China, India should continue practical cooperation, Chinese VP tells Indian minister
During the meeting in Beijing, Han said both countries should also respect each other's concerns, and promote stable development of bilateral ties, Xinhua reported.
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The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba clings to power after bruising defeat in parliament
Prime minister Shigeru Ishiba's political future hangs in the balance after his ruling coalition suffered a significant setback in Japan 's upper house elections, losing its majority and plunging the government into a rare state of divided control. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner Komeito won just 47 of the 125 contested seats in the House of Councillors, falling short of their pre-election target of 50 seats. The coalition's overall strength in the 248-member chamber has now dropped to 122 seats, down from 141 before the vote. The tightly contested elections were held on Sunday amid voters' frustration at the coalition over rising prices and the risk of Donald Trump's tariffs. However, Mr Ishiba has vowed not to quit in a series of televised remarks after the results were announced on Sunday evening. Mr Ishiba told reporters he would remain prime minister, citing a looming tariff deadline with the United States set to strain the world's fourth-largest economy. But said he "solemnly" accepts the "harsh result". Having already lost its majority in Japan's more powerful lower house last year, this latest defeat further weakens the coalition's political influence. With this loss, the ruling alliance no longer holds a majority in either house of Japan's bicameral parliament – a scenario not seen in the country's postwar political history. Analysts say his days in office may be numbered now as opposition parties are pledging to cut taxes and tighten immigration policies. "The political situation has become fluid and could lead to a leadership change or the reshuffling of the coalition in coming months, but prime minister Shigeru Ishiba will likely stay to complete the tariff negotiations with the US for now," said Oxford Economics' lead Japan economist Norihiro Yamaguchi. Adding to the economic anxiety, Mr Ishiba's lack of progress in averting tariffs set to be imposed by its biggest trading partner, the US, on 1 August appears to have frustrated some voters. "Had the ruling party resolved even one of these issues, it (their approval rate) would have gone up, but we didn't feel anything and it seems like the US would continue to push us around," Hideaki Matsuda, a 60-year-old company manager, said outside Tokyo 's bustling Shinjuku station on Monday morning. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ) finished second in Sunday's election with 22 seats in the ballot. Its leader, Yoshihiko Noda, said he is considering submitting a vote of non-confidence in the Ishiba administration as the result showed it did not have voters' trust. Some of the votes also got divided with the far-right Sanseito party, which clocked the biggest gains of the night, adding 14 seats to one elected previously. Birthed on YouTube during the Covid-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the party broke into mainstream politics with its "Japanese First" campaign and warnings about a "silent invasion" of foreigners.
BreakingNews.ie
11 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Japan's PM Ishiba says he will stay in office despite election loss
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said he will stay in office to tackle challenges such as rising prices and high US tariffs after a weekend election defeat left his coalition with a minority in both parliamentary chambers. Mr Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito were three seats short of maintaining a majority in the 248-seat upper house in Sunday's vote. Advertisement The coalition is now a minority in both houses of the Diet, or parliament, though the LDP is still the leading party. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo (Philip Fong/Pool Photo via AP) Mr Ishiba said he takes the result seriously but that his priority is to avoid creating a political vacuum and to tackle impending challenges, including the August 1 deadline for a tariff deal with the US. 'While I painfully feel my serious responsibility over the election results, I believe I must also fulfil my responsibility I bear for the country and the people so as not to cause politics to stall or go adrift,' Mr Ishiba said. 'Challenges such as global situation and natural disaster won't wait for a better political situation.' Advertisement The prime minister said he hopes to reach a mutually beneficial deal and meet with US President Donald Trump. Sunday's vote comes after Mr Ishiba's coalition lost a majority in the October lower house election, stung by past corruption scandals, and his unpopular government has since been forced into making concessions to the opposition to get legislation through parliament. Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's prime minister and president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, meets the media at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo (Franck Robichon, Pool Photo via AP) It has been unable to quickly deliver effective measures to mitigate rising prices, including Japan's traditional staple of rice, and dwindling wages. Mr Trump has added to the pressure, complaining about a lack of progress in trade negotiations and the lack of sales of US cars and American-grown rice to Japan despite a shortfall in domestic stocks of the grain. Advertisement A 25% tariff due to take effect on August 1 has been another blow for Mr Ishiba.
Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Japan election crisis as ruling Liberal Democrats are hammered with PM refusing to step down after hard-right party led by anti-immigration 'Japanese Donald Trump' made huge gains
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling party suffered a major defeat in key elections this Sunday as a far-right party born amid the Covid pandemic scooped massive gains. Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has governed almost continuously since 1955, and its junior partner Komeito fell a projected three seats short of retaining a majority in the upper house of Japan 's parliament, the Diet. The debacle comes only months after Ishiba's coalition was forced into a minority government in the more powerful lower house, in the LDP's worst result in 15 years. The bruised LDP will now need the backing of another party in both houses if it hopes to pass any new legislation. Even so, Ishiba has declared he will not step down, pointing out that Japan is currently negotiating with US President Donald Trump to avoid rising tariffs, with the deadline for an agreement set at August 1. 'I believe I must fulfil my responsibility as the party with the most votes and to the people of the country,' the Prime Minister said as his party reeled from another defeat. The LDP's loss came in no small part due to the advance of the far-right Sanseito party, led by YouTube sensation and self-confessed Trump admirer, Sohei Kamiya. While Ishiba's LDP has been in power almost every year since its founding in 1955, Sanseito was only founded this decade. But under the leadership of the hot-blooded Kamiya, the anti-immigration, anti-globalist 'Japanese First' party stormed to 14 seats. Sanseito gained support with warnings of a 'silent invasion' of immigrants, and pledges for tax cuts and welfare spending as Japanese society complains of rising prices. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the fringe party broke into mainstream politics with its 'Japanese First' campaign. 'The phrase Japanese First was meant to express rebuilding Japanese people's livelihoods by resisting globalism,' Kamiya, 47, said in an interview with local broadcaster Nippon Television after the election. I am not saying that we should completely ban foreigners or that every foreigner should get out of Japan. 'We were criticised as being xenophobic and discriminatory. The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right,' Kamiya said. In polling ahead of Sunday's election, 29% of voters told NHK that social security and a declining birthrate were their biggest concern. A total of 28% said they worried about rising rice prices, which have doubled in the past year. Immigration was in joint fifth place with 7% of respondents pointing to it. Kamiya's message grabbed voters frustrated with a weak economy and currency that has lured tourists in record numbers in recent years, further driving up prices that Japanese can ill afford, political analysts say. Japan's fast-ageing society has also seen foreign-born residents hit a record of about 3.8 million last year, though that is just 3% of the total population, a fraction of the corresponding proportion in the United States and Europe. Kamiya, a former supermarket manager and English teacher, told Reuters before the election that he had drawn inspiration from US President Donald Trump 's 'bold political style'. He has also drawn comparisons with Germany's AfD and Reform UK although right-wing populist policies have yet to take root in Japan as they have in Europe and the United States. Post-election, Kamiya said he plans to follow the example of Europe's emerging populist parties by building alliances with other small parties rather than work with an LDP administration, which has ruled for most of Japan's postwar history. Sanseito's focus on immigration has already shifted Japan's politics to the right. Just days before the vote, Ishiba's administration announced a new government taskforce to fight 'crimes and disorderly conduct' by foreign nationals and his party has promised a target of 'zero illegal foreigners'. Kamiya, who won the party's first seat in 2022 after gaining notoriety for appearing to call for Japan's emperor to take concubines, has tried to tone down some controversial ideas formerly embraced by the party. During the campaign, Kamiya, however, faced a backlash for branding gender equality policies a mistake that encourages women to work and keeps them from having children. To soften what he said was his 'hot-blooded' image and to broaden support beyond the men in their twenties and thirties that form the core of Sanseito's support, Kamiya fielded a raft of female candidates on Sunday. Those included the single-named singer Saya, who clinched a seat in Tokyo. Like other opposition parties Sanseito called for tax cuts and an increase in child benefits, policies that led investors to fret about Japan's fiscal health and massive debt pile, but unlike them it has a far bigger online presence from where it can attack Japan's political establishment. Its YouTube channel has 400,000 followers, more than any other party on the platform and three times that of the LDP, according to Sanseito's upper house breakthrough, Kamiya said, is just the beginning. 'We are gradually increasing our numbers and living up to people's expectations. By building a solid organisation and securing 50 or 60 seats, I believe our policies will finally become reality,' he said. 'Sanseito has become the talk of the town, and particularly here in America, because of the whole populist and anti-foreign sentiment,' said Joshua Walker, head of the US non-profit Japan Society.
