at 18:30 (JST), April 06

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/20230406183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : tsai met with
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230406_N01/

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has met with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy. She says her democracy is facing "unprecedented challenges."

Tsai was returning from a visit to Central America and made a stopover on Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.

She met with McCarthy and other Republican and Democratic lawmakers in talks orchestrated to show solidarity.

Tsai said, "To preserve peace, we must be strong. I would like to add that we are stronger when we are together."

McCarthy is the most senior lawmaker to meet with a Taiwanese leader on US soil.

He said, "The friendship between the people of Taiwan and America -- as a matter of profound importance to the free world, it is critical to maintain economic freedom, peace and regional stability."

McCarthy later said the US needs to continue arms sales to Taiwan and ensure those deliveries arrive on-time.

Tsai met with McCarthy's predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, in Taipei in August. Chinese leaders responded to that visit by staging their largest-ever military exercise around Taiwan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has downplayed Tsai's stopover in the US, describing it as a "transit." He added that Chinese officials should not use it as an excuse to "ratchet up tensions."

Key words : former president met shanghai
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230406_07/

Taiwan's former President Ma Ying-jeou has met Shanghai's Communist Party chief in the city.

Ma held talks on Wednesday with Chen Jining, who is also a member of the party's top decision-making Politburo Standing Committee.

Ma began a tour of China late last month. Earlier in the day, he visited a port and other facilities in Shanghai.

Chen noted that upholding the concept that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family, they must make efforts to promote interactions with each other.

In response, Ma expressed the view that mainland China and Taiwan belong to one China. He added that his term as Taiwan's president benefited people on both sides of the Strait.

Ma has held a series of talks with provincial and municipal leaders in China in an effort to create a friendly atmosphere.

On Monday, he met a member of the party leadership who is also a top official in the inland city of Chongqing.

Also on Wednesday, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen met the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in the United States. She is poised to showcase the meeting as a diplomatic achievement to check moves by China to intensify its pressure on her administration, which rejects the one-China principle.

Analysts say the gap in stances between Tsai and Ma on "One China" is becoming more conspicuous ahead of Taiwan's presidential election scheduled for next January.

Key words : taiwan defense ministry navigating
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230406_01/

Taiwan's defense ministry says the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong has passed through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

It was navigating in waters southeast of Taiwan as of Wednesday evening.

The Shandong is China's first domestically built carrier.

Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that this is the first time the Shandong has conducted training in the West Pacific.

The ministry said, "The Chinese communists continue to send aircraft and ships to encroach in the seas and airspace around Taiwan."

The ministry said in addition to posing a substantial threat to Taiwan's national security, the Shandong's latest mission also destroys the status quo of regional security and stability.

The ministry said, "Such actions are by no means the acts of a responsible modern country." It stressed that external pressure will not hinder Taiwan's "determination to go into the world."

The remarks are likely to express Taiwan's view that the move is China's response to the upcoming talks between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, local time.

Key words : taliban female staff
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230406_06/

The United Nations says Afghanistan's Taliban Islamist group has banned Afghan women in the country from working for the UN.

The UN announced that Taliban authorities issued the order to UN support groups in Afghanistan.

It also said that multiple female staff members have been harassed or detained by the Taliban.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the ban in a statement on Wednesday. He said, "This is a violation of the inalienable fundamental human rights of woman."

The UN has told all its male and female staff members in Afghanistan to not report to their offices.

Last December, the Taliban banned some female employees of non-governmental organizations from working in the country. The Islamist group claimed that the women had failed to wear their hijab scarves properly.

The ban forced many NGOs to suspend their support activities.

The UN notes that about two-thirds of Afghanistan's population, or 28.3 million people, need humanitarian assistance to maintain their lives, as the country is dealing with acute shortages of food and other supplies.

There is growing concern that the ban could further paralyze support activities in Afghanistan.

Key words : set up matsuno philippines
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230405_33/

The Japanese government has decided to set up a new framework to provide defense equipment and other supplies to like-minded countries to enhance regional security cooperation.

Japan's national security strategy, which was revised in December, stipulates the establishment of a framework to assist countries with shared values, such as upholding the rule of law.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu told reporters on Wednesday that the nine Cabinet ministers of the National Security Council decided to set up the "Official Security Assistance" framework and approved its implementation guidelines.

The guidelines say assistance will be provided only in fields not directly related to any international conflict and within the framework of Japan's principles on the transfer of defense equipment abroad.

The recipient countries and supplies provided will be considered based on need and eligibility.

For the current fiscal year, Japan is considering supplying the armed forces and related organizations of the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji with radars and satellite communication systems to monitor territorial waters and airspace.

Matsuno stressed the need to drastically strengthen Japan's defense capabilities and to upgrade the deterrence of like-minded countries amid the harshest and most complex security environment since World War Two.

He explained that is why the government decided to offer the OSA framework separately from its "Official Development Assistance" program. The ODA aims to contribute to the economic and social development of developing countries.

Key words : philippine senate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230405_31/

The president of the Philippine Senate, who is visiting Japan, has called for stronger, multilateral defense cooperation amid a territorial dispute between his country and China in the South China Sea.

Juan Miguel Zubiri spoke in an interview with NHK in Tokyo on Wednesday.

He revealed the Philippine government is considering setting up a new trilateral security framework with Japan and the United States.

He suggested the three countries should hold a joint training exercise to secure freedom of navigation in the region, where territorial disputes exist.

Zubiri stressed the importance of aid from Japan, saying the Philippine defense ministry has been discussing with its Japanese counterpart the possibility of buying more defense equipment over the next several years.

He added that foreign ministry and defense ministry officials from his country and Japan will meet later this month to discuss further defense cooperation and exchange of technology.

Key words : sakamoto matsutake
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230405_11/

A synthesizer programmer who worked with Sakamoto Ryuichi says the late musician was always thinking about how humans could interact with machines to create groundbreaking sounds.

Matsutake Hideki has been referred to as the fourth member of the electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra. He spoke to NHK on Tuesday about Sakamoto, who died on March 28.

Matsutake was involved in the production of Sakamoto's debut solo album, Thousand Knives, and accompanied YMO on their world tours.

The musician says he has never heard of Sakamoto making demo tapes. He says the artist worked by envisioning the finished product and made spontaneous decisions as he created his tones.
Matsutake noted that Sakamoto played in a variety of genres, but that he had sorted out in his mind how to express himself so that he could enjoy the sound.

He added that Sakamoto used state-of-the-art technology from early on in his career.

When they were working on Thousand Knives, he said he was asked "to create a sound like a UFO taking off and circling around in the air."

Sakamoto shared his ideas by drawing images instead of writing musical notation and Matsutake says they spent hours on experimental recordings.

The musician says Sakamoto was always searching for ways to create groundbreaking music by interacting with machines.

He regards Sakamoto's achievements as our treasure. He says the artist came up with unheard-of recording and performing techniques, and that he had learned them by watching.

Matsutake says he hopes to keep studying and learning from Sakamoto's works.