The new opposition centrist force that was supposed to upend Japan’s political calculus isn’t gaining any ground. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/02/04/japan/how-unpredictable-is-the-snap-election/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #ldp #cdp #komeito #cra #dpp #sanseito #jip #china #us #indopacific #eastasia #senkakus #xijinping #sanaetakaichi #2026lowerhouseelection #nipponishinnokai #diet
Japan’s Feb. 8 snap election is less about short-term politics than a pivotal choice among competing coalition paths that will determine whether the country can adapt its domestic politics to shifting voter behavior. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/02/03/japan/where-japan-goes-from-here/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #ldp #jip #cdp #komeito #cra #dpp #sanseito #china #unitedstates #indopacific #eastasia #senkakuislands #xijinping #sanaetakaichi #2026lowerhouseelection
Opening a new chapter for Japan-U.S.-Europe cooperation may define the strategic legacy of the Takaichi administration. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/02/02/world/japans-strategic-crossroads/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #sanaetakaichi #usjapanrelations #chinajapanrelations #eujapanrelations #indopacific #defense #donaldtrump
Japan is boosting defense spending and deepening U.K. ties to strengthen deterrence and stability amid declining U.S. reliability in the Indo-Pacific, a necessary and positive development. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/29/world/revamping-japan-uk-strategic-architecture/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #ukjapanrelations #us #defense #nato #indopacific #uk #hmsprinceofwales #gcap #italy
Many postwar allies no longer see the U.S. as a reliable partner under Donald Trump's leadership. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/22/world/what-respect-means-to-trump/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #donaldtrump #us #europe #davos #asia #euusrelation #indopacific #eastasia #southasia #china
Despite Japan bracing itself for the worst when Donald Trump was elected for a second term as U.S. president, the tumult generated in his first year back has exceeded even Tokyo's deepest fears. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/21/japan/politics/trump-us-japan-year-one/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #us #usjapanrelations #indopacific #donaldtrump #sanaetakaichi #defense #budgets #china #pla #taiwan #greenland #venezuela #usmilitary
As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to seize Greenland, tensions over whether his actions would undermine efforts to deter China in the Indo-Pacific were laid bare at a recent major security forum in Hawaii. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/17/asia-pacific/politics/trump-greenland-allies-skepticism-china/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #us #china #donaldtrump #indopacific #usmilitary #taiwan #pla #defense
The leaders of Japan and Italy have agreed to accelerate security cooperation, including a deal to expand supply chains for critical minerals, emphasizing that the security of their regions "is strongly interrelated." https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/17/japan/politics/takaichi-italy-meloni-security-economic/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #italy #italyjapanrelations #supplychains #rareearths #indopacific #europe #sanaetakaichi #giorgiameloni #russiaukrainewar #china
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday is expected to reconfirm improving bilateral ties as Japan faces a diplomatic falling-out with another key neighbor, China. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/13/japan/politics/japan-south-korea-takaichi-lee-nara/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #southkoreajapanrelations #southkorea #leejaemyung #sanaetakaichi #china #chinajapanrelations #indopacific #defense #taiwan #northkorea
People in China are calling for a Venezuela-style snatch of Taiwan's leaders in a prelude to taking over the island, but analysts, scholars and security officials say China's modernizing military is still far from ready. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/12/asia-pacific/china-taiwan-venezuela-lai-assassination/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #taiwan #pla #us #usmilitary #defense #indopacific #venezuela #laichingte
China appears to be quietly contemplating an unconventional approach to rapidly boosting its naval power — transforming its vast commercial shipping fleet into an armada of makeshift warships. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/12/asia-pacific/china-merchant-fleet-military/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #pla #taiwan #usmilitary #indopacific
Japan enters 2026 with rare political stability under Prime Minister Takaichi, but her durability will depend on managing a fragile coalition, navigating U.S. pressure and delivering long-term economic solutions. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/07/japan/takaichis-2026-political-landscape/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #japan #sanaetakaichi #ldp #jip #donaldtrump #usdefense #indopacific #japaneseeconomy
China's Xi Jinping has urged visiting South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung to make the “correct" choices, as Beijing seeks a united front amid its standoff with Japan over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/06/japan/politics/china-south-korea-xi-lee-japan/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #southkorea #southkoreajapanrelations #leejaemyung #xijinping #taiwan #pla #sanaetakaichi #chinajapanrelations #indopacific #northkorea
The U.S. strikes on Venezuela and seizure of the country’s president could push Latin American nations closer to China while simultaneously emboldening Beijing in the Indo-Pacific. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/01/05/asia-pacific/politics/us-china-venezuela-analysis/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #us #venezuela #donaldtrump #china #taiwan #pla #indopacific #usmilitary
As the Year of the Wood Snake promised subtlety and adaptation, the U.S., China and Japan instead delivered strategic blundering, authoritarian overreach and geopolitical instability. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/12/26/world/good-riddance-year-of-the-serpent/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #china #chinesezodiac #2025 #2026 #yearofthewoodsnake #yearofthefirehorse #indopacific #us #donaldtrump #xijinping #ishibashigeru #sanaetakaichi #usjapanrelations #chinajapanrelations #uschinarelations
Chinese leader Xi Jinping installed new military leadership for its central and eastern regions amid an unprecedented purge of the top defense echelons. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/23/asia-pacific/china-replaces-military-commanders/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #pla #corruption #taiwan #indopacific #xijinping
China's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Taipei said, its first transit of the sensitive waterway since formally entering service last month. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/17/asia-pacific/chinese-aircraft-carrier-taiwan-strait/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #china #pla #taiwan #indopacific #aircraftcarriers
It is necessary for Japan, the United States, Australia and the Philippines to conclude a "collective defense pact" to contain China and ensure regional peace and stability, Ely Ratner says. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/14/japan/politics/ratner-collective-defense-pact-indo-pacific/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #elyratner #defense #constitution #indopacific #us #china
Trump's National Security Strategy 2025 emphasizes tactical priorities over grand strategy, shifting focus to the Western Hemisphere and Asia, while keeping the overall limits of U.S. policy largely unchanged. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/12/12/world/reading-trumps-national-security-strategy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #donaldtrump #joebiden #defense #eu #indopacific #usjapanrelations #russiaukrainewar #europe #china #africa #asia #middleeast
Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit Saturday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/01/asia-pacific/politics/apec-summit-trade-wrapup/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #asiapacific #politics #apec #indopacific #southkorea #trade #tariffs #donaldtrump #us #china #leejaemyung #xijinping #globaleconomy