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April 23, 2024
 

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Laurie Chen
For Laurie Chen's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reviews soldiers of the German armed forces in Berlin on Thursday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2024
Between the U.S. and a hard place, Germany's Scholz reheats China ties
With Germany's economy slumping, the nation hopes to gain fairer access to China's markets despite promises to "de-risk" from them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in October last year.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
Putin to travel to China in May for talks with Xi, sources say
The visit could be the Kremlin chief's first overseas trip of his new presidential term.
Chai Wanrou at the Daming Palace National Heritage Park, in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China. The 28-year-old is part of a growing movement that envisions a future with no husband and no children.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 7, 2024
More Chinese women choosing singledom as economy stutters
Chinese President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to "cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing."
Analysts say the sentencing serves as a reminder of how fraught any improvement in relations will prove even after both Canberra and Beijing affirmed the need to bolster ties.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
Harsh sentence for Australian writer tests ties with China
The sentencing serves as a reminder of how fraught any improvement in relations will prove even after both nations affirmed the need to bolster ties.
A Beijing court heard Yang Hengjun's trial in secret in May 2021 and the case against him has never been publicly disclosed. He has denied working as a spy for Australia or the United States.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2024
Beijing court gives Australian writer suspended death sentence
Yang Hengjun had been accused of spying for a country China has not identified and the details of the case against him have not been made public.
Guards raise Taiwan's national flag on the Democracy Boulevard at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 16, 2024
China plays waiting game in run-up to Taiwan inauguration
China's muted response to the weekend victory by Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te may be the start of an uneasy four months before he takes office.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during a military parade in October 2019
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2023
Sweeping Chinese military purge exposes weakness and could widen
China's top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 29, 2023
After breakthrough talks, China's military slams U.S. for 'meddling'
U.S. officials had hoped last week's talks between U.S. Gen. Charles Brown and China's Gen. Liu Zhenli could herald a restoration in military ties.
A man sings for customers touring the Erhai lake on a sightseeing bus in Dali, in China's Yunnan province.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 27, 2023
Chasing a different dream, China's tech nomads head for the hills
In the mountain town of Dali, former city-dwellers in search of a space for open discussion and exchange of ideas in authoritarian China find refuge.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Bangkok in November last year.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Nov 14, 2023
How an executive's arrest struck a blow to Japan-China business
The arrest of a Japanese company executive in China has had what some Tokyo officials described as a considerable chilling effect on business.
Shi Tieniu, 39, sits in a room of an unfinished residential building at Gaotie Wellness City complex in Tongchuan, Shaanxi province, China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2023
Broken dreams, shattered families in China's unfinished apartments
Since the property debt crisis began in 2021, thousands of homeowners have faced tough situations as smaller developers face liquidity issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a picture during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2023
Xi likely to skip G20 summit in India: sources
The summit was considered an opportunity for Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden to smooth over recent trade and geopolitical tensions.
Pedestrians pass stores in Guangzhou. Economists say China needs measures to boost consumption and business confidence, but add that unlike previous slowdowns, there is no quick fix.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 18, 2023
Why is China not rushing to fix its ailing economy?
Even in a country known for opaque decision-making, analysts are pointing to signs that Beijing seems hesitant to deliver the bold policies needed.
Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui gives a press briefing in Beijing in June.
WORLD
Aug 6, 2023
China's Ukraine peace talks gambit shows shifts amid hard realities
Beijing appears to be confronting some hard realities as the conflict drags on, analysts say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 13, 2023
China's security hits embassy activities and LGBTQ events, some diplomats say
The challenges facing diplomats, mostly from Western nations, come as Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to wage his national security campaign.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 27, 2023
Jobless young Chinese seek solace in temples and tale of failed scholar
Despondent young worshippers crowd temples in China on weekends, as they pray to find jobs in an economy slowly clawing its way back from the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 6, 2023
'A new starting point': EU and Chinese leaders meet in Beijing
French President Emmanuel Macron has said Europe must resist reducing ties with China and reject what some have cast as an 'inescapable spiral' of tension between China and the West.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 7, 2023
'Xi Jinping's guy': Longtime acolyte Li Qiang set to be China's next premier
Leadership watchers say Li Qiang's closeness to Xi is both a strength and a vulnerability: While he has Xi's trust, he is beholden to his longtime patron.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 29, 2022
U.S. to impose China COVID testing as virus surge jangles global nerves
Beijing's sudden abandonment of tough measures to contain the coronavirus — and surge in virus cases — has caused jitters around the world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 9, 2022
Beijing sees spike in 'underground' eateries
'It was quite secretive —u00a0you couldn't see the lights on the second floor from the outside.'
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.
Philippines wants U.S. and Japan to take over rail deal eyed by China
Delfin Lorenzana
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
At least one dead, seven missing after two MSDF helicopters crash off Izu Islands
Contact was lost with the two SH-60K helicopters, each carrying four crew, in an area east of Torishima in the Izu Island chain during anti-submarine warfare training Saturday night.
Tokyo Rainbow Pride lights up capital as organizers celebrate 30 years
Rainbow flags were flown through the capital's busy Shibuya and Harajuku areas for Tokyo Rainbow Pride events this weekend as organizers hailed 30 years of one of Asia's largest LGBTQ celebrations.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
Tsukiji 2030s: A stadium, culinary center and transportation hub
A computer-generated image shows redevelopment plans for the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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