East Asian Machinery-Building Cluster

Author(s):  
V. Sokolov

The article considers features of the East Asian machinery-building cluster. It differs from the older machinery-building clusters in West Europe and North America primarily. The share of intermediate goods in the imports of the East Asian countries is higher than the share of such goods in their exports. This results from prevalence of the assembly manufactures in their industry. The international supply chains of the region are described as follows: manufacturing parts and components in the countries of East and South-East Asia – assembly in China – exports to USA, Europe and Japan. The changes in the structure of the international supply chains in 2007–2011 are shown in the case of telecommunications industry. It is established that the structure of the telecommunications imports of the USA has changed in favor of China. The technological level of the telecommunications equipment exported from China enhanced significantly. The share of parts and components in China’s telecommunications exports increased. Imports of telecommunications equipment from Japan to USA diminished whereas its delivery from China to Japan more than doubled. This points to reduction of the role of Japan as the supplier of telecommunications equipment in the world scale.

Subject COVID-19 situation in South-east Asia. Significance South-east Asia has less than 12,000 active cases of COVID-19 and less than 600 deaths have been recorded from the disease in the region. These numbers appear relatively small, but they probably reflect a lack of testing in most of the region’s countries. Many South-east Asian governments are bracing for intensifying outbreaks. Impacts Some of South-east Asia’s state-owned enterprises face insolvency. The region’s supply chains and labour flows will likely remain paralysed for months. Emergency powers could remain in place in certain South-east Asian countries for over a year and be exploited by authoritarian governments.


Significance It is the only country in South-east Asia with a large-scale nuclear plant, although this was never loaded with fuel. Other countries in the region have tentative plans to develop nuclear power programmes. Impacts The current absence of nuclear power programmes will help avert the diversion of capital from renewable energy development in the region. South-east Asian countries with small, non-power reactors, built for research, will try to maintain these facilities. Across the region, the need for electricity grid investment will increase as more decentralised generation sources are deployed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 277-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Powers

Exhibition 58: Modern Architecture in England, held between 10 February and 7 March 1937 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), was a notable event. Amidst claims that ‘England leads the world in modern architectural activity’, the exhibition ‘amazed New Yorkers’ and equally surprised English commentators. However, it has not subsequently received any extended investigation. The present purpose is to look at it as a multiple sequence of events, involving other exhibitions, associated publications and the trajectories of individuals and institutions, through which tensions came to the surface about the definition and direction of Modernism in England and elsewhere. Such an analysis throws new light on issues such as the motives for staging the exhibition, the personnel involved and associated questions relating to the role of émigré architects in Britain and the USA, some of which have been misinterpreted in recent commentaries.Hitchcock's unequivocal claim for the importance of English Modernism at this point still arouses disbelief, and raises a question whether it can be accepted at face value or requires explaining in terms of some other hidden intention.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken'ichi Miyazaki ◽  
Andrzej Rakowski ◽  
Sylwia Makomaska ◽  
Cong Jiang ◽  
Minoru Tsuzaki ◽  
...  

Absolute pitch (AP)—an ability to identify an isolated pitch without musical context—is commonly believed to be a valuable ability for musicians. However, relative pitch (RP)—an ability to perceive pitch relations—is more important in most musical contexts. In this study, music students in East Asian and Western countries (Japan, China, Poland, Germany, and USA) were tested on AP and RP abilities. In the AP test, 60 single tones were presented in a quasirandom order over a five-octave range. In the RP test, ascending musical intervals from 1 to 11 semitones were presented in four different keys. Participants wrote down note names in the AP test and scale-degree names or musical interval names in the RP test. The conservatory-level Japanese students showed the highest AP performance and more than half of them were classified as accurate AP possessors, but only 10% were classified as accurate RP possessors. In contrast, only a small percentage of participants from Poland, Germany, and the USA were identified as accurate AP possessors, whereas many more were accurate RP possessors. Participants from China were typically intermediate on both measures. These noticeable contrasts between AP and RP performance in different countries suggest influences of the underlying socio-cultural conditions, presumably relating to music education. Given the importance of RP in music, the results suggest that more emphasis should be place on RP training, particularly in East Asian countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (11) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Thuy Le Thi Bich

The power of each nation is determined by many factors, including the role of its culture. Culture is seen as an effective tool of soft power to affirm the image of our country in the international community. As one of the originating centers of Asian civilization and one of the largest, oldest civilizations in the world, India's soft power exists naturally in its own long historical culture. The Indian epic is considered to be the source of soft power, the link between the world and Indian culture, helping Indian culture expand its influence on other countries and the world. In this article, we focus on presenting the unique features of thinking, soul, thought, and “Indian spirit” reflected in the epic - the source of Indian culture and the epic continuation in countries in Southeast Asia. Thereby, this article helps its readers have a comprehensive view of the Indian epic - the source of “soft power” of Indian culture in Southeast Asian countries to strengthen and develop the relationship between India and other countries in Southeast Asia more and more sustainably and lasting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Jovid Ikromov

In this article, the place of Central Asia, particularly of Tajikistan, in the Eurasian continent has been examined. The slow and confident transfer of engine of the world economy from the West to the East and South increasing the role of the countries located between them. Located between Europe, Russia and South Asia, five Central Asian countries are interested in the development and participation in broader transcontinental trade and transit corridors connecting in all directions. Tajikistan has a unique opportunity to become a hub of trade and transit as it is located at the crossroads of growing ties between South and Central Asia.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
DAVID WALTON

Recently hearing Fred Singer from the USA lecture on what he perceives to be the uncritical ways in which global change has been attributed to anthropogenic effects reminded me of the importance we should attach to those who question our current beliefs. For Fred it was not sufficient that the IPCC had engaged many of the best scientific brains in the world to reach the existing consensus; they might all be wrong because the original question or assumption was wrong. Fred was strongly challenged by the audience of Antarctic scientists, not least because some of his quotations were selective in order to initiate discussion. And we know that there are areas of considerable weakness amongst the several proxies used to compute the rate of temperature change, that we have only poorly quantified and modelled the role of clouds, energy transfer between the oceans and atmosphere, water vapour as a greenhouse gas and that we have yet to be certain that the Global Climate Models really do have all the most significant driving variables. So the IPCC conclusions are drawn on the best available evidence with complementary patterns derived from several different approaches and constitute the best we can do at the moment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inkyo Cheong ◽  
Jose Tongzon

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic impact of a rising US trade protectionism on the economies of China, Japan, South Korea and the ASEAN countries and draw out some policy and strategic implications for the USA and East Asia. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ a computable general equilibrium approach supplemented with qualitative analyses based on empirical evidence. Findings An increase in US import tariffs would result in economic losses for the USA and the corresponding country or region to which the import tariff increase is applied. An increase in US import tariffs for Chinese goods alone would not have any spillover effects on other East Asian countries. But, an imposition of a border adjustment tax (BAT) for all countries and for all products would actually boost US economic growth. Advanced economies would enjoy GDP increases, but China, Korea and the ASEAN countries would face an economic loss in a longer term period, although they would enjoy some growth in the short term. However, when the BAT only applies to a specific East Asian country, USA would suffer an economic loss, with the exception of a BAT specifically targeted at the ASEAN countries. ASEAN countries would not experience any economic loss under all scenarios except in the case of import tariffs specifically targeted at ASEAN. Research limitations/implications From the US perspective, it is beneficial to adopt a BAT for all countries and across the board. Under this arrangement, there would be an economic loss for China, Korea and the ASEAN countries in the longer term. An increase in US trade protectionism would only push the East Asian countries towards deeper economic integration, with serious implications for global pattern of trade and investment. Originality/value The existing literature on the likely economic impact of US trade protectionism on East Asia is very scarce and based on surveys and subjective speculations. This study uses a quantitative method based on empirical evidence.


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