China, the world’s most populous country with about 1.4 billion inhabitants,1“China”, The World Factbook, CIA, last updated 13 November 2024 https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/#introduction[/ref] has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world–averaging 9% per year.[ref]“China: Overview”, The World Bank Group, last updated 24 October 2024 https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview It has remained under Communist one-party […]

Japan is an island nation of 126 million inhabitants, located in the Pacific Ocean, east of China. It is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy and a major economic power. At least 69% of the population is reported to practice Shintoism and/or Buddhism. A further 1.5% of the population are Christian.1https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/#people-and-society Constitution and […]

The Republic of Korea (“South Korea”) generally protects and, in practice, respects freedom of religion, but there remain some religious privileges in place that are unavailable to the non-religious. In addition, conscientious objectors continue to be incarcerated by the government and “non-ethnic” Koreans face discrimination. Constitution and government There is […]

Mongolia is a country in East Asia, bordered by Russia and China. In 1990, Mongolia abandoned its 70-year-old Soviet-style one-party state and embraced constitutional, political and economic reforms. In 1992, the first elected government of Mongolia adopted a new Constitution, cementing its aspiration to become an independent, democratic country with […]

The so-called “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” or “DPRK” is often recognized as the world’s most isolated state;1https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/09/media-statement-un-special-rapporteur-situation-human-rights-democratic-peoples a fascistic, total suppressor of basic human rights and freedoms, subverting all social, civic and political life to the maintenance of pervasive (but ultimately fragile) illusions of grandeur.2https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2023/country-chapters/north-korea In 2014, a UN […]

The independence and sovereign limits of Taiwan are disputed. The People’s Republic of China insists that there is one unified China, including Taiwan, however Taiwan claims independence as a separate state. This tension means that Taiwan is only considered a separate state by 25 countries internationally. Owing to the refusal […]