Tokyo, 28 September, /AJMEDIA/
FOCUS: China-Japan ties unlikely to improve in 50th anniv. year
BEIJING – China and Japan on Thursday are set to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties, but prospects are dim for their relations to improve significantly amid a deepening rift between Beijing and Western nations with heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Experts have pointed out that bilateral relations are “full of downside risks” with a stronger rivalry between the two Asian neighbors, and the 50th anniversary is unlikely to change the basic trend in ties.
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Complete list of WWII U.S. internees of Japanese descent unveiled
LOS ANGELES – A comprehensive list of the more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent who were held in internment facilities across the United States during World War II has been unveiled in Los Angeles.
Some 200 people, including former internees, took part in a ceremony Saturday to commemorate the exhibition of the first-ever full roster at the Japanese American National Museum.
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Japan PM vows to inherit Abe’s will to rescue abductees from N. Korea
TOKYO – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Tuesday to carry out slain former leader Shinzo Abe’s mission of bringing about the return of Japanese abductees by North Korea, but the goal is unlikely to be achieved anytime soon.
Abe’s signature “maximum pressure” policy against North Korea made leader Kim Jong Un more reluctant to interact with Japan, eventually depriving Tokyo of an opportunity to hold talks with Pyongyang over the long-standing abduction issue, observers said.
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ADB to provide $14 billion to ease food crisis in Asia-Pacific
MANILA – The Asian Development Bank said Tuesday said it will provide $14 billion to countries in the Asia-Pacific region through 2025 to help ease their food crisis amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that has disrupted supplies of food and fertilizers.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said at the Manila-based bank’s annual meeting started the previous day that the assistance is an urgently needed response to the crisis, which is “leaving too many poor families in Asia hungry and in deeper poverty.”
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State funeral for ex-PM Abe draws protesters as well as mourners
TOKYO – Thousands gathered in the streets of Tokyo on Tuesday to voice opposition to a state funeral for slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while mourners formed long lines to lay flowers for the late Japanese leader and praised his diplomatic and economic accomplishments.
Many people brought flowers to special stands set up in a park near the Nippon Budokan arena, the funeral’s venue, but some people were seen shouting protest slogans against the state-funded ceremony.
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Ex-Tokyo Olympic exec faces new charge in growing bribery scandal
TOKYO – Prosecutors served a fresh arrest warrant Tuesday on Haruyuki Takahashi, a former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive, for allegedly accepting bribes from an advertising agency in a growing corruption scandal over the selection of Summer Games sponsors.
Prosecutors suspect Takahashi and an acquaintance received 15 million yen ($104,000) in bribes from Daiko Advertising Inc. in return for asking the organizing committee to use the Osaka-based firm as an agent for a major English conversation school operator, which became a sponsor of last year’s sporting event in September 2018, a source close to the matter said.
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Japan vows to work with Australia, India for free, open Indo-Pacific
TOKYO – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed with his Australian and Indian counterparts on Tuesday to cooperate in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific, a vision that slain former leader Shinzo Abe advocated, on the second day of Japan’s “condolence diplomacy.”
Kishida reached the agreements during separate meetings with Anthony Albanese and Narendra Modi ahead of the state funeral in Tokyo for Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, who was shot dead by a gunman while making an election speech in July.
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State funeral for ex-PM Abe staged amid strong public opposition
TOKYO – A state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held in Tokyo on Tuesday despite strong opposition to the controversial ceremony for the country’s longest-serving leader, with more than 4,000 mourners attending the rare event amid tight security.
Ahead of the state-funded event, the first of its kind for a former premier in 55 years, calls for its cancellation had grown. Critics say it lacks a legal basis, citing Abe’s complicated political legacy for their opposition.
