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August 15, 2024
 

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OCEANIA

The Maersk Launcher, a ship chartered by The Metals Company, carries seabed samples from the remote Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean on June 7, 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 30, 2024
The future of deep sea mining hinges on a contentious election
The vote will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals despite concerns about the impacts.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown shake hands during 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 18, 2024
With eye on China, Japan deepens ties with Pacific islands at Tokyo summit
Collaborations have been agreed in seven fields, including technology and connectivity, climate change, people-centered development and security.
A meeting on judicial issues facing Pacific island countries was held in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024
Japan to help Pacific island nations promote rule of law
The ministry has been supporting Southeast Asian countries in improving their judicial systems since the 1990s.
Children sit near a flooding seawall during high tide in Serua, Fiji, in 2022.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2024
Japan to share weather data with Pacific island nations
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce the plan at the July 16-18 summit in Tokyo with Pacific island leaders.
The Defense Ministry holds a lecture for military and police officials from Pacific island countries at the ministry on Friday as part of its security-related capacity-building support.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 3, 2024
Japan Defense Ministry boosting aid to Pacific island nations
Only three out of 14 Pacific island nations — Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga — have armed forces.
France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he delivers a speech at New Caledonia's High Commissioner residency in Noumea on May 22, during his trip to the Pacific archipelago.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2024
A Pacific island in flames cuts Macron’s global ambition down to size
The French president's decision of pushing through a contentious law before New Caledonia’s provincial elections has developed into a lasting problem for the Elysee.
New Zealand foreign minister Winston Peters
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2024
New Zealand 'seriously concerned' about China's actions in Pacific
New Zealand's foreign minister acknowledged China as a "vital economic partner" but said Wellington will continue to share its concerns with Beijing.
Solomon Islands’ newly elected Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele speaks during a press conference outside the Parliament House in Honiara on Thursday. Manele was elected defeated an opposition leader intent on curbing Beijing's reach in the Pacific nation.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 2, 2024
China-friendly Manele elected as Solomon Islands PM
Manele chosen over an opposition leader intent on curbing Beijing's reach in the Pacific nation.
Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare arrives at Parliament House to attend the new prime minister’s voting session in Honiara on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 2, 2024
Solomon Islands lawmakers to elect PM, with consequences for China
Incumbent Manasseh Sogavare withdrew from the contest after failing to secure an election majority.
Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare speaks during a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 30, 2024
Solomon Islands pro-China PM says not standing for new term
During four spasmodic spells as the Pacific nation's leader, the 69-year-old Sogavare has maneuvered through armed coups, riots and the rise of China.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare speaks during a visit to Beijing last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 22, 2024
Pro-China Solomon Islands PM fails to secure outright majority
Manasseh Sogavare's Our Party has won 12 seats with six contests still in play — well short of a majority in the 50-seat parliament.
Solomon Islanders queue up to vote outside a polling station in Honiara on Wednesday. The election could reshape regional security, with citizens effectively choosing if their Pacific nation will deepen ties with China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
China and Taiwan ties hang in the balance in Solomon Islands vote
While domestic issues will be key to voters’ choices, the result will have repercussions for the islands’ ties with China.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2024
Opposition figurehead decries China's 'alarming' sway in Solomon Islands
The archipelago is the unlikely focal point of a diplomatic scramble pitting a rising China against Western rivals.
The U.S. Coast Guard Legend-class maritime security cutter USCGC Bertholf pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii in June 2012.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2024
U.S. Coast Guard rebuts China's criticism of South Pacific vessel boardings
Last month six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu's fisheries law by local police on board a U.S. Coast Guard boat.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 25, 2024
New Zealand troops to help Solomon Islands in election
New Zealand said it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month.
High tides in Funafuti, Tuvalu, in February. About 40% of the main atoll and capital district Funafuti is already underwater at high tide, and the tiny nation is forecast to be submerged by the end of the century.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 4, 2024
Tuvalu preserves history online as rising seas threaten existence
"We cannot outrun the rising tides, but we will do what we can to protect our statehood, our spirit, our values," minister Simon Kofe said.
Flags of the Solomon Islands and China near the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing in last July
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024
China’s expansive diplomatic network still outstrips that of U.S.
Beijing had a larger footprint last year than Washington in key areas of geopolitical interest including the Pacific, East Asia and Central Asia.
Feleti Teo was formally selected by lawmakers as Tuvalu's premier on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024
Taiwan envoy says Tuvalu ties 'rock solid' post-election
With a population of just 11,000, Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
U.S. President Joe Biden chats with Kiribati President Taneti Maamau as Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown looks on during a summit at the White House in Washington in September.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 23, 2024
Chinese police are working in Kiribati, Hawaii's Pacific neighbor
Kiribati has not publicly announced the policing deal, which comes as Beijing renews a push to expand security ties in the Pacific islands.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (far left) and the prime minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mataafa (far right), meet in Apia, the capital of Samoa, on Feb. 10.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2024
Japan plays a game of Pacific islands geopolitical chess
The influx of Chinese investment and activities have introduced risk for some Pacific island nations, moves which Japan cannot ignore.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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