January 12: Taiwan
Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party wins a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. The KMT, which seeks closer ties with China, gains 72 percent of the seats in the 113-seat chamber, defeating President Chen Shui-bian’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The defeat prompts Chen to resign as chairman of the DPP.
January 21: Thailand
Thailand’s newly elected parliament convenes for the first time since the military seized power in a September 2006 coup, placing the country back on the road to multiparty democracy. Leading a six-party coalition will be the People’s Power Party (PPP), a reincarnation of the Thai Rak Thai party, which was formerly led by deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and was dissolved by the junta.
February 11: East Timor
Renegade soldiers in East Timor seriously wound the country’s president, José Ramos-Horta, in an attack at his home in Dili. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack. The rebels also unsuccessfully attempt to kill Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão by shooting at his convoy. Gusmão describes the incident as an attempted coup and announces a state of emergency.
February 26: North Korea
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra visits North Korea to play a concert in the country’s capital, Pyongyang. Hailed as “soft power ambassadors,” the ensemble is the biggest American delegation to visit North Korea since the Korean War. The visit is compared to the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s concert in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, as it aims to ease strained diplomatic relations.
March 8: Malaysia
Malaysia’s ruling National Front coalition, in its largest electoral setback since independence in 1957, loses the two-thirds parliamentary majority it has held since 1969. It also manages to keep control of only eight out of 13 state governments. Ethnic tensions, crime, and inflation are blamed for the National Front’s defeat. Pressure builds for Prime Minister Abduallah Ahmad Badawi to step down.
March 14: China
Chinese police use tear gas and gunfire to suppress violent anti-China riots in Tibet, which spread from the capital of Lhasa to other places within the region, lasting several days. Beijing blames the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, for fomenting the Lhasa riots in an attempt to disrupt the Bejing Olympics in August.
March 22: Taiwan
Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) party wins the Taiwanese presidential election by a wide margin over Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Ma promises to improve relations with China, seeking closer economic ties and direct transport links with the mainland. In the same ballot, voters reject the option for the island to apply to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan, rather than Republic of China.
April 12: China/Taiwan
China’s president, Hu Jintao, meets with Taiwan’s Vice-President-elect, Vincent Siew, in the highest level talks between the two governments since 1949. Although preliminary and very short, the meeting is hailed as a breakthrough in relations between the two countries, which Taiwan’s President-elect, Ma Ying-jeou, has vowed to improve.
April 17: China
India mobilizes heavy security to protect the Olympic torch as it passes through Delhi. As a preventative measure, the authorities detain at least 100 pro-Tibet demonstrators, while Tibetan exiles organize an alternative peaceful torch relay event. India is home to the world’s largest community of Tibetan expatriates and Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. In previous weeks, the Olympic torch relay was disrupted in London, Paris and San Francisco by protesters objecting to China’s human rights record and its rule in Tibet.
May 2: Myanmar
A powerful cyclone devastates southern Myanmar, flattening villages and submerging swathes of the Irrawaddy delta under salt water. The estimated death toll is over 100,000 people and 2.4 million are without food, water, or shelter. The ruling military government is criticized for failing to organize evacuations ahead of the cyclone.
May 12: China
A massive earthquake strikes Sichuan Province in southwestern China, killing more than 69,000 people and injuring another 370,000, with up to 18,000 missing and more than 5 million homeless. The 7.9 magnitude quake and continuing strong aftershocks destroy millions of buildings and devastate entire towns. An estimated 10,000 students and teachers die in the many schools that collapse during the earthquake. The quake also creates dozens of dangerous landslide dams and lakes. The Chinese government responds with an all-out rescue and relief effort, and welcomes foreign aid supplies.
May 23: Myanmar
Myanmar’s military government tells visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that it will let in all foreign aid for the first time since Cyclone Nargis devastated southern parts of the country on May 2-3, leaving some 134,000 people dead or missing. However, the junta continues to restrict access to the most heavily affected Irrawaddy delta area, where an estimated 2.4 million people are without adequate shelter and food. Since the disaster, the ruling junta has been heavily criticized for not allowing foreign aid workers and supplies into the country, and for the slowness and meagerness of its own relief efforts.
June 2: Australia
Australia’s new government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces the end of Australia’s combat operations in Iraq and begins pulling out its troops. Australia has more than 500 soldiers in Iraq, who have trained 33,000 Iraqi soldiers over a five-year period. After winning the November 2007 elections, Prime Minister Rudd promised to overturn some of the previous administration’s policies, including Australia’s military deployment to Iraq.
June 3: South Korea
South Korea’s government delays the implementation of a beef import agreement with the United States following weeks of street protests. The country stopped importing U.S. beef in 2003 due to fears of mad cow disease.
June 25: New Zealand
New Zealand reaches its largest-ever settlement with seven indigenous Maori tribes, which include more than 100,000 people. The settlement hands over 420 million New Zealand dollars ($318 million) in forestry land, as part of a reconciliation process over the loss of land and natural resources during European settlement of the country in the nineteenth century. The agreement will make the Maori tribes the largest private forest owners in New Zealand.
June 29: North Korea
As part of the six-party agreement, North Korea hands over a declaration of its nuclear assets. This is seen as an important step toward its denuclearization process. The declaration has to include all of the country’s nuclear weapons, programs, materials, and facilities. In return, North Korea has been promised a million tons of heating oil or other aid, as well as the lifting of international trade and financial restrictions. Also, the United States has agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea, including removing it from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
July 21: China
Russia and China sign a treaty demarcating an eastern portion of their 2,700-mile border, ending a territorial dispute that has lasted for more than 40 years and which led to armed clashes in the past. According to the agreement, Russia cedes two border islands to China, which are located at the point where the Amur and Ussuri rivers meet in Russia’s Far East. The islands are largely uninhabited.
July 22: Thailand/Cambodia
Cambodia asks the UN Security Council to intervene in a military standoff with Thailand over a disputed 1.8-square-mile border territory around an 11th century Khmer temple, Preah Vihear. The standoff was prompted by UNESCO naming the location a Cambodian World Heritage Site, arousing nationalist sentiment on both sides of the border. In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia.
August 8: China
The Olympic Games commence in China’s capital, Beijing, with a spectacular opening ceremony. The country deploys an additional 100,000 troops and police to provide security during the two-week event.
August 21: Philippines
An agreement between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the expansion of a Muslim autonomous region in the south collapses, leading to renewed violence on the southern island of Mindanao in which 30 people are killed. The government had agreed to expand the region in an attempt to end decades of fighting. However, Christian communities raised objections and the Supreme Court blocked the deal.
September 1: Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigns after less than a year in office, frustrated with the parliament effectively opposing his policies. (Sept. 24): Japan’s parliament elects former foreign minister Taro Aso as the new prime minister. Aso is a staunch conservative who advocates an assertive foreign policy. He also supports increased public spending to revitalize the Japanese economy.
September 23: Myanmar
Myanmar’s military government releases 9,002 prisoners, including the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, Win Tin, who spent 19 years in detention. However, more than 2,000 political prisoners remain detained, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition. Other political activists continue to be arrested.
September 26: Thailand
Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej declares a state of emergency in the capital of Bangkok, after weeklong protests by pro-and anti-government groups turn violent. The anti-government protesters have occupied government buildings, demanding the resignation of the prime minister. (Sept. 9): Thailand’s Constitutional Court orders Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to step down. The court rules that Samak has violated the constitution by accepting payments for hosting TV cooking shows. (Sept. 17): Thai Parliament elects Somchai Wongsawat the new prime minister. However, because he is the brother-in-law of the ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, anti-government protests are expected to continue.
October 7: Thailand
Demonstrations in Thailand turn violent when anti-government protesters try to disrupt the inauguration of new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. They block the parliament building for several hours, forcing the prime minister to escape over a fence. Two people die and 400 are wounded in clashes with security forces. (October 21): The Thai Supreme Court finds former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty of corruption and sentences him in absentia to two years in prison. Thaksin, who held the post from 2001 to 2006, is in exile in Great Britain.
October 11: North Korea
The United States removes North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. In return, North Korea agrees to disable its Yongbyon nuclear facility and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites. This is an important step for North Korea, and one that is necessary for it to get access to international aid and loans.
November 4: China/Taiwan
China’s top official on Taiwan, Chen Yunlin, visits Taipei to improve relations between the two countries. Yunlin is the highest-ranking Chinese representative to visit Taiwan in decades. Both sides sign agreements that will improve trade, transport, and postal service.
November 20: China
Chinese President Hu Jintao pays an official visit to Peru, where he signs a free trade agreement with his counterpart, Peruvian President Alan Garcia. The two countries also sign other deals, such as opening regular commercial flights between China and Peru. After entering into a free trade agreement with Chile in 2005, Peru is China’s second Latin American country to extend this kind of a deal.
November 21: Myanmar
The military government in Myanmar imprisons a popular comedian, satirist, and opposition activist, Zarganar, for 45 years. His case is the latest in a wave of arrests as part of a crackdown on any pro-democracy movement, with more than 100 activists being sentenced to long-term prison terms.
December 2: Thailand
Thailand’s Constitutional Court rules that the governing People Power Party is guilty of fraud during the last election and should be disbanded and its leaders should be barred from politics for five years. The ruling forces Prime Minster Somchai Wongsawat’s from power. In response, the anti-government protesters, who occupied Bangkok’s main airport, stranding thousands of tourists, agree to end their protests. (December 15): Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva wins a special vote in parliament and becomes Thailand’s next prime minister.
December 10: China
Police in China arrests dozens of demonstrators who have gathered in front of the foreign ministry on the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. The gatherers protested a variety of human rights abuses in China, including land disputes, illegal detentions, and corruption of local government officials.