In 2001, the anti-corruption watchdog group Transparency International ranked Bangladesh the most corrupt country in the world. The almost complete collapse of law and order in the country was seen as one of the prime reasons behind the fall from power of the Awami League. The year began with a brutal attack on a young…
An absolute monarchy whose leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, rules by decree, tiny Brunei has enormous oil and gas reserves and is one of the richest countries in the world on a per capita basis. This wealth has not made for a free press, however. The government controls the electronic media through Radio Television Brunei, and…
Controlled by a harsh military junta and operating under a regime of severe censorship and threat, Burma’s media are barred from reporting even the most mundane local events. Debate about government policies or the dire state of the economy is unheard of, and most political news consists of glowing stories recounting the presumed achievements of…
With the government of strongman Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party firmly entrenched in power, the press was largely spared from the harsh political battles that once divided the country into armed camps. The major political event looming for Cambodia in 2002 will be the long-delayed trial of remaining leaders of the Khmer Rouge,…
In 2001, the Chinese government finally achieved two long-standing goals that brought the country closer to full integration in the international community. In July, Beijing won a bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, and in November, the World Trade Organization officially accepted China as a member. These developments helped secure the legacy of President…
East Timor’s media faced their first real test under a democratic environment when they covered September’s United Nations-supervised poll electing a constituent assembly and a transitional government. The press performed admirably, with few cases of political harassment and most Timorese journalists attempting to be fair and balanced in their reporting.
Ongoing political turbulence continued to plague Fiji’s media. Tensions between indigenous Fijians and those of Indian descent are often played out in the media, which is divided along ethnic and linguistic lines. The year began with Court of Appeal hearings to determine the legality of prime minister Laisenia Qarase’s interim government, which was installed with…
India’s free press is perhaps the strongest pillar of its democracy, but Indian journalists continued to face numerous challenges in 2001, including physical threats, legal harassment, and more subtle pressures applied by the central government. In the disputed territory of Kashmir, where fighting between local separatists, foreign fighters, and Indian security forces has long forced…
Another year of political turmoil saw the Indonesian press clinging to its hard-won freedoms. But President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who took over from the quixotic Abdurrahman Wahid in July, is showing worrying signs of being less friendly toward the press than her predecessor. One of Megawati’s first acts in office was to appoint a state minister…
With a growing reputation as a haven for Western travelers looking for a less-developed, more “authentic” Asian experience, tiny landlocked Laos is slowly emerging from the cocoon of isolation in which it has dwelt since the communist victory in 1975. Unfortunately, openness to visitors has not translated into tolerance of free expression, and the country’s…