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April 25, 2024
 

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ISLANDS

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ever-growing tensions in the South China Sea all point to an uncomfortable truth for Southeast Asian nations, as well as the U.S.: In this standoff, China is winning.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 24, 2024
Xi’s armada is winning the battle for energy in South China Sea
China’s increasingly assertive stance has sparked a flurry of diplomatic and military efforts aimed at countering Beijing’s footprint.
Lt. Gen. William Jurney, U.S. director for the Balikatan joint military exercise, talks during an opening ceremony in Quezon City, suburban Manila, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 22, 2024
U.S. and Philippine troops kick off drills as China tensions mount
The U.S. and Philippine militaries will exercise outside of Philippine territorial waters in the South China Sea for the first time since 1991.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare speaks during a visit to Beijing last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 22, 2024
Pro-China Solomon Islands PM fails to secure outright majority
Manasseh Sogavare's Our Party has won 12 seats with six contests still in play — well short of a majority in the 50-seat parliament.
Crew aboard a Philippines Coast Guard vessel eye a Chinese Coast Guard ship in waters off the Philippines in November 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 18, 2024
Philippine Coast Guard to attend joint military drills with U.S. in first
More than 16,700 Filipino and American troops will participate in the drills, set to focus on potential flashpoints in the South China Sea and near Taiwan.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington in May last year. Austin held talks with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a year and a half.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
U.S. and China defense chiefs hold first talks in nearly 18 months
While the talks signaled improving military-to-military ties, the two superpowers remain at odds over a number of issues.
Solomon Islanders queue up to vote outside a polling station in Honiara on Wednesday. The election could reshape regional security, with citizens effectively choosing if their Pacific nation will deepen ties with China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
China and Taiwan ties hang in the balance in Solomon Islands vote
While domestic issues will be key to voters’ choices, the result will have repercussions for the islands’ ties with China.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa at a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 16, 2024
Japan's security environment at its 'most severe and complex,' policy report says
While North Korea and Russia pose challenges, some of the strongest words were reserved for China.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos answers questions from the media in Manila on Monday. Marcos has said that the Philippines will invoke its defense treaty with the U.S. if a Filipino soldier dies from a foreign attack.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2024
Philippines may invoke U.S. pact if foreign attack proves deadly, says Marcos
Making the comments Monday, the Philippine president referred to his conversation with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week at the Pentagon.
Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State (left), and Nami Kritenbrink arrive to attend a state dinner in honor of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House in Washington on April 10.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2024
U.S. and China officials discuss Middle East, Taiwan and South China Sea
The meetings come ahead of the May presidential inauguration in democratically governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., (center) speaks during a meeting at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2024
Marcos questions ‘secret’ Duterte-China deal on sea dispute
Duterte said the verbal agreement involved keeping the status quo.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2024
Opposition figurehead decries China's 'alarming' sway in Solomon Islands
The archipelago is the unlikely focal point of a diplomatic scramble pitting a rising China against Western rivals.
U.S. President Joe Biden escorts Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2024
Biden vows 'ironclad' defense of Philippines and Japan as China tensions rise
Biden reiterated Washington’s commitment to defending the Philippines from any attack in the South China Sea.
A boat carrying Philippine Coast Guard personnel moves past a China Coast Guard ship during a resupply mission in the disputed South China Sea on Nov. 10, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 8, 2024
China’s huge sea buildup dwarfs Philippine push on tiny island
China's military presence in the South China Sea outshines Manila's plans to invest in a small, underdeveloped island there.
Philippine, Australian, Japanese and U.S. warships take part in the four nations' first-ever joint military drills in the South China Sea on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2024
Philippines, U.S., Australia and Japan hold joint military drills in disputed South China Sea
The exercises came as the Chinese military held a “joint maritime and aerial combat patrol” in an unspecified area of the waterway.
Chinese Coast Guard ships fire water cannons at a Philippine boat during a supply mission near Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on March 5. This incident highlights the danger that such confrontations could have for sparking a wider conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Beware the steady creep toward crisis in the South China Sea
The Philippines is pushing back. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has adopted a policy of “assertive transparency” to show the world what China is doing.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s order appears to expand the role of the military among the agencies supporting the government's maritime council.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 31, 2024
Philippines' Marcos boosts maritime security as China tension rises
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s order appears to expand the role of the military among the agencies supporting the government's maritime council.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 25, 2024
New Zealand troops to help Solomon Islands in election
New Zealand said it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month.
A screenshot from a video taken and released Saturday shows China Coast Guard ships deploying water cannons against a Philippine military-chartered civilian supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 24, 2024
After clash, China warns Philippines over escalation in South China Sea
China's Defense Ministry issued the warning a day after Manila accused Beijing of damaging a Philippine vessel and injuring its crew with water cannons.
A screenshot from a video taken and released Saturday shows China Coast Guard ships deploying water cannons against a Philippine military-chartered civilian supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 23, 2024
Philippines says China Coast Guard again injured crew with water cannon in South China Sea
Chinese vessels severely damaged a Philippine civilian resupply ship as it headed for a military base in the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visits army bases ahead of the Lunar New Year in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Feb. 6.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 21, 2024
Citing safety risk, Taiwan president skips South China Sea visit
The official said the South China Sea had been highly militarized, and that the trip may cause international controversy.
'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.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
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.
North Korean animators may be involved in Japan anime production, report says
North Korean animators may be involved in the production of some Japanese and U.S. animated shows, according to a report by a website providing analysis on North Korea.
BOJ to hold rates with focus on hawkish signals to buoy yen
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda hasn’t ruled out responding to exchange rates with a policy move if the impact on prices is seen to be "non-negligible.”
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
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.
'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.
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.

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

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Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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