TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday he had agreed with US president-elect Donald Trump in a phone call to strengthen the nations’ alliance, after the tycoon’s victory sent defense-related shares surging.
Trump’s “America First” approach could mean less cash from Washington for security in the Asia-Pacific region, analysts say — with investors betting on Japan upgrading its own military capacities.
Key allies Japan and the United States are each other’s top foreign investors, and 54,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan, mostly in Okinawa east of Taiwan.
Ishiba, who took office just over a month ago, said he and Trump hoped to organize a face-to-face meeting “as soon as possible,” describing the president-elect as “very friendly.”
“He is the kind of person I will be able to talk to candidly,” Ishiba told reporters.
“I would like to hold active discussions on the strengthening of the Japan-US alliance from various standpoints including specific equipment, operations and integration, not just money,” he added.
Shares in Japanese defense contractor IHI ended up nearly 20 percent Wednesday, as Trump’s victory began to look secure, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gained almost 10 percent.
The expectation is “that Trump will demand that allies do more and spend more to defend themselves,” said Claudia Junghyun Kim, an assistant professor of international affairs at City University of Hong Kong.
Japan is already in the process of doubling its military spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP.
“This pressure from Trump doesn’t exactly clash with Ishiba’s hope to increase defense spending,” Kim told AFP, and it “should be good news for Japan’s defense industry.”
US elections
When Trump last won a US election in 2016, then-prime minister Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet the president-elect at his Manhattan skyscraper.
Japanese media said Ishiba could arrange a trip to the United States around the time he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru this month.
“On a personal level, Ishiba might be in a challenging position” when he meets Trump, Daisuke Kawai, deputy director of the University of Tokyo’s economic security research program, told AFP.
“Ishiba is a railway enthusiast who doesn’t enjoy golf or social dinners, and unlike Abe, he’s not particularly adept at engaging in social or entertaining conversations. This could mean their personal chemistry may not align well.”
Both Ishiba and Trump perceive the US-Japan alliance as unequal — but in opposite directions — so “initiating productive discussions could be difficult,” Kawai added.
Ishiba led his ruling coalition to a disastrous loss of its majority in snap elections last month.
He is expected to lead a minority government or widen the coalition to include other parties.
Japan and the EU announced a sweeping new security and defense pact on Friday.
Kawai said it was important for Tokyo to build a defense ecosystem “that generates profits through joint production with other countries.”
Japan, which for decades has relied on the United States for military hardware, is also developing a new fighter jet with EU member Italy and Britain set to be airborne by 2035.
Japan PM to boost defense alliance with ‘very friendly’ Trump
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Japan PM to boost defense alliance with ‘very friendly’ Trump
- Key allies Japan and the United States are each other’s top foreign investors
Typhoon Yinxing slams into northern Philippine region still reeling from back-to-back storms
- Typhoon Yinxing is the 13th to batter the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago in 2024
- Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey hit the northern Philippines in recent weeks
MANILA: A strong typhoon slammed into a northern Philippine province on Thursday as thousands were evacuated in a region still recovering from back-to-back storms that hit a few weeks ago.
Typhoon Yinxing is the 13th to batter the disaster-prone Southeast Asian archipelago in 2024.
“I really pity our people but all of them are tough,” Gov. Marilou Cayco of the province of Batanes said by telephone. Her province was ravaged by recent destructive storms and is expected to be affected by Yinxing’s fierce wind and rain.
Tens of thousands of villagers were returning to emergency shelters, and disaster-response teams were again put on alert in Cagayan and other northern provinces near the expected path of Yinxing. The typhoon blew into Santa Ana town in Cagayan province on Thursday afternoon.
The slow-moving typhoon, locally named Marce, was packing sustained winds of up to 175 kilometers (109 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (149 mph) just before it made landfall in the coastal town of Santa Ana in Cagayan province, government forecasters said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
Aside from flash floods, authorities were concerned about the higher possibilities of landslides in northern mountainous region, which has been inundated by pounding rains from two previous storms.
The coast guard, army, air force and police were on high alert. Inter-island ferries and cargo services and domestic flights were suspended in northern provinces.
Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey hit the northern Philippines in recent weeks, leaving at least 151 people dead and affecting nearly 9 million others. More than 14 billion pesos ($241 million) in rice, corn and other crops and infrastructure were damaged.
The death and destruction from the storms prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a day of national mourning on Monday when he visited the worst-hit province of Batangas, south of the capital, Manila. At least 61 people perished in the coastal province.
Trami dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some regions, including in Batangas.
“We want to avoid the loss of lives due to calamities,” Marcos said in Talisay town in Batangas, where he brought key Cabinet members to reassure storm victims of rapid government help. “Storms nowadays are more intense, extensive and powerful.”
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.
Philippines confident in US alliance under Trump amid China tensions, envoy says
- US-Philippine security engagements have deepened under President Joe Biden and Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
- Both leaders keen to counter what they see as China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea and near Taiwan
MANILA: The Philippines expects US policy in the Indo-Pacific and support for its treaty ally amid South China Sea tensions to remain steady under Donald Trump, driven by bipartisan resolve in Washington, its ambassador to the US said on Thursday.
Both Democrats and Republicans prioritize countering China’s influence, including in the South China Sea, Jose Manuel Romualdez said, suggesting that military cooperation, economic ties and security commitments with the Philippines will continue.
“It is in their interest that the Indo-Pacific region remains free, peaceful and stable, especially given the economic part of it, with trillions of dollars passing through the South China Sea,” Romualdez said in an interview.
US-Philippine security engagements have deepened under President Joe Biden and Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with both leaders keen to counter what they see as China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea and near Taiwan.
Marcos said in a congratulatory message after Trump’s victory: “I am hopeful that this unshakeable alliance, tested in war and peace, will be a force of good that will blaze a path of prosperity and amity, in the region, and in both sides of the Pacific.”
Under Marcos, the Philippines has increased the number of its bases accessible to US forces to nine from five, some facing the South China Sea, where China has built artificial islands equipped with runways and missile systems.
The US has proposed $128 million for infrastructure improvements at those bases, in addition to a $500 million pledge for the Philippine military and coast guard.
Romualdez expressed confidence that these commitments, including joint US-Philippine maritime exercises that began last year, would continue under Trump.
“We have very strong bipartisan support in the US Congress where the money comes from. Every single one of our friends in the Republican side has signified their concern and strong support for whatever we’re doing right now in relation to the challenges we face with China today,” Romualdez said.
He suggested potential changes under Trump would be “minimal” and could even be favorable.
During Trump’s previous term, the US dispelled any doubts about its defense commitments when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured Manila in 2019 that Washington would defend its ally if attacked in the South China Sea, reinforcing the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
Beijing claims much of the South China Sea, where about $3 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually, with the area becoming a flashpoint for Chinese and US tensions around naval operations. There have been recent clashes over territorial claims between China and the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Romualdez emphasized Manila’s intent to manage disputes peacefully, and “will continue to dialogue with China as long as it’s not detrimental to our interests.”
“We’re not at war,” Romualdez said, adding there are many areas where Philippines and China can work with.
Mozambique deploys soldiers ahead of planned protests
- The southern African nation has been rocked by violence since an October 9 vote
- Main opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane says results were false and that he won
MAPUTO: Soldiers and police were patrolling Mozambique’s capital Maputo early Thursday ahead of a planned protest against election results seen by the opposition as fraudulent, AFP reporters said.
The southern African nation has been rocked by violence since an October 9 vote won by the Frelimo party, which has been in power for almost 50 years.
The city of more than one more million people was a ghost town on Thursday morning, with shops, banks, schools and universities closed.
A group of a dozen demonstrators, many wearing flip flops and one man wrapped in a Mozambican flag, gathered around 0700 GMT on one of the main streets before being told by a soldier to go home.
Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo won the presidential election with 71 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission, while the main opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane came in second with 20 percent.
Mondlane, backed by the small Podemos party, who said results were false and that he won, called for a mass protest on Thursday.
Using social media, he has rallied supporters out onto the streets since the election in demonstrations that have turned violent in police crackdowns.
In an interview with AFP, the opposition leader, whose whereabouts are unknown, said he would not be present at the march due to concerns over his safety.
At least 18 protesters have been killed in post-electoral violence, according to Human Rights Watch. Local NGO the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) said the death toll was 24.
A police officer was also killed in a protest at the weekend, Defense Minister Cristovao Chume told reporters Tuesday, warning the army could intervene “to protect the interests of the state.”
“There is an intention to change the democratically established power,” he said, amid fears that outgoing President Filipe Nyusi could declare a state of emergency.
Nyusi is expected to step down early next year at the end of his two-term limit.
The authorities have restricted access to Internet across the country in what seemed like an effort to “suppress peaceful protests and public criticism of the government,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“The shutdown inhibits people’s ability to receive and use life-saving information, to assemble peacefully, and to express their political opinions in a time of crisis,” said Allan Ngari, Africa advocacy director at HRW.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Wednesday that he was “deeply alarmed by reports of violence across the country.”
“The police must refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force and ensure that they manage protests in line with Mozambique’s international human rights obligations,” he said.
The Southern African Development Community has called for an extraordinary summit between November 16 and 20 in part to discuss developments in Mozambique.
Trial operation to remove radioactive debris from Fukushima nuclear plant successful
- Extracting the estimated 880 tonnes of highly radioactive fuel and debris from Fukushima remains the most challenging part of the decades-long decommissioning process
TOKYO: A difficult operation to remove a small piece of radioactive debris from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant using a robotic device was completed successfully, the plant operator said Thursday, after technical issues halted earlier attempts.
Extracting the estimated 880 tonnes of highly radioactive fuel and debris from Fukushima remains the most challenging part of the decades-long decommissioning process.
But radioactivity levels inside the former power station, which went into meltdown in 2011 after being hit by a catastrophic tsunami, are too high for humans to enter.
So engineers used a specially developed extendible robotic device to remove a sample with a diameter of five millimeters (0.2 inches), aiming to study it for clues about conditions inside the stricken reactors.
The trial debris removal began in September, after an initial attempt in August was suspended at an early stage over a problem with the equipment’s installation.
Another technical snag related to cameras on the apparatus caused a pause of over a month before the procedure resumed in late October.
On Thursday, plant operator TEPCO said it had “completed the trial removal of fuel debris,” declaring the operation a success after several complex steps.
Over the weekend, the robot managed to remove a piece of debris from a containment vessel surrounding a damaged reactor for the first time.
Technicians then tested the radiation level of the sample on Tuesday and put it in a special container.
It will be sent to research institutes in Ibaraki north of Tokyo for analysis, a TEPCO spokeswoman said, adding that the company is still studying when it will be able to start the full-fledged removal of the radioactive debris.
Three of Fukushima’s six reactors were operating when the tsunami hit on March 11, 2011, triggering the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Japan last year began releasing into the Pacific Ocean some of the 540 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of treated reactor cooling water amassed since the disaster.
The step sparked a diplomatic row with China and Russia, both of which banned seafood imports, although Japan insists the discharge is safe, a view backed by the UN atomic agency.
Beijing, however, said in September it would “gradually resume” importing seafood from Japan after imposing the blanket ban.
EU leaders call on Georgia to probe vote ‘irregularities’
- They added they would not be able to support the ex-Soviet republic’s ambitions to join the European Union
BUDAPEST: The leaders of France, Germany and Poland called on Georgia Thursday to quickly probe “numerous irregularities” during a recent parliamentary poll won by the Russia-leaning ruling party but contested by the pro-Western opposition.
In a joint statement, the EU countries’ leaders said they were “deeply concerned by the numerous irregularities and voter intimidation” reported during the vote.
They added they would not be able to support the ex-Soviet republic’s ambitions to join the European Union unless it showed it was serious about carrying out necessary reforms.
“If Georgia does not change course by demonstrating concrete efforts in terms of reform... we will not be able to support the opening of accession negotiations with this country to the European Union,” French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a joint statement.
The pro-Western opposition in Georgia, a small country tucked in the Caucasus, has refused to recognize the ruling Georgian Dream party’s win in the October 26 election or to enter the newly elected parliament, which it calls “illegitimate.”
The European Union and the United States blasted “irregularities” in the vote, while Georgian Dream’s opponents have accused it of putting the Caucasus country on a pro-Kremlin track.
