Tokyo, 2 August, /AJMEDIA/
Japan PM Kishida pushes action plan for nuke-free world at NPT confab
NEW YORK – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday urged the international community to join forces in realizing a world free of nuclear weapons as he unveiled an action plan at a review conference of a nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
As the first Japanese leader to attend the gathering held at the United Nations, Kishida called on nuclear states to enhance the transparency of their arsenals and said Japan will contribute $10 million to set up a U.N. fund to help young people learn about atomic bombs through visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
———-
Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling overshadows major disarmament confab
NEW YORK – Calls for efforts to free the world from the threat of nuclear weapons marked the start of a major four-week disarmament conference at the U.N. headquarters on Monday, amid concerns over the possibility of nuclear conflict stemming from Russia’s war against Ukraine or China’s military buildup.
“Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, which Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also joined as the first-ever leader from his country to do so.
———-
China, Japan eye high-level exchanges to mark 50th anniv. of ties
BEIJING – China and Japan are arranging high-level exchanges to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties on Sept. 29, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday.
China attaches “high importance” to commemorating the milestone in ties with Japan and is “ready to advance high-level exchanges and cooperation including at the ministerial level,” Zhao told a press conference, adding teams on both sides have been working on possible visits of officials.
———-
Tokyo Olympic sponsors deny relationship with exec suspected of bribery
TOKYO – Japanese corporate sponsors of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have distanced themselves from an executive of the games’ now-defunct organizing committee currently being investigated for accepting bribes, recent interviews by Kyodo News showed Monday.
Of the 69 companies contacted, all 64 of those that responded said that they did not sign a contract with Haruyuki Takahashi’s consulting firm.
———-
Myanmar junta to implement 5-point consensus with ASEAN this year
YANGON – Myanmar’s military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said Monday that some points of a consensus reached between the junta and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to end the country’s ongoing crisis will be implemented this year.
In his televised speech broadcast on state TV, Min Aung Hlaing was referring to the consensus he reached with ASEAN leaders in April last year that calls for an immediate stop to violence in Myanmar and the dispatch of an ASEAN envoy to the country to meet with all parties concerned.
———-
Japan gov’t panel agrees on another record minimum-wage hike plan
TOKYO – A Japanese government panel is expected to propose raising the average minimum wage for fiscal 2022 by a record 30 yen or more from 930 yen ($7) an hour, sources familiar with the plan said Monday, as the country battles accelerating inflation.
The focal point of discussion at the panel is how much the recent rise in inflation should be taken into account, with representatives from labor and management failing to reach an agreement at the previous round of discussions late July.
———-
Japan insurance giant to replace HQ with large-scale timber high-rise
TOKYO – Japanese insurance giant Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. said Monday it will begin preparations this year to replace its current head office with a high-rise building largely made of timber.
The new building, which will be in central Tokyo and also house the new headquarters of its subsidiary Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., will be one of the world’s largest using timber and will be completed in fiscal 2028, the firm and its subsidiary said in a press release.
———-
U.S. House Speaker Pelosi to visit Taiwan Aug. 2 night: Taiwan media
TAIPEI – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is likely to arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday night and meet with President Tsai Ing-wen the following day, Taiwanese media reported.
Taiwan’s Presidential Office and the Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday. A visit by a U.S. congressional leader is sure to draw ire from China, which claims the democratic self-ruled island as its own.
