Tag - pacific

 
 

PACIFIC

A medium-range ballistic missile target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, before being successfully intercepted by Standard Missile-6 missiles fired from the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, in Kauai, Hawaii, in 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 17, 2024
U.S. gathers arsenal of anti-ship weapons to counter China
China will still have a large advantage in sheer numbers of anti-ship missiles, however.
Japan's Malo Tuitama runs with the ball during his team's match against Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup semifinals on Sunday. Japan won 49-27.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 16, 2024
Japan cruises past Samoa to reach Pacific Nations Cup final
Japan scored four tries in the first half and three in the second of the semifinal.
Job-seekers take a Japanese class at an employment placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
COMMENTARY
Sep 11, 2024
Is Japan an attractive option for foreign talent from Asia?
The uptick in young foreign workers is driven by growing interest in Japanese society and culture and difficulty in finding jobs at home.
U.K. Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom says the Indo-Pacific region offers a unique opportunity to not only tackle shared security concerns but also to generate new sources of economic growth.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024
U.K. envoy to Japan pushes back on Indo-Pacific disengagement concerns
The region — and Japan — remain “critical" to Britain's interests, Ambassador Julia Longbottom told The Japan Times.
Japan's Nicholas Mccurran scores a try during the Brave Blossoms' Pacific Nations Cup group-stage match against the U.S. on Saturday in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 7, 2024
Japan beats U.S. to top Pacific Nations Cup group
Eddie Jones' Japan will face Samoa in next weekend's semis while the U.S., which went through as the group runner-up, will take on Fiji.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (left), Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (center left), Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center right) and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles gather for their two-plus-two meeting in Queenscliff, Australia, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 5, 2024
Japan and Australia look to closer cooperation to deter China
The quasi-allies have committed to coordinate their national security policies “more closely than ever before.”
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends a new conference for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 3, 2024
Africa's rising importance for Japan’s Indo-Pacific goals
Africa is becoming an increasingly important element of Japanese FOIP strategy. It is a work in progress, but it is proceeding.
Tongan dancers performing a traditional dance at the closing ceremony of the 53rd Pacific Island Forum leaders' meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on Friday.  Taiwan said it signed a pact with the forum's secretariat on Friday that will see it continue its support for the strategically important region until 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 2, 2024
Taiwan staves off exclusion with Pacific island cooperation pact
The signing of the pact will see the self-ruled island continue its support for the Pacific islands until 2027.
Tokyo needs to leverage its political, economic, diplomatic and security strengths to shape Washington's engagement and regional stability in the Asia-Pacific no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2024
Japan's strategy for navigating an uncertain U.S. election
Japan needs to continue its role as a diplomatic bridge in shaping U.S.-China strategic competition to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown (left), Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele (second left), Tongan Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku (second right) and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa, announce the Pacific Resilience Facility decision at a meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 31, 2024
Pacific bloc scrubs Taiwan from document after China complaint
A new joint declaration by Pacific leaders was reissued Saturday morning after China slammed an earlier version as a "mistake" that "must be corrected."
U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she arrives to speak on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2024
Harris isn’t looking to pick new fights with China, unlike Trump
The U.S. vice president is betting that Americans don’t want an all-out confrontation when they tell pollsters they’d like their leaders to get even tougher on China.
There is a significant divide between security experts, who emphasize the unquantifiable risks of geopolitical instability, and economists, who focus on the measurable costs of restructuring supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2024
Traditional economics fail the geopolitical test
The seemingly yawning gap between the views of the security specialists and the business and economics types is striking.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before the APEC Leaders' Retreat in Bangkok in November 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2024
How a Harris-Walz administration might handle Asia policy
While a Harris-Walz administration would likely avoid unilateral economic measures against China, it would prioritize human rights more in the relationship.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Pacific island leaders have agreed to establish up to four regional police training centers and a multinational crisis reaction force.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 28, 2024
Pacific island leaders 'endorse' joint policing plan
The policing plan is seen as an attempt to limit China's security role in the region amid Beijing's efforts to build Pacific influence.
A ship transports passengers to Honiara Port in the Solomon Islands. The region’s maritime location between Asia, North America and Australia is set to keep it at the forefront of major powers’ defense strategies.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2024
New ‘great game’ in Pacific between U.S. and China puts development at risk
Great power attention in the Pacific could cause local needs like poverty reduction, education, health and other key areas to be neglected in favor of strategic projects.
The Italian Navy's aircraft carrier ITS Cavour at the Yokosuka naval base on Thursday. The 244-meter, 27,100-ton Italian flagship arrived at the base in Kanagawa Prefecture Thursday morning for a port call.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2024
Italy-Japan ties enter ‘new era’ amid deepening alignment, top envoy to Tokyo says
Underscoring this rapidly expanding partnership was the 244-meter, 27,100-ton flagship's visit to the Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks on the first night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 20, 2024
Democratic Party platform emphasizes Asia, but muted on Harris
The platform laid out a familiar list of priorities and also criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over his shaky history with regional allies.
Berlin's growing military engagement with Indo-Pacific allies and partners is meant to signal that Germany "stands firmly at the side of those countries that are committed to complying with international law and do not accept it being called into  question," German Navy chief Vice Adm. Kaack told The Japan Times.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2024
Sea lane fears drive German military's Asian engagement, navy chief says
Developments in the Indo-Pacific, both economic and geopolitical, have direct implications for the security and prosperity of Germany, Vice Adm. Jan Christian Kaack says.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier (left) and its strike group sails in formation with Italy's Cavour carrier (right) strike group in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2024
NATO steps up naval presence in Western Pacific to counter China
The latest entrant is the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour, the first time Rome has deployed its lone carrier to the Pacific.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses for a group photo with other regional leaders prior to the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) leaders meeting in Tokyo in December.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2024
Japan's energy diplomacy reflects global divide over how to reach net zero
Japan’s focus should be on advancing truly innovative and effective renewable technologies, rather than prolonging fossil fuel use.

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A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?