Tokyo, 9 June, /AJMEDIA/
Japan, China defense chiefs to meet June 12 amid Chinese naval activity
TOKYO – Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe Sunday on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore to air concerns over Beijing repeatedly sending ships around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, a government source said Wednesday.
Kishi may also raise other maritime activities by China in waters around Japan as well as tensions across the Taiwan Strait in the first in-person meeting between Japanese and Chinese defense chiefs since 2019, the source said. The two will be in Singapore for the annual Shangri-La security dialogue slated to start Friday.
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Japan Diet speaker suspected of bribing local officials in 2021 election
TOKYO – House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda’s camp paid several thousand yen per day in cash to local assembly members and others in western Japan during campaigning for last October’s lower house election, documents showed Wednesday, in a suspected case of bribery in violation of the election law.
Hosoda, who won a seat in the Oct. 31 lower house election last year in Shimane Prefecture’s No. 1 district, recorded the payments as labor expenses, according to campaign expense reports. Labor expenses are usually paid for simple tasks.
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Biden to attend G-7, NATO summits in Germany, Spain later in June
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Europe later in June to attend the summits of the Group of Seven and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as member nations continue to face challenges stemming from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine as well as China’s assertiveness, the White House said Wednesday.
Biden is scheduled to arrive at Schloss Elmau, a castle resort in southern Germany, on June 25 to attend the three-day G-7 summit to start the following day.
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Japan Cabinet, lower house speaker face no-confidence motion
TOKYO – Japan’s major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan submitted Wednesday a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a gambit turning up the political heat ahead of a House of Councillors election next month.
In the motion, the CDPJ criticizes the Cabinet for having done “nothing” in response to rising prices in Japan. The ruling coalition, which controls both houses of parliament, expects to vote it down Thursday, along with another motion against House of Representatives Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, who is embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal.
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Yen tumbles to fresh 20-yr low in 134 zone vs. U.S. dollar
LONDON – The yen briefly fell to a fresh 20-year low in the 134 range against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, reflecting prospects of a divergence in monetary policy between Japan and the United States.
The yen tumbled to 133.63 at one point in Tokyo trading Wednesday, according to the Bank of Japan, and further slipped into the 134 zone in London, marking its lowest level against the U.S. currency since February 2002.
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Japan, South Korea affirm improvement of ties as “urgent task”
TOKYO – Senior diplomats from Japan and South Korea agreed Wednesday that improving frayed bilateral ties is an “urgent task” for the two neighbors amid increasing speculation that North Korea may carry out a nuclear test anytime soon.
In a meeting in Seoul, the officials confirmed that the two governments should keep discussing matters of concern, such as issues related to wartime labor and so-called comfort women, in a timely fashion so they will be resolved as soon as possible, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
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Family of dead Sri Lankan detainee demands apology from Japan gov’t
NAGOYA – The family of a Sri Lankan woman who died while in custody at an immigration center in central Japan last year demanded an apology from the government on Wednesday in a damages suit against the state.
The family of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, who alleges she was illegally detained and died due to a lack of necessary medical care, filed the lawsuit in March, seeking 156 million yen ($1.17 million) in damages.
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Chinese man arrested for alleged Hitotsubashi Univ. exam cheating
TOKYO – A Chinese man in his 20s was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of cheating on Hitotsubashi University’s entrance exam by leaking a test question through social media and soliciting an answer, investigative sources said.
The Tokyo police are also questioning several other Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in the cheating during the exam held on Jan. 31 for international applicants, the sources said.
