Chinese courts handed down harsh sentences last week for a large number of defendants for the roles they allegedly played at Shanxi Province brick kilns that were relying on slave labor, including child workers.

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Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently proposed initiating a "second wave of democratic reforms." He has said he would not amend the Constitution in the first two years of his term if he is elected president, but would use that time to review the system and prepare to make amendments to "build a normal democratic society."

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By Tsai Ching-ting 蔡進丁
It is very risky to use casual cause and effect reasoning to answer economics questions or explain the achievements of corporate management. For example, there are several possible reasons for the success of South Korea's Samsung. Perhaps it is because industries are booming as the economy is in a period of revival following the East Asian financial crisis, or it could be because Samsung has been helped by government policies.

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By Graham Bowley
on a recent morning, royal courtiers, brows furrowed, escorted a reporter to the top of Buckingham Palace to point out some troubling disrepair: cracks scarring part of the palace's yellow, chalky facade, where a shoebox-sized chunk of stone had toppled from the roof, narrowly missing Princess Anne's car, and myriad tiles needing replacement. Alas, the House of Windsor, just like any other family down the street, is also struggling with a leaky roof.

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The death of the KMT

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