at 18:30 (JST), October 19

Asian View

"Asian View" is a five-minute news segment broadcast by NHK WORLD-JAPAN. It features the latest news and deep analysis from Japan and the rest of Asia. Listen to "Asian View" and get the latest information from a region that's playing an increasingly important role in the world.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20211019183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : lower house election hundreds of candidates
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211019_04/

Hundreds of candidates officially launch their campaigns on Tuesday in Japan's Lower House election.

Voters will cast ballots at the end of the month to choose their government.

All 465 seats in the powerful Lower House are up for grabs. 289 will be from single-seat districts and 176 through a system of proportional representation.

The threshold for a majority is 233 seats.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio says if the governing coalition can secure a majority, he would consider it a victory. The coalition held 305 seats when he dissolved the chamber last week.

Opposition parties are fielding a unified candidate in more than 200 single-seat districts to avoid splitting the vote and benefitting coalition candidates.

This is the first Lower House election in four years, and the first nationwide vote since the start of the pandemic.

Candidates are expected to debate issues like anti-coronavirus measures and ways to get the Japanese economy back on track.

The official campaign runs for 12 days until October 30th, the day before the vote.

Key words : naval
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211019_05/

Defense officials in Japan say Chinese and Russian naval vessels have jointly passed through the Tsugaru Strait located between Japan's main island of Honshu and Hokkaido.

It is the first time that Japan's defense ministry confirmed Chinese and Russian warships going through the strait simultaneously.

The defense ministry says that the aircraft and vessels from the Maritime Self-Defense Force spotted a total of 10 Chinese and Russian naval ships about 110 kilometers southwest of Hokkaido's Okushiri Island in the Sea of Japan at around 8 a.m. on Monday.

Five of the vessels were confirmed to belong to the Chinese navy, including a state-of-the-art Renhai-Class missile destroyer.
The other five were confirmed to be Russian warships, including a destroyer.

The ministry says that the fleet entered the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru Strait in the afternoon.

The Tsugaru Strait is an international waterway where foreign ships, including warships, are allowed to navigate.

An NHK helicopter crew observed the 10 ships in an apparent formation navigating eastward shortly after 2 p.m.

China and Russia had conducted joint military exercises in the Sea of Japan for four days through Sunday. The vessels spotted in the Tsugaru Strait are believed to have taken part in the drills.

The Japanese defense ministry is analyzing the purpose of the navigation.

Russia's defense ministry announced on Monday that the joint Russian-Chinese naval exercise had ended in the Sea of Japan.

The ministry said 15 warships including destroyers and submarines from the navies of the two countries took part in the exercise. It explained that personnel performed more than 20 combat drills, including communications, mine removal and artillery firing at floating targets.

The Russian ministry said the joint exercise had been held annually since 2012. But last year, it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It also said that a US naval ship attempted to enter Russia's territorial waters in the Sea of Japan and approached to within 60 meters of a Russian warship on Friday. The ministry said it had lodged a protest with the United States.

The US side called Russia's claim false and said the US naval ship's interaction was safe and professional.

Key words : north aircraft nearby
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211019_13/

Japan's Defense Ministry says North Korea launched what could be a ballistic missile on Tuesday morning.
The ministry says it's analyzing information and advising ships and aircraft nearby.

Japan's coast guard says the object has already fallen, but there are no details on where it may have landed.
South Korean military also says North Korea fired a projectile toward the Sea of Japan.

Key words : myanmar voice of
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211019_03/

Myanmar's military has announced that it will release about 5,600 people who were arrested over their alleged participation in anti-coup protests.

The military on Monday said the move is aimed at putting the public at ease and allowing them to join nation-building efforts.

The Democratic Voice of Burma, a TV station in Myanmar, reported that some of the people have already been set free, including three of its journalists.

The military's announcement came after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations decided not to invite Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to its summit scheduled to start on October 26.

The general, who is the military's top leader, later made clear in a televised address that they are ready to continue negotiations about accepting an ASEAN envoy -- an issue that led to the standoff between the bloc and the junta.

The release of citizens has been long called for by the international community, including ASEAN.

Key words : kishida met
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211018_31/

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has met with the relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea for the first time since taking office. He said the repatriation of those still missing is a top government priority and he will work hard to resolve the issue.

Kishida met with relatives of Yokota Megumi and Taguchi Yaeko on Monday.

The prime minister said many abductees still remain in North Korea and offered his sincere apologies to the relatives.

Kishida went on to say he has spoken by phone with US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping and asked for their cooperation on the issue.

The prime minister said he is determined to engage directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without any preconditions to repatriate the abductees as quickly as possible. He said Japan must take advantage of every opportunity when cooperating with other countries on North Korea.

Iizuka Shigeo, who heads a group of abductees' relatives and is the brother of Taguchi, said Japan has had so many changes of prime minister since the formation of their group. He said he is very disappointed by the lack of progress.

Iizuka said the families will not give up. He asked Kishida to present a specific schedule with the help of other countries.

Yokota Megumi's mother, Sakie, said she wants the government to clearly express its strong determination and work hard to resolve the issue.

She added that the relatives wish for the joy of being reunited with their loved ones while they themselves are still fit and well.

Key words : biotechnology
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211018_28/

A biotechnology startup in Japan has announced that it has begun clinical trials of a mRNA coronavirus vaccine that requires smaller dosages than its existing counterparts.

VLP Therapeutics Japan gave details of the trials at a news conference on Monday.

As is the case with the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the experimental drug makes use of messenger RNA, which makes the flow of genetic information possible.

The vaccine is said to include instructions in the mRNA for replicating itself for a certain period. That means smaller dosages are required to produce the desired effect.

The company says the phase 1 trial began at Oita University Hospital in southwestern Japan last Tuesday. It is the fifth firm to conduct clinical tests of domestically-developed coronavirus vaccines in Japan.

The trial involves 45 participants, divided into three groups being given different amounts of the vaccine, as well as another group receiving a placebo.

The company hopes the vaccine will be available for use before the end of 2022.

Company CEO Akahata Wataru told reporters he believes there are many people both in Japan and overseas waiting for a coronavirus vaccine made in Japan.

He expressed readiness to deliver the company's drug to such people.

Key words : olympic olympia
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211018_33/

The flame for next year's Beijing Winter Olympic Games has been lit at a ceremony in Olympia, southern Greece, the site of the Olympic Games of antiquity.

The event was held without spectators in the ruins of an ancient temple on Monday. Among those who attended were International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and vice president of the organizing committee of the Beijing Games, Yu Zaiqing.

During the ceremony, a woman dressed in traditional white clothing of ancient Greece lit a torch using a flame ignited by the sun's rays focused with a parabolic mirror.

The flame was passed on to the first torchbearer, Greek Alpine skier Ioannis Antoniou, who took part in the 2018 PyeongChang Games, to start the Olympic flame's journey to Beijing.
The torch was then passed to Chinese Olympic short-track speed skating medalist Li Jiajun.

The flame lighting ceremony is usually followed by a torch relay across Greece before the flame is handed over to the country hosting the Olympic Games.

But the Greek relay will not take place as part of anti-coronavirus infection measures. The flame will be handed to organizers of the Beijing Games in Athens on Tuesday.

The IOC says the flame will be exhibited at the Olympic Tower in Beijing for the time being before the torch relay takes place.

The 17-day Beijing Winter Games will be held from February 4 through 20.