Kyodo News Digest: June 7, 2025
KYODO NEWS - 15 minutes ago - 09:26 | All, Japan, World
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
----------
Japan, U.S. yet to find common ground on tariffs
WASHINGTON - Japan and the United States have yet to find common ground on tariff issues but still aim to strike a deal of some sort in mid-June, Japan's chief tariff negotiator said Friday.
After holding talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington, Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's minister in charge of economic revitalization, told reporters that he believes "further progress" was made.
----------
Trump says U.S., China tariff teams to meet in London on Monday
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and two other Cabinet members in charge of tariff issues will meet with their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday.
The two other U.S. officials who will discuss trade issues with Chinese representatives are Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
----------
New S. Korea leader, Trump agree to seek "satisfactory" tariff deal
SEOUL - New South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed during their first telephone talks on Friday to work toward a "mutually satisfactory" agreement on U.S. tariffs at an early date, South Korea's presidential office said.
"Regarding ongoing tariff consultations between the two countries, the presidents agreed to strive for a mutually satisfactory agreement as soon as possible," the office said after their phone talks, adding that the leaders pledged to encourage tangible progress to be achieved in working-level negotiations.
----------
Suzuki halts production of Swift over China's rare earth export curbs
TOKYO - Suzuki Motor Corp. has halted production of its flagship Swift compact hatchback due to China's export restrictions on rare-earth elements, sources close to the matter said Friday, marking the first suspension by a Japanese automaker tied to the curbs.
The restrictions have caused delays in procuring parts that use rare earths, the sources said.
----------
Court overturns Fukushima crisis damages order against ex-TEPCO execs
TOKYO - A Japanese high court on Friday overturned a ruling ordering former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. to pay the utility unprecedented damages for failing to prevent the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The Tokyo High Court determined it was difficult for TEPCO's management at the time to foresee the massive tsunami of up to around 15 meters that caused the disaster, revoking the 2022 court decision ordering the former executives to pay around 13 trillion yen ($90 billion) in compensation.
----------
Japan OKs 20 tril. yen plan for disaster resilient infrastructure
TOKYO - The Japanese government on Friday approved a plan to enhance the disaster resilience of the country's infrastructure over the next five years, with the project expected to cost more than 20 trillion yen ($139 billion).
Focusing on measures to address aging infrastructure, the plan specifies 326 measures to be taken by government bodies from fiscal 2026 through 2030, while regional authorities bear part of the costs.
----------
Japan showcases MSDF frigate in Australia amid bid to win contract
DARWIN, Australia - Japan's latest Maritime Self-Defense Force frigate made a port call in Darwin, northern Australia, on Thursday for training, as Japan competes with Germany for a contract to build Australia's new-generation fleet.
Showcasing the Mogami-class multi-mission frigate Yahagi to the media on Friday, MSDF officials highlighted its advanced stealth features and ability to operate with a smaller crew than the German vessels.
----------
Japan's shogi board game ass'n has 1st female chief
TOKYO - Japan's leading shogi organization on Friday picked the first female chief in its 101-year history as part of efforts to encourage more young people, including women, to participate in the traditional Japanese board game.
Ichiyo Shimizu, a pro shogi player herself, succeeded Yoshiharu Habu, a 54-year-old master, as president of the Japan Shogi Association for a two-year term.
Video: Plum pickling ceremony at World Exposition in Osaka
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Sushiro sushi operator to begin farming sea urchins on land
OSAKA -- The company behind Sushiro, Japan's largest conveyor belt sushi chain, will partner with a Japanese startup to farm sea urchins on land, Nikkei has learned. Known as uni in Japan, sea urchins are a delicacy that is popular with foreign tourists. A large-scale uni farming operation on land is highly unusual.
The Mainichi
3 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Bill Emmott: China shifting from 'wolf warrior' diplomacy in style swap with US
By Bill Emmott, independent writer, lecturer and international affairs consultant A few years ago, the talk was about China's "wolf warrior" diplomacy, a term used to describe the aggressive, often coercive style being used by Chinese ambassadors all over the world but especially in the Indo-Pacific. It felt as if the Chinese government simply didn't care about whether other governments liked China or not. This year, however, the Chinese style seems to have changed. To some extent, in fact, that wolf-warrior style has been taken over by the United States. This swapping of styles was displayed clearly at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue of Indo-Pacific defence and security ministers that was hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank of which I have the honour of being chairman, in Singapore from May 30 to June 1. Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, did not use the term "wolf" but in his powerful speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue he talked frequently about reintroducing "the warrior ethos" into the American military and to America's deterrence posture in the region. Unusually for a U.S. Secretary of Defense, he referred specifically to the threats being posed by China in the region and named that country not just as China but as "Communist China," an ideological style rarely heard since the end of the Cold War 35 years ago. This message was perfectly welcome from the point of view of the Indo-Pacific countries, especially traditional security allies such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, and other partners in South-East Asia. For decades, the region has been happy to have American warriors helping to keep the peace. But now that American peacekeeping has "wolf" elements attached, albeit chiefly in an area of policy that is outside Secretary Hegseth's remit, trade and other things are feeling less comfortable. Under President Joe Biden's administration, countries often complained that America was not paying sufficient attention to trade and foreign investment, even while it was strengthening its security commitments. Since January, under Donald Trump's administration the complaints have reversed: The huge import tariffs he imposed on countries in the region on his so-called "Liberation Day" of April 2 represent far more attention than the region wanted. In fact, they represent a severe economic blow. Questioned about this at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Secretary Hegseth simply avoided answering by saying that trade was his boss's responsibility, not that of the Department of Defense. He also, however, stated that Trump's foreign policy approach was that America should not be telling other countries what they should be doing -- yet his trade policy appears to many in the region to be doing exactly that. The interesting thing is that instead of attending the Singapore event and exposing that contradiction, China chose to stay away and keep its head down. Unlike in recent years, China chose not to send its minister of national defense, nor even any senior military officers from the People's Liberation Army, and gave no explanation for its seemingly last-minute decision. Each time a Chinese official asked a question, however, it was one about tariffs or about America's treatment of the 10 (soon to be 11 with Timor-Leste joining) members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The intention seemed to be to exploit the contradiction in America's approach, but to do so quietly and gently rather than in the wolf-warrior style. This lower-key, more genuinely diplomatic policy was also shown by the fact that one day before the Shangri-La Dialogue China unveiled a new multilateral institution of its own, to be based in Hong Kong: the International Organization for Mediation. A convention to establish the new organization was signed by 30 countries, notably including Indonesia. The likely work of the new organization remains unclear, except that the convention says that it will aim to help resolve international disputes through mediation rather than through existing legal bodies such as the International Court of Justice. It is also not yet clear what sort of disputes might benefit from this mediation, but it is reasonable to suppose that one potential candidate might be the frontier dispute between two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Thailand, a recurrent dispute which led to an exchange of gunfire on May 28 and the death of a Cambodian soldier. Policy contradictions are not unique to the United States. China says that this new organization will aim to reinforce the principles of the United Nations Charter of 1945. Yet the most flagrant breach of those principles in recent years has been the invasion and seizure of Ukraine's sovereign territory by Russia, which is China's strategic partner "without limits," according to the Joint Statement issued by China and Russia three weeks before the attempted military takeover of Ukraine in February 2022. Furthermore, there are no signs of a condemnation by China of Russia's breach of the U.N. Charter nor of China proposing the use of its new mediation organization to try to bring an end to that deadly war. According to Kaja Kallas, the European Union's chief representative for foreign and security policy, China is the source of 80% of Russia's imports of dual-use goods that it needs for its war. Nor has China commented publicly on Russia's use of North Korean troops to fight alongside its own army in this war on the European continent. The other contradiction in China's position is that in the South China Sea, its own navy and coastguards are the most frequent cause of disputes over territorial waters and the reefs beneath them. China is confronting military and civilian ships from the Philippines on a daily basis, and it has ignored a 2016 ruling by the International Court of Arbitration in the Hague over those waters and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. If China chooses during the coming months or years to try to test the "warrior ethos" Secretary Hegseth talked about at the Shangri-La Dialogue, it is likely to do so over its dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea, to see what Trump's America is willing to do under the terms of its Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951 with the Philippines. Such a test would risk raising the U.S.-China confrontation to a new and dangerous level. Until and unless such a test happens, what we are seeing looks like a new stage in Chinese diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific: to be quiet, to sound cooperative and to provide a market for regional exports that is easier to access than the United States. The "wolf warrior" has, for the time being, been superseded by the friendly, quite reasonable-sounding neighbourhood mediator. Let's see how long this phase lasts.
Kyodo News
5 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japan, EU eye launch of "competitive alliance" scheme to boost trade
KYODO NEWS - 3 hours ago - 21:04 | Japan, All, World Japan and the European Union are preparing to launch an "alliance" framework to beef up their companies' competitiveness by promoting trade and economic security cooperation, diplomatic sources said Saturday, facing concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and Chinese trade practices. The creation of the "Japan-EU Competitiveness Alliance" is expected to be announced at a regular summit meeting being arranged for July, when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is likely to host European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, they said. The move will further align both sides' efforts to uphold a rules-based economic order, building on cooperation through a free trade agreement that removes tariffs and other trade barriers between the two economies, which account for 20 percent of the world's gross domestic product. Under the framework, Japan and the EU will work together to diversify supply chains for rare earth minerals in the face of China's export restrictions on the elements crucial for the production of smartphones and other high-tech products, according to the sources. They will also align subsidy conditions for environmental technology such as electric vehicle and hydrogen production to promote fair competition for manufacturers and reduce development costs. On the trade front, the two sides will seek to promote reform of the World Trade Organization that is deemed dysfunctional, with the United States dissatisfied with the global body's response to addressing Chinese trade practices and other issues. They will also seek to collaborate with the "Global South" emerging and developing economies as partners sharing values of free and fair trade as well as the rule of law, the sources said. The EU is also eager to cooperate with a vast trans-Pacific free trade agreement involving Japan and 10 other nations, plus Britain that joined the accord in 2023. Some inside the bloc have called for joining efforts in rulemaking, as members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership weigh better business environment for digital trade and climate change countermeasures.
