt to legislate morality by a government that is riddled with corruption.

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Lita and her son, Myke, now live in Houston together. She still works as a nanny and Myke is an interior designer. Lita's two daughters have also immigrated to the United States.

To Care For U.S. Kids, Filipinas Leave Their Own Behind

4:53pm October 06, 2013

by Ashley Westerman

Tens of thousands of Filipinas work as nannies in U.S. households. Many leave their own children in the care of relatives back home, a wrenching but often unavoidable decision in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

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Boss Releases Video After Employees' 'I Quit' Video

12:53pm October 03, 2013

Marina Shifrin became an Internet sensation when she danced her way out of the office to Kayne West's hit song "Gone." Captions detailed her grievances. Her former company, in Taiwan, makes animated videos. The new video ends with the final line: We're hiring.

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A traffic guard goes through the motions in the capital of Pyongyang, though streets are almost empty of cars.

World News

Truth Or Propaganda? Finding Real Stories In North Korea

12:21pm September 30, 2013

by NPR Staff

Some stories from the isolated nation are stranger than government-sponsored fiction. AP Asia correspondent Tim Sullivan brings us unexpected tales, like the North Korean love affair with Gone with the Wind.

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World News

Concerns Growing Over North Korea's Nuclear Program

6:03pm September 25, 2013

Robert Siegel talks to Joshua Pollack, a consultant to the US government, about concerns that North Korea has or could soon have the tools to make the centrifuges to enrich the uranium to make the atomic weapons without having to import key elements in the process. Pollack studies arms control, proliferation, deterrence, intelligence, and regional security affairs. He also writes for the blog Arms Control Wonk.

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