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Pilot program supplements pension system

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission recently announced that four cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan, would be the pilot cities for a houses-for-pensions program for senior citizens beginning July 1.

Japan opens Pandora's box

BY LIFTING THE "BAN ON COLLECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE" and nullifying the long-standing "exclusively defense-oriented policy", Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet has effectively gutted the war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's postwar Constitution.

Great experiment, great success

MUCH TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE DOOMSAYERS, Hong Kong has survived the gloomy predictions of post-handover failure. To the satisfaction of those who love the city, the achievements of the HKSAR over the past 17 years provide firm evidence of the success of the "one country, two system" experiment.

Xi's ROK trip to boost regional ties

President Xi Jinping's two-day visit to the Republic of Korea from July 3 will be a landmark in the history of China's diplomacy and the development of China-ROK relations. This is the first foreign visit by Xi as president that targets only one country and breaks the cycle established by China's top leadership of visiting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ahead of the ROK. It also shows that Beijing attaches great importance to the development of China-ROK relations and hopes to use this opportunity to elevate bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Restoring peace in Northeast Asia

Just three days before President Xi Jingping's visit to the Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader, attended a tactical rocket firing drill prompting many to speculate that Pyongyang is not happy with the visit.

Hope beyond expectations in East Asia

The meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye scheduled for later this week will be the fifth between the two leaders in the past year.

Letters

China's job market not for losers

From the Chinese press

The corrupt must not go scot-free

The end rather than the means

Japan needs to recognize that its strategy toward China should be in pursuit of lasting friendship not just benefits

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Cauldron of war boiling over in Iraq

The irony is complete. The country that defied the United Nations to lead an invasion of Iraq, the country that is squarely to blame for the tragic mess that Iraq is in today, the country that is responsible for the deaths of at least half a million people and the displacement of many more in what was once one of the leading economies and most open societies in the Middle East, is now being implored by the Iraqi government to come to its aid against an extremist force that in more ways than one was born out its divisive policies.