Politics
Japan reveals 3 sea-based alternatives for scrapped Aegis Ashore plan
Japan's Defense Ministry on Thursday disclosed three sea-based alternatives for a plan scrapped in June to deploy the costly land-based, U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore missile interception system, which was aimed at protecting the country from the North Korean missile threat. The alternatives, presented at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic… Read
Japan-S Korea ties need mending, Suga tells Moon in phone talks
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told South Korean President Moon Jae In in a phone call on Thursday that relations between the neighboring countries -- which have been strained by a diplomatic feud over wartime labor -- need to be improved. Speaking to reporters following his first conversation with Moon… Read
Suga holds talks with IOC chief, Koike about Olympics
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed Wednesday to work together to make next year's rescheduled Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics a success, the Foreign Ministry said. Suga, who succeeded Shinzo Abe to become Japan's first new leader in nearly eight years, also met with Tokyo… Read
Suga wants basic policy on new digital agency by year-end
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday he wanted to compile a basic policy on a new digital agency by the end of this year and submit necessary bills to next year's ordinary session of parliament. Creating an agency to speed up the digitalization of Japan's outdated government administration… Read
Don't pursue strike capability or NATO-like Asia, scholars tell Suga
Some academics in Southeast Asia and the Pacific are hoping that Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, will play a leadership role in Indo-Pacific affairs -- just as his predecessor Shinzo Abe did -- especially at a time when the United States and China are engaged in a "new cold… Read
Japan ready to become permanent U.N. Security Council member: Motegi
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday underlined Japan's willingness to contribute to global governance as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council as he made a case for reform of the world body's 15-nation decision-making organ. In a statement to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the… Read
Australian PM Morrison may visit Japan in November
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison plans on traveling to Japan to meet the country's recently elected prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, as early as November, Australian media reported Tuesday. The visit is aimed at reinforcing strategic cooperation between the two countries in the face of China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific… Read
Suga, China's Xi to hold phone talks Friday
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Chinese President Xi Jinping are planning to hold talks by telephone on Friday, Kyodo News reported, their first discussion since Suga took over as Japan's leader. The talks are aimed at further expanding ties between the two countries, Kyodo said on Tuesday, citing multiple… Read
Japan to seek record defense budget under Suga
The Defense Ministry will seek another record budget of over 5.4 trillion yen for fiscal 2021, government sources said Monday, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga vowed to continue with his predecessor's policy of bolstering Japan's capabilities in new domains. The seventh consecutive year of all-time high requests compares with 5.31… Read
Suga hopes for 'forward-looking' ties in letter to S Korea's Moon
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has expressed hopes for improved relations in a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Moon's office said on Monday, amid strained ties over history and trade. Feuds dating back to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea continue to dog bilateral relations, including the issues… Read
