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Japan's top shipbuilder Imabari to make No. 2 JMU a subsidiary
TOSHIHIDE TAKEDA
TOKYO -- Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan's leader in the field, announced on Thursday that it will boost its stake in second-ranked Japan Marine United (JMU) to 60% and make it a subsidiary, looking to lower costs and increase competitiveness with Chinese and South Korean rivals.
The acquisition amount has not been disclosed. The deal is subject to notification and approval from relevant domestic and overseas authorities, with completion expected to take several months.
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The Diplomat
17 minutes ago
- The Diplomat
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In February 2025, the United States similarly canceled the visas of Costa Rican legislators Johanna Obando and Cynthia Cordoba, both of whom are alleged to be associated with influence peddling by the China-based telecommunications company Huawei. Following the cancellation of Obando and Cordoba's visas, at the request of the Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaoyao, Arias convened a session in the Costa Rican legislature with opposition politicians and Qiu Xiaoqi, the head of Latin American Affairs for China's Foreign Ministry. Adding to the provocation, Arias later invited Wang and a delegation from Beijing to Ingenio Taboga, a ranch in Guanacaste in which his family has an interest, to praise China and talk about ways to expand cooperation with Costa Rica in various water projects. If the message sent to Costa Rica by the visa cancellations was ambiguous, due to the lack of an official explanation, a February 2025 visit to Costa Rica by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided more clarity. Rubio expressed the U.S. government's concerns over China's activities in the region, and praised the Costa Rican government's decision to exclude Chinese vendors from its 5G digital infrastructure. The U.S. had also previously canceled the visas of representatives of the Costa Rican telecommunication organization ICE and its principal trade union over irregular Huawei lobbying, which had included a lavish 2024 party thrown by Huawei in the Hilton La Sabana. Evolution of the China-Costa Rica Relationship Costa Rica's experience with China and Chinese companies since President Arias switched relations from Taiwan in May 2007 has arguably fallen short of expectations and been filled with frustration on both sides. China initiated its relationship with the Arias government in 2007 with gifts and other promised benefits totaling an estimated $430 million. These included construction of a $100 million national stadium and the purchase of $300 million in Costa Rican government bonds. Despite the initial display of goodwill, the Chinese approach to doing business quickly came into conflict with Costa Rican laws and institutions. The company building the national stadium, Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group Co., Ltd., improperly sought to use the equipment that had been imported duty-free for the construction to make money on side projects. The proposed construction of the Soresco petroleum refinery fell apart in 2016 when China National Petroleum Company repeatedly sought to use its own subsidiary to perform the independent evaluation that the Costa Rican government required before committing its own money and taking the project forward. Adding to China's problems, construction of the strategically important highway Route 32, paid for by the Costa Rican government but financed by a $296 million loan from China Export Import Bank, became mired in over 12 years of delays due to performance problems by the Chinese builder, China Harbor Engineering Corporation. These included repeated difficulties in securing access to the land required to build the highway. Even a 'Chinatown' arranged by San Jose mayor Johnny Araya, which included a traditional Chinese gate gifted by the Chinese government, generated conflict in Costa Rica. For one, the new pedestrian area blocked a key traffic route through San Jose, complicating its endemic traffic jams. It also initially failed to attract many Chinese stores, and flooded during the rainy season due to design defects. On the trade side, Costa Rican hopes of increasing exports to China through the change in diplomatic recognition failed to materialize – despite the subsequent negotiation of a free trade agreement that went into effect in August 2011. However, those actions contributed to a significant expansion of Chinese products and retail outlets in the country at the expense of local businesses. As a result, an enormous trade deficit has accrued to the benefit of China. In 2023, Costa Rica imported $3.39 billion in goods from China, while exporting only $402.7 million to it. In 2012, China sought to expand its commercial presence in Costa Rica through six proposed special economic zones. 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The Chinese have also proposed a 39 kilometer long monorail to be built and financed by China-based companies. Chinese firms are reportedly also interested in operating a port facility at Caldera, although there has not yet been a formal bidding process. In telecommunications, Huawei continues to fight against its exclusion from the Costa Rican telecom market. Its efforts include its previously noted attempts to court members of ICE, its principal union, and Costa Rican legislators, including lavish parties in the Sabana Hilton, arguably facilitating the suspension of U.S. visas over those involved in such improper interactions. Despite the exclusion of Huawei from Costa Rica's 5G network, its equipment has penetrated government and private sector digital infrastructures. ICE, for example, uses Huawei routers, while Telecable and Claro have Huawei modems. Chinese smartphones, including Huawei, Xiaomi, and the new low-end device company Honor, are widely used in the country. 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The legislature sent 87 personnel to China in a two-year period 2022-2023, representing 10 percent of its entire staff. Representative Fabricio Alvarado Munoz was at the top of the list, with eight visits authorized for himself and his staff. As noted previously, President Chaves himself is being investigated for having received 150 million colons in support for his campaign through a bond purchased by Hong Kong based businessman Sheng Lin Hu. In the private sector, the China-Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce and Industry plays an important coordinating and information providing role between Chinese and Costa Rican businesses. Its president, Isabel Yung, who also heads the association for the ethnically Chinese community in Costa Rica, is an important figure with close ties to the Chinese embassy. 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Similarly, in November 2023, a Costa Rican journalist from Grupo R Multimedia participated in an event in China sponsored by the China-Latin America Press Center. Conclusion Costa Rica is an example, repeated in other countries in the region such as Nicaragua and Honduras, of how hoped for commercial gains from diplomatic flips from Taiwan to China, and the signing of associated MOUs and free trade agreements, often fail to materialize. Instead, such initiatives may expose local commercial actors to damaging penetration from Chinese goods and companies, and introduce Chinese influence networks into vulnerable local political, business, academic and media environments. At the same time, Costa Rica is also an example of how strong institutions and democratic culture can help a country to resist such risks, even while recognizing that the requirement for vigilance is ongoing.
Nikkei Asia
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Cheap and sleek Chinese EVs turn European heads
BYD was the 10th most popular brand in Europe in the first half of this year, based on new car registration figures. JENS KASTNER HAMBURG, Germany -- European leaders can complain to Beijing all they want about cheap Chinese electric cars flooding the continent, but their resistance may be futile. This summer, more and more transporters have been spotted on Germany's autobahns ferrying loads of BYD, Leapmotor and Great Wall Motor cars from ports to dealerships. On Swedish and British roads, Xpeng and Polestar cars are also becoming more common.
The Diplomat
2 hours ago
- The Diplomat
How Is Vietnam Navigating the New Trade War Era?
Can Vietnam adapt its economic model to this era of geopolitical fragmentation – or will it become collateral damage in someone else's trade war? When U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Vietnam with a 46 percent tariff on April 2 – 'Liberation Day' – he exposed a fundamental contradiction at the heart of the Southeast Asian country's economic miracle. For years, Vietnam had perfected the art of being indispensable to both the United States and China – a nimble intermediary that helped both superpowers circumvent their own destructive trade war. Since 2017, its exports to the U.S. had nearly tripled, transforming it into a manufacturing powerhouse that seemed immune to geopolitical disruption. But as a Vietnamese proverb warns: When buffalo and oxen lock horns, mosquitoes suffer. As Trump doubles down on decoupling from China, 'connector economies' like Vietnam are caught in the crossfire. With a ballooning trade surplus with the United States – third only to China and Mexico in 2024 – Vietnam has drawn accusations of acting as a transshipment hub for Chinese goods. Trump's senior counselor, Peter Navarro, went so far as to call the country 'a colony of communist China.' Although the initial tariff was eventually suspended, the threat rattled Vietnam's economy. Its Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) plunged to 45.6 in April – its sharpest contraction since the pandemic. While May and June brought marginal rebounds, the index remained below the critical 50 mark, pointing to continued weakness in export orders. True to form, Vietnam responded with its trademark agility. Within days of the 'Liberation Day' announcement, To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the country's powerful new leader, was on the phone with Trump offering concessions. A flurry of diplomacy followed: a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, trips to Moscow and Central Asia, and trade overtures to France and Thailand. Hanoi eventually reached a deal with the U.S., yet the compromise – a dual-tariff system of 20 percent on Vietnamese-made goods and 40 percent on those deemed 'transshipped' from China – was just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. Vietnam's deeper dilemma is structural. As the United States and China decouple, the room for profitable neutrality narrows. The country can no longer just plug into the highest-return circuit. Economic globalization, which has powered Vietnam's rise, is fracturing. The challenge now is existential: can Vietnam adapt its economic model to this era of geopolitical fragmentation – or will it become collateral damage in someone else's trade war?
