Kyodo News Digest: June 10, 2025
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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G7 leaders may skip joint declaration, 1st since 2014: Japan source
TOKYO - The Group of Seven nations are likely to skip a joint statement at the end of an upcoming three-day summit in Canada, a Japanese government source said Tuesday, marking the first time since 2014 the meeting would conclude without a consensus document.
The move is apparently aimed at preventing the G7, known for its unity in tacking global challenges, from exposing internal divisions as leaders gather for their first in-person meeting since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.
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Japan ruling bloc OKs campaigning on cash handouts in summer election
TOKYO - Japan's ruling parties agreed Tuesday to include cash handouts for households hit by rising prices in their platforms for this summer's House of Councillors election, senior lawmakers said.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force, unveiled its election pledges Tuesday, highlighting a proposal to suspend the 8 percent consumption tax on food for at least one year, in sharp contrast with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which opposes tax cuts.
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Japan urges Iran not to "miss opportunity" for nuke deal with U.S.
TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on Tuesday urged his Iranian counterpart not to "miss the opportunity" to reach a nuclear deal with the United States, as Japan seeks to help advance what appears to be delicate bilateral negotiations.
During their phone talks, Iwaya was also quoted by his ministry as telling Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi that Japan will continue to make "utmost diplomatic efforts" toward a peaceful resolution, while they agreed to keep close communication.
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China's Xi urges new S. Korean leader Lee to improve bilateral ties
BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping urged new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to promote a bilateral strategic cooperative partnership in their first telephone conversation on Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
In a veiled reference to high U.S. tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump, Xi called for China and South Korea to "jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade" and "ensure the stable and smooth functioning of global and regional industrial and supply chains," the ministry said.
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Toyota, Daimler ink Japanese truck units merger deal for April 2026
TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. and Daimler Truck Holding AG said Tuesday they concluded an agreement to merge their Japanese truck subsidiaries under a new holding company, aiming to boost competitiveness and better respond to challenges posed by energy transition and technological innovation.
Hino Motors Ltd., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor, and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., a unit of Daimler, will operate under the holding company to be set up in April 2026 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime Market, with the parent companies each holding a 25 percent stake in the new firm.
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4-meter-long sinkhole appears in southwestern Japan, no one injured
FUKUOKA - A 4-meter-long sinkhole opened near a busy shopping district in central Fukuoka on Tuesday morning, forcing a closure of the area, though no injuries were reported.
Police received an emergency call at 9:50 a.m. reporting a collapsed sidewalk along a major road in the city. The hole, which spanned both the road and the sidewalk, measured about 2 meters wide and 2 meters deep, they said.
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Ex-Taiwan ruling party members indicted over spying for China
TAIPEI - Four former members of Taiwan's ruling party were indicted Tuesday over spying for mainland China in violation of the self-ruled island's security laws.
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office said the four male suspects, including a former aide to former Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, had collaborated to gather and provide confidential government information to Chinese intelligence agents.
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Over half obtain political news via mass media in Japan: survey
TOKYO - Over half of respondents said they obtain news about elections and politics from the mass media, while about 10 percent rely on social media, according to a survey released Tuesday by a think tank affiliated with an internet news app company.
Although the mass media has recently been criticized for lacking neutrality and objectivity, 68.7 percent said the information they provide is "reliable," with 9.0 percent rating it "very reliable" and 59.7 percent "relatively reliable."
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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."
Kyodo News
an hour ago
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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
