Taiwan's plans to halve the price of local rice wine have angered fellow World Trade Organization members, who say this creates unfair competition to imported whisky and cognac. Insisting the spirit is used only for cooking and therefore exempt from high taxes, Taipei hopes that feeding Western dignitaries dishes like sesame chicken will convince them to drop their complaints. - Jens Kastner (Sep 3, '10)

The US's standing in Central Asia has taken a big hit after Kyrgyzstan's interim President Roza Otunbayeva, under pressure from nationalists, shut the door on its idea for a European-led security mission to keep peace between Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities. Talks this week underscore that US policy can be salvaged only with sincere Russian help. But Moscow is brooding. - M K Bhadrakumar (Sep 3, '10)

Ten years ago, while the Taliban were filling their coffers with taxes from the world's largest smuggling ring, a reincarnation of the Queen of Sheba was playing her part in a sprawling west Afghan underground network of women refusing to be locked indoors. Today, the Afghan-Pakistan border is still porous, and the Taliban seem to believe they may even get their Talibanistan back. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 3, '10) This is the conclusion of a three-part report.

In Donald P Gregg, a former United States ambassador to South Korea, North Korea has found an unlikely advocate for its claim of innocence in the sinking of the South's corvette the Cheonan. Gregg goes further in an op-ed piece for the New York Times, blaming Washington and Seoul for driving Kim Jong-il into the arms of China. - Donald Kirk (Sep 3, '10)

It is estimated it will take 3,000 years to clear Laos of all the explosive remnants left behind from United States bombers over 30 years ago. More than 20,000 people have died from unexploded ordnance since conflict ended. Now, new questions are being asked about whether the US government should pay much more for the damage it has caused. - Melody Kemp (Sep 3, '10)