Govt. spokesperson: Japan welcomes 'Israel-Iran ceasefire'
Japan's top government spokesperson has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran announced by US President Donald Trump.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa made the remarks to reporters on Tuesday morning. Trump's announcement came after Iran launched a retaliatory attack on a US base in Qatar following US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Hayashi said Japan believes that calming the situation quickly is of utmost importance. He added that the government strongly desires the resumption of dialogue between relevant parties.
Hayashi said Japan strongly hopes that the ceasefire deal will actually be implemented.
He noted that peace and stability in the Middle East are extremely important for Japan as well. He said the government will continue making necessary diplomatic efforts in coordination with the international community and will work to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in the region.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
4 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Trump tells Fox News he has group of wealthy people to buy TikTok
U.S. President had earlier extended to Sept. 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. © Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday that he had found a buyer for the TikTok short-video app, which he described as a group of "very wealthy people" whose identities he will reveal in about two weeks. Trump made the remarks in an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo" program. He said the deal he is developing would probably need China's approval to move forward and he predicted Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely approve it.
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Measures to ease inflation must be speedy, says Prime Minister Ishiba
Any measures to ease inflation in Japan must be speedy and shouldn't impede the government's ability to fund social services, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday, in a comment reflecting his aversion to sales tax cuts as opposition parties campaign to lower the duty ahead of a key election next month. "We must secure the necessary funds for medical care, elderly care, and pensions. On top of that, the response to the current inflationary trends needs immediacy. It needs to be speedy,' Ishiba said on Sunday at a conference hosted by nonprofit organization Japan Productivity Center. He added that measures to counter inflation must reach those most in need, and touted recent steps that eased rice and gasoline prices as examples. Ishiba has opposed lowering the sales tax ahead of an Upper House election where voters will vote on the performance of his minority government. The ruling coalition suffered its worst-ever result in a Tokyo metropolitan election last week, with voters raising the high cost-of-living as well as anger over political scandals as factors that helped determine how they voted. A Kyodo News poll conducted over the weekend showed that 50.2% of respondents hoped to see the ruling coalition lose their majority in the Upper House, while 38.1% hoped to see them maintain it. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito need to win only 50 out of 125 contested seats to maintain a majority in the Upper House. The same poll showed that 70% of respondents want a cut in the consumption tax to deal with persistent inflation, while Ishiba's pledge to provide cash handouts was supported by 23.8%. Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the country's largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, promoted his party's promise to temporarily lower the consumption tax on food, saying that a major factor for Japan's inflation, currently the highest among Group of Seven countries, is rising food prices. "I believe the most effective way to counter inflation is by bringing down the current 8% consumption tax on food down to 0%,' Noda said at the same conference, adding that his plan would call for a temporary cut with a pre-determined time limit of up to two years. Inflation in Tokyo slowed in June for the first time in four months as a result of government steps to reduce utility and gasoline prices. Still, voters across Japan have seen more than three years of inflation at or above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.
Kyodo News
8 hours ago
- Kyodo News
China to invite Trump to Sept. military parade marking WWII victory
KYODO NEWS - 15 minutes ago - 21:00 | World, All China is planning to invite U.S. President Donald Trump to a military parade scheduled for Sept. 3 in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday. The United States, meanwhile, has proposed that Chinese President Xi Jinping visit the country during the same month, coinciding with a U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, the sources said. If either plan is realized, it would be the first in-person meeting between the leaders of the world's two largest economies since Trump's return to the White House in January for a nonconsecutive second four-year term. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the parade in Beijing, held to commemorate what China calls its victory in the 1937-1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. A joint celebration of war victory by the leaders of China, Russia and the United States would likely pose a diplomatic challenge for Japan. During their phone talks on June 5, Xi invited Trump to visit China again, for which the U.S. president expressed heartfelt appreciation, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Trump, who last visited in 2017, said he reciprocated the invitation. Even if Trump himself is eager to travel to China, Beijing believes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, known as a longtime China hawk, and many other senior U.S. officials may oppose the president's attendance at the military parade, the sources said. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is reluctant to have Xi visit the United States, concerned about a Xi-Trump version of the Oval Office meeting in February where Trump publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the sources said. It is considering having Premier Li Qiang attend the U.N. meeting instead. The United Nations marks the 80th anniversary of its founding this year. A Chinese source suggested Beijing aims to set up the first Sino-U.S. summit talks since the start of the second Trump administration on Chinese soil so it can limit press coverage and engineer a "successful" summit. China and the United States, which have been engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff war, agreed to lower trade tensions by establishing a 90-day truce in May, with the two countries committed to backing away from their respective triple-digit tariffs. But tensions remain over such issues as Beijing's slow removal of export controls on critical rare-earth minerals used in high-tech products and Washington's policy to "aggressively" revoke the visas of Chinese students, specifically those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying in sensitive fields. China has staged large-scale military parades in the Tiananmen Square. In 2019, a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of Communist rule showcased the country's state-of-the-art weapons including a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile believed capable of hitting almost anywhere in the United States. In 2015, Putin and then South Korean President Park Geun Hye were among the foreign leaders who observed a military parade in Tiananmen to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. Related coverage: China to hold military parade Sept. 3 for 80th anniv. of end of WWII
