Linda Kim TOKYO, August 13 -- Asian shares slumped on Tuesday (Aug 13) as fears about a drawn out US-China trade war, protests in Hong Kong and a crash in Argentina’s peso currency drove investors to safe harbors like bonds, gold, and the Japanese yen. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan skidded 1 per cent. Chinese stocks fell 0.8 per cent, while Hong Kong’s main market index tumbled more than 1 per cent to a seven-month low. “The protests in Hong Kong are negative for stocks, which were already in an adjustment phase because there is talk that the trade war will trigger a recession,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Hong Kong’s airport, the world’s busiest cargo airport, reopened on Tuesday, which could ease some concern about the immediate economic impact of protests over the past two months. The protests began in opposition to a bill allowing extraditions to mainland China but have quickly morphed into the biggest challenge to China’s authority over the city since it took Hong Kong back from Britain in 1997. Japan’s Nikkei was also hit hard, down a sharp 1.5 per cent and on course for its biggest daily decline in a week. US stock futures were 0.13 per cent higher in Asia, but that did little to ease the mood. Stocks in Singapore shed 1.1 per cent to reach their lowest since June 6 after the government slashed its full-year economic growth forecasts. The city state is often seen as a bellwether for global growth because of its importance as a key trade hub. The selling in regional markets came as Wall Street stocks took a beating on Monday, with the S&P 500 losing 1.23 per cent. Sentiment was already weak due to increasing signs that the United States and China will not quickly resolve their year-long trade war. Markets were hit with further turbulence after protesters managed to close down Hong Kong’s airport on Monday. Traders were also on edge after market-friendly Argentine President Mauricio Macri suffered a mauling in presidential primaries, increasing the risk of a return to interventionist economic policies. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were near the lowest in almost three years, gold was pinned close to six-year highs, and the yen was within a whisker of a seven-month peak versus the dollar in a sign of the heightened anxiety in financial markets already battered by global growth woes. “Long-term rates will continue to fall, and stocks will adjust lower, but this is temporary. Major central banks are cutting rates, which will eventually provide economic support,” Mitsubishi UFJ’s Ishigane said. Analysts said that trading could be subdued as many investors are off for summer holidays. Yet, there was no shortage of gloomy news for investors looking to catch their breath from several months of market ructions. The Argentine peso collapsed overnight, falling to 55.85 to the dollar, after voters snubbed Macri by giving the opposition a surprisingly bigger-than-expected victory in Sunday’s primary election. The Merval stock index crashed 30 per cent and declines of between 18-20 cents in Argentina’s benchmark 10-year bonds left them trading at around 60 cents on the dollar or even lower. Refinitive data showed Argentine stocks, bonds and the peso had not recorded this kind of simultaneous fall since the South American country’s 2001 economic crisis and debt default. The grim backdrop was enough to push investors into safe-havens, and US Treasury yields dropped across the board on Monday as trade worries and political tensions supported safe-haven assets. In Asia on Tuesday benchmark 10-year Treasuries yields fell to 1.6471 per cent. On August 7 yields had skidded to 1.5950 per cent, the lowest since October 3, 2016. Spot gold rose 0.33 per cent to US$1.516.42 per ounce, near the highest in six years. The yen last fetched 105.37 per dollar, and was within striking distance of 105.03, its strongest since the January 3 flash crash. The Swiss franc, which along with the yen is considered a safe haven in times of trouble, traded at 0.9697 per dollar , near its highest in a year. Oil prices edged slightly lower in Asian trading as expectations that major producers will continue to reduce supplies ran into worries about sluggish economic growth. US West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.33 per cent to US$54.75 a barrel.
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Linda Kim SEOUL, August 10 -- North Korea has fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea off eastern coast on Saturday, Yonhap news agency reported citing South Korea's military. South Korea's defense ministry said it is closely following the developments. No further details are available at this point. On August 6, North Korea launched new guided missiles under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un. The two missiles flew around 450 km and struck targets in the Sea of Japan. After test launches, Kim Jong-un said that this was "a warning over joint military drills" held by South Korea and the United States. On August 5, the United States and South Korea started joint military drills. According to preliminary reports, the military exercise will last until August 20. "This is a serious issue for the international community," Japanese Senior Vice Defense Minister Kenji Harada told reporters after the launches. North Korea's missile launch would constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the country from using ballistic technology. South Korean military officials and the defense minister held an emergency meeting after the latest launches and took them to be another warning against a South Korea-U.S. joint military drill that started from Monday and runs through late this month. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that its launches a day earlier were a "warning" to the United States and South Korea over their ongoing joint military exercises. U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he received a "beautiful" letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which he said he does not like conducting the short-range ballistic missile tests North Korea has been doing in recent weeks but justified the move as a response to the U.S.-South Korea drills. The U.S. president said on Aug. 1 he was not worried about the missiles being tested by the North, calling them "very standard," short-range devices. "Short-range missiles, we never made an agreement on that. I have no problem. We'll see what happens," Trump told reporters after North Korea carried out a series of missile launches. South Korean and U.S authorities are currently working on identifying the exact type of the projectiles, said the JCS, while warning that additional launches are highly likely as North Korea is now conducting summer military drills. The Japanese government said Saturday that it has not confirmed any ballistic missiles flying into Japan's exclusive economic zone and that the projectiles posed no immediate security threat. Even so, "we will strengthen our air and missile defense capabilities," Harada said. Linda Kim TOKYO, August 9 -- President Moon Jae In on Friday tapped a semiconductor expert as his next science and technology minister as South Korea grapples with Japan's tightening of chip-making material shipments to the country. Choi Ki Young, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, is a global authority in semiconductors and has helped South Korea become the world leader in memory chips, presidential spokeswoman Ko Min Jung said. The latest reshuffle within the Moon administration also includes the appointment of diplomat-turned-lawmaker Lee Soo Hyuck as new ambassador to the United States. Lee, a first-term National Assembly member from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, was South Korea's top negotiator at six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. Tapped as new gender equality and family minister is Lee Jung Ok, a sociology professor at Daegu Catholic University. The minister's portfolio includes the issue of "comfort women" who were forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels. The issue, which stems from Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, has been a source of diplomatic tension between South Korea and Japan. Linda Kim SEOUL, August 8 -- Japan has approved export of a high-tech material to South Korea for the first time since imposing tighter curbs last month, but doubled down on political pressure and warned it could broaden restrictions on shipments to its Asian neighbor. The approval and subsequent warning illustrate how Tokyo is upping the ante in the diplomatic row while at the same time is unwilling to unilaterally stop exports to South Korea. The dispute, rooted in their wartime past and exacerbated by the recent tightening of curbs on shipments of three high-tech components, has stoked nationalism and raised trade concerns. Relations between the two United States allies worsened late in 2018 as part of a decades-old dispute over compensation for forced laborers during Japan’s occupation. South Korea has invoked its difficult history with Japan, which colonized the Korean peninsula during World War II. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday (Aug 8) that tighter curbs would undermine Japan’s international credibility and accused Tokyo of using its industrial advantage as a weapon against another country. “The measures so far undermine the trust of the free trade order and the international division of labor,” Mr Moon said. “Even if there are any gains, it will be short-lived. In the end, it is a game without winners, where everyone, including Japan itself, becomes a victim.” The latest export approval followed “strict examination”, Japanese ministers said, cautioning that Tokyo could consider expanding its controls beyond the three high-tech materials. "If improper use of exports are found beyond three high-tech materials, we will implement thorough steps to prevent recurrence including expanding application examination,” Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said. Mr Seko said Japan does not usually announce each export approval but did so this time after South Korea described Japan’s recent curbs as an “embargo” on shipments. South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Tokyo had allowed the export of EUV photo resists, a chemical crucial for Samsung’s advanced contract chip making production. Samsung declined to comment. WHITE LIST Japan has removed South Korea from the “ white list” of countries with fast-track trade status, meaning some exporters may have to go through a lengthy permit application process to ship restricted items to South Korea. That covers a broad range of items, including those applicable to weapons production and machine tools. South Korea was scheduled to take a call on its plan to drop Japan from a similar “white list” of countries on Thursday, but trade ministry officials said the plan had been put off until further discussions. Japanese officials have cited unspecified security reasons for their export curbs. But they have pointed to an erosion of trust after South Korean court rulings last year ordered Japanese firms to compensate wartime forced laborers. Japan says the matter was settled by a 1965 treaty normalizing bilateral ties. Given the curbs in place, Japan’s approval to export the three materials could take up to 90 days, slowing shipments. Shares of Tokyo Ohka Kogyo rose 3.9 per cent and Stella Chemifa surged 10.1 per cent after the latest approval. Tokyo Ohka Kogyo makes photo resists and Stella Chemifa produces hydrogen fluoride, both materials affected by the export curbs. But it remains unclear if the initial approval from Tokyo signals a breakthrough in trade relations. “They approved only one out of a number of items, and they said they would approve exports for pure civilian purposes,” a South Korean senior trade ministry official said. South Korean chipmakers are hitting a dead end in their quest to find alternatives for key Japanese materials that have been hit with export restrictions, raising the prospect of major disruption to their operations in coming months. Of particular concern is sourcing of hydrogen fluouride, a key chipmaking material. South Korean chipmakers have been desperate for Japan’s high-purity hydrogen fluoride because it helps them get high “yield” rates, which is critical to making chips profitably. Linda Kim PYONGYANG, August 7 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared that the latest series of missile launches by Pyongyang send "adequate warning" over the South Korea-US military drills. The country's state news media reported on Wednesday that Kim made the statement as he inspected on Tuesday the launch of a new type of tactical guided missiles - the fourth test in 12 days. KCNA said Kim had watched the launches, which verified the "war capacity" of the new armament.North Korea says US 'hell-bent' on sanctions despite seeking dialogue. With the launches carried out satisfactorily, "Kim Jong Un noted that the said military action would be an occasion to send an adequate warning to the joint military drill now under way by the US and South Korean authorities," KCNA said. The drills are taking place despite Pyongyang's warnings that the exercises would jeopardise nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea. In Tokyo on Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper met with his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, to discuss the latest developments in North Korea, as well as tensions in the South China Sea. Esper visited Australia and New Zealand before arriving in Japan. He will travel to Mongolia and South Korea during the latter part of his Asia trip. On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired two projectiles that "are assumed to be short-range ballistic missiles" into the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said earlier. US President Donald Trump last week downplayed North Korea's launches calling them "very standard", while adding that Kim would not want to "disappoint" him. Trump and Kim held an historic summit in Singapore last year, where North Korea made a vague pledge on denuclearisation. Linda Kim TOKYO, August 6 -- Global stocks extended already substantial losses on Tuesday (Aug 6), after Washington designated Beijing a currency manipulator in a rapid escalation of the United States-China trade war, but losses were pared after China set its daily yuan fixing stronger than expected, tempering fears of a currency war. Safe-haven assets, including bonds and some currencies such as the yen and Swiss franc, benefited as investors scurried to avoid risk. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that the government had determined China is manipulating its currency, and that Washington would engage the International Monetary Fund to eliminate unfair competition from Beijing. “Officially labelling China a currency manipulator gives the United States a legitimate reason to take even more steps,” said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. “The markets are now scrambling to factor in the possibility of the United States imposing not only an additional 10 per cent of tariffs on Chinese imports, but the figure being raised to 25 per cent. This is likely to be a protracted trade war without a quick resolution.” US President Donald Trump vowed last week to impose a 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion (S$414 billion) of Chinese imports from Sept 1, adding that it can be raised beyond 25 per cent. Some economists reckon the global economy could slip into recession in the coming months if the tariff is increased to 25 per cent. The Trump administration’s dramatic move against China hastened the risk aversion seen in global markets this week. On Monday, Beijing let the yuan breach 7-per-dollar on Monday for the first time since late 2008 in response to the latest US tariffs, which are expected to further aggravate trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. On Tuesday, the offshore yuan fell to as low as 7.1397 per dollar in early Asian trade on Tuesday before pulling back to 7.0785 after China's central bank set its daily currency fixing back above the 7 level to the US dollar. The slightly firmer-than-expected morning benchmark rate of 6.9683 was still the weakest since May 2008. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) also said on Tuesday it was selling yuan-denominated bills in Hong Kong, in a move seen as curtailing short-selling of the currency. US stock-index futures rebounded, erasing earlier declines. S&P 500 Index futures contracts expiring in September rose as much as 0.7 per cent as of 1.06pm in Tokyo as the yuan steadied, after falling as much as 1.9 per cent. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts ascended 0.6 per cent while those on the Nasdaq 100 added 0.5 per cent. Asia stock markets markets plunged on opening before paring their losses after China's latest yuan fixing. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.85 per cent after brushing its lowest since January. Tokyo opened nearly 3 per cent lower before recovering to end the morning 2 per cent down. Hong Kong fell 2.4 per cent while Shanghai and Sydney shed 2.6 per cent. Manila and Wellington were also down around 2 per cent. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index opened down 1.5 per cent before recovering some ground to trade 19.55 points or 0.6 per cent lower at 3,174.96 by the midday break. Pete McGee TOKYO, August 6 -- NEC Corp. unveiled Monday a prototype of an electric flying car as it seeks to offer its communications and control technologies to other companies amid the global boom to develop such airborne vehicles. Starting with a roaring sound, the 148-kilogram helicopter-like prototype with a length of 3.9 meters, height of 1.3 meters and width of 3.7 meters came afloat by itself to 3 meters above ground and hovered for several minutes at a testing ground at NEC's Abiko plant in Chiba Prefecture. Equipped with four propellers and unmanned, the prototype moved using NEC's software to control flight and determine its location. NEC officials said the company is not seeking to become a maker of flying cars but hopes to see its technology used in them from 2023, starting with the transportation of cargo. "There will come an age where airspace will be used commonly for transportation. We will combine our technologies to create an innovation," said NEC Senior Executive Vice President Norihiko Ishiguro at a press conference. NEC said it plans to provide its technology for flying the cars to engineers' group Cartivator, with which it signed a sponsorship agreement last year. Cartivator, which is also supported by over 80 other companies including Panasonic Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., aims to start operation of a two-man flying car from 2023, conduct a demonstration flight during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, carry people at the Osaka Expo in 2025 and mass produce the vehicle in 2026. The Japanese government is also pushing the development of flying cars in collaboration with private companies ranging from the logistics and automobile sectors, in an effort to catch up with global rivals, including Boeing Co., Airbus S.A.S. and U.S. ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. Flying vehicles are expected to be used for tourism, leisure activities, disaster relief, cargo transportation and easing of traffic congestion, but ensuring safety remains a key challenge amid the lack of standards and rules. Under the road map compiled by the government, it aims to build prototype electric flying cars and conduct test flights this year and put the technology into practical use from 2023 onward. By the 2030s, they are envisioned to be used in urban transportation. Linda Kim TOKYO, August 5 -- The Tokyo government switched last week from fossil fuel to biomass energy to supply around 80 percent of electricity in its Shinjuku Ward headquarters, as part of efforts to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions in the metropolis by 2050. Thirty million kilowatt hours of renewable energy will be supplied to the Tokyo government's two main buildings and the metropolitan assembly hall, or approximately 80 percent of the complex's maximum annual energy needs, officials said, adding that the switchover took place Thursday. "With the Tokyo government taking the lead, we hope to speed up initiatives (to achieve the zero emission goal) in the private sector," an official in charge of the project said. In June, the Tokyo government called for tenders for energy suppliers, with bid evaluations focused on both cost and environmental aspects. The contract, which was awarded to Hitachi Zosen Corp. for 632 million yen ($5.9 million), will run to September next year. Hitachi Zosen purchases energy produced by waste power generation at incineration plants within and outside Tokyo, supplying the biomass portion to the city government. CO2 is emitted when the plant material used as fuel is burned to produce energy, but this is offset by the absorption of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere via photosynthesis during the plants' growth. As such, the process is considered to result in a net zero carbon footprint. By switching its source of electricity from gas and coal to renewable energy, the Tokyo government has seen a 15 percent increase in costs, the officials said. The remaining 20 percent of electricity is powered by gas supplied by a separate company under a long-term contract, due to the necessity of having multiple power sources in the event of a disaster, they said. In fiscal 2017, power generated by renewable energy sources accounted for around 14 percent of the total used in Tokyo, including private businesses. Tokyo will continue to promote the use of renewables to achieve the goal of raising the ratio to 30 percent by 2030, according to the officials. Linda Kim SEOUL, August 5 -- South Korea and the United States began a joint military drill Monday despite warnings from North Korea, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong Doo told parliament. The scaled-back combined command post exercise, called 19-2 Dong Maeng, will be held through Aug. 20 to test South Korea's capability to retake operational control over its forces from the United States during wartime. It mostly involves computer simulations, not mobilization of troops or military equipment. North Korea has said it launched two projectiles, suspected of being short-range ballistic missiles, on July 26 to send a warning to the South over the exercise, which it condemns as a rehearsal for an invasion. It also fired projectiles last Wednesday and Friday, and the South Korean and U.S. militaries are on alert more such provocations during and after the period of the exercise. North Korea has warned that going ahead with the exercise would undermine a commitment made by U.S. President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and could adversely affect working-level negotiations with the United States. South Korea and the United have not held large-scale military drills since June last year when Trump, following his summit with Kim in Singapore, said he wanted to halt "war games" while continuing dialogue with North Korea, calling them "tremendously expensive" and "very provocative." In March, the two sides scrapped two major annual military exercises -- Key Resolve, and Foal Eagle -- that Pyongyang had viewed as provocative, in a bid to support diplomatic efforts on North Korea's denuclearization. At the same time, they launched the smaller-scale Dong Maeng as a replacement for Key Resolve, a computer-simulated command-and-control exercise, and did away with the "counterattack" portion of the exercise, for example. As for Foal Eagle, a field training exercise, it is reportedly being reorganized into low-key smaller-scale drills to be conducted at regular intervals. Lora Smith GENEVA, July 30 -- Swiss prosecutors said Monday they have been assisting Japanese investigations into former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who has been indicted over financial misconduct and breach of trust. Tokyo prosecutors requested Swiss assistance in investigations on Jan. 14, and the request was forwarded to the Canton of Zurich's prosecutors on March 8 following a summary probe, a spokesperson of the Swiss Federal Department of Justice. While Zurich prosecutors did not give details of the ongoing investigation, they are believed to be checking bank accounts associated with Ghosn as Tokyo prosecutors are apparently following the flow of money disbursed by Nissan and Renault SA in Europe and the Middle East. Many European and American financial institutions are based in Zurich, which is known for hosting many private banks and investment banks for the wealthy class. French media have reported Ghosn was making preparations since around last year to move his tax domicile to Switzerland, which offers preferential tax treatment to the rich. The former boss of the major Japanese automaker has been accused of underreporting his remuneration and redirecting company funds, allegations he categorically denies. Since his arrest last November, investigations into Ghosn have spilled over to other countries. Earlier this month, French authorities searched the head office of Renault in connection with a probe into Ghosn's lavish 2016 wedding party at the Palace of Versailles. The once-feted auto tycoon also served as Renault chairman. Ghosn has been free on bail since April and is now awaiting trial in Japan. Linda Lim WASHINGTON, July 26 -- US President Donald Trump on Thursday did not condemn North Korea for launching two new short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. Speaking to Fox News, Trump said North Korea has not tested missiles other than "smaller ones" and that he is getting along "very well" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In his first reaction to the launches earlier Thursday, Mr Trump said, "They haven't done nuclear testing. They really haven't tested missiles other than you know smaller ones." The remarks came after the State Department urged Pyongyang to refrain from further provocations. "We urge no more provocations," department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said at a press briefing, as she expressed hope that the two sides will promote negotiations to address North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes. "We want to have diplomatic engagement with the North Koreans," Ms Ortagus said. "We continue to press and hope for these working-level negotiations to move forward." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said separately that the door remains open for diplomacy with North Korea despite Thursday's launches, and that he hopes working-level talks will begin as early as August. "President Trump has been incredibly consistent here: We want diplomacy to work," Mr Pompeo said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "If it takes another two weeks or four weeks, so be it." Mr Pompeo described the launches as more of a negotiating tactic than a move that would create a rupture or lead Mr Trump to reverse his commitment to talks with Mr Kim. "Everybody tries to get ready for negotiations and create leverage and create risk for the other side," he said. "We remain convinced that there's a diplomatic way forward, a negotiated solution to this." Thursday's launches came less than a month after Mr Trump and Mr Kim agreed to restart denuclearization talks that stalled after their meeting in February in Hanoi. In their talks on June 30 in the Demilitarised Zone dividing the two Koreas, Mr Trump said he and Kim agreed to each designate a team to work out details. "What would be most productive is for chairman Kim and all his staff and for President Trump and his staff to continue upon the path that was laid out for us both in Vietnam and the DMZ, and that is a diplomatic resolution and the end of North Korea's nuclear weapons," Ms Ortagus said. She was referring to Kim's title as head of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea. Ms Ortagus added that sanctions "will remain in effect" until the US achieves the goal of denuclearizing North Korea. The spokeswoman suggested Mr Pompeo is unlikely to hold talks with North Korean officials during his visit to Thailand next week for Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related foreign ministerial meetings. "There's no component to announce on the trip as it relates to North Korea," she said. "We don't have any announcements about meetings with North Koreans." Ms Ortagus declined comment on news reports that North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has cancelled his attendance at the Asean Regional Forum, a 27-member security forum, slated for Aug 2 in Bangkok. Pete McGee TOKYO, July 24 -- Nissan Motor Co. plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs globally as part of efforts to turn around its business, company sources said Tuesday. The number, which represents around 10 percent of its global workforce, is much bigger than an earlier estimate. In May the Japanese carmaker said it would cut 4,800 jobs. Nissan's group net profit hit a nine-year low in the year through March, hit by weak sales of its cars in the U.S. market, and the Japanese automaker has projected it will nearly be halved in fiscal 2019. Also, since the arrest in November of its former Chairman Carlos Ghosn over alleged financial misdeeds, Nissan has been struggling to restructure its management team and ties with Renault SA, its biggest shareholder. The additional reduction in workforce, including through early retirement options, is expected to be announced by the Yokohama-headquartered automaker on Thursday, when it releases earnings figures for the April to June period of this year. Some factories in South America and other regions where Nissan has low profitability are likely to be subject to the reduction plan, while it may try to streamline output in Japan. As of March this year, Nissan and its group companies had about 139,000 employees, according to its financial report. Nissan has acknowledged it was overstretching to meet numerical targets, such as by relying on incentives, in the U.S. market. It has been reviewing the expansionist business strategy spearheaded by Ghosn, who built the three-way alliance also involving Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and led an auto group that was the world's second largest last year in terms of vehicle sales. In fiscal 2018, Nissan saw its global vehicle sales fall 4.4 percent to 5.52 million units, including a 9.3 percent decline in the United States to 1.44 million units and a 14.9 percent drop in Europe to 643,000 units. Linda Lim The Daini complex was also hit by tsunami waves in the 2011 disaster and temporarily lost reactor cooling functions. But unlike the Daiichi plant, it escaped meltdowns. Since the disaster, the decommissioning in Japan of 21 nuclear reactors, including those at Daini, has been decided. For the Tokyo-headquartered power company, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture will be its only nuclear complex. In June last year, TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa told the governor that the company is leaning toward scrapping all four reactors at the Daini plant. A project team was later formed at the utility and looked into whether that is possible, according to the source. The prefecture has demanded the utility scrap the reactors, saying their existence would hamper its reconstruction efforts.
Linda Lim KYOTO, July 18 -- Twenty-five people are confirmed dead after a 41-year-old man stormed into a Kyoto animation production studio on Thursday and set fire to it by spraying a flammable liquid, police said. In the fire that started at a studio of Kyoto Animation Co. in the city's Fushimi Ward around 10:35 a.m., 36 people were injured, 10 of them seriously, they said. About 70 people were believed to have been working inside the three-story building at the time. The unidentified man was seen screaming "Die" when he torched the studio, according to the police. The man, who was quickly apprehended, was being treated in hospital for burns on his face and chest, they said, adding he had told them he "threw a gasoline-like liquid." The police said they had received information that a man carrying a container had bought gasoline in the morning at a gas station near the scene. Kyoto Animation, known for short as "KyoAni" in Japan, has produced popular TV animation series including "K-On!" and "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu), which depict the daily lives of high school girls. The company has animation studios in Kyoto and nearby Uji, where it is headquartered. The building in question is its 1st studio, according to the company. People near the studio said they heard a series of explosions and saw black smoke billowing out of the building. People were later seen being carried out of the studio covered in blankets. "A person with singed hair was lying down and there were bloody footprints," said a 59-year-old woman who lives nearby. "I heard a bang. The black smoke rose and the burning smell was awful," said a hair salon manager in his 30s. Firefighters managed to contain the fire around 3:20 p.m., about five hours after it began. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said it has dispatched officials to the site to investigate the structure of the building and why so many people died or were injured. "In the face of the large number of casualties and the shocking sight, I am at a loss for words," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a Twitter post. Kyoto Animation, founded in 1981, has released a number of animations appealing to younger generations, particularly in the 2000s. Many fans have visited locations associated with the works. In addition to anime production, the company's business has expanded to publishing light novels and training animators. It also sells its own products at its shop. The death toll from the fire is one of the worst in recent years. In 2001, a fire at a building in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district killed 44 people. In another notable fire in 2008, 16 people died after a man set a video parlor ablaze in Osaka. Linda Lim TOKYO, July 18 -- We have long known that U.S. President Donald J. Trump thinks the U.S.-Japan relationship is unbalanced and that Japan should contribute more to the alliance. But few of us ever expected that he would publicly criticize the bilateral security treaty as "an unfair agreement" while at the G-20 meeting in Osaka last month. Why did Trump choose this trip to revive a complaint he has mentioned occasionally since the 1980s, though not so frankly as president, and how meaningful is it? The short answers are "politics" and "possibly important," if counter arguments are not made effectively. Although Trump's rhetoric on these types of bilateral issues is not inconsequential -- and the current U.S.-Japan trade talks are an example of this -- overall it is manageable because there is very little sympathy for his criticism of Japan among U.S. business, political, bureaucratic, or military circles. Throughout the United States, support for the U.S.-Japan alliance remains strong, and a high percentage of Americans perceive it as being mutually valuable. Moreover, Trump himself has frequently praised the alliance, thanked Japan for its investment and purchase of military equipment, and vowed to "stand behind Japan, our great ally, 100 percent" when North Korea's missile testing was active in 2017. So, in some ways, Trump's Osaka comment was a political signal to his supporters ahead of multilateral meetings. He often does this, knowing that his voters will see him on television interacting with other world leaders, and he prefers the storyline to be about his toughness. Most U.S. voters, however, are exasperated that Trump seems ruder to American friends than he is to autocrats like Russia's Vladimir Putin or North Korea's Kim Jong Un, perhaps because Trump thinks he has more leverage over allies. In this regard, Trump's comment in Osaka fits a pattern of criticizing allies for not spending enough or doing enough for the United States. Trump has also called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization "obsolete" and "not fair," and he has demanded significantly larger host nation support payments from South Korea. Still, if Trump keeps repeating his view that Japan is somehow taking advantage of the United States, more Americans might begin to believe him, even though Trump's comments ignore the history behind the U.S.-Japan treaty arrangement and mis-characterizes the track record of reciprocal support demonstrated by both countries. The Trump administration's own national security strategy and national defense strategy highlight the critical importance to the United States of alliances, but Trump voters are more likely to listen to what he says rather than read his government's documents. As most in Japan understand, U.S. officials essentially drafted Japan's Constitution in 1946 to help prevent Japan from waging war overseas again, and their security treaty includes a mutually beneficial arrangement whereby the United States pledges to help Japan meet any "common danger" in and around Japan in exchange for the ability to maintain U.S. military forces in Japan for defense and regional stability. In practice, the allies have supported each other in times of conflict or disaster, including in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and following the Great East Japan Earthquake. Also, Japan has contributed steadily more to the alliance as its economy grew and it became a more active member of the international community. Currently, the allies are combining resources in Japan to work with other nations on enforcing nuclear weapon-related sanctions on North Korea, among other cooperative missions serving their shared interests. However, it is possible that in addition to political signaling, Trump might try to use his complaints about the security treaty as a way to pressure Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to make concessions in their bilateral trade talks or in host nation support negotiations expected in 2020. This is not in either country's interest, but if Trump does keep pushing this issue publicly then it should be met with strong counter arguments in the United States, Japan, and from other countries as well, explaining the unique benefits that derive from this 60-year alliance. Trump's bullying and ignorance should not be met passively. |
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