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July 12, 2026
 

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TAIWAN

An injured woman, her shirt stained with blood, is wheeled away from the main train station in Taipei, after a man tossed smoke grenades and lunged at bystanders with a large knife on Friday night, according to the city's police.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2025
Suspect takes own life after killing three in Taipei metro attacks
Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said the attacks at Taipei Main Station and Zhongshan Station were “a deliberate act,” although the motive was not immediately clear.
A M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher during training exercises at Lightning Academy at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu on Nov. 9
WORLD
Dec 19, 2025
U.S. balances Taiwan backing and China trade push with arms sale
The Trump administration is looking to maintain defense ties with Taiwan while boosting Washington’s economic relationship with China.
A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter flies over the tarmac at Mercedita International Airport in Ponce amid ongoing military movements in Puerto Rico on Thursday. The U.S. president ordering a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela has raised questions under international law about whether it amounts to an act of war.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Dec 19, 2025
How Trump’s Venezuela embargo could put Taiwan at risk
Beijing could exploit a U.S. blockade of Venezuela to undercut any American efforts to drum up international diplomatic opposition to such a move in the Taiwan Strait, experts say.
Taiwan reservists during a training session in Yilan on Dec. 2. Pushed by the United States, Taiwan has been working to transform its armed forces to be able to wage “asymmetric warfare.”
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 18, 2025
U.S. approves $11.1B arms package for Taiwan — the largest ever
The Pentagon said the arms sales serve U.S. national, economic and security interests by supporting Taiwan’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces.
The Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, carries out sea trials at an unknown location in May last year.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2025
Taiwan says Chinese aircraft carrier sailed through Taiwan Strait
The sailing was the advanced vessel’s first transit of the sensitive waterway since formally entering service last month.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with the leaders of Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia after the ceremonial signing of a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 26. Hostilities between the two countries have since resumed.  
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2025
White House 2025 Asia upheaval set to continue in 2026
Will the Trump administration learn from its counterproductive actions in Asia in 2025? It seems unlikely.
Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo inspects reservists during a training session at Loung Te Industrial Parks Service Center in Yilan, Taiwan, on Dec. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 16, 2025
Taiwan says its military can respond rapidly to any sudden Chinese attack
The military has a standard operating practice on how to raise its combat alert level in case Chinese exercises move “from drill to war,” the ministry added.
Shigeru Iwasaki, then chief of staff of the Self-Defense Forces, in Tokyo in April 2013. Countermeasures against Iwasaki include visa restrictions, freezing his properties, and prohibiting any transactions or cooperation with him, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2025
China launches countermeasures against former Japan defense official
The largely symbolic sanctions appear to be a response to the official Shigeru Iwasaki’s appointment earlier this year as an adviser to Taiwan’s Cabinet.
Military radar towers on Yonaguni, the westernmost inhabited island of Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2025
Japan builds up ‘missile archipelago’ near Taiwan to counter China
As tensions between China and Japan rise, the sparsely populated island of Yonaguni finds itself right on the front lines.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Nov. 7. Although Takaichi has refused to recant her comments on Taiwan, she said in parliament later last month that she learned her lesson and will avoid speaking about specific scenarios.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2025
Takaichi’s Taiwan comment that sparked China spat apparently unscripted
The discrepancy between the prepared response and the prime minister’s actual comment suggests she veered off-script from official policy.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at a news conference on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2025
Trump can balance Japan alliance and China despite row, White House says
The U.S. and Japanese defense chiefs also spoke over the phone, expressing “grave concern” over Beijing’s recent military actions.
China’s recent radar lock-on of Japanese F-15s from fighters launched from the carrier Liaoning underscores a rising pattern of coercive pressure that Tokyo and its partners must answer with firm vigilance and clear messaging.
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2025
Lock-on incident shows China will continue to test Japan
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi disputed China’s claim that it had given warning about the exercises, arguing that there was “insufficient information to avoid danger.”
China is advancing a revamped World War II narrative to justify its regional claims while portraying Japan as a threat to the postwar order.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 12, 2025
Is China guardian of the ‘postwar international order’?
China is advancing a revamped World War II narrative to justify its regional claims while portraying Japan as a threat to the postwar order.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s headquarters in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 12, 2025
Mother of Thai girl in Tokyo sex work case to be returned to Thailand
The mother arrived in Taiwan in September, leaving her daughter in Japan, and was later detained by Taiwanese authorities for her alleged involvement in prostitution.
Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu poses for a photo during an interview with The Japan Times in Taipei in March.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 11, 2025
Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister made secret trip to Israel
It was unclear if Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu touched upon Taiwan’s new multilayered air defense system, which is partly modeled on Israel’s air-defense system.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives for a party leaders' debate in the Upper House of parliament in Tokyo on Nov. 26. Takaichi has refused to back down from recent Taiwan-contingency remarks that were fiercely criticized by China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 11, 2025
China’s heavy-handed attack on Takaichi is backfiring
Japan has never formally accepted that Taiwan is part of the PRC and Taiwan has never, for one day, been under the Communist Party’s control.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during a news conference with his Australian counterpart at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 11, 2025
Japan looks to international community to lower temperature in China row
Gaining the understanding of other nations on Japan’s stance “is of the utmost importance,” the government’s top spokesman said.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, on Oct 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2025
Survival in Trump, Xi and Putin’s ‘great power’ world
Japan and other middle powers must help shape the new order — or risk becoming subject to it.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito says he hopes to visit China soon to help ease tension between Beijing and Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2025
Japan-China spat lacks immediate off-ramp despite Komeito talks
Tetsuo Saito, the head of former ruling coalition partner Komeito, says he’s spoken several times with China’s ambassador.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during a Lower House budget committee session on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2025
U.S. backs Japan in radar row with China as Tokyo refutes Beijing’s claims
Washington criticized Beijing over its military’s use of radar on Japanese fighter jets Saturday — the first time the Trump administration has weighed in on the incident.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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