China, the world’s most populous country with about 1.4 billion inhabitants,1 It has remained under Communist one-party rule since 1949 but has embraced capitalism in recent decades.2 Although now less extreme than in the Maoist years, the ruling party maintains a tight grip on the population and regularly suppresses free […]

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.1 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 landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia and China with a population of 3.5 million.1 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 […]

The so-called “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” or “DPRK” is often recognized as the world’s most isolated state;1 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.2 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 […]