On truth of North Korean purge, there are reasons for caution based on South's past record

Abstract: SEOUL - A South Korean newspaper reported Friday that North Korea executed a senior envoy involved in nuclear negotiations with the U.S. as well as four other high-level officials. But as ever with North Korea, a country that closely guards its secrets, there are reasons to be cautious about the purported purge. While North Korea hasn’t used its propaganda services to comment, the report in the conservative Chosun Ilbo daily could be true. North Korea has previously executed scapegoats to atone for high-profile political flops, and the most recent summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump ended in failure, leaving Kim embarrassed on the world stage. But it’s important to note that both South Korean media and the government in Seoul have a history of reporting scoops about the inner workings of North Korea that turn out to be wrong. Supposedly executed officials have later appeared trotting alongside Kim on state TV after their reported demise. Friday’s report is based on a single, unidentified “source who knows about North Korea” — with no details about where that source got their information. The report so far hasn’t been matched by any major media in Seoul or confirmed by government officials, even anonymously. The newspaper’s source said that senior envoy Kim Hyok Chol was executed at the Mirim airfield with four other officials from the North’s Foreign Ministry for betraying Kim Jong Un after being won over by the U.S. Kim Hyok Chol led working-level negotiations as North Korea’s special representative for U.S. affairs ahead of February’s summit between the U.S. and North Korean leaders in Hanoi. The source also said that Kim Yong Chol, who had worked as North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator and met with Trump at the White House while setting up the summits, was sentenced to hard labor and ideological re-education. That the report has been snapped up by global media reflects the hunger for any details about what’s going on in North Korea as diplomatic efforts falter between Washington and Pyongyang, which tightly controls its media and both local and foreign access to information. Negotiations have hit a stalemate because the North wants an end to crippling sanctions, but Washington says Pyongyang is not providing enough disarmament to allow that to happen. There is now growing concern that the diplomacy that has blossomed since early 2018 could be replaced by a return to the animosity that in 2017 caused some of the most realistic fears of war in years as the North staged a string of increasingly powerful weapons and Kim and Trump traded intensely personal threats and insults. Since the Hanoi nuclear summit ended in failure, North Korea has again tested weapons and boosted its belligerent rhetoric toward American and South Korean officials. Analysts believe this indicates Pyongyang is trying to show displeasure for the current impasse without destroying the diplomacy. Seoul’s spy service said it could not confirm Friday’s report, while the presidential Blue House said that “it’s inappropriate to make hasty judgments or comments.” Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Thursday called out unspecified “betrayers, turncoats who demonstrate their loyalty to (the supreme leadership) only in words, and, even worse, change their colors by the flow of trends” and said they would come under the “stern judgment of the revolution.” “To pretend to serve the suryong while dreaming different dreams when turning around is to commit anti-party and anti-revolutionary actions that abandon the moral loyalty for the suryong,” the newspaper said, referring to a revered title served for North Korean leaders. If Friday’s report is wrong, it would not be the first time for South Korean media and officials. South Korean intelligence officials in 2016 said that Kim Jong Un had Ri Yong Gil, a former North Korean military chief, executed for corruption and other charges. North Korea’s state media months later showed that Ri was alive and in possession of several new senior posts. In 2013, the Chosun Ilbo reported that Hyon Song Wol, a famous North Korean artist the newspaper described as Kim’s “ex-girlfriend,” was executed in public along with several other performers over accusations that they filmed themselves having sex and selling the videos. Hyon, the leader of Kim’s hand-picked Moranbong all-female band, was very much alive and later emerged as a key member of Kim’s government, accompanying him in his meetings with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. South Korea does sometimes get it right. While many questioned the competence of the South Korean spy service after it failed to learn of the 2011 death of Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, before Pyongyang’s state TV announced it, the intelligence agency saved face in 2013 by releasing its finding that Kim’s powerful uncle, Jang Song Thaek, was purged, days before North Korea announced his execution.

media
north korea
kim jong un
journalism
nuclear weapons
south korea
north korea nuclear crisis
kim yong chol
kim-trump summit
kim hyok chol


North Korea's Kim Jong Un carrying out bloody purge after collapse of Trump summit, report says

Abstract: SEOUL - North Korea executed its nuclear envoy to the United States as part of a purge of officials who steered negotiations for the failed Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, a South Korean newspaper said on Friday. Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport in Pyongyang, along with four Foreign Ministry executives after they were charged with spying for the United States, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing a source with knowledge of the situation. “He was accused of spying for the United States for poorly reporting on the negotiations without properly grasping U.S. intentions,” the source said. The February summit, the second between Kim and Trump, failed to reach a deal because of conflicts over U.S. calls for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and North Korean demands for sanctions relief. Previously, some North Korean officials have reportedly been executed or purged, only to reappear with a new title. U.S. State Department officials said they had no information to confirm the report. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report. A spokeswoman at South Korea’s Unification Ministry declined to comment. An official at the presidential Blue House in Seoul said it was inappropriate to comment on an issue that should first be verified. A diplomatic source said there were signs Kim Hyok Chol and other officials had been punished for the breakdown of the summit, such as by being sent to a labor camp for re-education, but there was no evidence they have been executed. Kim Yong Chol, Kim Jong Un’s right-hand man and the counterpart of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before the Hanoi summit, had also been sent to a labor and re-education camp in Jagang Province near the Chinese border, the Chosun Ilbo reported. Key officials who worked with Kim Yong Chol have been out of the public eye since the summit. Seasoned diplomats who previously appeared to have been sidelined, including Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, were seen returning to the spotlight. A South Korean lawmaker said in April that Kim Yong Chol, a hawkish former spy master, had been removed from a key party post. Kim Hyok Chol was seen as a rising star when he was appointed to spearhead working-level talks with U.S. nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun before the Hanoi summit. However, little was known about his expertise or the role he undertook during those talks. The other four executed alongside him included diplomats working on Vietnam relations, the Chosun report said. “This is a man who might provide some tactical advice to the leader but is otherwise a message bearer with little negotiating or policymaking latitude,” said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center. “Instead, they put in someone like Kim Hyok Chol to insulate Choe Son Hui and more substantive diplomatic personnel — to a certain degree he is expendable, and his superiors are not.” Among the penalized officials were Kim Song Hye, who led preparations as part of Kim Yong Chol’s team, and Sin Hye Yong, a newly elevated interpreter for the Hanoi summit. They were said to have been detained in a camp for political prisoners, the newspaper said. The diplomatic source said Kim Song Hye’s punishment seemed inevitable because she was a “prime author” of the North’s plan to secure sanctions relief in return for dismantling the Nyongbyon main nuclear complex. The idea was rejected by the United States demanding a comprehensive road map for denuclearization. Kim Song Hye had also worked closely with Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s younger sister and a senior party official whom Kim Song Hye accompanied to South Korea for the Winter Olympics last year. Kim Yo Jong was also lying low, the paper reported, citing an unidentified South Korean government official. Madden said Kim Yo Jong’s status remained unchanged as Kim Jong Un’s top aide, citing her attendance at key party meetings in April and appearance in state media reports. Sin was charged with making critical interpretation mistakes that included missing an unspecified “last-minute offer” the North Korean leader supposedly made as Trump was about to walk out, Chosun reported. North Korea’s official party mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun, warned on Thursday that “two-faced” officials would face the “stern judgment of the revolution.” “It is an anti-Party, anti-revolutionary act to pretend to be revering the leader in front of him when you actually dream of something else,” it said in a commentary. “There are traitors and turncoats who only memorize words of loyalty toward the Leader and even change according to the trend of the time,” it said. The newspaper accused Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Un’s uncle, of committing “anti-party, anti-revolutionary acts” after he was executed in December 2013. Hong Min, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said it was possible Kim Hyok Chol and other officials faced some penalty, but further verification was needed. “Executing or completely removing people like him would send a very bad signal to the United States because he was the public face of the talks and it could indicate they are negating all they have discussed,” Hong said.

north korea
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
north korea nuclear crisis
kim yong chol
kim-trump summit


Tiananmen timeline: From reform hopes to brutal crackdown

Abstract: BEIJING - Tuesday will mark 30 years since China bloodily suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations in and around central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, when Chinese troops opened fire on their own people. The event remains a taboo topic of discussion in China and will not be officially commemorated by the ruling Communist Party or government. Here are some landmark dates leading up to the demonstrations and the crackdown that followed: 1988 : China slides into economic chaos, with panic buying triggered by rising inflation that neared 30 percent. April 15, 1989 : A leading reformer and former Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, dies. His death acts as a catalyst for unhappiness with the slow pace of reform, as well as corruption and income inequality. April 17 : Protests begin at Tiananmen Square, with students calling for democracy and reform. Crowds of up to 100,000 gather, despite official warnings. April 22 : Some 50,000 students gather outside the Great Hall of the People as Hu’s memorial service is held. Three students attempt to deliver a petition to the government, outlining their demands, but are ignored. Rioting and looting take place in Xian and Changsha. April 24 : Beijing students begin classroom strike. April 27 : Around 50,000 students defy authorities and march to Tiananmen. Supporting crowds number up to 1 million. May 2 : In Shanghai, 10,000 protesters march on city government headquarters. May 4 : Further mass protests coinciding with the anniversary of the May 4 Movement of 1919, which was another student and intellectual-led movement for reform. Protests coincide with meeting of Asian Development Bank in Great Hall of the People. Students march in Shanghai and nine other cities. May 13 : Hundreds of students begin a hunger strike on Tiananmen Square. May 15-18 : To China’s embarrassment, protests prevent traditional welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People for the state visit of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Students welcome Gorbachev as “The Ambassador of Democracy.” May 19 : Party chief Zhao Ziyang visits students on Tiananmen Square, accompanied by hard-line Premier Li Peng and future Premier Wen Jiabao. Zhao pleads with the students protesters to leave but is ignored. It is the last time Zhao is seen in public. He is later purged. May 20 : Li declares martial law in parts of Beijing. Reviled by many to this day as the “Butcher of Beijing,” Li remained premier until 1998. May 23 : Some 100,000 people march in Beijing demanding Li’s removal. May 30 : Students unveil the 10-meter-high “Goddess of Democracy,” modeled on the Statue of Liberty, in Tiananmen Square. May 31 : Government-sponsored counterdemonstration calls students “traitorous bandits.” June 3 : Citizens repel a charge toward Tiananmen by thousands of soldiers. Tear gas and bullets used in running clashes a few hundred meters from the square. Authorities warn protesters that troops and police have “right to use all methods.” June 4 : In the early hours of the morning tanks and armored personnel carriers begin their attack on the square itself, clearing it by dawn. About four hours later, troops fire on unarmed civilians regrouping at the edge of the square. June 5 : An unidentified Chinese man stands in front of a tank convoy leaving Tiananmen Square. The image spreads around the world as a symbol of defiance against the crackdown. June 6 : Chinese State Council spokesman Yuan Mu says on television that the known death toll was about 300, most of them soldiers with only 23 students confirmed killed. China has never provided a full death toll. Rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into the thousands. June 9 : Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping praises military officers, and blames the protests on counterrevolutionaries seeking to overthrow the party.

china
censorship
history
rights
protests
tiananmen square
anniversaries


Bangladesh picks up 58 Malaysia-bound Rohingya at sea and collars two suspected traffickers

Abstract: TEKNAF, BANGLADESH - Bangladesh coast guard elements on Thursday stopped 58 Rohingya refugees from making a potentially dangerous journey to Malaysia by sea and arrested two suspected traffickers, an official said. Acting on a tip-off, a patrol ship challenged a fishing boat near Saint Martin’s, a small Bangladesh island in the Bay of Bengal, and found the Rohingya on board, coast guard Lt. Josel Rana said. “We’ve found 58 refugees and detained two human traffickers on the boat,” he told AFP. About 740,000 Muslim minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a brutal military crackdown in the Buddhist-majority nation began in August 2017. Thousands of refugees attempt to flee the camps each year in pursuit of better opportunities in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. So far this year, law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have rescued over 400 Rohingya refugees from coastal villages as they were waiting to board boats bound for Malaysia. But this is the first time in 2019 that Rohingya refugees were rescued at sea, raising concerns that the situation in Bangladesh’s overcrowded camps — home to nearly 1 million — is worsening. “Such incidents will continue as desperation among the refugees is on the rise,” said Emdadul Haq, a professor at the private North South University in Dhaka. Rana said most of the refugees picked up by the coast guard were from the Kutupalong camp — the largest refugee settlement in the world. Most attempt the journey before March, when the sea is calm before the monsoon season sets in, but experts say traffickers are now convincing the refugees to attempt the trip even in rough waters. The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) has said the vulnerability of Rohingya to trafficking has increased enormously as livelihoods, support networks, and other fundamental systems are disrupted.

malaysia
myanmar
refugees
bangladesh
rohingya
human trafficking


Three years after enactment of Japan's hate speech law, politicians call for increased efforts to eradicate discrimination

Abstract: Lawmakers on Friday called for more efforts to eradicate discrimination against residents who were born abroad, and their descendants, three years after the Diet enacted a law to counter hate speech. A cross-party group of four House of Councilors members who helped pass the legislation met with the press to talk about the law, which was enacted on May 24, 2016, and took effect on June 3 that year. “An increasing number of local governments have established ordinances and guidelines” in line with the law, but some candidates have made hate speeches during election campaigns, said Shoji Nishida of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. “The public needs to understand this kind of behavior is not socially acceptable,” he said. Katsuo Yakura, a member of the LDP’s coalition partner, Komeito, said the law has had some effect in court rulings, with injunctions issued to ban hate speech. “We need to make constant efforts,” he added. While Nishida and Yakura said further efforts to eradicate hate speech should be made under the existing law, opposition party members called for the enactment of new legislation. “There is a limit with the current law to tackle human rights violations on the internet,” said Yoshifu Arita, a member of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Sohei Nihi of the Japanese Communist Party said it is necessary to enact a new law with a provision banning hate speech in order to eradicate it. The four lawmakers all belonged to the Upper House committee on judicial affairs that deliberated the legislation in 2016. Hate speech targeting ethnic minorities in Japan often includes death threats against certain nationalities and extreme insults, such as comparing certain groups of people to cockroaches or other creatures, or remarks like “go back to your home country.”


91-year-old's death at care home in western Japan went unnoticed for nearly two weeks

Abstract: KOBE - An elderly care home in Hyogo Prefecture said Friday that the death of a 91-year-old male resident in his room went unnoticed for more than 10 days. Security camera footage showed the man at Palmary Inn Akashi in the city of Akashi last went outside to go shopping on May 9. He was found dead by a worker on May 22, according to the care home and the municipal government. A postmortem examination by a doctor was unable to determine the cause of his death but it was learned that he died around May 10. The man was not using paid services at the facility, such as meal provision, newspaper delivery and room cleaning, and doctors were not visiting him, so the facility workers did not routinely check on him. The man’s family told the facility on May 4 that the man was not in good health, but as he went outside on a bicycle a number of times in the following days, the workers at the facility thought he had no problems, they said. The welfare ministry asked the municipal government to provide information on the case. Following a similar solitary death at a care home in Ibaraki Prefecture in 2012, the ministry has asked municipalities to report such cases. Palmary Inn Akashi, operated by a Kobe-based firm, has about 90 rooms with 100 residents for whom multiple care workers give around-the-clock service. The man moved into the facility with his wife in 2000 but his spouse died in 2004. Koki Nitanda, the manager of the facility, apologized over the incident and said the operator will make thorough checks on people entering and leaving the rooms.

akashi
elderly
hyogo prefecture
nursing care


After Kawasaki attack, support groups worry recluses might all be painted with the same brush

Abstract: Ryuichi Iwasaki, the 51-year-old suspect in a stabbing spree in Kawasaki on Tuesday that left two dead and 17 injured, is believed to have lived like a recluse, resulting in very limited interactions with other people and the outside world. Many people have raised concerns about drawing a connection between a life of solitude and criminal behavior, with support groups for recluses and their families warning media and experts to refrain from giving such an impression out of fear that it could drive recluses to further shut themselves in. While instances of middle-aged people living in poverty with their elderly parents continue to increase, efforts are being made by welfare experts to identify opportunities where they can be provided with support, as such families tend to be reluctant to ask for help. Unlike cases concerning domestic abuse or problems between family members living under the same roof, experts said that with the case of Iwasaki, who took his own life following the attack, it would have been difficult for authorities to intervene beforehand. The suspect lived together with his uncle and aunt, both of whom are in their 80s. In November 2017, a relative consulted the city’s mental health and welfare center about the elderly couple receiving a nurse visitation service. The relative reportedly said: “(Iwasaki) has not been employed for a long time and was becoming a recluse . We’re concerned about outside people visiting the house.” The city officials spoke with the elderly couple 14 times, both by telephone and in person. Though Iwasaki took an allowance from the couple and ate food that was prepared for him and left in the refrigerator, he rarely spoke to them face to face or communicated with them. The officials suggested that the couple write him a letter, which his aunt delivered to his room in January. A few days later, Iwasaki told his aunt: “I make my own meals, do my own laundry and take care of myself. What do you mean you’re worried that I’m a recluse?” The aunt told city officials that he is “deliberately cutting off his connections with other people” and that she wanted to watch his condition for the time being. The officials told her to contact them if anything came up, but they never directly interacted with the suspect. According to a Cabinet Office survey released in March, the number of recluses — known as hikikomori in Japanese — in Japan aged between 40 and 64 is estimated to total about 613,000, exceeding the approximately 540,000 recluses aged between 15 and 39. Thirty-six percent of middle-aged recluses said they started cutting themselves off from others after quitting their jobs, apparently a result of the bleak job market in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The issue is referred to by welfare officials as the “8050 problem,” which refers to recluses in their 50s living with their parents in their 80s. The government has set up consultation counters in all prefectures and several major cities to provide assistance for such individuals. But it is difficult for authorities to intervene as long as there is no abuse or violence involved. Meanwhile, nonprofit support groups are working to build relationships between recluses and their families to make it easier for them to receive support. Recently, a parent in their 80s consulted Orange no Kai, a Nagoya-based nonprofit support group, about their unemployed 40-year-old son who had been a recluse for nearly 20 years. The family lived in an older house with a steep staircase. A group staff member suggested they install a handrail using municipal subsidies. Using that as an excuse, the staff member kept visiting the home for six months, and eventually managed to meet the son, who later began receiving support as he looked for work. “The parent-child relationship tends to become rigid when a person has been reclusive for a long time,” said Kosuke Yamada, the director of the group. “In such cases, a third party needs to give proactive support by finding small ways to help.” “It’s only natural for recluses and their families to refuse help,” said Rika Ueda, the head of the secretariat of Kazoku Hikikomori Japan, a Tokyo-based group supporting families of recluses. “Instead of one organization trying to solve the problem alone, the key is cooperation between multiple organizations.” Following the stabbing in Kawasaki and the close scrutiny of the suspect’s lifestyle, many hikikomori and their families have expressed worries that it could give the impression that being reclusive can lead to crime. “We can’t say the suspect’s reclusive behavior was the factor that led to the incident,” Kazoku Hikikomori Japan said in a statement Thursday. “Media reports and comments by experts indicating such a connection will only encourage prejudice and make such people and their families suffer.”

murder
kawasaki
mental health
kanagawa
hikikomori
stabbings
ryuichi iwasaki
kawasaki attack


Japan-led team discovers cheap, stable way of producing blood stem cells

Abstract: In a world first, an international research team led by a Japanese scientist has developed an effective, inexpensive method for the stable, long-term expansion of mouse hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. Although some modifications will be necessary for use with human HSC cultures, “once the changes are successfully made, the method is expected to facilitate treatment of blood diseases such as leukemia, because it can make a large quantity of HSCs available for transplantation into patients,” said Satoshi Yamazaki, project associate professor at the University of Tokyo and head of the team. Conventional methods for culturing the self-renewing multipotent stem cells, which are found in bone marrow and can develop into blood-forming cells, use the expensive bovine serum albumin as a culture medium. The costly methods, however, cannot achieve a stable, long-term expansion of functional HSCs. According to the Yamazaki-led team — also including researchers from the Japanese government-affiliated research institute Riken and Stanford University — and its article published online in the British scientific journal Nature on Thursday, the novel method uses a type of synthetic resin called polyvinyl alcohol as the culture medium. A major raw material for liquid adhesives, polyvinyl alcohol is easy to obtain and is cheap. Yamazaki and colleagues had previously found that albumin works to induce HSC division but that it also prevents the stable proliferation of the stem cells. With polyvinyl alcohol, however, functional HSCs expanded up to 899 times over one month, according to the Nature article. In addition, they confirmed that if a single HSC is available, the method will enable HSC transplantation into multiple individuals.

stem cells
disease
cancer
university of tokyo
leukemia
satoshi yamazaki


Another body found after collision between two cargo ships off Japan coast

Abstract: CHIBA - Another body was discovered Thursday as divers continued to search for missing crew members following a collision between cargo ships Sunday in the Pacific Ocean off eastern Japan, raising the death toll from the crash to three. A diver who was swimming near the sunken 499-ton Sensho Maru spotted a figure through a window, according to the Japan Coast Guard, and the body was later retrieved from the ship. It was later identified as that of 69-year-old Hiroshi Seno. Another crewman who was aboard the sunken vessel remains missing. The Sensho Maru sank to the seafloor at a depth of about 30 meters after colliding with another 499-ton cargo ship, the Sumiho Maru, around 12 kilometers off Inubosaki, Chiba Prefecture, early Sunday. The four crew members on the Sumiho Maru, based in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, escaped safely. But two of the four crewmen — aside from the captain, who was rescued — of the Sensho Maru, based in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, were found inside the sunken ship and confirmed dead in the following days. Hopes had emerged that there might be survivors inside the Sensho Maru after a faint knocking sound was heard when a diver struck the vessel’s hull with a hammer while searching the crew quarters on Monday. But the coast guard stopped searching inside the ship on Wednesday. It has also sent divers to search the ocean floor and nearby areas.


Russian and Japanese foreign ministers fail to make breakthrough on island issue in Tokyo talks

Abstract: A breakthrough in the long-standing territorial dispute over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido remained elusive Friday during a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers in Tokyo. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said only that the two have “made clear the outline of issues we should overcome” over the dispute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking through a Japanese-language translator, said there are many issues still to deal with over the territorial issue. Lavrov also revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet on June 29 on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka. The two leaders had already been expected to meet in Osaka but this is the first time a specific date has been announced. Kono and Lavrov met to lay the groundwork for the planned meeting. During Friday’s joint press announcement with Lavrov, Kono said the two had engaged in “very frank discussions” and that he had “clearly explained” Tokyo’s views about the territorial dispute. Moscow’s take on the situation is substantially different on certain points, Kono said. However, Kono did not elaborate further, saying he and Lavrov agreed not to disclose concrete details of their talks. The islands, which were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II, have been a major issue affecting ties between the two countries, and no peace treaty has ever been signed. They are known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. Abe has long tried to resolve the territorial issue and has had dozens of meetings with Putin where he has proposed joint economic projects on the four islands in a bid to boost relations between Tokyo and Moscow. But according to Japanese Foreign Ministry sources, territorial talks between the two countries have been deadlocked for months. On Thursday, Kono and Lavrov took part in a meeting along with the two countries’ defense ministers to discuss regional security issues. After the “two-plus-two” meeting, Kono told reporters the Japanese side raised concerns over a recent missile-firing exercise and the deployment of a jet fighter unit to the disputed islands. Such military buildup on the islands is “unacceptable” given Japan’s claim of sovereignty over the territory, Kono said during a joint press announcement on Thursday. In response, Lavrov said that the military activities were conducted on territory under “Russian sovereignty” and that they adhered to international law. During Thursday’s meeting, Lavrov expressed concern over Japan’s program to strengthen its “global missile defense” capability, referring to Tokyo’s plan to set up the U.S.-made Aegis Ashore missile defense system in the prefectures of Akita and Yamaguchi, which Japan says is a move to defend against North Korean ballistic missiles but Moscow has argued is a threat to its security. In response, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya argued that Aegis Ashore is a “purely defensive system” and will not pose any threat to Russia or other countries. Both Kono and Lavrov said the two countries agreed to push for the denuclearization of North Korea. “Russia’s position on the situation of the Korean Peninsula is very close to that of Japan,” Lavrov said. Two-plus-two meetings between the two nations were launched in November 2013 in a bid to build up ties between the two countries and possibly promote talks over the territorial dispute. Thursday’s meeting was the fourth following the one held in July last year in Moscow.

russia
disputed islands
northern territories
hokkaido
russia-japan relations
sergey lavrov
taro kono


Japan and Malaysia eye close ties based on Mahathir's 'Look East' policy

Abstract: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Malaysian counterpart, Mahathir Mohamad, agreed Friday to deepen bilateral relations through Kuala Lumpur’s “Look East” economic development policy, which is heavily modeled after Japan. During their meeting in Tokyo, Abe and Mahathir agreed to step up cooperation in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific region based on the rule of law, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. “The ‘Look East’ policy has been the beacon leading Japan and Malaysia to strengthen friendship and enhance bilateral ties,” Abe told Mahathir at the start of their talks. “I look forward to reaffirming our commitment with Prime Minister Mahathir to update our partnership to suit the new era and develop our relations at multiple levels and in various fields and sectors,” Abe said. Mahathir, who returned to power in 2018 after a 15-year hiatus, expressed his appreciation for Japan’s assistance, including the provision of yen loans, adding he hopes such “support will continue into the future.” When Mahathir served as prime minister between 1981 and 2003, he launched the “Look East” policy of learning from Japan’s work ethic and economic growth. Many Japanese companies now have production plants in Malaysia as bilateral ties have strengthened. The Southeast Asian country is a major exporter of natural gas to resource-poor Japan. During the talks, Abe said Japan gives its “utmost support” to Mahathir, who has been seeking to improve governance and reduce national debt. The leaders also discussed the situation in North Korea as well as in the South China Sea, where China’s military buildup is raising concerns, according to the ministry. Mahathir visited Japan to attend a two-day conference through Friday on the future of Asia. Other leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were also in attendance. Abe met separately with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Prime Minister’s Office with an eye to deepening bilateral ties through cooperation on infrastructure building and human resources development. Japan has been building closer ties with ASEAN countries as their cooperation is seen as necessary to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific amid China’s growing influence in the region. Hun Sen told Abe on Friday that Cambodia backs Japan’s initiative. Abe has also held meetings over the past three days with the leaders of Bangladesh, Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

malaysia
shinzo abe
southeast asia
cambodia
mahathir mohamad
malaysia-japan relations


Nuclear envoys from Japan, U.S., South Korea discuss North Korea during trilateral meeting in Singapore

Abstract: SINGAPORE - Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for North Korea, held talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Singapore on Friday. Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang are currently at a standstill. The trilateral meeting was the first since North Korea fired projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles on May 4 and May 9 in an apparent attempt to coax Washington into making concessions in denuclearization negotiations. Biegun met with Kenji Kanasugi, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs. The outcome of the talks was not immediately available, but they probably exchanged views on how to pave the way for the resumption of denuclearization negotiations with Pyongyang, which have been stalled following the collapse of the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi in late February. For the United States, the state of the trilateral partnership is another concern, given strains in Japan-South Korea ties. Relations between the two East Asian neighbors have deteriorated over a series of disputes based on differing interpretations of thorny issues related to wartime history. In Singapore, the Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, is scheduled to take place for three days through Sunday. As for Pyongyang’s recent missile launches, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this month that North Korea fired off “some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me,” indicating Washington is taking a wait-and-see attitude. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, has expressed willingness to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “without conditions” to resolve the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.


Loan period for Ueno zoo's crowd-pulling giant panda cub Xiang Xiang extended until end of 2020

Abstract: Xiang Xiang, a giant panda cub that has been drawing huge crowds at a Tokyo’s Ueno zoo, will return to China by the end of 2020, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Friday. The female panda was originally scheduled to be returned when she turns 2 next month but the loan period has been extended. China has ownership of Xiang Xiang as well as her parents, who came to Japan in 2011 under a 10-year lease agreement. “Thanks to the understanding of the Chinese side, people can continue seeing her,” Koike told a news conference. “I can imagine some people would miss her but (the return of Xiang Xiang) will be necessary in preserving and breeding of pandas.” Xiang Xiang was born on June 12, 2017, to mother Shin Shin and father Ri Ri through natural mating at the Ueno Zoological Gardens. Her name was chosen from more than 320,000 suggestions received from the public. She became the first panda cub to be exhibited at Ueno zoo in 29 years. Since a panda cub is very difficult to look after due to its inability to control its body temperature right after birth, zoo staff monitored and took care of her around the clock for about three months. Japan has agreed to pay $950,000 to China annually for the lease of Xiang Xiang.

ueno zoo
yuriko koike
giant pandas
xiang xiang


Japan adopts policy package aimed at cutting plastic waste ahead of Osaka G20 summit

Abstract: The government adopted Friday a policy package aimed at reducing plastic waste ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in late June, where the issue is expected to be a major agenda item. The policies are intended to cut the flow of plastic waste into the ocean, promote plastic-bottle recycling in Japan and combat marine pollution by microplastics. “Ocean plastic waste is one of the issues topping the G20 summit agenda. As the chair of the meeting, we will exercise leadership to solve the matter,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a ministerial conference, which finalized the policy package. In the package, an action plan for slashing plastic waste inflow to the ocean calls for providing technical support for developing countries in Southeast Asia and other areas and the development of materials easily decomposable in nature, in addition to promoting recycling. Under a strategy to significantly reduce plastic waste in Japan, Tokyo has set the goal of cutting disposable plastic waste by 25 percent by 2030 and completely recycling or reusing all such waste, including items used in scrapped household electric appliances and auto parts, by 2035. The strategy also obliges retailers to charge for plastic bags and calls for expanding the use of bioplastics derived from renewable sources such as plants. Another plan regarding ocean microplastics asks companies to curb the use of microbeads used in facewash and toothpaste, and in municipalities near rivers to prevent plastic waste from flowing into the sea. The government has been stepping up its efforts to reduce plastic waste after it came under international criticism for not signing the Ocean Plastics Charter at the Group of Seven summit in Canada last year, citing a “lack of preparedness.” The United States also did not sign the pact. Many countries are grappling with increasing amounts of plastic waste that degrades into small pieces when exposed to ultraviolet light and abrasion. Pieces measuring less than 5 millimeters in length are called microplastics. They are difficult to collect once they enter water, tend to adsorb harmful chemicals and accumulate inside fish, birds and other animals as they make their way up the food chain. Over 8 million tons of plastic waste is estimated to flow into the oceans every year.

osaka
oceans
g20
waste
plastic
microplastics
plastic waste


Rules revised to ensure time in Japan under new Type 1 visa won't count toward permanent residency

Abstract: The Immigration Services Agency on Friday revised its guidelines for granting permanent residency permits to foreign nationals to assuage concerns that newly introduced visa categories could lead to a surge in permanent foreign residents. The new guidelines exclude the time spent in Japan under the Type 1 resident status introduced in April and the technical trainee status from being counted in the minimum five-year work requirement for granting permanent residency. To gain permanent residence, foreign nationals are required to have lived in Japan for 10 or more years and stayed in the country for at least five years under a residential status that permits employment. The Type 1 status, which is granted to foreign workers with certain professional skills, allows up to five years of residency in Japan. Additionally, the agency changed the tax and other requirements in the guidelines to be more specific, in a move that seeks to grant permanent residency permits to those paying taxes and insurance premiums.

immigration
expats
foreign workers
permanent residency


Suspect's motive for Kawasaki knife attack still unclear even after police search alleged killer's house

Abstract: The motive of the assailant who carried out a knife attack on Tuesday in Kawasaki that left two dead and a dozen others injured remains unclear even after police searched his home, investigative sources said Friday. Ryuichi Iwasaki, 51, who took his own life at the scene, had left a notebook in the house where he lived with his aunt and uncle. But its contents gave no indication about why the attack occurred, the sources said. The suspect wrote the Chinese character sei or shou — meaning righteousness or real thing — again and again in the notebook. “We have the impression that he wrote something nonsensical,” one of the sources said. Iwasaki’s room, which he is said to have spent much of his time in while living like a recluse, has a TV and a game console but no internet connection, according to the sources. No computer or smartphone has been found yet. Two magazines published more than a decade ago about serial murders that occurred overseas were also found during the search. Based on testimony by a neighbor and analysis of security camera footage, police believe Iwasaki left his home at around 7 a.m. Tuesday. He took an Odakyu Line train to Noborito Station, near the scene of the crime, and then walked to the place where he began attacking a group of Caritas Elementary School students and some parents waiting for a school bus at around 7:40 a.m. Iwasaki was seen walking along the railway tracks toward the location, putting on work gloves and crouching at a nearby convenience store parking lot while carrying his bag. Police believe it was there that Iwasaki observed the students and took out the two 30-centimeter-long knives that he used to kill Hanako Kuribayashi, an 11-year-old student, and Foreign Ministry official Satoshi Oyama, the 39-year-old father of a pupil. Iwasaki also injured 17 others, mostly schoolchildren. He later died of a self-inflicted wound to the neck. The police are looking at past security camera footage to see if Iwasaki had been in the area previously to scout out the location where the attack took place. The elementary school, which closed in the wake of the attack, said Friday that it will reopen next Wednesday.

murder
kawasaki
mental health
kanagawa
hikikomori
stabbings
police
ryuichi iwasaki
kawasaki attack


Plaintiffs appeal Sendai court's ruling denying damages for forced sterilization

Abstract: SENDAI - Two women who underwent forced sterilization in Japan decades ago appealed Friday a district court ruling that denied their claim for damages despite determining that the country’s now-defunct eugenics law was unconstitutional. The Sendai District Court found Tuesday that the law enacted in 1948, which mandated the government to stop people with intellectual disabilities from having children, violated the Constitution’s guarantee of the right to pursue happiness. But the court rejected the ¥71.5 million ($654,000) damages suit filed by the women in their 60s and 70s in Miyagi Prefecture, saying the 20-year statute of limitations had expired. The ruling was the first in a number of suits filed with seven district courts. “We decided to appeal because we thought it is so foolish for the district court to dismiss our demands while recognizing the need to save (people with disabilities who were sterilized),” said Koji Niisato, head of the defense team. Between 1948 and 1996, the eugenics law authorized the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness and hereditary disorders to prevent births of what was deemed “inferior” offspring. About 25,000 people with disabilities were sterilized under the law, including around 16,500 who were operated on without their consent, according to the health ministry and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. In April, the Diet enacted legislation to pay ¥3.2 million in state compensation to each person who underwent forced sterilization, irrespective of whether they were believed to have agreed to undergo surgery or not. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a statement expressing regret and an apology, but he did not mention the legal liability of the state.

courts
rights
discrimination
disability
sendai
sterilization
eugenics
eugenic protection law
eugenics law


Japan government panel reviewing parents' right to discipline children to meet June 20

Abstract: The government will start next month reviewing a Civil Code provision that sets out parents’ right to discipline their children, based on the view that it has been used as an excuse in serious child abuse cases, Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said Friday. Yamashita said he will ask the Legislative Council, an advisory panel at the Justice Ministry, to start examining the matter at a meeting on June 20. “The situation surrounding child abuse is very serious and the Justice Ministry has been considering a review, given that the (parental) right has continued to be used as an excuse,” Yamashita said. The minister expressed hope for a productive study and deliberation by the panel on the “urgent” issue. The move comes after a bill banning parents and other guardians from physically punishing children passed the Lower House on Tuesday by a unanimous vote. The legislation, which is expected to be enacted during the current Diet session through late June and take effect in April next year, calls for reviewing parental disciplinary rights within two years of its entry into force. While there have been calls in the past for scrapping the disciplinary right clause, it was left intact when Japan amended the Civil Code in 2011 as some said doing away with it would prevent parents from properly disciplining their children. Article 822 of the Civil Code stipulates that a person who exercises parental authority may discipline a child to the extent necessary for the child’s care and education, provided it’s in their best interest. But a slew of cases have since occurred in Japan where serious child abuses are alleged to have been carried out in the name of discipline. Among recent cases was the death of 10-year-old Mia Kurihara at her home in Chiba Prefecture in January after her father allegedly splashed her with cold water and deprived her of food and sleep. The father told investigators he was “disciplining” her. In March last year, 5-year-old Yua Funato died in Tokyo, after writing desperate pleas for her parents to “forgive” her and stop mistreating her. Her father also said he hit Yua to “discipline” her. Separately, Yamashita said he will also ask the advisory panel to review a Civil Code provision that assumes a child born within 300 days of a divorce was fathered by the previous husband. The clause has been blamed for causing hundreds of people not to be listed in a family registry, as most of their births were not reported to the authorities as their mothers sought to prevent them from being recognized as a child of the previous husband. Not being registered leaves someone without an official certificate to prove his or her identity, causing difficulties with school enrollment and employment among other issues. As of April this year 827 people were without a family registry, according to the Justice Ministry.

children
diet
justice ministry
child abuse
parenthood
takashi yamashita


New Hampshire sues 3M, DuPont and other chemical firms for toxic damage

Abstract: CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE - New Hampshire has sued eight companies including 3M and the DuPont Co. for damage it says has been caused statewide by a class of potentially toxic chemicals found in everything from pizza boxes to fast-food wrappers. The state becomes the second in the nation to go after the makers and distributors of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS and the first to target statewide contamination. The lawsuit also names Chemours Company, Chemguard Inc., Tyco Fire Products, Buckeye Fire Equipment, Kidde-Fenwal Inc. and National Fire Foam Inc. New York state has sued six companies that made firefighting foam containing PFOS and/or PFOA chemicals that it says have contaminated drinking water in two communities and groundwater in another. “The actions we are taking today is intended to ensure that those responsible for PFAS contamination to our state’s drinking water supplies and other natural resources are held accountable,” New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon McDonald said. “As alleged in the lawsuits, the defendants possessed unique knowledge of the dangers of PFAS chemicals but continued to make or sell them without warning the public of their health risks.” Messages seeking comment were sent to all the companies. A spokesman for Johnson Controls whose brands include Tyco and Chemguard defended the use of firefighting foams, which include PFAS. “Tyco and Chemguard acted appropriately and responsibly at all times in producing our firefighting foams,” Fraser Engerman, the director of global media relations for Johnson Controls, said in a statement. “We make our foams to exacting military standards, and the U.S. military and civilian firefighters have depended for decades on these foams to extinguish life-threatening fires,” he continued. “They continue to use them safely and reliably for that purpose today.” In an emailed statement, 3M said it “acted responsibly in connection with products containing PFAS” and would “vigorously defend its environmental stewardship.” The substances have been used in coatings meant to protect consumer goods and are commonplace in households across the United States. Firefighting foam containing PFAS has seeped into groundwater and waterways around military bases, airports and fire stations. Studies have found potential links between high levels of PFOA in the body and a range of illnesses including kidney cancer, increased cholesterol levels and problems in pregnancies. And because they persist for so long in the environment, PFAS has been dubbed a forever chemical. The moves by New Hampshire come as states around the country are growing impatient waiting for the federal government to address widespread contamination — especially setting standards on the amount of chemicals that considered safe in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has established a nonbinding health advisory threshold of 70 parts per trillion, earlier this year announced plans to consider limits on the toxic chemicals. New Jersey has set more stringent standards for some PFAS chemicals, and Vermont has passed legislation requiring standards be set for drinking water. New Hampshire has proposed drinking water standards ranging from 23 parts per trillion to 85 parts per trillion depending on the chemical. The challenge for regulators is tracking down and treating a chemical that seems to be everywhere, from materials in landfills to the drinking water of homeowners, to the rivers where people fish. EPA-mandated testing of about 5,000 of the roughly 150,000 public water systems in the U.S. completed in 2016 found dangerous levels of the same two PFAS compounds in 66 systems. Local and state testing since then has identified high levels in additional systems. In New Hampshire, the state has been forced to connect more than 700 homes to new water systems in four communities due to PFAS contamination. It estimates that the contamination could end up impacting 100,000 people, with damages reaching several hundred million dollars. In the lawsuits filed Wednesday in state court, New Hampshire does not seek a specific dollar amount for damages. The state wants the companies pay for the cost of investigating, cleaning up and remediating contamination related to groundwater, surface water and other natural resources. It accused DuPont and 3M of knowing the dangers of PFAS compounds going back as far as the 1950s but not making it public while continuing to market the compounds. “It is my hope that those responsible for the manufacturer and distribution of PFAS will recognize the severity of the issues they have caused and will become part of the solution,” McDonald said. Last month, Vermont announced a settlement with a plastics company that would help hundreds of people in the Bennington area whose drinking water wells had been contaminated by chemicals. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics agreed to extend municipal water lines to more homes.

pollution
u.s .
environment
chemicals
new hampshire
dupont
pfas
3m


Crumbling roads and spotty internet trouble small U.S. businesses

Abstract: NEW YORK - Every hour that one of The Advance Group’s trucks is stuck in highway or bridge traffic, it costs the moving company around $200. And with 40 trucks trying to get into Manhattan daily and contending with the New York metro area’s deteriorating infrastructure, the price of lost time runs up quickly. “Getting to and from a job site is not really billable to a client,” says Anthony Parziale, president of The Advance Group, based in the suburb of Farmingdale. Parziale’s company and other small and midsize businesses want the federal government to follow through on a promise to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure — not just roads and bridges, but also extending broadband coverage to rural areas where internet and cellphone service is poor or nonexistent. Improving and fixing the roads in New York would help traffic flow faster even with the area’s congestion, Parziale says. He wants to see officials deal with New York’s ongoing pothole problems; damage to his fleet from the area’s pitted roads costs the company $65,000 each winter. “It’s becoming more challenging to conduct business,” he says. The Trump administration and Democrats in Congress earlier this month publicly agreed that the nation needs $2 trillion for infrastructure upgrades. But quick action looks unlikely — President Donald Trump said last week he wouldn’t negotiate with Democrats while they are investigating his administration. And a bill would have to win support from both parties; the No. 2 Republican in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, has already said the $2 trillion figure is too high. In a January survey of 1,001 small business owners and operators released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 56 percent said the quality of their high-speed internet was good, and 58 percent said cellphone network coverage was good. Those somewhat slim majorities reflect dissatisfaction among a considerable portion of owners. Roads and bridges got lower marks: 62 percent of the owners rated local roads and bridges as having between very poor and average quality, and 52 percent gave the same ratings to highways. Owners in the Northeast gave the lowest marks to infrastructure compared to ratings by owners in other regions, but across the country owners were most dissatisfied with highways. All businesses must deal with the added expense caused by poor infrastructure, but smaller companies don’t have the revenue cushions large businesses use to absorb the costs of lost time and repairs. At the 225 franchisees of AdvantaClean, a company that cleans building air systems, staffers spend about half their time traveling from one appointment to another, and highway and road problems cut into the amount of time spent doing the real work, President Matt Phillips says. “Significant changes to our infrastructure could reduce our expenses as much as 35 percent and help increase revenue by 25 percent,” Phillips says. It’s not just the time, but also fuel wasted by slow-moving traffic that drives up costs, he says. Phillips’ crews have the most problems in the Northeast, which has older, more dilapidated infrastructure, and the Southeast, where roads are crowded due to the region’s fast growth. In many areas, it’s not possible to build entirely new highways. But roadways can be widened in projects that can take years but that ultimately allow traffic to move faster. A 35-mile stretch of the New Jersey Turnpike was widened to six lanes in each direction from three; it took five years to complete. When bridges are replaced, lanes can be added; when the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River north of New York City, the new double span was given eight traffic lanes, compared to seven on the old bridge. For many small businesses, including those in rural areas or whose customers are located far from metro areas, the infrastructure problem is about broadband coverage needed to move information across cell phones and the internet. Internet service is poor in the Catskill Mountains 130 miles north of Manhattan. Lita Wall, who owns Cold Spring Lodge, has Wi-Fi through her cable provider for her guests and also to run the business. But the internet service is spotty because of the mountains, often failing during poor weather, and cellphone service is equally unreliable. The area, which has many “dead zones” where there is no service, needs more cellphone towers. Wall has a landline phone for voice calls. Wall also owns a restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, but even in the heavily populated city, she struggles with poor internet connections. “Sometimes it is down and we don’t notice until later and so have issues with the customers who send orders during the time the system is down,” Wall says. At those times, she needs to connect to the internet using her cellphone as what’s known as a hotspot, an added expense each month. Even companies that have good service can be forced to contend with their customers’ poor connections. John Royster owns a design firm, Big Muddy Workshop, in Omaha, Nebraska, located near military installations whose presence guarantees excellent internet and cellphone service in the area. But Royster has clients in more rural areas, and their internet systems, when they’re working, can’t accommodate the large electronic documents and files that architects routinely email. One client, who lives on a ranch about 300 miles away, couldn’t receive large documents. So Royster sent them to a print shop 40 miles from the ranch where they were printed. The client had to drive two hours round trip to get it. “These delays in exchanging information can easily add a week or two to a project. This negatively impacts my bottom-line and delays progress for my clients,” Royster says.

u.s .
congress
internet
infrastructure
democrats
small businesses
donald trump


Japan business lobby JCCI urges sales tax hike to proceed as planned

Abstract: The head of a Japanese business lobby said a planned sales tax hike should proceed in October to sustain the social security system for a rapidly graying population, despite calls from elsewhere to postpone it given growing economic challenges. The intensifying Sino-U.S. trade war and slowing Chinese economy threaten to derail Japan’s export-reliant economy, keeping alive expectations that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may forego a twice-delayed increase in the national sales tax. “Economic uncertainties persist even now but I don’t think they will morph into a crisis on the scale of a Lehman shock, so I want (the hike) to proceed,” said Akio Mimura, head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents small and medium-sized businesses. “With just a few months left before October, it’s impossible to delay it again.” While a tax hike could hurt growth, it would also help Japan achieve fiscal reform in the long run, which will more than offset the near-term pain, Mimura said in an interview conducted on Wednesday. Japan needs revenue to pay for bulging welfare costs to support an aging population and curb the industrial world’s heaviest public debt burden, which is twice the size of its $5 trillion economy. The government plans to spend ¥2 trillion ($18.3 billion) in offsetting measures, which Mimura said should help ease the tax hike pain “to a considerable degree.” Further delays could cause confusion to many Japanese firms that have made significant preparations to overcome the shift to the 10 percent sales tax, Mimura added. His view is shared by other Japanese corporations. More than 60 percent of firms called for the sales tax to rise as planned, a Reuters Corporate Survey showed last month, although they felt that additional stimulus was needed to cushion the blow on the economy. Michitaka Sawada, chief executive of Kao Corp. said recently the company was prepared for a rush in demand before the hike, working with suppliers and preparing its warehousing and transportation accordingly. “We are so prepared for this. You need to be ready in advance. It would be too late if you weren’t ready by now.” Abe has repeatedly said he would proceed with an increase in the sales tax rate to 10 percent from 8 percent in October unless the economy was hit by a severe shock. But some lawmakers and close Abe allies have suggested a postponement on concerns it could tip Japan into recession. The last sales tax hike in 2014 hit consumers hard and triggered a deep downturn. On monetary policy, Mimura urged the Bank of Japan to make its policy more flexible over the long run, given the increasing side effects from prolonged easing, such as a hit to banks’ profits. With inflation stubbornly subdued, the BOJ last month ditched the time frame for hitting its 2 percent goal, conceding that prices will fall short of the target at least until early 2022. Mimura said while the central bank was not in a position to tighten monetary policy any time soon, it should stop clinging to its 2 percent price target in the long run. “It’s risky to loosen the grip on monetary easing at the moment as uncertainty around the global economy is high. It’s unthinkable to move right now,” he said. “Considering the future, however, flexible monetary policy that does not insist on the 2 percent target will be needed.”

shinzo abe
taxes
akio mimura
consumption tax
jcci


China steps up threat to deprive U.S. of rare earths amid Huawei row

Abstract: BEIJING - Chinese state media dangled Wednesday the threat of cutting exports of rare earths to the United States as a counterstrike in the trade war, potentially depriving Washington of a key resource used to make everything from smartphones to military hardware. The warning is the latest salvo in a dispute that has intensified since President Donald Trump ramped up tariffs against China and moved to blacklist telecom giant Huawei earlier this month, while trade talks have apparently stalled. Huawei stepped up its legal battle on Wednesday, announcing it had filed a motion in U.S. court for summary judgment to speed up its bid to overturn U.S. legislation that bars federal agencies from using its equipment over security concerns. Beijing had already dropped a big hint that rare earths could be in the firing line by showing images last week of President Xi Jinping visiting a rare earths factory in Ganzhou, central China. State media made it clearer on Wednesday. “Will rare earths become China’s counter-weapon against the unprovoked suppression of the US? The answer is not mysterious,” warned The People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece. “We advise the US to not underestimate China’s ability to safeguard its own development rights and interests, and not to say we didn’t warn you.” The state-owned Global Times warned in an editorial that the “US will rue forcing China’s hand on rare earths.” “It is believed that if the US increasingly suppresses the development of China, sooner or later, China will use rare earths as a weapon,” the nationalist tabloid said. Shares in rare earth companies surged in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets on Wednesday. An unnamed official from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planner, had issued a cryptic warning late Tuesday. “What I can tell you is that if anyone wants to use products made from our rare-earth exports to curb and suppress China’s development, I’m sure the people of Ganzhou and across China will not be happy with that,” the official said in answers to questions published by state media. The official said rare-earth resources should “serve domestic needs first,” but China is also willing to meet the “legitimate needs of countries around the world.” China produces more than 95 percent of the world’s rare earths, and the United States relies on China for upward of 80 percent of its imports. Rare earths are 17 elements critical to manufacturing everything from televisions to cameras and light bulbs. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asked about the rare earths threat during an interview, said that Americans have already “lost and suffered for decades under the current rules” and that Trump’s “singular focus is to push back” on China. He renewed his attack on Huawei, saying there was a “deep connectivity” between the company and the Chinese state that had no parallel in the U.S. system. “If it’s the case that the Chinese Communist Party wanted to get information from technology that was in the possession of Huawei, it is almost certainly the case that Huawei would provide that to them,” he told the Fox Business Network. Huawei has rejected the criticism and, filing a lawsuit in a federal court in Texas, said that the United States unfairly singled out the company. “The U.S. government has provided no evidence to show that Huawei is a security threat,” Huawei’s chief legal officer, Song Liuping, told reporters. China has been accused of using its rare earth leverage for political reasons before. Japanese industry sources said it temporarily cut off exports in 2010 as a territorial row flared between the Asian rivals, charges that Beijing denied. But experts say the Japan experience showed that China’s leverage has some limits. “Ultimately, concentrated rare earths supply in China had limited economic and political effects,” according to a 2014 report by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank written by University of Texas professor Eugene Gholz. The report said China’s rare earth advantages were already slipping away in 2010 due to normal market behavior, including increases in non-Chinese production and processing capacity, and innovations that have contributed to reducing demand for some rare earth elements. Analysts have said China appears apprehensive of targeting the minerals just yet, possibly fearful of hastening a global search for alternative supplies of the commodities. “I think China’s current objective is to put pressure on the US for more American concessions in the trade talks and compel the US to be less harsh on Huawei and other Chinese tech companies,” said Li Mingjiang, China program coordinator at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. But China is likely to use a rare earths ban as a policy tool if the US continues to be tough on trade and Huawei, he told AFP. The Global Times acknowledged that banning rare earth exports to the U.S. could “produce complex effects, including incurring certain losses on China itself.” However, it added, “China also clearly knows that the US would suffer greater losses in that situation.”

china
u.s .
smartphones
military
xi jinping
huawei
rare earths
donald trump
trade war


Cuba legalizes private Wi-Fi and imports of routers

Abstract: HAVANA - Cuba announced Wednesday that is legalizing private Wi-Fi networks and the importation of equipment like routers, eliminating one of the world’s tightest restrictions on internet use. The measure announced by state media provides a legal status to thousands of Cubans who created homemade digital networks with smuggled equipment that was illegal but generally tolerated by authorities in recent years. It also appears to allow private businesses to provide internet to customers, the potential start in Cuba of internet cafes, so far virtually unknown here. While the new regulation permits citizens to connect to the internet with their own equipment and share the signal with others, it does not loosen state control of the internet itself. Cuba’s telecoms monopoly, Etecsa, remains the only internet provider on the island. The new rules go into effect on July 29. The government says operators of private networks will not be allowed to charge for the service, although it is unclear how that will be enforced. Until 2015, the only legal internet on the island could be found in government computer centers and hotels frequented mostly by tourists. That changed with the activation of dozens of government routers mounted in parks and on street corners. Cubans could log on to the routers with scratch-off cards bought from the government for several dollars per hour of internet. That cost has declined to $1 an hour. In order to enjoy the internet at home, Cubans smuggled in powerful antennas that picked up the signal from nearby government routers and piped into their bedrooms and living rooms. They still needed government scratch-off cards to access the internet itself. Cubans also created their own networks of thousands of computers connected to each other with cables strung from home to home, mostly for competitive game-playing. They were not allowed to be connected to the internet, although many had at least some points of connection. Those networks were largely tolerated but subject to occasional searches and confiscation. All will now become legal. Cubans also will be able to bring in antennas and routers after requesting a permit online, a process supposed to take 30 days. What’s more, the homemade house-to-house networks will be able to legally connect to the government internet, spreading connectivity to thousands of homes that don’t have it. Cuba began offering home internet service over phone lines last year but the service has been slow to spread outside a still-limited number of neighborhoods. Cuba also began offering mobile internet service last year, a service that has spread much faster. While equipment owners will be free to share their Wi-Fi signal, their own access to the internet itself will still require access through a government scratch-off card.


Ferrari accelerates its move into hybrid cars with launch of new SF90 Stradale

Abstract: MARANELLO, ITALY - Ferrari presented a luxury car with a difference on Wednesday — a hybrid model that can cruise silently through city streets on electric power as well as hitting a top speed of 340 kph. Fitted with a 1,000 horsepower engine developed from those used in Formula One, the new four-wheel-drive SF90 Stradale hybrid sports car was proudly displayed at the company’s historic base in Maranello, near Modena, in northern Italy. Chief Executive Louis Camilleri described the new car as “astounding, fast and completely revolutionary.” As well as offering the traditional thrill of high speed and performance, the new car permits 25 kilometers of travel using only electric power, allowing drivers to leave home quietly and pass through city centers free of noise or dirty emissions. “It will be silent — we don’t want to hide that this car can run electric too,” Chief Technology Officer Michael Leiters said. Smartphones of the 130 journalists attending the launch were taken away to prevent unauthorized photos of the new model leaking out. Ferrari has already made one hybrid model — the limited series LaFerrari — but the SF90 Stradale will be its first to be more widely produced. The unveiling comes the same week that former Ferrari parent Fiat Chrysler pitched a merger deal with French peer Renault, in part to catch up in development of electric vehicles. Ferrari was spun off from Fiat Chrysler and listed separately. The two companies share the same top shareholder, the Agnelli family’s holding company Exor. Hybrid power units were introduced into Formula One racing in 2014, helping to facilitate the transfer of technology to Ferrari road cars. About 2,000 customers selected from all over the world have been invited to Ferrari between Wednesday evening and Friday to view and reserve the new car, which will be delivered within 12 months. Its price will be announced this week. Other buyers will have to wait more than a year. Ferrari sells over 65 percent of its cars to clients who already own one. There is also an emerging new breed of premium or high-performance electric sports cars. These so-called supercars include Tesla’s upcoming Roadster Founder Series, which will sell for over $200,000, and the Rimac Concept Two, priced in the region of $2 million. Ferrari said last year it planned 15 new models — including hybrids, a utility vehicle and special editions — in its drive to hit mid-term earnings targets.


Pentagon seeks funds to boost U.S. rare-earth production as fears over China supply mount

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The U.S. Defense Department is seeking new federal funds to bolster domestic production of rare earth minerals and reduce dependence on China, the Pentagon has said, amid mounting concern in Washington about Beijing’s role as a supplier. The Pentagon’s request was outlined in a report sent to the White House and briefed to Congress, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Mike Andrews said Wednesday. Rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements used in consumer products, from iPhones to electric car motors, and critical military applications, including jet engines, satellites and lasers. Rising tensions between the United States and China have sparked concerns that Beijing could use its dominant position as a supplier of rare earths for leverage in the trade war between the world’s top two economic powers. Between 2004 and 2017, China accounted for 80 percent of U.S. rare earth imports. Few alternative suppliers have been able to compete with China, which is home to 37 percent of global rare earth reserves. “The department continues to work closely with the president, Congress and U.S. industry to improve U.S. competitiveness in the mineral market,” Andrews said. He gave no details but said the report was tied to a federal program designed to bolster domestic production capabilities through targeted economic incentives. While China has so far not explicitly said it will restrict rare earths sales to the United States, Chinese media has strongly implied that will happen. In a commentary headlined “United States, don’t underestimate China’s ability to strike back,” the official People’s Daily noted the United States’ “uncomfortable” dependence on rare earths from China. “Will rare earths become a counterweapon for China to hit back against the pressure the United States has put on for no reason at all? The answer is no mystery,” it said. John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said the chances of China restricting rare earth exports are growing. “I do expect the other shoe to drop,” he told an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association. The Pentagon has repeatedly flagged its concerns about American reliance on China for rare earth minerals, including in a 2018 report on vulnerabilities in the U.S. defense industrial base. The Pentagon said the latest report was a Defense Production Act III rare earths mineral report. According to a related Pentagon website, the program gives the U.S. president “broad authority to ensure the timely availability of essential domestic industrial resources to support national defense and homeland security requirements through the use of highly tailored economic incentives.” John Luddy, vice president for national security policy at the Aerospace Industries Association, said U.S. government funding could be used to bolster production, processing capacity and stockpiling of critical supplies. Industry officials liken Washington’s potential role to the way government funding ensures the capability to launch sensitive military and intelligence satellites into space — another costly initiative. The Defense Department accounts for about 1 percent of U.S. demand, which in turn accounts for about 9 percent of global demand for rare earths, according to a 2016 report from the congressional U.S. Government Accountability Office. Raytheon Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and BAE Systems PLC all make sophisticated missiles that use rare earths metals in their guidance systems and sensors. Rare earth minerals are also essential in other military equipment such as jet engines, lasers and night vision devices. California’s Mountain Pass mine is the only U.S. rare earths facility in operation. But MP Materials, owner of Mountain Pass, ships the roughly 50,000 tons of rare earth concentrate it extracts each year from California to China for processing. At least three U.S.-based companies have rare earth processing plants under construction or in the planning stages, including one that is set to open next year at Mountain Pass mine to produce about 5,000 tons of two popular types of rare earths annually, according to a source familiar with the matter. The other two aren’t expected to open until 2022 at the earliest.

china
u.s .
trade
pentagon
tariffs
rare earths
trade war


Nikkei ends below 21,000 for first time in two months

Abstract: The benchmark Nikkei average closed below 21,000 for the first time in more than two months on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday, with investor sentiment hurt by falls in overseas equities amid simmering U.S.-China trade tensions. The 225-issue Nikkei average fell 60.84 points, or 0.29 percent, to end at 20,942.53, its first finish below the psychologically important line since March 25. Wednesday, the key market gauge lost 256.77 points. The Topix index of all first section issues closed down 4.43 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,531.98, after shedding 14.58 points the previous day. The market got off to a weak start, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended losses in New York on Wednesday amid growing fears of a global economic slowdown stemming from the prolonged U.S.-China trade dispute, brokers said. Also weighed down by a weak performance of Shanghai stocks, the Nikkei briefly lost over 190 points in the morning. Tokyo stocks recouped some of their losses in the afternoon, helped by a weaker yen against the dollar and buying from value investors, brokers said. “Economic uncertainty grew following the occurrence of a so-called yield curve inversion in the United States,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief market analyst at Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. “It’d be no surprise if more and more investors move to shift funds away from equity assets” amid persistent worries about a global economic slowdown, an official of a bank-affiliated securities firm said. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,094 to 960 in the TSE’s first section, while 86 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.113 billion shares from 1.322 billion shares Wednesday. Paper manufacturers headed noticeably lower, with Daio Paper Corp. ending down 2.61 percent, Nippon Paper Industries Co. down 2.45 percent and Oji Holdings Corp. down 1.89 percent. Clothing chain store Fast Retailing Co. and technology investor Softbank Group Corp., both heavily weighted components of the Nikkei, met with selling, pushing down the index by a total of over 50 points. Among other major losers were daily goods producer Kao Corp. and cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. By contrast, Renesas Electronics Corp. jumped after Goldman Sachs Japan Co. revised up its investment rating for the semiconductor-maker. Chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron bounced back after recent sell-offs. Also on the positive side were industrial robot producer Fanuc Corp. and control-equipment-maker Omron Corp. In index futures trading on the Osaka Exchange, the key June contract on the Nikkei average dropped 20 points to end at 20,930.


Dollar rises above ¥109.70 in late Tokyo trading

Abstract: The dollar rose above ¥109.70 in Tokyo trading late Thursday, supported by buybacks. At 5 p.m. the dollar stood at ¥109.74, up from ¥109.20 at the same time on Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1132, down from $1.1153, and at ¥122.17, up from ¥121.80. The dollar moved above ¥109.50 in early trading, carrying over its strength in overnight trading overseas brought on by a rise in U.S. long-term interest rates. After briefly falling below ¥109.50 in the morning, dampened by a weak start of the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average, the dollar rebounded gradually in the afternoon, helped by repurchases on the back of a modest recovery in Tokyo stock prices, traders said. The greenback rose above ¥109.70 in late trading. “A recovery in U.S. long-term interest rates to around 2.27 percent in off-hours trading supported the dollar against the yen,” a think tank official said. The currency market’s focus is shifting to China’s manufacturing industry purchasing managers index for May, due out on Friday, traders said. An official at a foreign exchange margin trading service attributed the dollar’s rise to a lack of negative factors, saying the U.S. currency has not got back on an upward trend.


Amazon Japan and Life supermarket tie up to sell fresh foods online, starting in Tokyo

Abstract: Amazon.com Inc.’s Japanese unit and Life Corp., one of the country’s major supermarket chains, said Thursday they will join forces to sell fresh foods online starting later this year, aiming to attract elderly and busy customers. In Amazon’s first tie-up with a Japanese supermarket operator, Life will supply a range of products, including those from its in-house brand, to members of Amazon Japan’s Prime Now service, which touts delivery times as fast as two hours for orders. The service will start in parts of Tokyo later this year, with Amazon Japan handling delivery and processing payments. It hopes to cater to growing demand from the elderly and people who have difficulty getting to physical stores while also targeting busy professionals, especially in dual-income households, who have little time for grocery shopping. Through the collaboration with Life, Amazon Japan expects to be able to expand its product offerings, while the Japanese supermarket operator hopes to reach a younger customer demographic and people who live in areas without its stores. Stores run by Osaka-based Life are concentrated in the Tokyo metropolitan area and in western Japan prefectures. Life already operates an online service giving customers access to approximately 6,000 products, but its delivery area only covers around 50 to 60 percent of the Tokyo metropolitan region and comprises less than 1 percent of total annual sales at around ¥3 billion. For Life, the tie-up with Amazon Japan will also be helpful in dealing with the nation’s widespread labor shortage. Other major Japanese supermarket market operators such as Aeon Co. and Ito-Yokado Co. have moved into online fresh food sales, but profitability remains a challenge due in part to high delivery costs. Major online retailer Rakuten Inc. and U.S. retail giant Walmart Inc.’s Japanese subsidiary, Seiyu GK, also began an online supermarket operation last year.

internet supermarkets shopping amazon.com life


Mitsubishi Regional Jet to be renamed Space Jet as firm looks to shed poor image of long-delayed plane

Abstract: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will change the name of its Mitsubishi Regional Jet to Space Jet, it was learned Wednesday. By renaming the first Japanese-developed small passenger jet, the unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. hopes to shed the poor image of the MRJ created by its prolonged development period and repeated delays to the first delivery of the aircraft, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The sources also said Mitsubishi Aircraft will launch development of a 70-seat version of the 90-seat MRJ to meet strong demand for 70-seat models in North America, the world’s biggest market for small passenger jets. Mitsubishi Aircraft initially planned to deliver the first MRJ in 2013 but has so far delayed its delivery five times. The company says development of the MRJ is in a final phase and that deliveries could start in the middle of 2020. But due to the uncertainty over when the development will actually be finished, it has been struggling to attract new orders.

aviation
mitsubishi regional jet
aircraft
mitsubishi heavy
mitsubishi aircraft
space jet


In latest snub for Huawei, Japan's SoftBank chooses Nokia and Ericsson for 5G network

Abstract: SoftBank Group Corp.’s Japanese telecom unit has selected Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB as vendors for its next-generation wireless network, excluding longtime supplier Huawei Technologies Co. SoftBank Corp. named Nokia as a strategic partner for its 5G rollout and Ericsson as a supplier of radio access network equipment, the companies said in separate releases. Huawei, which together with ZTE Corp. was a 4G vendor for the Japanese company, wasn’t selected despite participating in earlier 5G trials. SoftBank declined to make comment further. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted Huawei for months, first encouraging allies to ban the Chinese company’s equipment from their networks and then putting Huawei on an export blacklist that prohibits it from buying American software and components. Australia and New Zealand have prohibited Chinese-made gear in their networks, while Japan has said it will exclude equipment with security risks without making an official decision on Huawei. Local media have reported that the country’s top three carriers — NTT Docomo Inc., SoftBank and KDDI Corp. — will shun both Huawei and ZTE. “You can also expect Docomo and KDDI to follow suit,” said Masahiko Ishino, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. “So SoftBank isn’t going to be at a cost disadvantage.” The phone companies are also scrapping plans to sell Huawei handsets as the impact of the U.S. supply ban spreads. The Chinese company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.K.’s BT Group PLC announced plans to remove Huawei gear from the core of its mobile network soon after the head of the country’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6, warned about the risks of using Chinese equipment. Taiwan already bans Chinese telecom equipment. At an earnings briefing in February, SoftBank Group Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son said it would cost about ¥5 billion ($46 million) to replace existing Huawei gear in its network. At the time, Son said the company was considering all options for 5G equipment.

u.s .
softbank
ntt docomo
kddi
nokia
huawei
donald trump
5g
zte
ericsson


Climate change debate in focus at Exxon's annual meeting

Abstract: DALLAS - Activist shareholders used Exxon Mobil’s annual meeting to renew their accusations that the company is failing to confront a future that may include stricter regulations to limit climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. A representative of the Church of England’s endowment fund said Wednesday that Exxon has moved more slowly than other major oil companies to disclose information about emissions. Chairman and CEO Darren Woods defended the company, saying it’s doing its part by providing energy that people need while also reducing emissions from its own operations. Exxon successfully petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to block a shareholder vote on setting targets for reducing carbon emissions from burning oil and gas. Exxon’s 2018 profit rose 6 percent to $20.8 billion as higher prices offset a 4 percent decline in production, but the shares fell 18 percent last year. They closed Wednesday up about 6 percent for 2019. Woods said Exxon’s businesses performed well last year, and production in the Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico is growing faster than expected. Exxon, which is based in Irving, Texas, continues to project that demand for oil will grow nearly 1 percent a year, propelled by its use in transportation and chemicals, and Woods repeated a goal of doubling 2017 earnings by 2025. Activists, however, find Exxon’s forecast of oil demand wildly optimistic in a lower-carbon energy world. “If we reach a point of secular decline in demand for oil, the competition to meet that dwindling level of demand would become much more intense, with a potential knock-on effect on prices and financial returns from the sale of oil,” said Robert Schuwerk, North America director for Carbon Tracker, a U.K.-based group that studies the effects of climate change on financial markets. Edward Mason, representing the Church of England’s fund, told shareholders that Exxon and investors “have been in open conflict about climate strategy and disclosure.” Mason contrasted that with rivals including BP PLC, which last week supported a successful shareholder resolution to increase disclosures about its emissions and how its business strategy fits with the Paris agreement to limit the increase in global temperatures. The Church of England and the New York state comptroller were lead sponsors of a resolution that would have asked Exxon to set targets on emissions from burning oil and gas. The SEC accepted the company’s objection that the resolution would have amounted to unnecessary meddling into the company’s decision-making authority. Woods said Exxon is working with universities and the government on technology to produce biofuels and capture carbon generated at power plants. He said the company is reducing the flaring or burning of natural gas, which releases methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas. Exxon, he said, is “very focused on growing shareholder value” while balancing it with “this risk of climate change and society’s aspirations for lower emissions” of carbon. Shareholders handily elected all 10 board-backed director candidates. They overwhelmingly rejected resolutions to create a board committee to deal with climate change and to report on the environmental risks of the company’s petrochemical investments along the Gulf Coast. About 41% of shares were cast in favor of a measure to split the jobs of chairman and CEO after Woods leaves. Even though the measure failed, it attracted the most support ever at Exxon, which shows shareholders are dissatisfied with Exxon’s governance and handling of climate risk, said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

u.s .
oil
emissions
climate change
texas
epa
exxon
darren woods


Defects at Leopalace21 properties were caused by hasty expansion and closed culture, report says

Abstract: The pace of business expansion and a closed corporate culture at Leopalace21 Corp. resulted in defects in the apartment buildings constructed by the company, a third-party investigative panel has said in its final report. In the report, the panel said that Leopalace21 “was quick to successively develop and deploy new models to recover and expand its business performance and neglected to verify” its compliance with laws and regulations, such as the Building Standards Law, and the quality of the completed buildings. Law firm Nishimura & Asahi was appointed by the company’s board in February to form the investigative panel and probe the construction issues. The report, announced by Leopalace21 on Wednesday, noted that faulty construction had been conducted throughout the company, and that its closed corporate culture had led to the improper practices. Its employees had found it difficult to voice their opinions to their bosses under the strong leadership of the company’s founder, Yusuke Miyama, who led the company from 1973 to 2006, the report said. In management changes announced the same day, Leopalace21 said seven of its eight board members would quit while three outside directors would remain, subject to approval at a general shareholders’ meeting on June 27. The new board will have 10 members rather than the current 11, but will increase the number of external directors from the current three to five. Eisei Miyama stepped down as president and CEO on Thursday, as had already been planned before the management overhaul, though he will remain a board member until the new management team is approved. He was succeeded by Managing Executive Officer Bunya Miyao. The report issued Wednesday did not mention whether Miyama, who had announced his resignation decision on May 10, played a role in the misconduct. Eisei Miyama is the nephew of founder Yusuke Miyama. As a measure to prevent similar practices from occurring again, the panel suggested that Leopalace21 reform its corporate culture through in-house training programs. It specifically urged the firm to eliminate workplace harassment. The Tokyo-based property company has been working on repairs to faulty apartments it built across the county over a period of more than a decade using improper materials. More than 14,000 residents will need to temporarily move out.