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Mitsubishi Corp. bets big on US solar with $3.9bn expansion plan

Mitsubishi Corp. bets big on US solar with $3.9bn expansion plan

Nikkei Asia5 hours ago

Energy
Trump tariff pressure spurs shift to US made solar components
With vast tracts of land, the U.S. provides abundant opportunities for solar power development.
SHIN WATANABE
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. will boost its solar power generation capacity in the U.S. by 160% by 2028, Nikkei has learned, with a total project cost estimated at $3.9 billion.
The company will source equipment from local suppliers and take advantage of tax incentives for solar development in the U.S.

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Japan scraps U.S. meeting after Washington demands more defense spending: report
Japan scraps U.S. meeting after Washington demands more defense spending: report

Japan Today

timean hour ago

  • Japan Today

Japan scraps U.S. meeting after Washington demands more defense spending: report

FILE PHOTO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba gives his opening speech at the beginning of the meeting with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at his office in Tokyo. March 30, 2025. Stanislav Kogiku/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Japan has canceled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the United States after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defense, the Financial Times reported on Friday. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for the annual 2+2 security talks. But Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the U.S. asked Japan to boost defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3%, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding that its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5% of GDP on defense. A U.S. official who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Japan had "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. The official did not cite a reason. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said she had no comment on the FT report when asked about it at regular briefing. The Pentagon also had no immediate comment. Japan's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. The nation's foreign and defense ministries and the Prime Minister's Office did not answer phone calls seeking comment outside business hours on Saturday. The FT said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key U.S. ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that other nations do not decide Japan's defense budget after Colby, in his nomination hearing to be under secretary of defense for policy, called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China. Japan and other U.S. allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The FT said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move on the 2+2 comes ahead of a meeting of the U.S.-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defense spending to 5% of GDP. © Thomson Reuters 2025.

Japan to Provide Defense Equipment to 8 Countries Under OSA; Framework Helps Like-Minded Nations Enhance Security Capabilities
Japan to Provide Defense Equipment to 8 Countries Under OSA; Framework Helps Like-Minded Nations Enhance Security Capabilities

Yomiuri Shimbun

timean hour ago

  • Yomiuri Shimbun

Japan to Provide Defense Equipment to 8 Countries Under OSA; Framework Helps Like-Minded Nations Enhance Security Capabilities

The government has begun discussing the selection of eight countries in fiscal 2025 as recipients of the Official Security Assistance (OSA) program that provides defense equipment, according to sources. Japan's OSA aims to help like-minded countries enhance their security capabilities by providing the equipment to member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that are located on important points of Japan's sea lanes, and to Pacific island nations where China is increasing its influence. The government plans to provide the OSA aid to the eight countries, including Thailand, the Philippines and Tonga, as eligible recipients that share the same values as Japan. The defense equipment includes things such as unmanned aerial vehicle drones and high-speed patrol boats. Other potential recipients are Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. In addition to Japan's domestically made drones, the government plans to provide military vessels for search and rescue missions and heavy machineries to be utilized in the event of disasters. Related costs for the provisions are estimated to total about ¥8 billion. The OSA is a framework in which Japan can directly assist military forces of like-minded countries and differs from the official development assistance framework in which aid is limited to non-military fields. Since fiscal 2023, the Japanese government has decided to provide coastal surveillance radar, air control radar and high-speed patrol boats to the Philippines and Mongolia.

Modi coming in August to seal deal on bullet trains for India
Modi coming in August to seal deal on bullet trains for India

Asahi Shimbun

timean hour ago

  • Asahi Shimbun

Modi coming in August to seal deal on bullet trains for India

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviews the honor guard at the Government House in Bangkok on April 3. (Reuters) Japanese and Indian officials are putting the final touches on a trip to Japan in late August by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that will see Tokyo reaping a windfall sale of the latest Shinkansen bullet train technology to New Delhi. East Japan Railway Co. is planning to start commercial operations of its new E10 series of bullet trains in fiscal 2030, which the government has already said it is willing to share with India, according to several diplomatic sources in the two nations. 'This would be the first case of the latest model being introduced simultaneously in Japan and another country,' said a government source in Tokyo. During Modi's visit in late 2015 when Shinzo Abe was prime minister, it was agreed that India's first high-speed railway network would use Japanese technology. Initially, the E5 series used on the Tohoku Shinkansen line was to be exported to India. But then JR East in March announced plans to begin development of the next-generation E10 series of bullet trains, so officials approached their Indian counterparts about using that technology instead, according to sources. Modi last visited Japan in May 2023 as one of the invited leaders to join the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima. One aim of the August trip is to set a pattern of reciprocal visits by the leaders of the two nations. India will host the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad meeting, that groups Australia, India, Japan and the United States this autumn. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to attend. Arrangements are now being worked out for Modi and Ishiba in August to visit the plant in Miyagi Prefecture where the E10 prototype is being developed. Modi will also get an update on a plan announced in 2022 by Ishiba's predecessor, Fumio Kishida, for Japan to invest 5 trillion yen ($34.2 billion) in India over a five-year period. The two leaders are also expected to discuss cooperation in constructing a supply chain for semiconductors and other vital products. Modi may visit China after his Japan trip to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, according to diplomatic sources. Russia is also a member of that organization. By visiting Japan prior to China, Modi will alleviate concerns in Tokyo that New Delhi, with its longstanding nonaligned diplomatic policy, is too dependent on Beijing, a government source said. (This article was written by Nen Satomi in Tokyo and Takashi Ishihara in New Delhi.)

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