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 Yoichi Funabashi

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Yoichi Funabashi
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2021
A dishonorable retreat in Afghanistan
A dangerous possibility is that the fall of Kabul will make China even more confident of the U.S.' accelerating decline, and will thus step up its efforts to forcefully reunite with Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2021
China and Taiwan’s ‘unrestricted vaccine warfare’
Last year, the countries of East Asia were hailed for their success stories in the effort to stop the coronavirus pandemic. Today, these same countries are battling a resurgence in infections. One unintended consequence of their early success in suppressing the virus has been a late start in vaccinating...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 23, 2021
China’s 'guochao' nationalism
In China, a boycott of leading global brands that have announced they will not use cotton produced using the forced labor of Muslims in Xinjiang province continues. Among the targets of this boycott are Swedish apparel manufacturer H&M and American and German sportswear manufacturers Nike and Adidas....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 25, 2021
How Japan can avoid losing out on the world stage
Tokyo must learn from its history of making bad decisions and being slow to deal with postwar crises.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2021
In preparing Taiwan contingency, Tokyo must remain discreet
Experts are divided on the question of China's ability to launch an invasion of Taiwan and the merits of its strategy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 18, 2021
Managing the U.S. and China: Japan’s best way forward
Tokyo must be wary of Beijing's attempts to split the Japan-U.S. alliance, and must work to persuade Washington of the best approach to conflict.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 11, 2021
What the evolving international order means for Japan
As tensions in the Asia-Pacific region increase, the ties between Tokyo, Washington and Beijing continue to change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 18, 2021
The 'Quad' has the potential to become a truly historic undertaking
Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden invited the leaders of Japan, Australia and India to join him online for a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (“Quad”). Under the Trump administration, the foreign ministers of the Quad countries had convened twice since 2018, but the March 2021 summit represented...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 21, 2021
The era of the Japan-Australia alliance is here
It seems likely that the Japan-Australia relationship will develop into an alliance in substance if not in name.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 19, 2021
The need to deepen fusion with Australia, Japan's second ally
The two nations face significant common challenges, from China's regional aggression to growing nationalism in the United States.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Remembering 3/11
Mar 9, 2021
Ten years after the Fukushima nuclear accident
The 2011 Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident was Japan's greatest national crisis in the postwar era. In the midst of the crisis, the then Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government secretly commissioned experts to create a worst-case scenario in which the fuel rods in the fuel pool would dissolve...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2021
Biden’s Asia strategy: 'Personnel is policy'
Considering the weak domestic position of the United States, its demands for human rights could be perceived as self-righteous and end up alienating other countries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 29, 2021
Will Biden’s emphasis on alliances go anywhere?
Even if allies strike a deal with the current U.S. administration, there is always the fear that it may be overturned in four years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 17, 2021
Why a new Asia policy is needed under Biden
During the four years of the Trump administration, the U.S. has been left behind in efforts to construct a new regional architecture in the Asia-Pacific.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2021
Asia’s rise doesn’t necessarily mean the West’s decline
The post-pandemic world is no simple seesaw game in which East Asia rises and the West falls.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 2, 2020
An America in decline and the dangers that entails
The U.S. has dealt with the question of decline more than once in the postwar era.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 19, 2020
How Tokyo can navigate the Japan-U.S.-China trap
The relationship between the world's three largest economies is a beneficial one, but must be maintained with delicacy and skill to keep conflict at bay.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2020
The world enters a new age of radical uncertainty
When it comes to the pandemic, or climate change, we may have to accept a certain amount of coexistence, even as we develop countermeasures.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 7, 2020
Russia and China advance vaccine nationalism
COVID-19 vaccines are in the final Phase-3 of clinical trials around the world. Russia, however, skipped Phase-3 trials and immediately moved to approve the vaccine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 14, 2020
Time for innovation in the U.S.-Japan alliance
China's offensive maneuvering will continue for some time. In response, the U.S. and Japan have no choice but to work on reaffirming and strengthening their alliance.

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