xin xin comments

Bernanke and some Obama economic advisers earlier said tariffs didn't have much effect on inflation. Most mainstream reporters get the economics wrong. If country A imposes a tariff of X% on country B, each country may suffer. A, the importing country, may get a price hike on the item tariffed ranging between 0 to X percent; B, the exporting country, may get a price drop on that item within that range too. How much price disadvantage each gets hinges on who depends on whom more. This is econ 101. It doesn't matter which party gets to pay the tariff directly; the market has a way of allocating pain depending on relative reliance ("elasticity"). Also, the authoritative upper division level trade textbook of Krugman (a Democrat) has a theorem that says there is always an optimum tariff level which actually benefits the side imposing it. The reporters writing political stories usually don't know economics and they may be biased too.

He should be replaced immediately by Takaichi.

Yes, should spend 3% of GDP on military and revise the so-called Peace Constitution and become a real, normal country. US wants a strong ally, not a wimp.

Takaichi would have a much higher chance of getting that.

Takaichi would be perfect at this point.

Yes, looks like plain sailing. But Japan should really spend beyond 2% on defense for its own good, given the aggressiveness shown by China, which has the strong intention and ability to create trouble along the entire First Island Chain, starting with Taiwan, the Senkakus and the Ryuchiu Islands, not to mention N Korea and Russia are big troublemakers too.

Those DEI oil executives? Can wail if they so like.

Japan must increase its spending on defense to boost the US-Japan alliance. Trump is not going to tolerate a country spending 1.2% of its GDP while facing close-range China threats. Period.

Basically, Chinese have a love-hate Japan complex, fluctuating easily between the two extremes. So when they say they love Japan, remember that they can flip to the hate extreme in a wink; and vice versa. Those polls cannot reveal the complex.

Likely useless, given China is bent on invading Taiwan and annexing the South China Sea.

Should have chosen Takaichi Sanae.

He is against extreme, excessive climate actions.

Why not develop new ones nearby?

Should sell a lot to Taiwan somehow.

Next, and more importantly, is to extend diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. As China is beset with internal problems and weakens, that will become feasible at low cost.

Xi is in a weak position within the CCP, so Ishiba should have some advantage.

"appeared"? biden said it point-blank. whereas the MSG blabber was by a professional insult comedian. so this article is fine-doctoring the biden incident. not fair.

Long overdue. Should have visited in person.

The fired staffer should be sent back to China where he belongs.

Japan is fine with the death penalty. Let other woke countries wake up one day and regret.

Stop doing any business with communist China. Period.

It should be done, sooner or later. That way it could bypass some deadening US regulatory holdups which are killing US industries.

Were the instruments on the battleship interfered with by Chinese signals? I am a sailor and my experience on the seas around Japan tells me that the MSDF and the JCG  海上保安庁 have excellent skills and discipline. In fact, in 2013 when i sailed past the Goto Retto i met a typhoon and my engine compartment was flooded and i used my wireless system to call for help. The JCG got my pan-pan signal and came to my rescue. I spoke to them in English and they were absolutely professional. They started out from Sasebo and reached me in two hours and towed me for about another two hours to a tiny fishing port -- normally a closed port to foreign boats, parked and tied my boat tight and safe against the winds, and allowed me to wait out the typhoon and do repairs. Great hospitality from the locals too, i must add. So i doubt if the MSDF boat wasn't deliberately misled into Chinese waters for the Chinese to score a diplomatic point or even worse.

Those who have nothing better to do will visit Beijing and enjoy its lavish state dinners, all paid for by money-starved host, and come away still very happy to be in the American fold.

deanZZR, seems you are a bit amiss re the festival in Chinese history. Since the Yuan Dynasty the festival has acquired a revolutionary connotation, or more exactly a han-nationalistic sentiment against "foreign barbarians" who purportedly ruled China oppressively. If you talk to people in the recently exiled Hong Kong overseas community this week, they will show you photos of their mooncakes with anti-CCP slogans baked onto them. The element of rebelliousness, however, has been suppressed by the current Chinese and Hong Kong governments, quite understandably. Hundreds of years ago, before all that politics, the festival had just been one of the more important dates on the lunar calendar, pure and simple. The Japanese celebrate the festival more from the calendar-season perspective, as the political connotations are quite irrelevant to them. Many foreigners who have been in Japan for a long time understand that too and can make a distinction between the different ways of talking about and celebrating the festival. Hope this helps.

China peace? Begin with Taiwan and the Philippines please.

Ban it. TikTok is the e-fentanyl. They should have done it long ago. The next one should be Zoom, but it is much more difficult as it owned and controlled by Chinese who had gained US citizenship. Democratic countries beware.

Now it is Japan's turn to do more to defend Taiwan against imperialist Fascist China, which would ultimately be for Japan's own good too.

What are the social benefits of inventing voice cloning, if any? The article unfortunately doesn't mention any.

Harsh but sensible. If kids are born here or mostly raised here, there is a higher likelihood that they will stay for life here, and investing on their future is good for the country. On the other hand, foreign students who come here to do university work and who get scholarships may soon depart for other countries and never return, and so the investment on them will not be as efficient.