Month: August 2023

US deploys B-1B bombers for separate drills with South Korea, Japan

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA —  The United States separately deployed B-1B bombers for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday, as the three allies have stepped up responses to threats from North Korea. A U.S. B-1B flew alongside South Korean FA-50 jets and U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters as part of ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, South Korea’s defense ministry said. It marked the 10th such flight by an American bomber this year. North Korea routinely denounces the annual military drills as a rehearsal for war. The allies have…

Vote on Referendum Establishing Rights of Australia’s Indigenous People Set for Oct. 14

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Wednesday that a referendum on enshrining Indigenous rights in the constitution will be held on Oct. 14. The referendum calls for the creation of a “Voice to Parliament,” a committee that will advise lawmakers on laws that affect its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. Indigenous Australians make up more than 3% of the country’s nearly 26 million population, but are not mentioned in the constitution despite inhabiting the continent for over 60,000 years. They were marginalized by British colonial rulers and not granted…

US’s Gina Raimondo concludes China visit on mixed notes

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United States Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo wrapped up a four-day visit to China on Wednesday with remarks at a conference for women executives in Shanghai in what some commentary suggested would highlight China’s increasing paucity of gender diversity in politics. In July, Chinese social media users attacked female economists online for eating dinner with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, even calling them traitors, in a social media outburst that was telling about China’s complex feelings about the U.S. and the role of women in society. Over the past 10 years…

Japanese department store workers to stage first strike since 1950s

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Receive free Japanese business & finance updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Japanese business & finance news every morning. The elegantly dressed, permanently polite staff of one of Tokyo’s most famous department stores are to shatter tradition and go on strike for the first time since the 1950s. Customers of the Seibu department store in Ikebukuro were warned on its website on Wednesday that the shop would be closed all day on Thursday, owing to industrial action timed to disrupt a series of…

James Cleverly meets China’s vice-president amid criticism of Beijing by British MPs

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The British foreign secretary James Cleverly has met China’s vice-president, Han Zheng, during the first visit to Beijing by a UK foreign secretary in five years. During the meeting, Cleverly said it was important the two governments continued with regular face-to-face meetings to avoid misunderstandings. He also said it was important to address the challenges and differences of opinion that all countries had in bilateral relations, according to Reuters. Han said he hoped the bilateral relationship would make new advances through mutual respect and practical cooperation. On Wednesday afternoon, Cleverly…

Typhoon Saola Nears Taiwan, China and Hong Kong

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Typhoon Saola, a powerful tropical cyclone with wind speeds approaching those of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes, was passing close to Taiwan on Wednesday. It was also edging northward toward Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Saola was about 111 miles southwest of Taiwan on Wednesday morning and producing some rain there, according to the island’s Central Weather Bureau. It was passing through a body of water, the Luzon Strait, that separates Taiwan from the Philippines. The storm has already prompted evacuations in the Philippines and some school closures and travel…

Why do many scientists oppose Fukushima radioactive waste discharge?

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According to METI, around 70 per cent of ALPS-treated water still contained radioactive substances other than tritium, by the end of 2020 and needed to be repurified. The US-based National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML), which represents more than 100 laboratories, released a position paper in December 2022 that firmly opposed Japan’s plan over “a lack of adequate and accurate scientific data” about its safety. Advertisement NAML members include some of the world’s most influential marine research institutes, including the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San…

China-UK ties: Cleverly’s visit to Beijing boosts ‘sound and stable’ relations, vice-president Han Zheng says

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China-Britain relations could be further promoted based on pragmatic cooperation and mutual respect, Chinese vice-president Han Zheng told visiting British foreign secretary James Cleverly. “Your visit to China this time will further promote the sound and stable development of bilateral relations between China and the UK,” Han said during talks with Cleverly on Wednesday. “The economic and trade relations featuring mutual respect and pragmatic cooperation between us will certainly see new progress.” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, left, and Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng meet in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: AP…

China isn’t deleveraging yet

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