Tokyo, 27 November, /AJMEDIA/
Envoy hopes South Korea, Japan leaders’ mutual visits to resume soon
TOKYO – South Korea’s ambassador to Japan expressed hope that the countries’ leaders can restart their reciprocal visits “sooner than expected” as both nations try to improve bilateral ties, damaged significantly by wartime labor issues.
In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Yun Duk Min touched on the potential resumption of what is known as “shuttle diplomacy,” in which the leaders regularly visit each other’s country, a practice that has been stalled since 2011.
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Taiwan’s ruling party suffers big defeat in key local elections
TAIPEI – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party suffered a major defeat in Saturday’s local elections, which are seen as a prelude to the island’s 2024 presidential and legislative elections, with the China-friendly opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) winning mayoral seats in four of six special municipal districts.
Following the defeat, Tsai offered to step down as head of her independence-leaning party.
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Major Japan utilities to face record amount of antitrust fines
TOKYO – Japan’s trade watchdog is likely to impose a record amount of fines on several major utilities after finding they formed a cartel and obstructed the liberalization of the country’s electricity market, sources close to the matter have said.
The companies including Chugoku Electric Power Co., Kyushu Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co. will be ordered to pay surcharges totaling tens of billions of yen for violating the antimonopoly law, possibly the highest amount ever imposed by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the sources said Friday.
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Football: Japan prepared for whatever Costa Rica tries: Yoshida
DOHA – Japan captain Maya Yoshida said his team has plans to counter whatever defensive scheme Costa Rica use in their World Cup matchup on Sunday in Qatar.
They will press, or sit back, he said after training in a very warm Doha on Saturday, but Japan can take advantage of either.
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U.S. bans new telecom equipment from Huawei, ZTE due to security risk
WASHINGTON – The U.S. government said Friday it was banning the sale of new telecommunications equipment made by Chinese companies Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. as well as video surveillance equipment from some other firms, citing national security risks.
The latest move by the Federal Communications Commission reflects U.S. concerns that equipment produced by Chinese companies with potential ties to the Communist-led government may be used for espionage and other activities.
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Protests held against “zero-COVID” policy as China sees record cases
BEIJING – Residents in various areas of China have protested against the nation’s strict “zero-COVID” policy, according to videos shared on social media, as the country on Saturday reported a record number of infections for the third consecutive day.
The videos, believed to have been taken in Urumqi, the capital of the far-western Xinjiang region, the southwestern city of Chongqing and Beijing, went viral, with many social media users expressing sympathy with the demonstrators. Some of the videos were later deleted.