Science and Global Politics: Focus on Asia

This article discusses the rash suicides of many famers in India, because of Monsanto, "the world's largest seed company" and also a large supporter of genetically modified organisms. Monsanto has placed pressure on Indian famers with cotton, corn, and soybeans seeds, using hybrid technology. This technology is causing higher yields and farmers fear they cannot keep up.

This article discusses the uncertainty of genetically modified organisms and their impact on the global. Little serious assessment has been done on GMOs in many countries, but the issue is now becoming global. There are many unknowns and countries that are parties to the UN Convention, such as India, will soon decide their view on GM crops.

This article explains that more Chinese famers are beginning to use food chain partnership projects to produce higher yields. The partnerships are equipping famers with new technology that has not been used before in this province. With new technology comes new worries, and with new traceable scanning codes, customers can identify where, how, whether or not GMOs were used.

This article discusses the unknowns of genetically modified foods that have parents in a rural China town worried. A US-China research program fed modified "golden rice" to several children in Central China. Little GM research has been done in China and parents are very worried, because of the rumored side effects ranging from lung disease to reproductive lose.

I find this interesting because China is the largest country in the world with 1.3 billion people and food is a crucial resource. I know in the article It says that it is just rumors and hear say but I believe that the government is also worried about how to feed everyone. Now that China has evolved into a developed nation the image of china no longer lacks industries and technology making China more wealthy. With that being said China doesn't want an image where they cannot feed all their citizens.

I found this article while reading about Lenovo's decision to build computers in the US, and found it an interesting piece since I did not know this could even be done. The selection of sites in Oregon near the Treasury Dept and Naval installations seems a little interesting at least. But it seems the case will not be successful, since the company did not follow proper reporting rules.

Chinese manufacturer Foxconn is at it again! We can now add underage labor to other articles in this group that show how this company has been involved in controversial practices. It makes me wonder why Foxconn would continue to participate in risky, and in this case illegal, practices. Especially when they just had a strike earlier this month! Is it all about the money? What should be done? This seems like something the Chinese government would want to get involved in to protect the countries image.

It seems like Foxconn lack ethics and morals. To add on your question "what should be done" I want to ask what can be done? Only reason China's economy is flourishing is because of exporting goods. Most US companies uses companies in China for cheap labor. If they start cracking down on stuff like this the labor might not be as cheap and it would be cheaper to have stuff built in America rather than China. That is the last thing the Chinese government want for its country.

This article predicts that China's Unicom customers will be able to purchase and use Iphones in 2013. The only issue right now is that the prices Apple is offering China is "too high". While a guy name Ramachandran said that apple should give China some sweeteners or incentives to work together. Which doesn't make sense to me because if China wants to be a efficient nation, why not add as many smart phones as you can? Apple is one of the most prospering companies in the world. The logical thing to do is work with apple before they decide to up the price.

Part of the reason apple would add incentives is because there ARE many smart phones available in China, but non-pirated apple products are under-represented. When apple set up their flagship store in Beijing they regulated people to one phone per person because there were so many problems with people trying to buy multiple phones and then re-sell them for a profit.

Apparently China is kind of being hit with a mini recession at the moment. This recession is affecting the fast food industries. In another article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-23/china-s-stock-index-futures-decline-on-earnings-concerns.html most of China's top earning corporations has decrease in stock prices. One of China major corporation Volatility droped 22 percent in the markets today. Fast food sales growth in decrease to 6% from 19% last year.

The comparison of the two articles is really interesting. Especially since the linked article focuses primarily on the sales of US franchises in China. It would be interesting to compare whether equivalent Chinese 'fast food' chains are also suffering or whether these companies with such strong American associations may be suffering due to the tension in US-China relations.

This is a somewhat interesting article about cooperation between China and Taiwan over resources in the South China Sea. This region was discussed a bit in Seasick, so I though it would be nice to get an update on the situation. Apparently there is some disputes over who owns land in the region, which makes negotiations even more difficult then if they were just over how resources should be divided up.

The National Oceanography Center was established on Friday in Xiamen, Fujian province, to accelerate the development of marine technology and innovation, amid the country's marine economy boom.

Chinese military fans are excited by the news that the country's second stealth fighter prototype has made its maiden flight. Meanwhile, experts and observers considered the possibility that the aircraft might be deployed on an aircraft carrier.

Today in class we talked about robots or machines with artificial intelligence, AI, and how it is going to be a reality soon. This article is about China's military advancements in unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV for short. The drone is similar to the Predator drone used by the US military but is cheaper at $1 million. The drone is called "Yi Long" but called Wing long in English. The editor of Kanwa Defense Monthly stated, "They know that in future wars unmanned warfare will be very important." Now with this new technology; choices are going to be harder to make when it comes to casualties. It is very easy to be objective when you are sitting in a room far away from the action, but if you are on the field doing the work its another story.

The quote from the Chinese president about having to win the war in an "information age" is really interesting. It is becoming more and more apparent that advancing military technology during this time makes a significant impact on warfare today and the future.

This is an article detailing the debates over fishery quotas in Japan and other countries. It reminds me about the issues of over-fishing that were brought up in "Seasick". This has been a serious issue for awhile, but it appears as if fishing organizations are ready to listen to science and set reasonable limits. Hopefully all nations affected will be able to reach an agreement.

Not only can over-fishing create bigger issues such as the overall condition of marine life, but it seems as if a lot of resources would need to be used in order to regulate illegal fishing. For instance, in order to regulate the industry, given the vast size of the ocean, numerous personnel and boats would be required. The boats would also require fuel (carbon emissions) to function. This does not even include the likely aerial surveillance and training requirements for personnel etc..

This is an issue I hadn't really considered when thinking of China's pollution problem, or pollution in general. Some of China's soil is getting infected, leading to tainted crops. It is interesting to see the negative effects that come up as a country tries to grow and develop, and it will also be interesting to see the actions China takes to combat these issues in the future.

Several big companies pull their advertisements from a Vietnamese website that lets people download music for free. It makes me wonder why companies like Coca-Cola were advertising on this site in the first place. The article suggests they either didn't know or ignored it, but with such a hot issue like illegal downloading, why take the risk?