News
![Protesters hold signs and chant slogans during a Black Lives Matter peaceful march in Tokyo.](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/japan_rally_blm_gettyimages-1249531025.jpg?h=34bbd072&itok=S4sT_-S1)
In his new book, Shorenstein APARC’s Japan Program Director Kiyoteru Tsutsui explores the paradox underlying the global expansion of human rights and Japan’s engagement with human rights ideas and instruments. Japan, he says, has an opportunity to become a leader in human rights in Asia and in the world.
![A makeshift barricade is seen in front of a residential area to restrict movement and control COVID-19 spread in Hanoi, Vietnam.](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/covid_vietnam_barricade_gettyimages-1235178941.jpg?h=e0aa4524&itok=BcFpFErO)
COVID-19 Disproportionately Affected Marginalized and Rural Populations in Asia, New Study Shows
In the first report of its kind comparing the impacts of the pandemic on people with chronic conditions in five Asian regions, researchers including APARC’s Karen Eggleston document how the pandemic’s broad social and economic consequences negatively affected population health well beyond those directly suffering from COVID-19.
![Jean Oi](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/jeanoiaas.png?h=8abcec71&itok=KBFTrx1F)
APARC’s Jean Oi, a China expert, will begin her term with the AAS in March 2022, serving on a four-year leadership ladder of vice president, president, and past president. Representing all the regions and countries of Asia and all academic disciplines, the AAS is the largest professional association of its kind.
![Stanford arch and text calling for nominations for APARC's 2022 Shorenstein Journalism Award.](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/facebook-images/sja22_nominations.png?h=1879858d&itok=rmjSfzTo)
Sponsored by Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, the annual award recognizes outstanding journalists and journalism organizations for excellence in coverage of the Asia-Pacific region. News editors, publishers, scholars, and organizations focused on Asia research and analysis are invited to submit nominations for the 2022 award through February 15.
![A woman at a desk in a village medical clinic in China.](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/china_village_medical_clinic_bymarieannalee_pacific.edu_.jpg?h=19d90b2b&itok=jlHafpaU)
Empirical evidence by Karen Eggleston and colleagues suggests that better primary health care management of chronic disease in rural China can reduce spending while contributing to better health.
![Autumn scene on the Stanford campus with a call to apply for APARC's 2022-23 fellowships for Asia schoalrs](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/2022-23_fellowships.png?h=8abcec71&itok=2jnp3dHn)
The Center offers fellowships for postdoctoral scholars specializing in contemporary Asia, Japan, and Asia health policy and for experts on Southeast Asia.
![Photo of Charles Crabtree](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/charles_crabtree.jpg?h=7be4a979&itok=gS7dLAep)
Crabtree, an assistant professor at Dartmouth College, researches discrimination in politics, particularly in Japan.
![Portrait of Ma'ili Yee, 2020-21 APARC Diversity Fellow](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/yee_student_spotlight.png?h=8abcec71&itok=RfGm_b1-)
With support from Shorenstein APARC’s Diversity Grant, coterminal student Ma’ili Yee (BA ’20, MA ’21) reveals how Pacific island nations are responding to the U.S.-China rivalry by developing a collective strategy for their region.
![n elderly Chinese man pushes an elderly woman in a wheelchair through a local shopping mall in Beijing, China](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/aging_china_gettyimages-1167379009.jpg?h=199d8c1f&itok=Mju2VVXa)
The study’s co-authors, including Karen Eggleston, find that health care expenditures among Chinese covered by relatively generous health insurance significantly increase at retirement, primarily due to an increase in the number of outpatient visits.
![Closeup on hands holding a glucometer](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/diabetes-2298058_1280.jpg?h=29234840&itok=hc13QXgV)
A research team including APARC's Karen Eggleston developed a new simulation model that supports the economic evaluation of policy guidelines and clinical treatment pathways to tackle diabetes and prediabetes among Chinese and East Asian populations, for whom existing models may not be applicable.
Research evidence from China’s Tongxiang county by Karen Eggleston and colleagues indicates that enhanced financial coverage for catastrophic medical expenditures increased health care access and expenditures among resident insurance beneficiaries while decreasing out-of-pocket spending as a portion of total spending.
![Logo of the New South Wales Ministry of Health's podcast Future Health](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/future_health_podcast.jpg?h=31d6de7b&itok=zBc_vU50)
On the Future Health podcast, Karen Eggleston discusses the findings and implications of her collaborative research into the effects of robot adoption on staffing in Japanese nursing homes.
![A case holding lunar rock and debris collected from the Moon by China's space program that is part of a display at the National Museum of China is seen on March 2, 2021 in Beijing,](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/china_lunar_samples_moon_mission_gettyimages-1231473303.jpg?h=208a1168&itok=firZtIK2)
Chinese Space Ambition
Chinese Space Ambition
On the American Foreign Policy Council Space Strategy podcast, Center Fellow Oriana Skylar Mastro discusses how China views space and why the United States must not surrender global leadership in pursuing aspirational and inspirational space goals.
APARC faculty suggest dozens of books for your summer reading.
On the Freakonomics Radio podcast, Karen Eggleston and Yong Suk Lee discuss their research into the effects of robots on staffing in Japanese nursing homes.
![Portrait of Swe Win with text "2021 Shorenstein Journalism Award Recipient"](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/sja21_swewin_announcement.png?h=8abcec71&itok=uHYReTan)
An esteemed investigative journalist and human rights defender, Swe Win is the recipient of the twentieth Shorenstein Award. He currently leads the editorial team of the independent news agency Myanmar Now from exile and his newsroom is in hiding.
![Cover of the book "From Mandate to Blueprint" and a portrait of Thomas Fingar](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/image-caption/fingar_mandate_to_blueprint_hero.png?h=8abcec71&itok=UgEYvWqY)
Drawing on his experience implementing one of the most comprehensive reforms to the national security establishment, APARC Fellow Thomas Fingar provides newly appointed government officials with a practical guide for translating mandates into attainable mission objectives.
![South Korean men standing up, wearing face masks, holding hands and cheering](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/soul_mayor_election_gettyimages-1311269415.jpg?h=ba005f8f&itok=g97hN3Ik)
“The South Korean people gave the Moon administration a red card,” says APARC Director Gi-Wook Shin, predicting that containing soaring housing prices and other domestic challenges will be the deciding issues in next year’s presidential election.
![People holding up images in protest](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/protest_myanmar_embassay_bangkok_gettyimages-1299741024.jpg?h=07fa5f65&itok=Eu7ZML0l)
The book Ambassador Marciel is writing at Stanford examines policy issues from the implications of the Myanmar crisis to the future of America’s relations with other Southeast Asian nations and the prospects for a U.S. strategic regional focus.
![3D mockup of the book 'The Dragon, the Eagle, and the Private Sector'](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/dragon-eagle_banner.png?h=4c9c1c26&itok=r6oswKN-)
New Book Reveals How China and the United States Engage the Private Sector to Deliver Public Goods
In their new book, APARC Deputy Director Karen Eggleston and co-authors John Donahue and Richard Zeckhauser of Harvard University seek to empower decision-makers to more wisely engage the private sector in the pursuit of public value by analyzing how China and the United States use collaborative governance strategies to meet growing demands for public services.
![A Japanese robot prototype lifts a dummy patient](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/robot_nursing_care_japan_gettyimages-522044756.jpg?h=4cd118e4&itok=j5VFSyvV)
In one of the first studies of service sector robotics, APARC scholars examine the impacts of robots on nursing homes in Japan. They find that robot adoption may not be detrimental to labor and may help address the challenges of rapidly aging societies.
![Male Japanese doctor showing senior patient records on a clipboard](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/health_checkup_japan_gettyimages-607467934.jpg?h=a4b7a114&itok=XLN5D-yO)
Among the general population, however, researchers including Asia Health Policy Program Director Karen Eggleston find no evidence that additional care improves health outcomes.
![Portrait of Paul Schuler and the cover of his book, 'United Front'](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/schuler_qa.png?h=8abcec71&itok=E_51riSD)
As the 13th National Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party is selecting a new leadership team that will set the country’s course for the next five years, Vietnamese politics expert Paul Schuler discusses his new book on the state’s single-party legislature.
![Stanford campus, main quad with cloudy sky](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/campus_quad_l.a.cicero.jpg?h=1bf760bc&itok=AW0hQpuE)
The Center has launched a suite of offerings including a predoctoral fellowship, a diversity grant, and research assistant internships to support Stanford students interested in the area of contemporary Asia.
![U.S. Navy and Indian Navy ships steam in formation in the Indian Ocean.](https://fsi9-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/360x244/public/hero/indian_ocean_nimitz_carrier_strike_group.jpg?h=92e0724c&itok=gnyJLHr5)
China’s expanding military capacity in the Indian Ocean region poses risks for the United States and its partners, writes South Asia Research Scholar Arzan Tarapore in 'The Washington Quarterly,' offering a framework by which the Quad and others can build strategic leverage to curtail China’s capacity to coerce small states or posture for war.