For several years now, the Liberal Democratic party of Japan, headed by Shinzo Abe, has attempted to change article 9 of the Japanese constitution. Though the anti-war clause had been reinterpreted to allow collective defense of attacked allies in 2015, a formal change would require amendment of the constitution, a daunting process that requires a majority in the country’s parliament… Read more »
(Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he hoped the first-ever change to the country’s 70-year-old pacifist constitution would be enacted by 2020, and that it would enshrine the status of the military. Under the constitution’s Article Nine, Japan forever renounced its right to wage war and banned maintenance of a military, though successive governments have interpreted it… Read more »
(Reuters) China said on Thursday it wants to be good neighbors with North Korea, after the isolated country’s state news agency published a rare criticism of Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over the North’s nuclear program. The United States has urged China, North Korea’s only major ally, to do more to rein in the North’s nuclear and… Read more »
(BBC)US President Donald Trump will host Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday to reaffirm ties after a rocky start earlier this year. Mr Trump had reportedly labelled a February call between the two about a refugee deal as his “worst” that day. The leaders’ first meeting in person is expected to cover topics including security, trade and North Korea…. Read more »
(France24) A controversial missile defense system whose deployment has angered China is now operational in South Korea, the US military said Monday. Washington and Seoul agreed to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery deployment in July in the wake of a string of North Korean missile tests. US Forces Korea said THAAD is “operational and has the ability… Read more »
It has been a tumultuous few weeks for east Asia, and especially the countries in and around the Korean peninsula. Although North Korea’s attempted missile test was a failure, it sent shock-waves around the region. In a change of policy from the previous administration, the White House has pursued a more reactive approach towards the rogue nation, sending a carrier… Read more »
(Reuters) President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday denied being misleading about a U.S. carrier strike group’s push toward the Korean peninsula, saying it never gave an arrival date and that the ships were still on their way. When Trump boasted early last week that he had sent an “armada” as a warning to North Korea, the USS Carl Vinson strike… Read more »
(CNN) Indonesia’s capital is on edge as a vote that has become a test of tolerance in the world’s most populous majority-Muslim nation gets underway. The incumbent governor of Jakarta, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, is facing a challenge by a Muslim former government minister backed by hard-line religious groups. “(These) election campaigns … have been the… Read more »
(PRI) Scientists say that one of our world’s greatest natural treasures is now truly “terminal.” This news comes after sequential, massive bleaching events — which is what happens when ocean temperatures rise beyond levels that coral reefs can survive. Climate change is the primary culprit, and while it’s long been suspected that reefs would be devastated by ocean warming, scientists were not expecting… Read more »
(BBC) North Korea’s vice-foreign minister told the BBC Pyongyang would continue to test missiles and would launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike if it thought the US was planning an attack. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China opposed words or actions that could further raise tension. North Korea-US tension is growing. There has been heated rhetoric from both sides in… Read more »