Chinese carmaker GAC eyes 2026 electric vehicle launch in UK
SHIZUKA TANABE
GUANGZHOU -- Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) will debut electric vehicles in early 2026, the Chinese state-owned automaker announced Wednesday.
GAC has signed a contract to create a joint venture with a Saudi company to handle U.K. sales, which will add thrust to its progress toward its planned goal of entering all European markets by 2028.
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Asahi Shimbun
7 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Without foreign staff, restaurants could not stay open, says exec
Yasuhiro Inoue, center, a vice chairman of the Osaka Restaurant Management Association (ORA), with foreign staff at the ORA Gaishoku Pavilion Utage at the Osaka Kansai Expo (Koichiro Ishida) The status of foreigners in Japanese society has emerged as a central issue in the Upper House election to be held on July 20. Yasuhiro Inoue, 60, a vice chairman of the Osaka Restaurant Management Association (ORA), has worked with non-Japanese both in the association as well as in his own company. The ORA has 560 member companies. The Asahi Shimbun interviewed Inoue for his views on foreigners in Japan. Excerpts of the interview follow: Question: You have led study sessions for close to 10 years at the ORA regarding the hiring practices of foreign workers. You also manage several restaurants. What presence do foreign nationals have in the restaurant industry as a whole? Inoue: I have been involved in the restaurant business for the past 40 years or so and now manage about a dozen restaurants, including Chinese and Japanese ones, on a franchise basis. Based on that experience, I can state that the industry is labor intensive. It can hardly be described as a popular industry since wages are lower in comparison to other sectors. It is not easy to secure adequate personnel due to the need to stay open during periods when most people have the day off. In the last few years, the restaurant industry has faced a difficult situation of not being able to remain open without foreign staff. In my company, we have many foreigners working part-time. Almost all our regular company employees are foreign nationals. There is no difference in the pay scale between Japanese and foreign employees. Q: What has been your experience with hiring foreigners? A: They provide us with ideas that Japanese would never come up with. For example, they have provided ideas regarding the use of the skin from peeled fruit based on cooking methods from their home nations. Those ideas have led to a reduction in food loss and lower company expenses. Because of differences in cultural backgrounds, there are also times when I come up with new business ideas after talking with them. Q: Can you talk about leading ORA activities since 2016 with regard to foreign workers and hiring practices? A: The catalyst was a Vietnamese woman who was the first foreigner we hired as a regular company employee. We found out she had accumulated loans of about 1 million yen ($6,700) as a fee she paid to the local broker who made the arrangements for her to come to Japan. I realized there was a lack of transparency in the system under which foreigners can work in Japan. For the next two and a half years, I backpacked around Asia about once a month to investigate local organizations that were dispatching foreign workers as well as observe local customs. During my research, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) helped out and so did part-time foreign workers at my restaurants. But I came to realize there were limits to what I could do by myself, so I asked the ORA for its help. The cooperation of foreigners will be indispensable to further growth of our restaurant sector. To accomplish that, Japan needs to develop appropriate hiring practices. We have held study sessions by asking college professors, lawyers and judicial scriveners to give talks. We have also lobbied the government to establish a better system. Q: Ahead of the Upper House election, posts have emerged on social media with baseless arguments such as foreigners are taking advantage of the social welfare system set up for Japanese. What are your thoughts on that? A: Our foreign employees naturally pay the same taxes and social insurance premiums as our Japanese employees. If there is a loophole in some specific system, it should be corrected when it is discovered. But there are likely foreigners as well as Japanese who will abuse such loopholes. It is wrong to criticize only foreigners. Q: What do you think about politicians who call for changes in policy regarding foreigners on grounds they are being given special privileges? A: While I believe it is a good thing to finally have a spotlight on policies concerning foreigners that many people had no interest in for a long time, I find the discussion to be less than refined. I want candidates to conduct discussions based on the actual circumstances that the restaurant industry faces rather than make criticisms about foreigners receiving special privileges while not giving specific examples. Q: How do your foreign employees feel about the current social atmosphere? A: Recently after a high-ranking foreign employee who is fluent in Japanese read social media posts, I was asked, 'Are foreigners hated in Japan?' They appear to have become more worried about the change in the social atmosphere. Q: Can you tell us about the use of foreigners as staff at the ORA pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo? A: Twenty-four foreigners are working at the ORA Gaishoku Pavilion Utage. While 18 of them are not very fluent in Japanese, we are trying to demonstrate that they can carry out their duties with the help of a small number of Japanese staff as well as foreigners who are fluent in Japanese. We have already welcomed close to 1 million visitors to our pavilion, and there have been no major problems. The staff appear to enjoy working there and I want visitors to feel the benefits and strengths of diversity.
The Diplomat
14 hours ago
- The Diplomat
How Iran Sees the China-US Trade War
As the expiration date for the truce in the trade war between the United States and China approaches, policymakers in Tehran see both immediate risks and potential long-term opportunities for the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is demonstrated in analysis produced by the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations (SCFR), an entity tasked with advising Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on diplomatic affairs. Although not a decision-making body, the SCFR can indicate the direction of Iranian policymaking, due to its proximity to Khamenei's office and the involvement of key loyalists to the Supreme Leader, including former presidential contender Saeed Jalili. In its assessments of the China-U.S. trade war, the SCFR reveals how the Islamic Republic sees the rift between Washington and Beijing, while having little ability to influence its outcome. Amid international sanctions and diplomatic isolation, Iran has expanded its engagement with China. In recent years, China emerged as a critical economic partner for Iran – receiving up to 90 percent of Iranian oil exports, according to some reports. While the United States has sought to curtail these trade links, evasive shipping practices, avoidance of dollar transactions, and the use of 'teapot' refineries have enabled Iran and China to bypass sanctions. This has offered the Islamic Republic a crucial economic lifeline. Their partnership was formalized under a broader 25-year cooperation agreement between Tehran and Beijing signed in 2021. Outside of the energy sector, Iran's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative has facilitated Chinese infrastructure and utilities investment. In the wake of conflict between Iran and Israel, speculation has also emerged that Iran could bolster its security ties to China, especially amid military setbacks and apparent frustrations with Russia. The U.S. has sought to counter Iran's movement toward China, especially under the Trump administration, as a means of enhancing leverage over the Islamic Republic. During the past several months, Washington has moved to sanction entities involved in transporting and refining Iranian oil for the Chinese market. In the short term, upholding the status quo between the U.S. and China would be in Iran's interest, either by Beijing and Washington maintaining the interim tariff reduction deal or reaching a more permanent settlement. According to SCFR analysis, a reinvigorated China-U.S. trade war could harm Iran's economic lifeline, by reducing China's demand for production inputs like oil. Given its dependence on the Chinese market, this would have significant ramifications for Iran's already weak economy. It would also intensify inflation and weaken Iranian foreign currency reserves, both of which have been recurrent issues for the Islamic Republic's monetary system. Compounding these factors, diminished exports to China would strengthen sanctions enforcement by the West, which the Islamic Republic has failed to significantly alleviate via diplomatic means. As Iran seeks to regain its footing ahead of renewed competition with Israel, these pressures could undermine efforts to curb domestic dissent and replenish its military forces, leading to wider strategic challenges. Iran also sees opportunity in the China-U.S. trade war, as a potential disruption to the existing international order. In particular, the potential long-term weakening of the U.S. dollar could support Iran's strategic interests. As noted by one SCFR publication, reducing the dollar's dominance as the world reserve currency would diminish the efficacy of sanctions and relative U.S. economic power. This would dovetail with efforts by the Islamic Republic to support other global 'de-dollarization' initiatives, including the formation of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization bank and the expansion of the BRICS New Development Bank. Nevertheless, the SCFR may be overly optimistic on the prospects of de-dollarization, as a clear alternative has yet to emerge. Additionally, the SCFR claims that China could seek to develop new export markets in the Middle East, including Iran, necessitating a stronger economic and diplomatic push in the region. This would be to Iran's advantage, as it could entail further Chinese investment and non-oil trade, both of which the Islamic Republic has consistently pursued. That said, Chinese direct investment in Iran has been limited thus far. It is also to China's advantage that Iran is economically weak and isolated, as it enables the import of Iranian oil at a significant discount. Despite limited influence over the situation, the SCFR asserts that the China-U.S. trade war must be 'optimally utilized' to Iran's advantage. In particular, it identifies 'global polarization' and economic uncertainty as factors that could create opportunities for deepening trade relations with other developing states. Specifically, Brazil and India are highlighted as potential import partners, with the potential to reduce Iran's dependence upon any single patron. However, it is unlikely that either could match China's energy demand. Furthermore, much of Iran's success in diversifying commercial relations has come through states such as Belarus and Serbia, which are unlikely to import Iranian oil in significant amounts, despite offering certain opportunities. Overall, the SCFR's assessment reflects a lack of options for the Islamic Republic to proactively shape the situation to its advantage. This further indicates that the status quo may be Tehran's preferred outcome, for the time being. In sum, the SCFR's perspective on the China-U.S. trade war reveals a reactive posture. This is marked by an effort to preserve the Islamic Republic's current advantages while seeking new openings amid global economic shifts, primarily designed to erode and challenge U.S. influence. Still, Iran's ability to capitalize on these developments remains constrained by structural weaknesses, international isolation, and its growing dependence on its energy exports to China. As such, Tehran's strategic calculus ultimately hinges on maintaining regime resilience, while seeking space to balance and maneuver within broader great power competition.
The Mainichi
15 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Over 80% of scam emails globally targeted Japan in May: security firm
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Over 80 percent of email scams with identifiable senders targeted Japanese recipients in May, as advances in generative artificial intelligence allow the use of more natural language, a U.S. cybersecurity firm said. Of the record-high 770 million scam emails sent globally in May, Proofpoint analyzed 240 million containing sender data and found 81.4 percent of those targeted Japanese speakers, the company said in a recent report. "Fraudulent emails were easily spotted previously because of unnatural wording, but the advancement of generative AI has helped produce natural sentences, enabling them to break through the language barrier," Proofpoint Japan's Yukimi Sota said. According to Proofpoint, which says it analyzes around a quarter of emails sent globally, the volume of nefarious emails started increasing sharply around the time when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. There were 100 million to 200 million such emails sent each month before 2025, but that figure surged to more than 500 million per month this year, the company said. Many are phishing emails sent from addresses posing as securities firms. They guide recipients to fake websites that are used to steal personal information such as email addresses and passwords, giving hackers the ability to hijack accounts. If corporate email and security credentials are stolen, it could give attackers access to unauthorized internal communication systems on which further phishing emails can be sent. According to Sota, the majority of email scams targeting Japan used a specific cybercrime program that uses the Chinese language. The number of such emails plunged during the Lunar New Year from late January to early February. "Their unprecedented scale and sophisticated methods raise a possibility of an organized attack led by a foreign government," Sota said, calling on Japanese companies to enhance cybersecurity measures such as adopting multi-factor authentication.
