Month: October 2021

Tokyo (TIP): Japan’s new Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, is struggling to find his footing with voters just two days after he was voted into office and launched his new government, multiple polls by local media showed on October 6.

On the lower end, the daily Asahi put Kishida’s approval rating at 45%, while Mainichi put it at 49%. The more conservative-leaning Yomiuri said 56% supported his government, while the Nikkei had 59%.

In all the polls, support for Kishida’s new government was lower than that of his predecessor Yoshihide Suga’s administration when it came into power last year, with the Asahi reporting a 20 percentage-point difference.

“I’m aware of the polling results, but also believe that there is quite a gap depending on the company that conducted the survey,” said Kishida to reporters on Wednesday morning.

“Regardless, I will reflect on my actions based on these results, including the low approval ratings, and continue to work hard toward the upcoming election,” he added.

Although Kishida’s ratings are low for a fresh administration, they are still higher than the most immediate ratings for Suga, who became deeply unpopular during his tenure as he struggled to contain a fifth wave of coronavirus infections, exacerbated by the Delta variant.

Kishida said he would dissolve the lower house of parliament on October 14, and a general election is scheduled for October 31, with the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery set to become key issues.

For single-seat districts, the Mainichi poll said that 41% of respondents would vote for the ruling coalition, while 34% would vote for the opposition and 24% were undecided. The Yomiuri put support for Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party at 43%, up 7 percentage points from the previous poll. The premier unveiled his new cabinet on Monday. Although more than half of the ministerial roles were filled with fresh faces, the line-up also featured allies of former premiers Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso heavily, signalling their ongoing influence. (Reuters)

Taipei (TIP): Military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years, Taiwan’s defence minister said on October 6, days after record numbers of Chinese aircraft flew into the island’s air defence zone.

Tensions have hit a new high between Taipei and Beijing, which claims the democratic island as its own territory, and Chinese military aircraft have repeatedly flown through Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.

Over a four-day period beginning last Friday, Taiwan reported close to 150 Chinese air force aircraft entered its air defence zone, part of a pattern of what Taipei calls Beijing’s continued harassment of the island.

Asked by a lawmaker on the current military tensions with China at the parliament, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said the situation was “the most serious” in more than 40 years since he joined the military, adding there was a risk of a “misfire” across the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

“For me as a military man, the urgency is right in front of me,” he told a parliamentary committee reviewing a special military spending billion ($8.6 billion) for home-made weapons including missiles and warships.

China says Taiwan should be taken by force if necessary.

Taiwan says it is an independent country and will defend its freedoms and democracy, blaming China for the tensions. Chiu said China already has the ability to invade Taiwan and it will be capable of mounting a “full scale” invasion by 2025.

“By 2025, China will bring the cost and attrition to its lowest. It has the capacity now, but it will not start a war easily, having to take many other things into consideration.” The United States, Taiwan’s main military supplier, has confirmed its “rock-solid” commitment to Taiwan and also criticised China. Beijing blames Washington’s policies of supporting Taiwan with arms sales and sending warships through the Taiwan Strait for raising tensions.

Taiwan’s special military spending over the next five years will go mostly toward naval weapons including anti-ship weapons such as land-based missile systems.

Taiwan reported one Chinese air force aircraft entered its air defence zone on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Earthquake hits northern Japan, no tsunami

Tokyo (TIP): A magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit Aomori and Iwate prefecture in northern Japan early on October 7 morning but did not cause a tsunami, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said.

The quake struck around 2:46 a.m. local time (1746 GMT).

No damage was reported at a nuclear fuel preprocessing plant in the area, public broadcaster NHK said.

Two people were injured and taken to hospital, while train operators in the area suspended some train services for safety checks, the broadcaster said. The quake registered 5 plus in the Japanese scale of earthquake intensity, a level that could cause damage to some buildings. (Reuters)

Seoul (TIP): The two Koreas on October 4 restored their hotlines that the North severed months ago, with Pyongyang urging Seoul to step up efforts to improve relations after criticising what it called double standards over weapons development. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness last week to reactivate the hotlines, which North Korea cut off in early August in protest against joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises, just days after reopening them for the first time in a year. Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency had said the telephone links would be reconnected on Monday at 9:00 a.m. (0000 GMT).

The South confirmed that twice-daily regular communication was restarted on time via military hotlines and others run by the Unification Ministry, except for the navy channel set up on an international network for merchant ships.

The hotlines are a rare tool to bridge the rivals, but it was unclear whether their reconnection would facilitate any meaningful return to talks aimed at dismantling the North’s nuclear and missile programmes in return for U.S. sanctions relief.

KCNA called for Seoul to fulfil its “tasks” to mend strained cross-border ties, repeating Kim’s speech last week that he had decided to recover the lines to help realise people’s hopes for a thaw and peace.

In that speech, Kim urged South Korea to abandon its “double standards” and “delusion” over the North’s self-defensive military activities while developing its own weapons.

“The South Korean authorities should make positive efforts to put the north-south ties on a right track and settle the important tasks which must be prioritised to open up the bright prospect in the future,” KCNA said.

HOTLINES REDUCE TENSIONS

Seoul’s defence ministry said the hotlines have contributed to preventing unexpected clashes and their reopening would hopefully lead to substantive easing of military tension.

The Unification Ministry, responsible for inter-Korean affairs, expressed hopes that it would be able to resume dialogue soon on ways to recover relations and foster peace.

In Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said it strongly supports inter-Korean cooperation, calling the reconnected lines “an important component in creating a more stable environment on the Korean Peninsula.” Tension had flared since the hotlines were severed, with North Korea warning of a security crisis and firing a series of new missiles, including a hypersonic missile with potential nuclear capabilities.

The launches underlined how the isolated country has been constantly developing increasingly sophisticated weapons, raising the stakes for stalled denuclearisation negotiations.

While accusing Washington of “hostile policy,” Pyongyang has said it is willing to mend inter-Korean relations and consider another summit if Seoul drops double standards.

Analysts say the North’s carrot-and-stick approach is aimed at securing international recognition as a nuclear weapons state and driving a wedge between the United States and South Korea, counting on South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s eagerness to forge a diplomatic legacy before his term ends in May. Reuters

Oma (TIP): The toll due to cyclone Shaheen rose to 13 on October 6, while fishermen from Iran remained missing as the storm moved further into Oman and weakened. The authorities in Oman said they found the body of a man who disappeared when floodwaters swept him away from his vehicle. In Iran, rescuers found the bodies of two of five fishermen who went missing off Pasabandar. On Sunday, Iranian deputy speaker Ali Nikzad said he feared six fishermen had been killed. AP