Tag - relations

 
 

RELATIONS

U.S. President Donald Trump's officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron and ASML engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, according to people familiar with the matter.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Trump team seeks to toughen Biden’s chip controls over China
The move is an early indication the new U.S. president plans to expand efforts that began under Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess.
Toshihiro Suzuki (left), president of Suzuki Motor, and Hisashi Takeuchi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, during an event in New Delhi on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2025
Suzuki Motor unit opens first new India plant in eight years
India’s largest carmaker by sales had last opened a new factory in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2017.
Nippon Steel spent much of 2024 trying to gain approval for its planned takeover of U.S. Steel, facing regulatory and political hurdles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2025
Nippon Steel sticks with U.S. Steel takeover after investment call
The comments from Nippon Steel President Tadashi Imai on Tuesday are the first from an executive of the company since Trump said the steelmaker was considering an investment.
Ichiro Fujisaki
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2025
Ex-Japan envoy concerned over Trump's foreign aid cuts
Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki has shown concern that China may expand its influence over developing countries.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses Group of Seven leaders during a teleconference from the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo late Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
Japan urges G7 to avoid 'wrong lessons' in Ukraine peace process
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has urged leaders to be careful in backing any Ukraine peace process that could validate the use of force to change borders.
Yuichiro Tamaki, chief of Democratic Party for the People (left), meets with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te at the presidential office in Taipei on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025
DPP's Tamaki meets Taiwanese President Lai
Both leaders underlined the importance of cooperation among democracies for regional and global stability.
Amid rising global defense spending, U.S. President Donald Trump's push for 5% of GDP on military budgets poses a challenge for American allies, including Japan, which is already struggling to meet its 2% target.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2025
U.S. defense spending demands could transform global security
The level of spending the U.S. is demanding could spark an arms race as adversaries try to match NATO and America's Asian allies.
A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy is seen at Prigorodnoye on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, Russia, in July 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2025
Three years into Ukraine war, Japan struggles to ensure steady LNG supply
Fierce global competition for liquefied natural gas has led to spikes in electricity and gas bills, which heavily weigh on the finances of Japanese households.
U.S. President Donald Trump has in recent days rolled out a memorandum telling a key government committee to curb Chinese spending on tech, energy and other strategic American sectors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2025
Trump targets China with biggest salvo so far in second term
In recent days, U.S. President Donald Trump has rolled out a memorandum telling a key government committee to curb Chinese spending on tech, energy and other strategic sectors.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro assists Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as he signs a guest book prior to their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Manila on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2025
Japan and Philippines to establish high-level defense gear framework
The two sides also agreed to establish a “strategic dialogue” between the Self-Defense Forces and the Philippine Armed Forces to deepen operational collaboration.
As more countries gain global influence, disagreements over the future world order are making cooperation harder, especially between democracies and autocracies.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2025
The age of multipolarization
The shift to a multipolar world has been accompanied by deepening polarization within and between countries.
Akie Abe meets with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (left) at the Taiwan Presidential Office in Taipei on Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2025
Taiwan President Lai meets with Akie Abe, widow of slain prime minister
Lai told Akie at the meeting that Taiwan aims to protect the values of freedom and democracy, and deepen its friendship with Japan.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule
The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
Japanese investors are estimated to have increased holdings of Chinese bonds by 53% last year, the most among the markets that make up the World Government Bond Index, according to Bloomberg analysis of Japanese balance-of-payments data.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025
Tokyo fund buys China bonds for first time on Japanification bet
"Our long-term view is that it’s inevitable for China to follow the path of Japan,” said Hikaru Tanaka, fund manager at Asset Management One.
An electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand. Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to President Donald Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025
How Trump’s tariffs could reorder Asia trade and exclude the U.S.
Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
Japan is the world's No. 2 LNG buyer, a major investor in energy infrastructure and a trading hub with a glut of LNG that could help open new markets for U.S. gas in Southeast Asia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
Trump seeks to reshape Asia's energy supplies with U.S. gas
While the Alaska LNG proposal faces hurdles, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and others are buying into the idea of increasing U.S. gas imports more broadly.
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were allegedly trafficked into working in Myanmar and were sent to Thailand on Feb. 12 amid a mounting crackdown on scam centers operating along a porous border, queue to get food at a shelter in Tak province, Thailand, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2025
Japanese nationals returned from Myanmar as scam probe continues
The Japanese nationals are among hundreds of thousands of people who police say have been coerced into engaging in online scams.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky speaks during an interview at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025
As Ukraine rift emerges, Kyiv's envoy says Japan must take on bigger global role
The remarks by Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky came amid what appears to be a dramatic reversal in years of U.S. support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
Nissan in recent weeks has been searching for a strategic partner in the tech industry, with some board members suggesting Tesla and Apple as ideal targets, the Financial Times reported.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2025
Japan seeks Tesla investment in Nissan as Foxconn approaches Honda
Taiwan's Foxconn has reportedly proposed forming a partnership with Honda, aiming for a framework that would also include Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya attends the Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025
At G20, Japan FM vows to continue support for Ukraine amid Trump tensions
The top diplomat reiterated the importance of standing up to Moscow, calling the war in Ukraine a “major challenge to the rule of law."

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’