January 11 — China
In its demographic study, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warns about growing gender imbalance in China due to the one child policy and a bias towards male children. For every 100 girls born, there are 119 boys. As a result, about 24 million Chinese men, especially in the country’s poorer areas, will end up without spouses. The growing gender imbalance also breeds forced prostitution and human trafficking.
March 2 — China
A number of Chinese newspapers publish an editorial calling to scrap the hukou system, which prevents rural migrants from access to services, such as healthcare and education. The printing of the editorial, which describes the system as unconstitutional, coincides with an annual meeting of legislators in the country’s capital, Beijing, and urges them to overhaul it.
March 24: China
China and Afghanistan sign agreements on trade and economic cooperation, which include preferential tariffs on a number of Afghan exports to China and China’s help with reconstruction in Afghanistan. China is also interested in developing Afghanistan’s natural resources, such as natural gas and iron ore.
April 7: Thailand
Thousands of “red-shirts”, anti-government protesters and supporters of Thailand’s exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, storm the parliament building, forcing the legislators to flee. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declares a state of emergency in Bangkok, for the fourth time since 2008. Red shirts have been occupying parts of central Bangkok, demanding the resignation of the prime minister and early elections.
May 10: Philippines
Philippine voters elect Benigno Aquino, the son of former President Corazon “Cory” Acquino, the country’s new president. Despite some violent attacks in the south of the country, the election has gone smoothly, with 75 percent of voter participation. Aquino promises that as president he will fight corruption, tackle poverty, and continue peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the south.
May 14: Thailand
Thai military storms anti-government protesters’ fortified camps and barricades in the center of the country’s capital, Bangkok, ending the demonstrations of the “red shirts” that have lasted since March. Several dozen people are killed and many injured in these clashes.
May 24: South Korea/North Korea
South Korea suspends trade with North Korea and demands an apology after North Korean torpedo attack sunk a South Korean ship, killing 46 sailors. North Korea denies the accusation. Eighty percent of North Korean trade depends on South Korea and China.
June 2: Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigns after only eight months in office over a broken election promise. He failed to move an unpopular U.S. military base from the southern island of Okinawa, which hosts almost 25,000 U.S. troops. Hatoyama was the country’s fourth prime minister in just four years.
June 29: China/Taiwan
China and Taiwan sign a free trade agreement seen as the most significant agreement between the two entities since the split 60 years ago. The deal removes and reduces tariffs on hundreds of products, boosting bilateral trade that so far has amounted to $110 billion a year. Some Taiwanese critics say the agreement will make Taiwan too economically dependent on China.
July 11: Japan
Japan’s ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan loses its majority in elections to the upper house of parliament seen as a referendum on the party’s performance. The DPJ came to power only 10 month ago, ending the conservative Liberal Democratic Party’s more than 50 years of dominance. The election campaign focused on the prime minister’s push for unpopular sales tax to repair the country’s massive national debt. Prime Minister Kan says he will not resign.
July 26: Cambodia
Cambodia’s UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal finds Kaing Guek Eav, or Comrade Duch, former Khmer Rouge head of Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, guilty of crimes against humanity and sentences him to 35 years in prison. He oversaw the torture and executions of 17,000 men, women, and children. The infamous S-21 prison became a symbol of atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge regime. Duch is the first Khmer Rouge leader to be tried by the Tribunal for the crimes of the regime.
September 28: North Korea
The North Korean ruling Workers’ Party holds a rare conference, the first one in a generation, promoting the country’s ruler Kim Jong-il’s youngest son, 26-year old Kim Jong-un, to a senior rank in the party. He is also made a general, and, as it is believed, is made his father’s successor. Kim Jong-il, the secretive ruler of this isolated country, is believed to be suffering from several illnesses, including a stroke.
October 8: China
Imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo receives the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle to achieve human rights in China. Liu was one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, and the author of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for democratic changes in China. While the Chinese government condemns the choice and calls Liu a criminal, Western countries call for Liu’s immediate release.
November 7: Myanmar
Myanmar votes in the first parliamentary election in 20 years, which, as the ruling junta says, marks the transition from the military to a civilian government. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) wins about 80 percent of the vote. The National League for Democracy party (NLD) boycotts the vote, and other opposition parties say the election was fraudulent. Prime Minister Thein Sein, a former general who retired to take part in the elections, is one of the elected candidates. Twenty-five percent of the seats in the parliament are reserved for the military. (November 13): The authorities release 65-year old Aung San Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy opposition leader and the leader of the NLD. She has been under house arrest for 15 out of the last 21 years and prevented from taking part in the election. Thousands of her supporters wait outside to greet her.
November 23: South Korea/North Korea
North Korea fires about 50 artillery shells at South Korean Yeonpyeong island on the Yellow Sea near disputed maritime border called the Northern Limit Line (NLL), killing four people and destroying some of the island’s infrastructure. North Korea insists it was provoked by South Korea. South Korea, on the other hand, says that although it conducted military drills at the time, it did not aim at North Korea. South Korea evacuates all 1,600 residents of the island and puts its military on highest alert. Back in March, a North Korean torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. North Korea denied any involvement in this incident.