Showing 1 - 10 of 117
Japanese PM Takaichi comes out on top
Oped, Taniguchi Tomohiko, Published on 11/02/2026
» Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has just scored an unprecedented victory in the country's general election. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which she leads, won 316 seats in the 465-member House of Representatives (the Diet's lower house), up sharply from 198. The combined strength of two parties that had merged hastily -- despite their fundamentally opposing platforms -- in an effort to bring Ms Takaichi down fell from 167 seats to just 49. The LDP, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, has never looked more robust.
China's bluster over Japan's Taiwan remarks
News, John J Metzler, Published on 05/12/2025
» Beijing has gone rhetorically ballistic over comments by Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute "a situation threatening Japan's survival" that thus could trigger a military response. Her statement poses uncharacteristically tough talk from Tokyo at a time when tensions are running high in the Far East.
Is Takaichi Sanae the 'Iron Lady' of Japan?
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/11/2025
» For the first time in its history, Japan's parliament has selected a woman, Takaichi Sanae of the Liberal Democratic Party, to be prime minister. In this sense, Ms Takaichi has already followed in the footsteps of her political idol, Margaret Thatcher -- the UK's first female PM. But whether she is remembered as Japan's own "Iron Lady" will depend on her ability to manage three key challenges: inflation, low female labour-force participation and a fraught geopolitical environment.
Risky central bank politicisation
Jamie McGreever, Published on 29/08/2025
» There is legitimate debate about the actual independence of modern-day central banks, but almost everyone agrees that overt politicisation of monetary policy — as we appear to be seeing in the United States — is dangerous. Why is that?
Ishiba's exit may lead to turmoil
News, Tomoyuki Tachikawa, Published on 28/07/2025
» Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's resignation could herald a political turmoil in Japan, as no decisive winner emerged from the latest House of Councillors election, in which the ruling bloc suffered a major setback.
How to try and negotiate with Donald Trump
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 16/07/2025
» Since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, it has been virtually impossible to keep up with all the extreme measures, incendiary rhetoric, personnel changes, policy reversals, and breaches of rules and norms, from intelligence leaks to defiance of court orders. That is by design: like European fascists in the twentieth century, Mr Trump knows that it is far easier to manipulate and suppress an overwhelmed, divided, and disoriented public than an informed, engaged, and assured one.
How nations can counter Trump's trade trickery
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/05/2025
» Much has been written about US President Donald Trump's disastrous "reciprocal" tariffs, which, despite having remained in effect for less than 24 hours, roiled the stock market, drove up Treasury yields, and caused the dollar to depreciate. In fact, the tariffs that have so badly undermined markets' faith in the US were never reciprocal at all: they were entirely unilateral actions betraying a fundamental misunderstanding of economics.
Trump's tariffs will end in tears all round
News, Koichi Hamada, Published on 24/03/2025
» If US President Donald Trump is skilled at anything, it is demagoguery. By stoking voters' fears and prejudices, he manages to win support for, or distract from, extreme policies that benefit himself, his family, and his (mostly ultra-rich) cronies, and cause serious harm to virtually everyone else. The key to his success is knowing which buttons to push.
East Asia braces for Trump's second term
Oped, Takatoshi Ito, Published on 08/02/2025
» The first two weeks of US President Donald Trump's second term were marked by a flurry of directives and executive orders.
Myanmar's civil war after four years
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 31/01/2025
» Four years after its military coup and consequent civil war, Myanmar's spotlight in global headlines continues to dim as geostrategic reorientations and realignments among the major powers take centre stage. Dramatic and drastic foreign policy changes are afoot in the United States under the second administration of President Donald J Trump, while the European Union faces an existential threat from Russia's aggression in Ukraine, and Japan is mired in political sclerosis at home. Myanmar's fate and future will thus likely be determined by the course and outcome of its civil war, China's expanding influence in the country and Asean member states' manoeuvres to a lesser extent.