Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung rounded off their summit meeting today (20 January) with an unexpected jam session where the two played drums along to some K-pop hits. In a short video posted on the Japanese Prime Minister’s office YouTube channel on Wednesday morning, the two leaders played […]
Read MoreBy Ralph Jennings As US President Donald Trump’s tariff increases have roiled global markets and strained America’s alliances in recent months, China has been pursuing the opposite strategy: keeping import duties low and pledging further cuts as a way to secure strategic resources and build ties across the developing world. China’s average effective tariff rate […]
Read MoreLONDON: Britain’s government gave approval on Tuesday for China to build its largest embassy in Europe in London, hoping to improve ties with Beijing despite British and U.S. politicians’ warnings that it could be used as a base for spying. The approval was subject to some conditions. China’s plans to build a new embassy on […]
Read MoreTOKYO: A record number of tourists flocked to Japan in 2025, officials said Tuesday, despite a steep fall in Chinese visitors in December as a diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo rumbled on. Japan logged 42.7 million arrivals last year, according to the transport ministry, topping 2024’s record of nearly 37 million as the weak […]
Read MoreSEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media said Tuesday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung Ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean […]
Read MoreBy Park Chan-kyong South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday ordered an investigation into claims that the country’s military intelligence command supported a civilian accused of sending drones into North Korea. The civilian at the centre of the allegations, a graduate student in his thirties identified only by his surname Oh, claims he flew […]
Read MoreBy Zhao Ziwen While there may be hopes in Beijing that Washington’s attempt to acquire Greenland has strained transatlantic ties and might draw European countries closer to China, a veteran US diplomat said such a fundamental realignment was unlikely. The core task of the European Union’s foreign policy will remain navigating intensifying US-China rivalry while […]
Read MoreBy The Korea Times South Korea has begun deploying its most powerful conventional ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5 – dubbed the “monster missile” for its massive warhead – to frontline units, military officials said on Sunday, a move that underscores Seoul’s effort to strengthen deterrence against North Korea. The ground-to-ground missile, capable of carrying a warhead […]
Read MoreBy Liu Zhen and Alcott Wei in Beijing China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has significant design flaws that future carriers can overcome only by adopting nuclear power, according to a military magazine. The Fujian is the country’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier and was commissioned in November. With a displacement of over 80,000 tonnes, […]
Read MoreTAIPEI: A Chinese reconnaissance drone briefly flew over the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea on Saturday, in what Taiwan’s defense ministry called a “provocative and irresponsible” move. Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, reports Chinese military activity around it on an almost daily basis, […]
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