World News and Trends: China, Japan and North Korea
What current state are the countries of China, Japan and North Korea in as we being 2008?
Intent on becoming another superpower, the People's Republic of China is expanding in almost every possible direction—its space program, Asia in general, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Chinese tentacles are everywhere! China has fairly recently pulled ahead of Germany to become the world's top exporter (The Daily Telegraph, Oct. 25, 2007).
China is also using its economic power to rapidly increase its military. According to Time (Oct. 1, 2007), "veiled threats from China" against Taiwan continue—perhaps laying the groundwork for possible direct intervention at a future time when the United States has been weakened or is too preoccupied elsewhere. (A bright spot is that Hong Kong continues to actively pressure China to implement its promised democratic reforms.)
And then there is North Korea. Despite agreements with the United States and the first commercial freight train to cross the border with South Korea in decades, it seems Pyongyang is still playing games with America. Does this regime possess nuclear weapons, or does it not? Why does North Korea transfer nuclear know-how to rogue regimes like Iran and Syria (where Israel recently took out what was apparently a nuclear facility under construction)?
Japan is understandably wary of North Korean intentions. It is, therefore, taking further steps to normalize its relations with China. The Financial Times reported that " Japan and China announced their first cabinet-level forum on closer business cooperation, highlighting the warmer political ties between Asia's two largest economies after years of strain" (Nov. 21, 2007).
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
