Tag - pacific

 
 

PACIFIC

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in July.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 24, 2023
Japan is critical to linking the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East
As Japan enters the Year of the Dragon, it has an opportunity to link the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East in a way that benefits everyone.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meet during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2023
NATO's delicate balancing act in the Indo-Pacific
Japan and NATO are already working together on new technologies and on efforts to safeguard the new domains of cyber, outer space and other vectors.
ASEAN leaders and their spouses release paper lanterns into the air with students from ASEAN member states during a lighting ceremony for the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit at Azabudai Hills in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 18, 2023
With China in mind, Japan expands security ties with ASEAN
At a leaders summit, the two sides agreed to deepen security ties in areas such as defense equipment and joint training and exercises.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a summit meeting of the Asia Zero Emission Community held at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 18, 2023
Kishida vows to take lead in decarbonization in Asia
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will try to create a huge "decarbonization market" capable of attracting investment from around the world to Asia.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center) and ASEAN leaders join hands during a photo session during a summit meeting in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2023
Japan and ASEAN vow to widen cooperation after 50 years of ties
The agreement came as Tokyo bolsters alliances with the Global South to counter Beijing's growing regional influence.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim applaud as Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa poses with her Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Hasan, after a signing ceremony in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2023
Japan and Malaysia sign ¥400 million maritime security aid deal
Jakarta became the third country to receive the grant under Japan's new official security assistance program.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the start of a bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2023
Japan-ASEAN summit aims to advance 'security cooperation'
Japan is also expected to use the summit to push energy cooperation as it seeks to export emissions-reducing tech that critics have questioned.
Prime Minster Fumio Kishida joins ASEAN leaders for a family photo before the start of the ASEAN-Japan summit in Jakarta in September.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2023
With eye on China, Japan and ASEAN to unveil ‘new vision’ for ties
The three-day summit will see the two sides launch a wide range of cooperation initiatives.
Commuters watch videos on their mobile phones as they travel in a suburban train in Mumbai, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 14, 2023
Bollywood star in lycra or deepfake? AI on social media takes toll
More than 90% of deepfake videos online are pornographic, according to technology experts, and most are of women.
The U.S. Army's prototype Mid-Range Capability system, known as the “Typhon” Strategic Mid-Range Fires system, is seen in this image released in July following its successful launch of a Tomahawk missile.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 5, 2023
U.S. to deploy powerful new missile launcher to Indo-Pacific in '24
The system, which is capable of firing weapons with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, is unlikely to be deployed in Japan.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at May’s Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2023
Canada's path to pragmatic Indo-Pacific engagement
As part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific pivot, we have already seen its relations and cooperation with Japan deepen.
Indian leader Narendra Modi greets Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Group of 20 Summit in New Delhi in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2023
Are India and Thailand revising their diplomatic balancing acts?
New Delhi and Bangkok share an 'omnidirectional' approach to diplomacy, the limits of which are being tested.
A Self-Defense Forces officer talks to participants in an information session at Camp Nerima in Tokyo on Aug. 7. The SDF raised the maximum age for new recruits to 32 from 26 in 2018 but has still struggled to attract them.
WORLD
Nov 23, 2023
Asia’s aging soldiers force U.S. allies to widen recruitment drive
In some branches of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, more positions are now being opened up to retirees.
An Apple Store in Shanghai in September
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Nov 19, 2023
Asian regulators turn focus to Big Tech
Across the region, there are indications that Big Tech may soon have to comply with standards that could become international benchmarks.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) pose for a photo after attending a forum at Stanford University in California on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 19, 2023
Japan faces 'friendshoring' dilemma in Asia amid China risks
This new paradigm is putting Japan's diplomacy — and its ultimate vision for its own engagement in the region — to the test.
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework leaders pose for a family photo at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2023
Indo-Pacific trade deal prospects dim as U.S. election year looms
Election-year pressures and resistance to tough commitments from some countries make a deal unlikely anytime soon, observers say.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (left) and trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura attend a ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in San Francisco on Monday.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2023
No trade deal struck at U.S.-led Indo-Pacific economic meeting
Japanese trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said progress was made on some aspects but "no substantial agreement was reached" for the whole trade area.
A man walks past a giant piece of driftwood on the shoreline of Tepuka, in the Funafuti atoll, in Tuvalu.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 11, 2023
Australia signs security and migration pact with Pacific's Tuvalu
Canberra's security guarantee will allow it to respond to military aggression, protect the nation from climate change and boost migration.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (from left), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh ahead of their bilateral meetings in New Delhi on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 11, 2023
U.S. pulling India closer to West as strategic interests converge
At “two-plus-two” talks Friday, the nations' top diplomats and defense chiefs agreed to accelerate defense-industrial collaboration.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Nov. 14, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2023
Biden, Xi and other things to watch at next week's APEC summit
The event will mark a key moment for Chinese President Xi Jinping who is making his first visit to U.S. soil since 2017.

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