Japan
COMMENT: The West keeps betting against Japan – and keeps getting it wrong
The West keeps betting against Japan because it doesn’t play by Western rules of visibility, disruption and hype. It forgets that resilience doesn’t always look like growth charts or come in the form of venture capital buzzwords.
Nissan’s global retrenchment: factories close, jobs lost
The seeds of Nissan’s current predicament were sown back in fiscal year 2019. The company’s global vehicle sales fell by over 10% to just under 5mn units, with major slowdowns across critical markets.
Japan’s auto industry left reeling under tariff pressure as Honda and Nissan feel the pain
The twin disclosures from Honda and Nissan underscore how devastating tariff uncertainty, EV disruption and internal financial strain are converging to threaten Japan’s automotive dominance.
COMMENT: Taiwan is playing with darkness by abandoning nuclear power
Japan has restarted many of its nuclear reactors, recognising their role in energy security and climate targets. South Korea has also reinstated nuclear as a core component of its energy strategy. Taiwan, by contrast, is marching backwards.
COMMENT: Why Asia should not follow the failed European model
Over the past 15 years, Europe’s trade frameworks have faltered, integration has stalled, and a number of its core political and economic ideas have failed under real-world pressure.
ASIA BLOG: Beijing’s South China Sea strategy is about Taiwan — and the world needs to sit up and take notice
Even as Taiwan is described as potentially the most dangerous flashpoint in Asia, it is actually the fulcrum upon which the future of the Indo-Pacific — and by extension the global balance of power — may pivot.
From occupied hosts to strategic partners: the evolving role of Japan and South Korea in US Asia Strategy
Incidents ranging from theft and assault to more egregious acts like rape and murder have periodically reignited public anger such as in the case of the 1995 abduction and gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen.
ASEAN aligns with Japan, China and South Korea in warning against protectionist risks
Meeting on the sidelines of the recent Asian Development Bank’s annual gathering in Milan, Italy, the officials reiterated their support for a rules-based, free and fair multilateral trading system.
Empty shelves and soaring costs hit Japan’s rice supply
Japan is grappling with a major rice shortage, as stores struggle to keep up with demand and soaring prices put the staple food out of reach for many households.
_Cropped_1745961826.jpg)
Chipping point – the climate toll of AI chip-making in East Asia
The meteoric rise of AI is sparking a parallel and largely overlooked environmental challenge: the significant climate impact of chip manufacturing, particularly in East Asia, says a new report from Greenpeace.
Japanese official warns of wider Asian security impact of Trump tariffs
Former defence minister Itsunori Onodera, speaking in Washington at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expressed particular concern about the potential impact on Southeast Asia.
The state of global fertility – Statista
South Korea, together with Hong Kong, Macau and Puerto Rico, is one of only a few places in the world with a fertility rate below 1, data by the World Bank shows, Statista reports.
Moscow slams Japan's Ukraine loan as 'treachery'
Moscow has in recent decades made repeated moves to bully Japan into remaining silent on a number of territorial issues, most famously over possession of the Kuril Islands east of Hokkaido.
IMF: The global economy enters a new era
The global economic system under which most countries have operated for the last 80 years is being reset, ushering the world into a new era.
China accuses US of sophisticated cyberattacks, outs alleged NSA agents
Police in Harbin have also placed three individuals on a wanted list, alleging their affiliation with the NSA. They are said to have repeatedly attacked China’s critical information infrastructure, including cyber operations directed at Huawei.
ASIA BLOG: Is China preparing to poke the paper tiger in the White House?
The US intimidates certain countries. But America is just a paper tiger. Don’t believe its bluff. One poke and it’ll burst!
Asian giants thrive in Russia despite sanctions
Maintaining a complex balance between profit, geopolitical alignment and risk management, the presence of Asian nations in Russia reveals a divergence between Western corporate exodus and Eastern mercantile strategy.
ASIA BLOG: China suddenly recognises need for community, in a region Beijing has long polarised
President Xi made no mention of long-standing territorial issues with China’s closest neighbours including Japan, South Korea and the self-governing country long claimed as an integral part of China by Beijing: Taiwan.
JFE Shoji opens first factory in Europe – in Serbia
Japanese company JFE Shoji inaugurated a state-of-the-art factory in the Serbian town of Inđija on April 8, marking its first manufacturing plant in Europe.
Volcanic activity escalates at Mount Kanlaon in Central Philippines
Mount Kanlaon, a volcano in the Central Philippines, erupted once more on the morning of April 8, propelling a column of ash approximately 4,000 metres into the atmosphere.