A press conference by US President Donald Trump took an unexpected turn after Trump announced not only the end of Hong Kong’s favorable trade status under American law, but that the United States would be withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
As politicians in Beijing gathered for the annual meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the skies outside darkened, providing grim foreshadowing of events that could alter the fate of Hong Kong forever. Hours later, international news outlets were announcing “the end of Hong Kong.”
A promising trend in relations between Japan and the Russian Far East has been put on ice by the coronavirus pandemic. As soon as the health emergency is under control, Tokyo should be bold in resuming ties with the region that is Japan’s closest geographic neighbor.
This SNA Speakeasy features Lev Nachman on the theme of “Taiwan’s Treatment in US Foreign Policy.”
The second inauguration ceremony for President Tsai Ing-wen was held today, marking the start of Tsai’s second term as president after her January 2020 election victory.
Immediately after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, many began to imagine a physically and conceptually transformed Tokyo. While we may be nowhere near the end of the slow-motion train wreck that is Covid-19, imagining a post-pandemic Japanese society that can benefit citizens is the beginning of revitalization, and hopefully, a more substantial set of transformations.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of May 2020.
Defense Minister Taro Kono’s denunciation of NHK and the mainstream news media as “fake news” for reporting that his ministry had decided to give up the Araya Training Area in Akita city as host for an Aegis Ashore facility was a cynical ploy on his part, but it did highlight once again that many people misunderstand the news media in rather fundamental ways.
Today, we see the eight-hour workday as a social norm, albeit observed more in the breech. But workers shed blood and tears to bequeath this right to us.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the last half of April 2020.
