Japan - Page 13

The annual Malabar naval exercise began on Tuesday, launching from the Indian port of Visakhapatnam on the Bay of Bengal. The Malabar wargame began in 1992 as a joint exercise between the U.S. and Indian navies. Japan joined in 2015, and this year marks the return of Australia after 13 years of absence, putting all four members of the “Quad” alliance against Chinese expansionism on the roster.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday lectured U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about “sowing discord” between China and its neighbors.

Japan’s Fisheries Agency has advised Japanese fishing boats to avoid certain areas within Japan’s own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and operate elsewhere after thousands of Chinese fishing boats ignored Tokyo’s previous warnings in recent weeks to exit the country’s waters.

During the second presidential debate, Joe Biden said President Donald Trump “pokes his finger in the eye of all our friends, all of our allies.” The accusation is absurdly broad and very easily disproved by looking at allies like Taiwan, Israel, and Poland.

The Japanese government is moving forward with plans to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, local media outlets reported on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Tuesday in Tokyo of Beijing’s “malign activity in the region” as he began talks with his counterparts from Japan, Australia and India.

Two of Japan’s most popular “VTubers” — people who use computer-generated cartoon avatars to represent themselves in YouTube videos — have been suspended for three weeks because they referred to Taiwan and displayed its flag during a livestream.

The majority Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan elected departing Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s chief cabinet secretary, Suga Yoshihide, its president on Monday.

The United Kingdom has struck its first free trade agreement with Japan as an independent state, after more than 40 years of being locked in the European Union’s trade regime.

India and Japan signed a mutual logistics support arrangement (MLSA) on Wednesday, a pact allowing the two nations’ military forces to engage in mutual supply and service provision during joint exercises and operations, the Times of India (TOI) reported.

Japan’s Kyodo News published a poll on Wednesday that found Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide to be the most popular choice to succeed Abe Shinzo as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and prime minister of Japan. 

The U.S. economy outperformed most of Europe and Japan in the most recent quarter.

Japan’s suicide rate has declined during the coronavirus pandemic according to a study published Wednesday, which suggested that reduced working hours and government financial support at the height of the nation’s outbreak could have contributed to the decrease.

President Donald Trump spoke with Japan Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on Sunday after the Japanese leader announced his plan to resign for health reasons.

Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will reportedly meet to choose a new leader – and most likely the new prime minister of the country – between September 13 to 15, Japanese media outlets reported on Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, 65, officially became his country’s longest-serving prime minister on Monday. He announced on Friday that he will resign due to health concerns, capping a remarkable career that left three of his greatest ambitions unfulfilled: Revising the Japanese constitution to allow more initiative in national defense, returning Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea, and officially wrapping up World War II by securing a peace treaty with Russia.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to resign due to ill health, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported on Friday.

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has reportedly baulked at Britain’s latest framework for a trade deal while urging EU member states to be “cold-blooded” in the Brexit talks with the UK. Negotiators in Brussels have informed EU

“Donald Trump says we’re leading the world — well, we are the only major industrial economy to have its unemployment rate tripled,” former President Bill Clinton said.

Japanese honeymooners stranded on Cape Verde due to coronavirus travel restrictions have parlayed their experience into an ambassadorship for the African island’s Olympic team, Japan Today reported on Friday.

Japan would like to help build a “Five Eyes”-plus intelligence-sharing alliance that would add it to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.S. and the U.K, Defense Minister Taro Kono told the Nikkei in an interview published Friday.

Japan solemnly observed the 75th anniversary of the U.S. dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Thursday in a local ceremony scaled down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The governor of the Japanese prefecture of Osaka declared in a press conference this week that he would make gargling mouthwash “strictly enforced” to fight the Chinese coronavirus, the nation’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported on Thursday.

CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee — Former U.S. ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty, the man President Donald Trump wants in the vacant U.S. Senate seat here come November, is seeking to finish off his once-surging opponent in Thursday’s primary.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he was considering banning the video platform TikTok in response to concerns the Chinese Government could access user data.

The UK’s first post-Brexit international trade deal is set to be signed with Japan within a matter of weeks, according to reports.

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea shaved off his mustache recently to stay “cool” during the country’s hot summer months after his controversial facial hair drew heat from anti-U.S. activists who claimed the mustache was a nod to former Japanese colonial rulers, Reuters reported on Monday.

Japanese officials reacted angrily on Tuesday to the construction of a statue in Pyeongchang, South Korea, appearing to depict Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo kneeling and bowing to a seated “comfort woman.”

Recently revealed satellite data shows that 700 Chinese vessels fished illegally in North Korean waters in 2018, violating U.N. sanctions on foreign fishing adopted in 2017 after Pyongyang’s testing of ballistic missiles, the Japan Times reported Monday.

Tokyo’s governor said on Monday that the Summer Olympics – postponed due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic – must go forward next year to symbolize world unity in overcoming the health crisis, Japan Today reported on Tuesday.

Indian and Japanese warships conducted a joint naval drill in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, in an exercise involving two warships from each country’s navy, the Hindustan Times reported on Monday.

The United Kingdom and Japan are seeking to forge a free trade agreement in six weeks in order to get it passed during the current parliament in Japan.  

Japan filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing after Chinese ships encroached on Japanese territory near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for a record 66th day on Wednesday, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Japan has halted the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system on its shores, citing unexpected costs and logistic difficulties, Japan’s Defense Minister Taro Kono said on Monday, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims extends beyond China’s borders and into foreign countries, with Beijing ordering Chinese diplomats to “harass and intimidate” members of the ethnic group in Japan, the U.S. State Department’s 2019 Religious Freedom Report on Japan revealed on Wednesday.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK issued an apology on Tuesday after deleting an animated video from its Twitter account that was meant to explain the anti-police protests rocking America, but instead caused outrage over its callous depiction of black people.