As China abruptly dropped some of its toughest Covid-19 restrictions – including scrapping quarantine rules for travellers – virologists are watching nervously to see how this may impact Covid-19 variants and their global spread, with some countries already ramping up precautionary measures. The decision on Monday to drop quarantine for overseas visitors from 8 January has prompted concerns about the potential for new variants beyond China’s borders. Japan and India are among the countries that have introduced measures to prevent an influx of cases. Australian infectious diseases physician Prof. Dominic…
Tag: Japan
Japan Moves to Double Military Spending, With a Wary Eye on China
Japan on Friday announced a new national security strategy that will double the amount earmarked for the country’s military defense, breaking with decades-long precedent on spending restraints as it seeks to strengthen its military capabilities to counter China’s rising power. The new plan, approved by the cabinet on Friday, reflects the geopolitical shifts that have swept the region since the previous version was released nearly a decade ago. In 2013, the document described China and Russia as strategic partners. Now, it deems Beijing’s rise as the “greatest strategic challenge” to…
Japan approves biggest military buildup since second world war amid China fears
Japan has approved its biggest military buildup since the second world war, warning that China poses the “greatest strategic challenge ever” and outlining plans to develop a counterstrike capability funded by record defence spending. The plans, announced by the government on Friday, reflect growing alarm over a more assertive Chinese military and a North Korean regime that continues to improve its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. But the changes have also triggered criticism that Japan is abandoning more than seven decades of pacifism under its postwar constitution. Japan aims to…
Australian defence chief warns of rise in ‘grey-zone activities’ in Indo-Pacific region amid China tensions
The chief of the Australian defence force, Gen Angus Campbell, has offered a gloomy assessment of developments in the Indo-Pacific region, warning of a rise in “coercive statecraft and grey-zone activities”. Ahead of a major defence review, Campbell has declared that Australia and Japan are bound together by “increasingly shared strategic challenges” in our region. “Across our region, large-scale military modernisation is accelerating,” he said, in a clear reference to China. “National sovereignty, the law of the sea, freedom of navigation are all facing challenges from both states and non-state…
Your Tuesday Briefing: Biden and Xi Discuss Taiwan
Biden and Xi discuss Taiwan President Biden and Xi Jinping, China’s leader, met for nearly three hours yesterday. In their first face-to-face conversation as top leaders, the two men made a cautious pledge to improve the relationship between the U.S. and China, which is at its most rancorous point in decades. Taiwan was at the top of the agenda, and both leaders urged “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait in their summaries after the meetings. The summary from the U.S. said that Biden warned Xi that China’s aggressive stance…
The Guardian view on North Korea’s missile tests: growing risks, reduced response | Editorial
The details vary, but the pattern is immediately recognisable: a volley of missiles, followed by chilling new rhetoric. This time, North Korean state media said the recent flurry of tests simulated strikes on South Korean and US targets with tactical nuclear weapons. It is likely to conduct a seventh nuclear test soon. Pyongyang is not about to reduce Seoul or San Francisco to a sea of ashes: the leadership is not suicidal. But its capabilities are steadily growing; and so are the risks of missteps, perhaps especially in light of…
Businesses Brace for Currency Chaos in Asia
Tigun Wibisana and Sandra Kok, who own the SiTigun cafe on Penang Island in Malaysia, are facing an excruciating decision that could make or break their business of 14 years: Can they increase prices to cover rising expenses without driving customers into the arms of their bigger rivals? The cost of the coffee beans that the couple, who are married, buy is spiraling because they are traded globally in U.S. dollars, and the Malaysian ringgit has fallen to a 24-year low. Compound that with an inflationary spike in prices for…
Major Covid Holdouts in Asia Drop Border Restrictions
HONG KONG — After two and a half years of tight pandemic controls, some of Asia’s last holdouts are opening their borders, as they move to bolster their economies and play catch-up with a world that has largely learned to live with Covid. Hong Kong said on Friday that it would abandon mandatory hotel quarantine for people coming to the city starting next week, following a similar move by Taiwan. Japan said it would drop its daily limit on arrivals and fully open its doors to tourists on Oct. 11.…
Harvest Moon Lights Up Skies and Marks Start of Festivals Worldwide
If you’re someone who rejoices at every sign of fall, you may want to look out at the moon this weekend. Across the United States and especially in places with clear skies, a full moon that signals summer is nearing its end will be visible. Because of the way light travels through the atmosphere and the moon’s location on the horizon, the moon appears reddish orange. The harvest moon, whose name grew out of its utility to farmers who harvested crops in the fall before the advent of artificial lighting,…
Weather tracker: South Korea and Japan brace for typhoon Hinnamnor
Destruction is imminent across southern Japan and South Korea as super typhoon Hinnamnor barrels northwards through the East China Sea this weekend. The typhoon is so far the strongest tropical storm of the 2022 hurricane season and developed gradually this week out in the Pacific, edging towards the Philippines and Taiwan. By Thursday, maximum sustained winds had reached 160mph, leading to classification as a category 5 tropical cyclone, or a super typhoon. Forecast models suggest that through the weekend and into next week, Hinnamnor will push northwards through the East…