Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to visit Osaka Expo
YUKIO TAJIMA
BEIJING -- China's Vice Premier He Lifeng is expected to travel to Japan this week where he will visit Expo 2025, which is currently being held in Osaka, Nikkei has learned.
While there, he is scheduled to hold talks with senior members of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union, which is chaired by Yutaka Moriyama, the secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to multiple sources familiar with Japan-China relations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
China says Japanese ‘harassment' behind close encounter with ASDF spy plane
China on Sunday denied that it had risked a collision in close encounters with Air Self-Defense Force surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea last week, calling 'close-in reconnaissance and harassment' by the Japanese side 'the root cause' of the latest incident. Chinese JH-7 fighter-bombers came within 30 meters of the Japanese YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, making 'unusual approaches' over international waters. But Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin called the move 'entirely justified, reasonable, professional and up to standard' after ASDF aircraft 'repeatedly entered China's East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for close-in surveillance.' 'The close-in reconnaissance and harassment by Japanese vessels and aircraft are the root cause of maritime and aerial security risks between China and Japan,' Jiang said. 'We hope Japan will work with China in the same direction to foster a conducive atmosphere for the stable development of bilateral relations.' Japan said Thursday that the move had 'raised serious concerns,' adding that it had 'strongly urged the prevention of such incidents from recurring.' Last week's close encounters came as Japan's top diplomat met with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of a regional summit in Malaysia to voice unease over a recent spate of military moves by Beijing — including two similar encounters last month. In early June, Chinese J-15 fighter jets from the country's Shandong aircraft carrier risked collisions with Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C surveillance aircraft over the Pacific Ocean after flying within 45 meters of the Japanese plane on June 7 and just 900 meters in front of its flight path — a distance that can be covered in a matter of seconds by the plane — the following day. The latest encounters echoed two that occurred in 2014, when Chinese fighter jets also came within 30 meters of Japanese patrol planes over the same waters in the East China Sea, near the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan and claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyu. Concerns have been growing in Tokyo over China's moves in the waters and airspace near the Senkakus after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japanese airspace around the uninhabited islets in May and as Beijing continues to send government ships to the area on a daily basis. China announced its East China Sea ADIZ in November 2013, saying aircraft entering the zone must obey its rules or face "emergency defensive measures.' The move, which encompassed the area over the Senkakus and overlaps with Japan's own ADIZ, was strongly protested by Tokyo. Beijing has in recent years ramped up military activity and training in the waters and airspace of the ADIZ — as well as in even more far-flung areas of the Pacific Ocean — highlighting its growing prowess farther from its shores. China's two operating carriers were spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time last month, in what Japanese defense officials have said is a significant expansion of Chinese naval activities.
Nikkei Asia
3 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Samsung trial, Singapore data center IPO, Japan election
Welcome to Your Week in Asia. China's role in the global economy will be in the spotlight this week, with trade data for the first half of 2025 -- capturing the impact of much higher U.S. tariffs -- set to be published and the International Supply Chain Expo taking place in Beijing. In Japan, Tokyo's relations with Washington will be in focus at the weekend, when one of the U.S.'s main trade negotiators visits the country and voters head to the polls to cast their ballots in an election in which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's handling of negotiations has emerged as a significant issue. Get the best of our coverage of Asia and much more by following us on X, where our handle is @NikkeiAsia. We are also now on Bluesky, with the handle @ MONDAY Albanese's China visit Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues a visit to China that began Saturday and runs through Friday. He is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss potential cooperation on artificial intelligence, an area his government has flagged as possibly presenting national security risks. Ties, which were strained under Australia's previous coalition government, have improved since Albanese was elected in 2022, but bilateral relations remain a balancing act given China's economic importance and Canberra's security alignment with Washington. China trade data China will release a string of key economic indicators this week, starting with June trade data on Monday and second-quarter gross domestic product on Tuesday. Trade data is widely expected to show a further decline in shipments to the U.S. after June's bilateral talks fixed a 55% levy on Chinese imports. Overall annual export growth may still see a slight uptick as more Chinese companies divert goods to ASEAN and other regions. Prabowo's France trip Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit Paris after receiving an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to attend Bastille Day celebrations as a guest of honor. The two nations have recently been enhancing cooperation in the defense sector, particularly in the development of strategic weaponry such as Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene submarines. NTT data center REIT initial public offering Singapore is set for its biggest initial public offering in years, with the listing of data center-focused real estate investment trust NTT DC REIT, valued at $773 million. The REIT is backed by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Japan's telecommunications and information technology giant NTT Group. This marks the first data center-focused REIT launched by a Japanese company. Data: Singapore second-quarter GDP, India inflation Earnings: Ola Electric Mobility TUESDAY China International Supply Chain Expo The third International Supply Chain Expo kicks off in Beijing, bringing together domestic and global companies across the industry. The five-day event covers such areas as advanced manufacturing, clean energy and smart vehicles. Media outlets have reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will be attending, though the company has declined to comment on his travel plans. Data: Philippines remittances, India trade WEDNESDAY Monetary policy: Indonesia Data: Malaysia first-half automobile sales THURSDAY Supreme Court verdict on Samsung Electronics chairman South Korea's Supreme Court will hand down its ruling on allegations of fraud against Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who has been charged with stock price manipulation and accounting fraud related to the merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015. The top court is expected to uphold a lower court's acquittal of Lee. Earnings: TSMC, Wipro Data: Japan trade SATURDAY U.S. treasury chief visits Osaka Expo U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will visit Japan to attend the World Expo in Osaka as the head of a presidential delegation. In the wake of the U.S. deciding to impose a 25% tariff on Japan, the question of whether Bessent, a key tariff negotiations figure, will hold a minister-level meeting is attracting a lot of attention. SUNDAY Japan's upper house election Japan heads to the polls for the upper house election, in which 125 seats will be up for grabs out of the chamber's total 248 seats. The ruling parties need to win no fewer than 50 seats to keep their majority in the upper house, which will be no easy feat, with the election becoming a referendum on consumption tax cuts as households continue to struggle with the cost of living.
5 hours ago
Japan Ruling, Opposition Parties Discuss Dual Surname System
News from Japan Politics Jul 13, 2025 13:45 (JST) Tokyo, July 13 (Jiji Press)--Senior officials from Japan's ruling and opposition parties discussed whether the country should introduce a selective dual surname system for married couples, in a television program on Sunday, a week ahead of a key parliamentary election. "A careful discussion is necessary on the matter because it involves the concept of family," Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said. Junya Ogawa, secretary-general of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, showed the party's stance of aiming to enact a bill for allowing married couples to have different surnames during an extraordinary session of the Diet, the country's parliament, seen to be convened in autumn. "We hope to create a society that provides options," he said. Whether Japan should introduce the system is believed to be among major issues for the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
