Japan - Page 20

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis became the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Japan on Friday, offering reassurances that America’s commitment to regional security remains firm and promising that Japanese kidnapping victims will not be forgotten during negotiations with North Korea.

Japanese cybercrime expert and blogger Kenichiro Okamoto was reportedly stabbed and killed after giving a seminar on “how to resolve Internet disputes,” by a man he had argued with online.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that the annual “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” joint military exercise with U.S. troops has been suspended as part of ongoing negotiations with North Korea.

At least three people have died and dozens more were injured after an earthquake hit the city of Osaka in Western Japan on Monday morning, local officials have confirmed.

China’s Global Times on Thursday took a break from giving China all the credit for the diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea to ensure Japan does not get any. “Japan was a participant in the Six-Party Talks, and is now just a bystander,” the Chinese paper teased.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering his own summit meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un following Kim’s Singapore summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump’s announcement that joint U.S. military exercises with South Korea will be suspended as part of ongoing negotiations with North Korea was met with consternation in Seoul and Tokyo, along with some confusion in Washington.

News organizations across Asia responded to the Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un with a mixture of cynicism and guarded optimism on Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe praised President Donald Trump for his successful meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Tuesday, describing it as the first step in achieving a “comprehensive resolution.”

China’s state-run Global Times expressed delight on Sunday with Japan’s growing participation in the “Belt and Road” infrastructure project, through which China hopes to extend economic and political influence from Asia through the Middle East and Europe. The editorial signaled that if the Japanese play ball with Belt and Road, Beijing might even stop referring to them as history’s greatest monsters.

According to North Korean media, the Communist dictatorship submitted a formal request to the United Nations on May 30 asking for help with the repatriation of 13 women who defected from a restaurant in China in 2016. North Korea continues to resist returning a dozen Japanese citizens abducted in the 70s and 80s.

President Donald Trump told reporters following a meeting with senior North Korean officials on Friday that he does not see the United States investing heavily in the reconstruction of North Korea should both parties finalize an official end to the Korean War.

The White House announced Tuesday that American President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet ahead of the “expected meeting” between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday that a Japanese patrol aircraft spotted two ships at sea performing a transfer of goods in violation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea. One of the ships appeared to be flying a Chinese flag.

Japan expressed support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision this week to cancel the planned summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, pledging that Tokyo intends to keep up pressure on the rogue regime over its nuclear and missiles programs.

Meeting in Japan for a summit between their three nations, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Wednesday to pressure the United States into providing North Korea economic rewards for abiding by international law, if the Kim regime chooses to do so.

North Korea’s state media, once singularly focused on insulting the United States, has shifted targets to Japan, publishing warnings that “half-witted Japanese politicians” threaten the success of North Korea’s charm offensive towards South Korea and the United States.

During his visit to Jordan on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared that Jordan’s stability is “indispensable for regional stability” and pledged to “dramatically develop our bilateral ties” on security and trade issues.

China’s National People’s Congress passed a law, going into effect on Tuesday, prohibiting any speech or behavior that desecrates “the deeds and spirit of the heroes and martyrs” of the Communist Party.

North Korean state media reported Monday that dictator Kim Jong-un has proposed changing North Korea’s time zone to align with South Korea as it was for decades before Kim chose to move the time up by half an hour as a symbolic gesture against Japan.

James Delingpole and British MP Daniel Kawczynski discuss potential successors to British Prime Minister Theresa May. Among their favorites are MPs Jacob Rees Mogg and Priti Patel. Also, James and Kawczynski weigh in on Brexit, Poland, and the changes in Saudi Arabia.

The governments of Japan and China, typically on the opposite sides of most regional political issues, both praised Friday’s summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong-un.

The government of Japan lodged a formal protest on Wednesday against the mango mousse tarts to be served at Friday’s summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The Japanese do not appear to have a problem with mango mousse per se; their complaint is that the tasty treats are decorated with a map of the Korean Peninsula that includes a contested island claimed by Japan.

China’s latest show of naval force occurred on Sunday in the East China Sea, where the aircraft carrier Liaoning led a fleet of undetermined size in live-fire combat drills.

At a joint news conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said the United States is “fighting very diligently” to secure the freedom of three Americans held by North Korea.

“Unless they offer us a deal that we cannot refuse, I would not go back into TPP,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

“While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States,” he wrote on Twitter. “Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work.”

“We’re going to sneak out tomorrow morning and play a round of golf, if possible, if we have the time,” Trump said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday for two days of meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The background of this change is Donald’s unwavering conviction, as well as the determination that you demonstrated in addressing the issue of North Korea,” Abe told Trump. “So your stance made it possible to achieve this major change.”

American President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a planned meeting with North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un to occur in May or early June, telling reporters on Thursday, “I think it will be terrific.”

Contents: Japan finds ‘semi-infinite supply’ of rare earth minerals in its territorial waters; Japan’s rare earths discovery represents a defeat for China

President Donald Trump clarified his desire to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), after telling members of Congress from agricultural states that he would do it.

On Saturday, Japan activated its first marine combat unit since World War Two. China immediately panicked over the relatively small Japanese force, denouncing the revival of “militarism” under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and advising every other Asian nation to go on “high alert” in the state-run Global Times.

Contents: Trump administration approves selling submarine technology to Taiwan; Japan launches first marine brigade since the end of World War II

Contents: China’s tariff retaliation plan would devastate China’s economy; China on path to repeat Japan’s experience after Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930