Kyodo News Digest: June 17, 2025
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan, U.S. still far from tariff deal after Ishiba-Trump summit
BANFF, Canada - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump made little headway in bridging gaps over tariffs at their summit on Monday, casting doubt on the prospect of a quick yet "mutually beneficial" package deal that can protect Japan's all-important auto sector.
After sitting down with Trump for 30 minutes in Canada's Rockies, Ishiba said any potential deal should serve the interests of both Japan and the United States, and that bilateral ministerial talks will continue to seek such an agreement.
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G7 leaders discuss global trade amid Trump tariff tensions
CALGARY, Canada - The leaders of the Group of Seven democracies discussed global trade Monday as they kicked off two days of talks in Canada, while trying to hide divisions stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war and unilateralism.
Trump's transactional approach to diplomacy and his confrontational trade actions, also targeted at G7 countries, have tested the 50-year-old group's ability to coordinate global economic policy and address threats to international peace and security.
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Japan calls for "utmost restraint" from Iran in conflict with Israel
TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Monday told his Iranian counterpart Seyyed Abbas Araghchi that all parties must exercise "utmost restraint" amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
During their phone talks, Iwaya said any action that could further escalate the situation should be refrained from, adding he is "deeply concerned about the current exchange of attacks spreading throughout the Middle East region," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
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200 kg of cherries worth 1 mil. yen stolen in northeastern Japan
YAMAGATA, Japan - Around 200 kilograms of premium cherries worth around 1 million yen ($7,000) have been stolen from an orchard in northeastern Japan, police said Monday.
Of the 67 cherry trees at the orchard in Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture, only the popular Sato Nishiki variety trees, which number around 50, had been stripped of their fruit, according to prefectural police.
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S. Korean leader Lee expresses desire for stable ties with Japan
SEOUL - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed his desire for stable development of relations between South Korea and Japan as the Japanese Embassy in Seoul held an event to mark 60 years since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations.
Lee, who departed for Canada on the day as a guest at a Group of Seven nations summit, sent a congratulatory message for the event and said, "I wish for the stable and future-oriented development of South Korea-Japan relations."
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Renault CEO to step down in July, ties with Nissan in focus
PARIS - Renault CEO Luca de Meo will step down effective July 15 to pursue work outside the auto sector, the French carmaker said Sunday, shifting attention to the company's ties with struggling Nissan Motor Co. and the moves his successor may make.
After becoming Renault's chief executive in July 2020, de Meo worked to improve relations that had become strained following the arrest of Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, who had led the partnership between the automakers.
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Former Michelin-star restaurant owner arrested after food poisonings
OSAKA - Members of a family who run a formerly Michelin-starred restaurant in western Japan were arrested Monday for ignoring an order to temporarily shut it down after a spate of food poisoning cases, investigative sources said.
Hirokazu Kitano, 69, his son Hirotoshi, 41, and wife Noriko 68, have all been involved in operating traditional Japanese-style restaurant Kiichi in Kawachinagano, Osaka Prefecture, and are alleged to have violated the Food Sanitation Act.
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China and Vietnam plan first joint army drill amid U.S. tariffs
China and Vietnam plan to hold their first joint army training exercise this month, a sign of deepening military ties as the two countries grapple with U.S. tariff policies. The exercise aims to strengthen practical cooperation between the two militaries, the Chinese defense ministry said in a Sunday statement. It will take place in southern China's Guangxi region, which borders Vietnam. China and Vietnam have carried out joint naval patrols in previous years, but the coming exercise would be the first such exchange between their armies. Vietnam, an export powerhouse that last year had the world's third-biggest trade surplus with the U.S., is seeking to persuade Washington to lower tariffs on Vietnamese goods. The Southeast Asian nation was caught off guard by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement earlier in July that they had agreed to a 20% tariff, it was reported. Vietnam is also striving to balance relations with its largest trading partner, China, which has warned nations against cutting deals at Beijing's expense. After Trump announced the pact with Vietnam in July, China's commerce ministry said it was "assessing' the situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for joint efforts with Vietnam to oppose "unilateral bullying' during his visit to the country in April.
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'Trump before Trump': Orban's illiberal model on show
At the American embassy in Budapest, the atmosphere has changed since U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in six months ago. "No more public scoldings. No more moralizing from podiums," the new charge d'affaires Robert Palladino told guests, including several Hungarian ministers, at this month's U.S. Independence Day celebration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants his country to serve as a laboratory of far-right ideas and an inspiration for Trump, whom the nationalist describes as "a great friend," and is hoping for a U.S. presidential visit. Self-touted as a "Trump before Trump," Orban has transformed the national life of Hungary, an EU member and home to 9.5 million people, during his 15-year rule. In his drive to build what he has called an "illiberal state," he has been accused of silencing critical voices from the judiciary, academia, media and civil society, and of restricting minority rights. Trump's predecessor Joe Biden once accused him of "looking for dictatorship." 'Open-air museum' "Hungary is like an open-air museum, whose leader appears to have proved it is possible to bring back the so-called good old days," said Zsolt Enyedi, a senior democracy researcher at Vienna-based Central European University. "Illiberal ideas have been institutionalized," he added. Both Trump and Orban target minorities, including the LGBTQ+ community. "Orban realized there was not a strong public resistance to incitation against vulnerable groups ... so he leveraged these to campaign," Enyedi said. Orban at the European Council in Brussels on June 26 | AFP-JIJI "Similarly, Trump deports people without going through due process as American conventions would dictate," the researcher added. U.S. author Rod Dreher, who lives in Budapest and promotes the "Hungarian model" in the United States, praises the two leaders' common fight against the "ideological left." "It does matter a lot to ordinary Americans when their little children are being sent to schools and being taught about transgenderism," the 58-year-old said. 'Strongman' tactics In a recent discussion hosted by the Hungarian-government-financed Danube Institute, where he works, Dreher cited the example of the University of Pennsylvania, which agreed to ban biological males from its women's sports teams, settling a federal civil rights complaint. "Pure Orban," Dreher says. "We would not have gotten that out of a normie Republican president. "When institutions that should be neutral are so far to the left, it takes a strongman like Trump just to try to bring them back to the center." The Trump administration has threatened to cut funding to prestigious universities like Harvard and Columbia, criticized federal judges who suspend its decisions and is in open conflict with major media outlets. By limiting access to certain journalists and replacing them with fringe media loyal to his cause, Trump is very similar to Orban, according to Enyedi. "Both make it clear that they are acting out of revenge," he said. This week, the CBS network announced the end of Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show," long a staple of late night U.S. television, saying it was "purely a financial decision." It came days after the comedian blasted parent company Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump as "a big fat bribe." But, for now, dissenting voices remain much stronger in the United States than in Hungary. While Orban has not yet been invited to the White House in Trump's current term, envoy Palladino foresees that a visit by the U.S. president to Budapest is "hopefully not too far off." Such a "historic visit" would, he said, be "a reflection of real alignment between two sovereign nations that believe in tradition, strength, and identity." "But that moment won't happen on its own. It will require vision, effort, and commitment — on both sides of the Atlantic."
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Kyodo News Digest: July 21, 2025
TOKYO - The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News. ---------- Japan ruling camp loses upper house majority, PM vows to stay on TOKYO - Japan's ruling coalition lost its majority in the House of Councillors in Sunday's election, an outcome that will add pressure on embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who vowed to stay on despite yet another heavy blow to his party. The cards are stacked against Ishiba, with all major opposition parties ruling out joining the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito party in an expanded coalition. Despite his intention to remain as prime minister, calls for Ishiba to resign from within the LDP may grow. ---------- Right-leaning group rises in Japan amid voter backlash over LDP TOKYO - The right-leaning fringe group Sanseito and the small opposition Democratic Party for the People made significant gains in Sunday's House of Councillors election, apparently reflecting voter frustration with mainstream parties and rising cost-of-living pressures. Sanseito, founded in 2020 through YouTube recruitment, has drawn attention with its "Japanese First" slogan and controversial rhetoric, particularly toward foreigners, raising concerns of xenophobia. ---------- Opposition parties to press Ishiba on tax cuts after election gains TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba remains opposed to a consumption tax cut, but opposition parties are expected to intensify calls for such measures after gaining more seats in Sunday's House of Councillors election. Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, suffered a major setback in the upper house election, as the ruling bloc proposed cash handouts to address inflation as a key pillar of its campaign pledges. ---------- FOCUS: With 2 outs, election setback raises red flag for embattled Japan PM TOKYO - A dismal outcome in Sunday's House of Councillors election poses a difficult yet inevitable question for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba -- whether his days at the helm of the Liberal Democratic Party and the country are numbered. Losing majority control of the House of Representatives last year was a serious blow to Ishiba, but another setback for the LDP and its junior partner Komeito in the upper house election now severely limits his ability to advance his policy agenda without backing from an emboldened opposition. ---------- Ishiba vows to stay on as Japan PM despite election setback TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday expressed his intention to stay in office, as his Liberal Democratic Party is set to remain the largest force in parliament despite a potential crushing setback in the House of Councillors election. Ishiba said on a TV program, "We must be fully aware of our responsibilities as the largest party in parliament. I want to be fully conscious of my own responsibility to properly address the issues" facing the country. ---------- China pressed Japan businessman to admit to spying in plea deal TOKYO - Chinese authorities pushed a Japanese businessman, recently convicted by a Chinese court, to admit to spying in exchange for a lesser charge under a plea bargain, sources close to diplomatic ties said Sunday. The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court on Wednesday sentenced a man in his 60s working for Astellas Pharma Inc. to three years and six months in prison for espionage. ---------- Upper house poll results not to affect tariff talks: Japan negotiator TOKYO - The Japanese government does not expect the outcome of Sunday's House of Councillors election to affect its tariff negotiations with the United States, the top negotiator said, even as the ruling parties struggled to retain their majority in the chamber. The upper house election, held every three years, came at a critical time for the negotiations, with the deadline for U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs looming on Aug. 1. ---------- Fire in carry-on briefly halts Tokyo loop line, power bank suspected TOKYO - All train services on the Yamanote loop line in central Tokyo were briefly suspended Sunday afternoon after a fire, likely caused by a power bank in a passenger's bag, left that passenger and four others with minor injuries, police said. Police quoted the passenger, a woman in her 30s, as saying that "the battery became hot when charging my smartphone, and (the phone) caught fire in around 30 seconds," burning her bag. The incident disrupted train traffic in the Japanese capital, affecting around 98,000 people, JR East said. ---------- Video: Monk offers prayers to eels before they are cooked
