Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks at the Foreign Ministry in December.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 10, 2025
Japan's top envoy to visit the Philippines next week
The Philippines and Japan are longtime allies of the United States, which has been strengthening its alliances with regional partners in recent years.
Greenland's flag flies in Igaliku settlement, Greenland
WORLD
Jan 10, 2025
Denmark says it has neglected Greenland defense for years
Greenland is crucial for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 9, 2025
Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance
The departing U.S. ambassador arguably oversaw the most consequential shift in the U.S.-Japan alliance in decades.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a state reception in Pyongyang on June 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 9, 2025
U.S. warns that North Korea is becoming better prepared for war
The country is "benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience," said the Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
Japanese cybersecurity authorities raised an alarm Wednesday over a China-linked hacker group called MirrorFace, saying it has struck 210 targets in Japan since 2019.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025
Japan authorities raise alarm over China-linked cyberattacks
Analyses of the targets and methods and malware used by the hackers suggested that the attacks were an organized activity with a suspected link to the Chinese government.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from right) meets with Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka (fourth from left) and other executives of the atomic bomb survivors' group at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2025
Nihon Hidankyo expresses disappointment over meeting with Ishiba
The group wanted to discuss Japan’s possible participation in a U.N. conference on banning nuclear weapons but did not get the opportunity to raise it.
Prime Minister Shigeru (upper left), along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders, takes a group photo during the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2025
Japan PM struggles with both U.S. relations and China’s growing threats
Ishiba has to govern under the constant threat of a no-confidence vote that could see the opposition parties pull the rug out from under him if they ever choose to work together.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel at the Prime Minister's Official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2025
Missteps highlight Ishiba’s foreign policy challenges
Japan faces a delicate balancing act between securing its economic future and ensuring its security, with Ishiba's policies leaving much to be desired in both areas.
Taiwanese authorities are investigating the Shun Xing 39, a Chinese-owned, Cameroon-flagged cargo ship, on suspicions of damaging a subsea telecoms cable northeast of the island, Taiwan's coast guard said on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 8, 2025
Ship alleged to have damaged Taiwan's undersea cable ‘has multiple IDs’
Taiwan says the Chinese-linked ship appeared to use two sets of Automatic Identification System equipment, which is used to broadcast a vessel’s position.
Tencent, China’s most valuable company, is seen as a pioneer in China’s internet and private sector, creating a so-called everything app that Elon Musk has held up as a model for X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 8, 2025
U.S. blacklist of China’s tech giants risks even faster decoupling
The move, which experts say could backfire on Washington, comes amid an intensifying tech rivalry between the two countries.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at the start of their working lunch at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2025
Blinken in final Japan visit as Trump's return weighs on Tokyo's mind
The top U.S. diplomat sought to reassure Tokyo that the U.S.-Japan alliance will remain robust even after Donald Trump returns to the White House in less than two weeks.
Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of Bamban, Philippines, arrives at a regional trial court in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025
China takes aim at Philippine democracy
China has been stepping up its information operations globally, using the Philippines as a testing ground for tactics designed to propagate anti-American narratives.
A missile flies during what North Korea said was a test of a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile at an undisclosed location on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 7, 2025
North Korea's Kim says new hypersonic missile can deter Pacific 'rivals'
In a worrying sign for Japan, Pyongyang claimed the new hypersonic intermediate-range weapon is effective at "breaking any dense defensive barrier.”
A Tencent sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. The gaming and social media company has been added to a U.S. Defense Department list of firms it says work with China's military.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2025
U.S. adds Tencent and CATL to list of firms allegedly aiding Chinese military
The companies described their addition to the annual list as a mistake.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is shown around by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul during a working luncheon at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 6, 2025
Blinken fends off questions over U.S. stance on South Korea turmoil
The United States “has confidence in the resilience of South Korea’s democracy and the strength of its institutions,” the U.S. Secretary of State said in Seoul.
A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile, in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 6, 2025
North Korea fires off intermediate-range missile in first launch of 2025
The missile, thought to be an IRBM carrying a hypersonic warhead, flew some 1,100 kilometers (683 miles) before splashing down in waters outside Japan's EEZ.
A concept model of a next-generation fighter jet under joint development among Japan, Britain and Italy
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2025
Japan to map out defense export strategy within 2025
The strategy, which will present medium- and long-term targets for defense equipment exports, will be worked out via cooperation among government ministries.
An Air Self-Defense Force airman sets up a drone during a bilateral live fire exercise at Draughon Range, near Misawa Air Base, in Aomori Prefecture in July 2023.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2025
Taking a page from Ukraine war, SDF carves out growing role for drones
Whether for use in the air, on land or at sea, the SDF is gradually integrating these increasingly capable and often autonomous systems into their units.
An Israeli soldier sits atop a tank as it drives into the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, on Dec. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2025
U.S. plans $8 billion arms sale to Israel
Some of the munitions deliveries could be furnished through current U.S. stock, while the majority would take up to several years to deliver.
The U.S. government has approved the sale of advanced air-to-air missiles to Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2025
U.S. approves sale of advanced air-to-air missiles to Japan
The sale is designed to strengthen Japan's deterrence against threats from China and others in the Indo-Pacific region.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.