Tag - corruption

 
 

CORRUPTION

Over the past decade, China has arrested and indicted hundreds of senior government officials and more than a million low-ranking civil servants in an effort to root out corruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023
Measuring corruption in China
Over the past decade, China has arrested and indicted hundreds of senior government officials and more than a million low-ranking civil servants.
Masatoshi Akimoto asks questions at a Lower House budget committee session in February 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2023
Ex-LDP member's indictment puts spotlight on green energy goals
A Lower House member and the former president of a major offshore wind-power company were each charged with bribery by Tokyo prosecutors.
Lee Jae-myung (center), leader of South Korea's opposition Democratic Party, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 27, 2023
South Korean court rejects arrest warrant for opposition leader
Last week, several members of Lee Jae-myung’s own party broke ranks and voted to allow an arrest warrant for the sitting lawmaker to proceed.
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2023
Charged with bribery, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez vows not to resign
U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged powerful Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife with taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, which could complicate Democrats' efforts to keep their slim majority in the U.S. Senate in next year's elections.
Yusuke Hashimoto (center) leaves the Metropolitan Police Department in a police car on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 22, 2023
Former Japan cancer center doctor arrested over bribery
The doctor allegedly had Zeon Medical company pay ¥1.7 million into his bank account in 2021 in exchange for ensuring the usage of their products.
Liberal Democratic Party election strategy committee Chair Yuko Obuchi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Sept. 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 21, 2023
Scandal-tainted Yuko Obuchi's appointment could backfire on Kishida
Obuchi still faces questions over a nearly decade-old political funds scandal, and last week she was hit with fresh allegations of financial impropriety.
Corruption thrives in times of war, as exemplified by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently being forced to replace his defense minister after top officials were accused of skimming funds or taking bribes. 
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2023
Zelenskyy needs to fight corruption like he’s fighting Putin
There’s no need just to pick on ex-Soviet states like Ukraine. A fire hose of U.S. taxpayer money went missing in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks Tuesday during a press briefing outside his office on Capitol Hill in which he announces an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Joe Biden with regard to his role in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2023
Republican impeachment inquiry marks low point in U.S. history
If any president can be impeached without reason, it is likely that every president will be impeached so long as the opposing party controls the House.
Lawyers for the plaintiff in a lawsuit demanding that the Finance Ministry disclose documents related to a document-tampering scandal walk to the Osaka District Court on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 15, 2023
Osaka court rules against disclosure of Moritomo Gakuen papers
Accepting the plaintiff's petition "could cause problems such as the destruction of criminal evidence in future investigations," the judge concluded.
Japan Wind Development's Tohoku headquarters in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2023
Internal email sheds light on wind-power bribery scandal
Tokyo prosecutors have obtained an email as possible evidence of Akimoto having made statements before lawmakers at the request of Tsukawaki.
Lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto makes a speech advocating for renewable energy, in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture in March 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2023
Ex-LDP member and offshore wind advocate arrested over bribery
Masatoshi Akimoto is suspected of receiving ¥60 million from Masayuki Tsukawaki, then-president of Japan Wind Development.
Masatoshi Akimoto
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2023
Ex-energy firm chief says lawmaker bribed for Diet interventions
Known as an advocate of renewable energy, Akimoto, 48, left the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and resigned as parliamentary vice foreign minister.
Semen Kryvonos, head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2023
Ukraine's anti-graft police zero in on major wartime corruption
Fighting corruption has taken on vital significance with Kyiv hoping Western donors will send billions of dollars to help rebuild Ukraine.
Masayuki Tsukawaki
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 13, 2023
Japan Wind Development chief likely to admit bribing lawmaker Akimoto
It was newly found that Akimoto received ¥30 million, separately from the suspected bribe, from around 2019 for applying to the Japan Racing Association.
Masatoshi Akimoto at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 7, 2023
Scandal-hit ex-LDP member a major backer of renewable energy
Masatoshi Akimoto opposes building new nuclear reactors or replacing current ones, and has said that wind power in particular has much potential.
Japanese lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto visits a high-speed rail project site in Ahmedabad, India, in May 2018.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2023
Scandal-tainted Japanese lawmaker sought money to buy horse
Japanese lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto is suspected of receiving ¥30 million from the president of a company between 2021 and this year.
The Financial Services Agency's headquarters in Tokyo. The agency is expected to order four major insurers to submit records of contracts for which they allegedly arranged premium levels to avoid competition.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023
Japan insurers suspected of price-fixing for corporate contracts
Dozens of suspected price-fixing cases surfaced after employees were asked to report suspected antitrust business activities.
As the Kremlin’s grip on power slips, Russia’s generals will likely organize a putsch against Putin and his KGB/FSB cronies — the army’s historical rival.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2023
The Kremlin’s mobster code
While Western experts continue to view Russia as a modern state, it turns out that President Vladimir Putin is the boss of one crime family, but not all of them.
Many obstacles stand in the way of effectively combating corruption globally. Reaching an agreement on international regulations would be a good starting point.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2023
A world engulfed in corruption and cronyism
In today’s interconnected world, the consequences of cronyism and corruption often extend beyond national borders.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2023
Where is China's foreign minister? Beijing's not saying.
Qin Gang, a seasoned and rapidly rising Chinese diplomatic star, has been absent from the public eye for more than three weeks despite a flurry of diplomatic activity in Beijing.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on