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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 18, 2022

China’s bid to wage cognitive warfare over democracy and human rights

The Xi administration is attaching particular importance to redefining democracy and human rights, and other countries are getting behind it.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 12, 2022

Derided by Imran Khan as U.S. puppet, new Pakistan prime minister bets on centrism

Sharif's ability to reset Pakistan's foreign policy will be much harder after Khan accused the U.S. of pushing for his ouster, stoking anti-Americanism.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 5, 2022

Bristling against the West, China rallies domestic sympathy for Russia

While Russia batters Ukraine, officials in China have been meeting to study a Communist Party-produced documentary that extols President Vladimir Putin of Russia as a hero.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 5, 2022

Five takeaways from the U.N.’s latest 3,000-page climate report

The new report updates previous work by the IPCC, and offers evidence that climate action, when done right, can improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2022

A judge says Trump broke the law. Here’s why that matters.

A legal opinion affirming the “illegality” of a plan to overturn the 2020 election won't end partisan polarization, but there's value in stating what's obviously true.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 24, 2022

Madeleine Albright, first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, dies at 84

A child of Czech refugees who fled from Nazi invaders and Communist oppressors, Albright flourished as a diplomat and the first woman to serve as secretary of state.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2022

Seizing superyachts is not the best way to help Ukraine

Anti-oligarchism only makes sense as part of a total war against the Putin regime, which is not the policy the West has chosen.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2022

In Philippines election, priests opposed to Marcos adopt pink

Like-minded clerics in Asia's biggest Catholic nation have abandoned their neutrality to oppose the presidential bid of the son of a former dictator.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2022

Yoon’s victory is a good thing for Tokyo-Seoul relations

Prime Minister Kishida responded positively to Yoon's victory, reciprocating his desire to put the bilateral relationship between Tokyo and Seoul back on track.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 9, 2022

Sanctions and sanctuary: Japan responds to Russia's war in Ukraine

As Vladimir Putin's grim war in Ukraine escalates, The Economist's Tokyo bureau chief, Noah Sneider, joins to discuss the reasons for the conflict, the lengths to which Japan is supporting Ukraine, and how the war will redefine relationships between Japan and its northern neighbor, Russia.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 9, 2022

Hong Kong’s leader goes quiet as city’s COVID-19 crisis deepens

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam's unusual withdrawal from public view underscores concerns about how the city will be governed.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 3, 2022

‘We are on our side’: Across Asia, a mixed reaction to Ukraine war

Generals in Myanmar have called Russia's actions 'the right thing to do.” India, meanwhile, abstained from a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the attack.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2022

What did Xi know about Ukraine, and when did he know?

Putin's declaration of military action was timed to begin just after the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Was the Russian leader's “restraint” a way of showing respect?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2022

Six early thoughts on Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Be wary of anyone who is certain about how all of this will turn out. No one knows today whether the Ukraine invasion will be a great success or total disaster for Putin.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2022

Explaining Japan’s 'astute diplomacy'

Japan's leaders must listen carefully to the voices of the people while skillfully containing the more violent passions (nationalism) of the nation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2022

In hijab row, critics say Modi's BJP looking for votes in southern Indian state

Opposition parties and many political analysts accuse the BJP of fomenting tensions in Karnataka to consolidate its appeal to majority Hindus, like they say it has elsewhere in the country.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 17, 2022

The Olympians caught up in the U.S.-China rivalry

American athletes of Chinese descent at the Games are targets of patriotic and even nationalistic sentiment from both countries: sometimes adoring, sometimes hostile.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 16, 2022

Can Kishida’s ‘new capitalism’ help Japan’s workers?

What is remarkable about Kishida's new capitalism is that the LDP is the very party that brought neoliberalism to Japan in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 16, 2022

China’s Xi orders Hong Kong to tackle COVID surge by all means

The message came a day after Hong Kong announced it had no plans for a citywide lockdown, while acknowledging the omicron outbreak had overwhelmed officials' capacity to respond.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 15, 2022

'Vladdy daddy please no war...': Russia-Ukraine tensions loom large on social media

Gen Z is turning to TikTok and Instagram to hash over the tensions between Russia and Ukraine, while TikTok has become a source for researchers tracking Moscow's buildup.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 15, 2022

South Korean presidential race kicks off as scandals mar both main candidates' campaigns

The race between the country's two leading parties, set to be the tightest in 20 years, has dominated by allegations that may make a third challenger kingmaker.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2022

He knows Putin well. And he fears for Ukraine.

The Finnish president, Sauli Niinisto, has carved out a vital role as interpreter between East and West, and he is not optimistic about the prospects for peace.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 12, 2022

The era of pandemic restrictions is fast coming to an end

While the world has changed since early 2020 and new approaches to restrictions are justified, health officials warn that the coronavirus remains part of our reality.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 11, 2022

How ‘free-riding Japan’ came to embrace security multilateralism

Tokyo's foreign policy has seemed to take to heart the message from an old proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Feb 3, 2022

A journey across Ukraine shows invasion would come at high price

The potentially ruinous cost of occupying a part of one of Europe's poorest countries explains why many Ukrainians believe Russia won't do it.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 2, 2022

As the U.S. pulls back from the Middle East, China leans in

States in the Middle East are increasingly looking to China not just to buy their oil, but to invest in their infrastructure and cooperate on technology and security.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 27, 2022

The world awaits Putin’s word on Ukraine, but on that, he is silent

A news conference more than a month ago was the last time that Putin spoke publicly about the current crisis over Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2022

China’s espionage plans for the 2022 Winter Olympics

Saving face is a particular paranoia for the Chinese Communist Party; it is what maintains China's dictatorship — thus the spying.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years