Jesse Johnson - The Japan Times

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 25, 2019

U.S. sends warship through Taiwan Strait after warning from Beijing

The U.S. Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait, a move that came the same day that Beijing warned it would not rule out using force against self-ruled and democratic Taiwan to halt any move toward formal independence.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 24, 2019

China defense white paper singles out Japan over security shift and blasts U.S. for undermining global stability

China has singled out Japan for its shifting security policies and lambasted the United States for undermining global stability, noting rising strategic competition among major powers, in its first defense white paper in seven years.

ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS

Jul 23, 2019

Kim inspects new submarine in first public display of North Korea's nuclear capabilities since 2017

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a "newly built submarine" that was to operate in the Sea of Japan, state-run media said Tuesday, in one of the first displays of power related to his country's nuclear capabilities since November 2017.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 22, 2019

North Korea's Kim casts vote in local elections with '99.98%' turnout

Under the thin veneer of supposedly free elections, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cast his ballot Sunday in nationwide polls to choose new deputies to the country's local assemblies, state-run media has reported.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 21, 2019

Top South Korean official says joint U.S. military exercises to continue despite threat from North

Joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises scheduled for next month are going ahead, a top Seoul official said Saturday, despite a threat by North Korea to boycott working-level talks with Washington and possibly restart nuclear and longer-range missile tests.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 20, 2019

'Top Gun' sequel, co-produced by China's Tencent, drops Japanese and Taiwanese flags

Eagle-eyed viewers have spotted a curious discrepancy in the first trailer for "Top Gun: Maverick," the sequel to the beloved '80s classic "Top Gun," which Paramount debuted Thursday — the patches on the iconic leather jacket worn by star Tom Cruise no longer bear the Taiwanese and Japanese flags....

ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS

Jul 17, 2019

U.S. needs new bases and new capabilities in Asia to counter China threat, defense chief nominee says

U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be the next defense chief has said that new military bases are needed "throughout the Indo-Pacific region" while also urging the fielding of "new capabilities" amid the threat to U.S. and allied forces from powerful Chinese missiles.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS

Jul 16, 2019

North Korea hints talks with U.S. could be halted and missile, nuclear tests restarted if military exercises go ahead

North Korea hinted Tuesday that long-stalled working-level denuclearization talks with the United States due to be restarted soon could be halted and nuclear and missile tests restarted if the U.S. goes ahead with planned joint military exercises with South Korea.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 14, 2019

China holds military drills off southeastern coast in wake of U.S. approval of Taiwan arms deal

China's military carried out air and naval drills off its southeastern coast in "recent days," the Defense Ministry said in a brief statement Sunday, a move that comes less than a week after the U.S. approved a $2.2 billion arms deal for self-ruled Taiwan.

JAPAN / Politics

Jul 13, 2019

U.S. ambassador to Japan William Hagerty to leave post for Senate run, Trump says

U.S. Ambassador William Hagerty will leave his post to run for the Senate, President Donald Trump tweeted late Friday. Hagerty received a “Complete & Total Endorsement” from the American leader.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 11, 2019

U.S. Forces Korea acknowledges North Korean ICBM can hit anywhere in the United States

U.S. Forces Korea has said for the first time that North Korea's powerful Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can hit targets anywhere in the mainland United States, with an estimated range of nearly 13,000 km (8,000 miles).

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jul 10, 2019

U.S. hopes to see 'freeze' of North Korea's nuke program as starting point — not endgame, State Department says

The United States hopes to see a "freeze" of North Korea's nuclear weapons program as a starting point — not an endgame — for Pyongyang eventually relinquishing its arsenal, a State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday ahead of a fresh round of talks expected to kick off later this month.

ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS

Jul 9, 2019

$2.2 billion Taiwan-U.S. arms deal angers China, but sale more symbolic than signal of strength

The U.S. State Department's approval of a possible sale to Taiwan of "big ticket" weapons at an estimated value of $2.2 billion is likely to be seen as a symbolic move that makes sense for both Taipei and Washington as they grapple with an increasingly assertive China.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jul 3, 2019

Pentagon calls Chinese anti-ship missile test in South China Sea 'disturbing'

The Pentagon has blasted as "disturbing" a Chinese missile launch from its man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea, saying that the test was meant to intimidate other claimants to the strategic waterway.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jun 30, 2019

Trump becomes first sitting U.S. leader to enter North Korea

Sixty-six years after the Korean War was halted in an armistice, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday became the first sitting American leader to set foot on North Korean soil when he met dictator Kim Jong Un for the third time in just over a year.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 29, 2019

Trump looks to meet North Korea's Kim — again — but will this be more than a photo op?

Even on foreign soil, U.S. President Donald Trump — a notorious creature of habit — doesn't stray too far from his Saturday morning ritual: firing off tweets that routinely shake up the geopolitical order.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jun 29, 2019

North Korea calls Trump invite to meet Kim at DMZ over weekend 'interesting'

In a stunning move employing the Twitter diplomacy that he has become famous for, U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet him at the border between the two Koreas over the weekend — a proposal the regime in Pyongyang called "interesting."

JAPAN

Jun 27, 2019

On approach to Osaka G20, Trump whips up storm for Abe on defense and trade

Ahead of his departure for the G20 summit, U.S. President Trump appears to have reignited the controversy over the possibility of terminating the postwar defense pact with Japan.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jun 26, 2019

One-third of Americans would back nuclear strike on North Korea — even if it killed a million civilians, survey shows

Over one-third of Americans would back a preventive attack by the U.S. on North Korea — including one using nuclear weapons — despite knowing it would kill some 1 million civilians, an innovative new survey has found.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jun 24, 2019

Pompeo says U.S.-North Korea relationship 'in a better place' after letters

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday confirmed that President Donald Trump had sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, voicing hopes of a quick restart to denuclearization talks.

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