World

In his autobiography, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reflects on his time as foreign minister, notably recalling an encounter with China’s chief diplomat Wang Yi. The exact occasion wasn’t specified, but it was during a time when bilateral relations between the two countries were strained. Kishida, believing that better relations with China would lead to stability in the region, describes how he and Wang arranged a one-on-one meeting without interpreters by their sides. The Chinese diplomat, speaking in Japanese, remarked on how Kishida belonged to the Kochikai, the Liberal Democratic Party faction of which he was and still is leader. “Mr. Kishida, you’re a member of Kochikai, so you will treat Japan’s relationship with China as important,” Wang said. Kishida was aware that Wang did not s...

The elections also come amid a crackdown on dissent in the city. Most of Hong Kong's prominent pro-democracy activists and opposition politicians are either in jail or awaiting trial, after 47 people were charged with subversion under a national security law in January over their roles in an unofficial primary election. Authorities say that the primary – organised by the pro-democracy camp – was aimed at crippling the government and subverting state power. The electoral reforms and stringent vetting processes have also led to fewer pro-democracy candidates. For the first time since 1997, no members from Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, submitted applications to be nominated. Overall, the number of candidates for the elections has also fallen. This year, the...

WASHINGTON: US consumer prices jumped last year at the fastest pace in four decades, the government confirmed on Wednesday (Jan 13), underscoring the potent inflation wave that has sapped public support for President Joe Biden even as the economy recovers from the pandemic. The seven percent increase in the Labor Department's consumer price index (CPI) over the 12 months to December was the highest since June 1982, as prices rose for an array of goods especially housing, cars and food. Since taking office last January, Biden has presided over an economy that has expanded rapidly and seen millions of people who lost their jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic return to work. But a collision between rebounding demand, labour shortages and global supply chain snarls - especially computer chips for...

SINGAPORE: More than a year after a human skeleton was found under a bridge at Kallang Bahru, the identity of the deceased remains unknown, despite extensive investigations and cross-referencing with 18 unsolved missing persons cases. In a set of findings made available on Wednesday (Jan 12), State Coroner Adam Nakhoda declared an open verdict into the case. The identity of the deceased and the cause of death remain unknown. Evidence uncovered in the inquiry suggests that the deceased was an adult man in his 30s to 60s who died at least six months to a year before his bones were discovered on Nov 9, 2020. In early November 2020, workers were erecting scaffolding under the bridge at 1 Kallang Place as part of a contract awarded by the Land Transport Authority (LTA). At about noon on Nov...

Japan should offer tax breaks in the next fiscal year and spur ¥10 trillion ($88 billion) in investment over the next decade to revive domestic chipmaking, the top adviser on a government semiconductor panel has said. Roughly $7 billion in supplementary spending approved by the government this week should be just the start of its efforts to reverse decades of decline in the industry, said Tetsuro Higashi, the former chief of Tokyo Electron Ltd. and leading chip expert advising Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration. Tetsuro Higashi | BLOOMBERG “I expect this level of funding to continue at least for the next few years,” Higashi said in an interview Monday. “Without initial investment from the government, we won’t be able to reach a point where private companies will put in the mo...

ROVANIEMI, Finland: Workers at Santa Claus Village, a holiday theme park on the edge of the Arctic Circle, chipped away at a frozen dome, using chisels to put the final touches on an ice restaurant-hotel filled with sculptures of snowmen, penguins and huskies. The Christmas season is in full swing in Finnish Lapland, where venue operators happily report that visitors have returned in numbers approaching pre-pandemic levels. Tourists from elsewhere in Finland and abroad come to revel in the festive spirit at the sprawling theme park, take a reindeer or husky sleigh ride and, if they’re lucky, glimpse the Northern Lights. How long the winter fun will last is uncertain as the Omicron coronavirus variant leads to new travel restrictions, test requirements and quarantine measures. “It is a w...

Next year will mark 50 years since U.S. President Richard Nixon traveled to China to meet with Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai — a major step toward restoring relations after decades of estrangement and hostility. A half-century later, the progress they launched has been all but lost, and U.S. President Joe Biden is partly to blame. The ideological differences between the United States and China in 1972 could not have been starker. But both sides recognized the vast benefits of a detente. By isolating the Soviet Union, they hastened the end of the Cold War. And by enabling China to shift its focus to peaceful economic development, they bolstered global prosperity for decades to follow. Thanks to a large labor force and abundant land, China bec...

THG PLC Founder Matthew Moulding had reason to boast in February when he declared on Instagram that he had logged “500 consecutive days of making it into the gym.” He had plenty of other milestones to celebrate, too, including becoming a billionaire thanks to THG’s initial public offering in 2020. The company’s shares were trading near a recent record high, with customers and investors alike impressed by THG’s focus on products — such as makeup and fitness supplements — which have become wildly popular with social media users. The good times didn’t last. THG shares soon began a steady decline, which turned into a collapse in October his year. The stock fell 78% from its January high after the company failed to convince shareholders that it wasn’t just an e-commerce firm, but also a high-...

Next year looks to be a critical year for Southeast Asia with prominent presidential elections potentially deciding the future of democracy in the Philippines; politics heating up in Malaysia, Thailand and other countries; the region battling COVID-19 and its economic effects; and ASEAN trying to grapple with the chaos in Myanmar and its impact on the region. Big elections The biggest election in Southeast Asia in 2022, of course, will be the Philippine presidential vote, one that already has attracted a ream of contenders. Since Philippine presidents serve one, six-year term and often work with compliant legislatures and weak party systems, they often possess far more power once they are elected than peers in many other presidential systems. Next year’s presidential election is already...

China Minmetals Rare Earth said on Wednesday it would merge with two of China's other top rare earth producers into a new company under the state assets regulator, creating a global force in the strategic industry. China is the world's dominant producer of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals used in consumer electronics and military equipment. Moves to consolidate China's "Big Six" state-run rare earth companies have been seen as a way to boost influence over pricing. China's control of 85-90 per cent of the rare earths processing sector means an uneasy reliance on Chinese supply for the United States, especially at times of high trade tensions. Minmetals Rare Earth, which had flagged in September that talks about such a restructuring were underway, said in a filing its parent had been ...