Kyodo News Digest: June 10, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 13 minutes ago - 09:04 | All, World, Japan
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan sees 1st simultaneous operations by China carriers in Pacific
TOKYO - Japan confirmed for the first time two Chinese aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in the Pacific, as the government said Monday it has spotted the Shandong near Japan's southernmost Okinotori island, a move further fueling Tokyo's concerns over Beijing's military activities.
The announcement came a day after the Defense Ministry said the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was observed in the vicinity of Japan's easternmost Minamitori Island in the Pacific for two days from Saturday, the first confirmed navigation by a Chinese carrier in those waters.
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U.S., China hold high-level trade talks with rare earths in focus
LONDON - Senior U.S. and Chinese officials met in London on Monday, with a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump expecting the latest round of trade talks to result in Beijing promptly lifting its export controls on rare earth minerals.
The second high-level meeting, following mid-May talks in Geneva, took place after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone last week, their first known direct communication since the U.S. president's inauguration for a nonconsecutive second term in January.
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Japan, South Korea leaders agree to build stable ties in 1st phone talks
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed Monday to build stable bilateral ties amid a severe strategic environment, with both expressing hope to meet in person at an early date.
In their first telephone conversation since Lee took office last week, Ishiba and the South Korean leader also confirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation with their shared ally, the United States, according to the governments of Japan and South Korea.
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Japan PM aims for nominal GDP to reach 1,000 tril. yen in 2040
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday that Japan should aim to boost its economy to 1,000 trillion yen ($7 trillion) in nominal terms in 2040, instructing his ruling party executives to include it in a pledge for this summer's nationwide election.
The size compares with a nominal gross domestic product of around 600 trillion yen in 2024, which met a target set about a decade ago. Japan, however, had lost its status as the world's third-largest economy to Germany the previous year.
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4 Japan SDF members hurt in blast near U.S. Kadena Air Base
NAHA, Japan - Four Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members were slightly injured in an explosion on Monday while handling an unexploded bomb at a depot near the U.S. military's Kadena Air Base in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, local and Defense Ministry officials said.
The ministry officials said the explosion occurred around 11:20 a.m. at a GSDF storage facility for unexploded bombs in Kadena Ammunition Storage Area near the base.
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Tokyo police, prosecutors to forgo appeal in illicit probe case
TOKYO - Tokyo police and prosecutors plan not to appeal a court ruling that found unlawful an investigation into an alleged unauthorized export of equipment capable of producing biological weapons, investigative sources said Monday.
The Metropolitan Police Department will review flaws in their initial investigation after the Tokyo High Court ruled the arrests and indictments of Masaaki Okawara, 76, president of machinery maker Ohkawara Kakohki Co., and two other men, were unlawful.
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Over 70 nations to call for int'l plastic pollution reduction targets
TOKYO - Over 70 countries are set to call for targets to reduce plastic production and consumption worldwide to combat marine pollution in a joint statement to be issued at the U.N. Ocean Conference this week, a source related to the matter said Monday.
Japan is not expected to back the statement, which will be issued by various European and Pacific island nations at the conference running Monday through Friday in the southeastern French city of Nice.
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Sumo great Hakuho plans to promote sport from outside ruling body
TOKYO - Retired sumo great Hakuho plans to remain involved with the sport and work to develop it further despite severing ties with its ruling body, the winner of a record 45 elite-level tournaments said Monday.
The Mongolian-born former yokozuna grand champions's retirement from the Japan Sumo Association was formalized the same day.
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an hour ago
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Two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific for first time, Japan says
The Chinese Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a naval parade off the eastern port city of Qingdao, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, China, April 23, 2019. (REUTERS) Two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Tuesday. Japan's Defense Ministry has confirmed the Liaoning and Shandong operating in separate locations in the Pacific on Saturday, both near remote southern islands belonging to Japan. Iwaya said the ministry had communicated with Beijing through China's embassy in Japan and that it would take further 'appropriate steps' as needed. He stopped short of condemning China for the operations. Japan had said a day earlier that Liaoning sailed in the sea within Japan's exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Japan Times
an hour ago
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Does U.S. law allow Trump to send troops to quell protests?
U.S. President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to California after days of protests by hundreds of demonstrators against immigration raids, saying the protests interfered with federal law enforcement and framing them as a possible "form of rebellion' against the authority of the U.S. government. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday mobilized 700 active duty Marines as part of the government's response to the protests. California sued the Trump administration on Monday to end the "unlawful" deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return the state National Guard to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's command. What laws did Trump cite to justify the deployment? Trump cited Title 10 of the U.S. Code, a federal law that outlines the role of the U.S. Armed Forces, in his Saturday order to call members of the California National Guard into federal service. A provision of Title 10 — Section 12406 — allows the president to deploy National Guard units into federal service if the U.S. is invaded, there is a "rebellion or danger of rebellion' or the president is "unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.' What are National Guard troops allowed to do under the law cited in Trump's order? An 1878 law, the Posse Comitatus Act, generally forbids the U.S. military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement. Section 12406 does not override that prohibition, but it allows troops to protect federal agents who are carrying out law enforcement activity and to protect federal property. For example, National Guard troops cannot arrest protesters, but they could protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who are carrying out arrests. What does California's lawsuit say? California's lawsuit said the deployment of troops in the state without the governor's consent violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution's 10th Amendment, which protects states' rights. The state argues the deployment does not meet any of the requirements in Title 10 because there was no "rebellion,' no "invasion" and no situation that prevented the enforcement of U.S. laws in the state. Trump also did not consult with Newsom before deploying the National Guard, violating Section 12406's requirement that orders to deploy the National Guard "shall be issued through the governors of the States," according to the lawsuit. What is the lawsuit asking for? The lawsuit seeks a declaration from the court Trump's order is unlawful and an injunction blocking it from being enforced. How might a court view the dispute? There is little precedent for such a dispute. Section 12406 has only ever been invoked once before to deploy the National Guard, when President Richard Nixon called upon it to deliver the mail during the 1970 Postal Service Strike, according to Bonta. Five legal experts from both left- and right-leaning advocacy organizations cast doubt on Trump's use of Title 10 in response to the immigration protests and called it inflammatory and reckless, especially without Newsom's support. The protests in California do not rise to the level of "rebellion' and do not prevent the federal government from executing the laws of the United States, experts said. Legal experts were split on whether a court would back Newsom's interpretation of the governor's role under Section 12406. Courts have traditionally given great weight to the word "shall' in interpreting other laws, which supports Newsom's position that governors must be involved in calling in the National Guard. But other experts said the law was written to reflect the norms of how National Guard troops are typically deployed, rather than giving a governor the option to not comply with a president's decision to deploy troops. What other laws could Trump invoke to direct the National Guard or other U.S. military troops? Trump could take a more far-reaching step by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1792, which would allow troops to directly participate in civilian law enforcement, for which there is little recent precedent. Senior White House officials, including Vice President JD Vance and senior White House aide Stephen Miller, have used the term "insurrection" when discussing the protests, but the administration has stopped short of invoking the act thus far. It has been used by past presidents to deploy troops within the U.S. in response to crises like the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War. The law was last invoked by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, when the governor of California requested military aid to suppress unrest in Los Angeles following the trial of Los Angeles police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King. But the last time a president deployed the National Guard in a state without a request from that state's governor was 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson sent troops to protect civil rights demonstrators in Montgomery, Alabama. What about the Marines? Trump has more direct authority over the Marines than the National Guard, under Title 10 and in his constitutional role as commander in chief of the armed forces, legal experts said. But unless Trump invokes the Insurrection Act, the Marines are subject to legal restrictions that prevent them from taking part in "any search, seizure, arrest or other similar activity." The Defense Department said on Monday that the Marines were ready to support the National Guard's efforts to protect federal personnel and federal property in Los Angeles, emphasizing the relatively limited scope of their role at the moment.
