Tokyo, 11 June, /AJMEDIA/
Japan PM Kishida eyes attending NPT review conference in August
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering attending the upcoming review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons slated to be held in New York in August, a government source said Friday.
If Kishida joins the conference, he will become the first Japanese premier ever to do so. He is planning to deliver a speech early in the month as the gathering runs from Aug. 1 to Aug. 26, the source said.
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Japan PM says action plan for free Indo-Pacific to be ready by spring
SINGAPORE – Japan will unveil an action plan by next spring to advance a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday as he expressed his firm resolve to defend the rules-based international order amid China’s growing clout and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
In a keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Kishida said he has a strong sense of alarm that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow,” vowing that Japan will play an even more active role in countering any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, without singling out China.
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U.S., China defense chiefs trade barbs over Taiwan situation
SINGAPORE – U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs on Friday traded barbs over the situation surrounding self-ruled democratic Taiwan on the fringes of a key security meeting in Asia, with both sides warning against actions that they view as destabilizing.
In their first face-to-face talks since U.S. President Joe Biden took office last year, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe was quoted by state-run media as telling U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that his country’s military will not hesitate in crushing any Taiwan independence forces.
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North Korea makes diplomat Choe Son Hui its 1st female foreign minister
BEIJING – North Korea named Choe Son Hui as the nation’s first female foreign minister, state-run media reported Saturday, amid speculation the country may soon carry out its seventh nuclear test.
Choe, a senior diplomat and close aide to leader Kim Jong Un, has long handled nuclear weapons issues and North Korea’s negotiations with the United States. Direct talks on denuclearization and sanctions relief between the two nations have been at a standstill for more than two years.
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U.S. keeps Japan on currency monitoring list, warns of intervention
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday that Japan remains on a list of countries it monitors over potentially “unfair” currency practices, while noting that foreign exchange intervention should only take place in “very exceptional” cases amid the rapid weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar.
In a semiannual report to Congress on currency manipulation, the department named 12 economies on its “monitoring list” — China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Mexico. All except Taiwan and Vietnam were on the list in the December 2021 report.
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Japan gov’t, BOJ express concern about rapid yen depreciation
TOKYO – The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan said Friday they are concerned about the recent rapid weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar.
“The government and the Bank of Japan will cooperate closely and monitor developments on the currency market and its impact to the economy and commodity prices with even more vigilance,” they said in a joint statement issued also with the Financial Services Agency as their officials held a meeting.
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Japan ruling lawmaker quits party over allegations of drinking with teen
TOKYO – A House of Representatives member from a ruling party faction led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida quit the party Friday over a magazine report that he went out for drinks with an 18-year-old girl and gave her 40,000 yen ($300), party sources said.
The drinking age in Japan is 20, and the latest revelation involving third-term lawmaker Takeru Yoshikawa comes at a delicate time for Kishida and the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito ahead of a House of Councillors election in July.
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Football: Mitoma on song as Japan outgun Ghana 4-1 in World Cup warmup
KOBE – Kaoru Mitoma scored one goal and set up another Friday to lead Japan to a 4-1 win over fellow 2022 World Cup participants Ghana.
The Royale Union Saint-Gilloise winger put Japan up 2-1 on the stroke of halftime and assisted on Takefusa Kubo’s maiden Samurai Blue goal in the second half of the friendly at Kobe’s Noevir Stadium.