Perceptions of security risks in Northeast Asia are increasingly being shaped by the rise of China and Japan's more recent efforts to become a more "normal" nation. The momentum behind both developments is being felt acutely in the relationship between the United States and South Korea. While many argue that the stage is being set for an inevitable conflict, Thomas Fingar, the Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, argues that what is happening in China and Japan provides an opportunity for greater multilateral cooperation.

Improving the environment for business is an important part of the growth strategy of Abenomics. As the goal for this effort, the Abe Administration aims to improve Japan’s rank in the World Bank Doing Business Ranking to one of the top three among OECD. This paper clarifies what it takes for Japan to achieve the goal. By looking at details of the World Bank Doing Business ranking, we identify various reforms that Japan could implement to improve the ranking. Then, we classify the reforms into six groups depending on whether the reform requires legal changes and on political resistance that the reform is likely to face. By just doing the reforms that do not require legal changes and are not likely to face strong political opposition, Japan can improve the ranking to 13th. To be in the top 3, Japan would need to implement all the reforms that are not likely to face strong political resistance. The conclusions, however, are based on the assumption that the conditions in the other countries do not change, which is unrealistic. Thus, Japan would need to carry out all the reforms including those with high political resistance to be among the top three.

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Of Asia’s 800 million Muslims, 215 million are minorities within their countries. These Muslim minorities have experienced a persistent decline in their socioeconomic and political status. Along with this decline, they are increasingly identified by their faith and largely accorded no other identity for civic relations. Why have these Muslim minorities been particularly affected during a time of unprecedented opportunities for the mainstream in Asia’s unprecedented era of growth and rising freedoms?

Using detailed analyses of China, India, and the Philippines, Modes of Engagement argues that key factors in this phenomenon include the linkage between socioeconomic decline, loss of political power, and narrowing of identity; nationalism and its associated connotations of the assimilation of minorities; the weakness of civil society generally in Asia; and the rise in regional and global alliances for security and trade.

Contributors include Wajahat Habibullah (National Commission for Minorities and National Institute of Technology, India), Rakesh Basant (Indian Institute of Management), Dru C. Gladney (Pomona College), and Joseph Chinyong Liow (Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore).

Rafiq Dossani is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. His research interests include regional integration, security, and education. Previously, Dossani was a senior research scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and director of the Stanford Center for South Asia.

Examination copies: Shorenstein APARC books are distributed by Stanford University Press. Contact them for information on obtaining examination copies.

On April 3, 2014, Karen Eggleston provided testimony before the U.S-China Economic and Security Review Commission at the "Hearing on China’s Healthcare Sector, Drug Safety, and the U.S.-China Trade in Medical Products."

Some of the questions addressed included:

• How has the nature of disease in China changed in recent decades? What kind of burden might it place on China's future development?
• If providers are "inducing" demand by overprescribing drugs, it this a public health crisis in the making?
• Can you outline the pros and cons of market reform in China's healthcare sector? What might be the proper role of the state of improving healthcare delivery?
• Kan bing nan, kan bing gui (inaccessible and unaffordable healthcare) is one of the top concerns of ordinary Chinese. Which groups are most affected? Is this a global problem, what lessons can we learn from China?
• The pharmaceuticals industry features in China's Medium and Long-term Plan for Science and Technology (2006-2020), as well as in more recent measures to promote indigenous innovation and industrial upgrading. Is it fair to say that the Chinese government is prioritizing domestic pharmaceutical companies, which foster economic growth, over the welfare of patients?
• What were major successes and failures of the 2009 healthcare reforms [in China]? How have those reforms been supplemented by more recent measures (e.g. last November's Third Plenum)?
• What aspects of China's healthcare reform should the U.S. government and U.S. companies pay most attention to?