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COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 21, 2022

As China's nuclear weapons multiply, U.S. and Japan work on deterrence

Washington, together with Tokyo, has been urging Beijing to halt its arms ambitions, while at the same time boosting its nuclear umbrella in the region.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2022

Japan’s experience rebuilding can help Ukraine, Tokyo's envoy says

Ukraine has estimated direct losses from the war totaling at least $650 billion, with the indirect cost being as much as $1 trillion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 7, 2022

As conflict and climate change bite, are high food prices here to stay?

War in Ukraine slashed wheat and fertilizer exports, while climate-induced disasters destroy harvests — together, they create harrowing risks to global food security.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2022

Rape: The war crime that goes mostly unpunished

What's happening in Ukraine is one of the worst large-scale campaigns of sexual violence in war since Islamic State's attacks on the Yezidi minority in Iraq in 2014.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2022

Hold Russian soldiers and their leaders accountable for war crimes

As Russian troops have withdrawn from areas under their control, evidence of horrific brutality is mounting.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 26, 2022

China eases U.S. concern on Russian sanctions by drilling into their details

Chinese diplomats in Washington have been in contact with U.S. counterparts asking for granular details on the sanctions in an apparent bid for compliance.
Palestinians gather to receive aid outside a UNRWA warehouse on March 18 as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger.
WORLD
Apr 18, 2024

UNRWA chief warns human-caused famine 'tightening its grip' across Gaza

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel of blocking their ability to deliver aid to Gaza, where many are starving.
Vitor Gaspar, director of fiscal affairs at the International Monetary Fund, speaks at a news conference during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 19, 2024

Japan should pursue fiscal consolidation, IMF economist says

With Japan's inflation mostly in line with the Bank of Japan's 2% target, an IMF economist is encouraging fiscal consolidation.
From left: Willy Mnangat, Robert Keter, He Jie and Dejene Hailu Bikila cross the finish line in the Beijing half-marathon on April 14. He crossed first but the top three were later disqualified after it appeared they let He win.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 21, 2024

Beijing half-marathon runners stripped of medals after controversial finish

A Chinese runner crossed the line first in a bizarre finish after three others seemed to deliberately allow him to win.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly expressed his commitment to bring about a revision of the Political Funds Control Act during the current session of parliament, which is slated to end on June 23.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 23, 2024

LDP pledges tougher action on errant lawmakers in reform blueprint

The ruling party will seek to review legislation on the handling of political funds in the wake of a slush funds scandal involving its members.
Optica headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 3, 2024

Huawei secretly backs U.S. research, awarding millions in prizes

Huawei Technologies is the sole funder of a research competition that has awarded millions of dollars since its inception in 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the United Steelworkers Union headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 17. Biden made clear that he does not want the proposed takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel to happen.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 4, 2024

Political furor over Nippon Steel's U.S. Steel bid puts investment panel in spotlight

Backlash over the deal has echoes of the 1980s when Nippon Steel tried and failed to buy another American metal company.
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 5, 2024

As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly

A record tourism boom has raised concerns over the enormous stress visitors put on the environment.
If Donald Trump were to win a second term, his aggressive stance toward China and inclination for protectionist measures could complicate the situation for Southeast Asian nations.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2024

What a second Trump term could mean for Southeast Asia

Donald Trump has made bold promises about U.S.-China policy that, if enacted, would transform the world.
Defendant Chung Biu Yuen leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Monday after being charged with assisting Hong Kong's foreign intelligence service.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2024

China slams U.K. arrests over Hong Kong spy case

China's foreign affairs commissioner in its territory of Hong Kong warned that Britain would receive "China's firm and strong retaliation."
North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song speaks during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 8, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024

U.N. experts: North Korea laundered $147.5 million in stolen crypto

The money was stolen from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange before being laundered in March this year, the experts said.
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, China, in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2024

Rare spat shows China and North Korea still at odds on nuclear weapons

Pyongyang condemned China, Japan and South Korea on Monday for discussing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
A soldier from the rebel Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) carries an RPG launcher near a Myanmar military base at Thingyan Nyi Naung village on the outskirts of Myawaddy, the Thailand-Myanmar border town, on April 15.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 30, 2024

Myanmar's ethnic armies consolidate strongholds as junta weakens, reports say

The military's mounting losses and growing dismay among the elite in the capital Naypyidaw has left junta chief Min Aung Hlaing's future in serious doubt.
U.S. soldiers participate in a joint exercise conducted for South Korean and U.S. soldiers in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi province, South Korea, on March 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024

China's military drills 'remain underdeveloped' amid regional tensions

Noting the U.S. military may eventually lose its edge over China in the region, a new study says China is challenged by a lack of combat experience.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a salvo super-large rocket artillery, at an unconfirmed location in North Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 31, 2024

North Korea says 18-missile salvo was warning to South

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guided the firing drill of the 600mm "super-large" multiple rocket launchers, state news agency KCNA reported.
A new report by international campaign group Global Witness alleges that TikTok approved adverts containing political disinformation ahead of European polls.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

TikTok fails 'disinformation test' before EU vote, study shows

The Chinese ByteDance-owned app said its systems correctly identified the breach, but the ads were approved due to "human error" by a moderator.
While European countries such as Germany have strengthened bilateral ties with Beijing, the EU as a whole is set on reducing reliance on the Chinese economy: a strategy that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls "de-risking."
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 31, 2024

Europe’s vulnerability in the EU-China-U.S. geoeconomic triangle

Behind a semblance of unity, the EU and U.S. could be on clashing trajectories in their pursuit of economic security to reduce dependence on China.
The effort by the United Kingdom, France and Germany to ramp up pressure was also visible this week at the International Atomic Energy Agency, where they successfully pushed a resolution critical of Iran despite U.S. reservations.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2024

Europeans detail Iran's nuclear violations in diplomatic gambit

The move by Britain, France and Germany is said to be aimed at pressuring Tehran into resolving the issue diplomatically.
Carlyle will probably announce another two or three transactions in Japan this year, the fund's co-head of the Japan buyout advisory team says.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2024

Carlyle sets sights on 300 Japanese businesses as PE deals boom

Carlyle, which has been operating in Japan since 2000, has made more than 40 private equity investments locally.
Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged while a third of the workforce is job hunting or looking out for new opportunities, according to a Gallup report.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2024

Despite its hardworking image, Japan might be No. 1 in quiet quitting

Only 6% of the Japanese workforce is engaged, one of the lowest readings in the world, according to a Gallup report.
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, shelter at a tent camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jun 20, 2024

Israeli tanks push deeper into Rafah, forcing people to flee again

Some eight months into the war, there has been no sign of a pause as mediators have failed to persuade Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire.
Hong Kong protesters face off against riot police at a rally in support of the human rights of Xinjiang Uyghurs in Hong Kong in December 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

China rejects key Western calls for human rights reforms at U.N. meet

Beijing has striven to fend off criticism following a 2022 U.N. report.
Visitors walk past an Amazon exhibition booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 6, 2024

Is AI a major drain on the world's energy supply?

The spread of data centers across the globe is throwing a spotlight on the amount of energy the technology uses as well as its impact on the environment.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024

Boeing in talks with U.S. Defense Department on impact of guilty plea

The plea in relation to two fatal crashes involving its planes in 2018 and 2019 potentially threatens the company's ability to secure lucrative government contracts.
The Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, locally known as Pag-asa, in the contested Spratly Islands of the South China Sea in March 2023
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

Philippines rejects China's claim it has damaged coral in South China Sea

Manila has called for an independent, third party marine scientific assessment of the causes of damage to coral reef ecosystems in the South China Sea.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan