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Greg Torode
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2023
China's aircraft carriers play 'theatrical' role but pose little threat yet
Analysts say China has made progress with its carriers, but has yet to master operating in difficult conditions or adequately protecting the vessels.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Apr 4, 2023
China's intensifying nuclear-armed submarine patrols add complexity for U.S. and allies
Beijing is for the first time keeping at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine constantly at sea, heaping pressure on Washington and its allies.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2023
Studying Ukraine war, China's military minds fret over U.S. missiles and Starlink
Ukraine has sharpened China's focus by providing a window on a large power's failure to overwhelm a smaller one backed by the West.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2023
Putin's nuclear treaty move raises stakes over China's growing arsenal
China's nuclear arsenal is growing in size and sophistication — an expansion that the United States recently noted is now gathering pace.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2022
Lawyers exit Hong Kong as they face campaign of intimidation
Since a national security law was imposed in June 2020, Hong Kong lawyers have endured severe harassment, pushing many to leave the city.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Nov 17, 2022
Beijing's freeze on Taipei contact fuels concern over risk of military clash
China ended formal high-level communication with Taiwan's government in 2016 after the island's voters elected Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing considers a separatist, as president.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Oct 17, 2022
Xi's new generals face tough military challenges after party congress
In the face of various challenges, most of the incoming generals are likely to lack one element that marked at least some of their commission predecessors: combat experience.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Aug 13, 2022
China's military drills near Taiwan offer spying opportunity for U.S. and allies
The drills provide an opportunity to scrutinize the missiles China would use to drive off foreign militaries intervening in any future invasion.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 5, 2022
Vatican envoy in Hong Kong warns Catholic missions to prepare for China crackdown
The Vatican's unofficial representative in Hong Kong delivered a stark message before finishing his six-year posting in March: The freedoms they had enjoyed for decades were over.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Apr 30, 2022
Russia's Ukrainian quagmire providing tough lessons for China
Chinese military experts are discussing the conflict in private chat groups, offering their takes on Western involvement in Ukraine and Russia's perceived failings, scholars say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2022
Hong Kong leadership contender emerges amid uncertain future
Former police officer John Lee, has signaled his intention to contest an election for the city's top job.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Mar 18, 2022
Chinese military aid to Russia would be major role reversal, analysts say
China has developed armed drones, guided weapons and battlefield communications, systems that might help Russia fill gaps that are being exposed on the Ukraine front.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2022
Ukraine crisis threatens China's discreet pipeline in military technology
The Ukraine-China relationship has been under increased pressure, but the current war could sever a link that helped Beijing modernize its army.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 25, 2022
China steps in to steer Hong Kong's COVID-19 crisis as risks loom
Hong Kong has stepped up anti-coronavirus measures, including plans for mass testing buttressed by equipment, testing vehicles and personnel from the mainland.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jan 11, 2022
'Colonial wine from new, authoritarian bottles': Hong Kong retools sedition law
The Hong Kong government is expanding its use of a long-dormant sedition law in what some lawyers and democracy advocates say is intensifying a squeeze on press freedom.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2021
Chinese bishops and priests brief Hong Kong clerics on Xi's view of religion
The meeting has been described as Beijing's most assertive move yet in its attempts to influence Hong Kong's diocese, which is answerable to the Vatican.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 4, 2021
Hong Kong's top court rules against government move to broaden riot prosecutions
The five-judge panel unanimously rejected an earlier ruling that people could be criminally liable for rioting or illegal assembly without being physically present.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 19, 2021
Court rulings under new law free Hong Kong police to probe older offenses
When Beijing's national security law was passed, senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials repeatedly stressed that it would not be retroactively applied.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 26, 2021
Hong Kong's former chief judge says upholding rule of law is not political
The city's judges symbolize a core condition of its return to Chinese rule: the right to a fair trial and equality under the law, administered by an independent judiciary.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 11, 2021
China's attacks on 'foreign forces' threaten Hong Kong's global standing, top U.S. envoy says
The comments come as other envoys, business people and activists have spoken about the chilling effect on their relationships and connections across China's most international city.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past