(r)evolution

For Lust or Money

Just past the burned-out shell of Phnom Penh's university, through a gate topped by a large “Pepsi” sign, is the building where 14-year-old Mat Srey Mom got her first economics lesson. It's a brothel, and she says her mother sold her there two months ago for $200. 

Cutting the Knot

Roh Tae Woo isn't allowed a radio or television inside his bleakly utilitarian cell at the Seoul Detention House, but he does get his choice of reading material. Before bedding down at 9:45 p.m. on his second night in jail, Justice Ministry officials say, Roh read the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It was a bit late for Roh, jailed for interrogation on corruption charges, to be studying Thatcher's endorsement of unfettered, free-market capitalism.

Absolute Power ...

Samhak's plunge into oblivion taught business leaders a lesson: If you want to be a winner in South Korea, you have to play by the president's rules. Ever since Park came to power in a 1961 military coup, the man sitting in the Blue House has enjoyed near-absolute authority over key economic decisions, allowing him to reward companies that cooperate and punish those that don't. But absolute power, as the saying goes, corrupts absolutely.

Law of the Seize

As Kan Mizoguchi sailed out of Guangzhou to the cheers of a dockside crowd, his biggest worry was keeping his lunch down on the voyage ahead. He had no idea that he and his groupd of fellow amateur radio hobbyists would end up in the middle of a major territorial dispute between China and the Philippines.

China's No News Papers

Since the wild fluctuations of the Shenzhen and Shanghai stockmarkets in late 1996, Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to stop the country's financial newspapers from printing rumours, premature reports and misinformation -- often produced by journalists working in collusion with listed companies or stock manipulators. Cracking down on dodgy reporting is a reasonable first step in the development of a business press to match the country's fast-growing capital markets. The trouble is, there's no sign that China will take the next step any time soon.

Riders on the Storm

It seemed the perfect Chinese factory for an American president to visit. After months of searching, Bill Clinton's aides zeroed in on a General Motors joint venture in Shanghai that's gearing up to make Buick cars. It wasn't a sweatshop or the scene of hi-tech transfer -- just a true-blue symbol of American business in China. Then someone realized GM also owns Hughes Electronics, which has been under scrutiny since May for allegedly supplying sensitive missile technology to China.

After the Fall

It's 1:30 a.m., and Anwar Ibrahim's house is still thronged with hundreds of friends, family and complete strangers. They have come to show support -- and to try to prevent the arrest of Malaysia's deputy prime minister. Retreating for a moment from the crowds of well-wishers, he slips upstairs with his wife to receive visitors in a tiny bedroom lined with possessions that arrived that afternoon from his former official residence: cardboard boxes, duffel bags, a crated Apple computer and a gaggle of oversized stuffed animals belonging to the couple's six children.

The Taiwan Difference

The sharpest economic slowdown in more than a decade is raising fears that it's Taiwan's turn for a crisis. Don't panic: The same strengths that took the island this far should help it bounce back.

Shopping for a Future

The pivotal role Taiwan's venture capitalists play highlights the island's economic strengths -- and its weaknesses.

Identity Crisis

The emergence of a "New Taiwanese" identity closely associated with the island's home-grown democratic system alarms Beijing, which is trying to draw Taiwan towards reunification.