Asian View
Key words : olympic decided step down
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210211_17/
Sources say the head of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee Mori Yoshiro has decided to step down after his comments about women were widely criticized.
Former Prime Minister Mori said on February 3 that board meetings attended by women take too much time. He later apologized and rescinded the comment.
However, the remarks drew a barrage of criticism, resulting in hundreds of volunteers for the Tokyo games quitting.
On Thursday, Mori conveyed to relevant parties his intention to step down as committee chief. He reportedly said he wants to take responsibility for his remarks.
Mori, now 83, won a seat in the Lower House of the Diet in 1969 on the ticket of the Liberal Democratic Party, the first of 14 consecutive electoral wins. After serving in key government and party posts, he was prime minister for around a year from April 2000.
He retired from politics in 2012 and assumed the post of the president of the organizing committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics two years later. He has spearheaded efforts to prepare for the games.
Key words : tokyo and Washington
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210211_07/
The Japanese and US governments may conclude as early as next week talks on Japan's share of the cost of stationing US forces in the country.
Tokyo and Washington had failed to reach an agreement on the issue while former US President Donald Trump was in office.
Such a deal is usually worked out every five years, and the current accord is set to expire in March.
The two governments will likely agree that the sum provided by Japan in the next fiscal year, which begins in April, will be kept at the current level as a provisional measure, and that they will renegotiate on the amount for the following four years later.
Officials are making final arrangements to hammer out an agreement.
If the talks are completed, Tokyo hopes to sign an agreement by the end of this month and will seek to gain Diet approval for it by the end of March.
Key words : myanmar police officer join
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210211_05/
Government officials and police officers in Myanmar are taking part in protests against the February 1 coup, while the military is warning it will strictly punish those calling for people to join demonstrations.
Large numbers of people took to the streets in the largest city of Yangon, the capital, Naypyitaw, and other parts of the country on Wednesday. Massive protests have continued for five straight days since last Saturday.
In the eastern state of Kayah, about 50 police officers in uniform refused to perform their duties and staged a protest. They held a banner reading, "We oppose the military's dictatorship" and chanted pro-democracy slogans.
A group of civil servants leading the protests says more than half of the officials of at least five ministries, including the electricity and energy ministry, and the construction ministry, are taking part in demonstrations. The group says they aim to stop the military-led government from functioning.
In response, the military said in a statement on Wednesday night that it will identify people who call on civil servants to participate in demonstrations and strictly punish them in accordance with the law.
Observers say the military is showing the tough stance as civil servants' refusal to carry out their duties has affected economic activities, including causing delays in customs clearance procedures.
Key words : motegi australian
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210209_31/
The foreign ministers of Japan and Australia have agreed to urge Myanmar's military to release the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other people who have been detained since a coup last week.
Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and his Australian counterpart Marise Payne talked for about 40 minutes by telephone on Tuesday, at the request of the Australian side.
They agreed it's important for Myanmar to restore a democratic political system as soon as possible.
They also reportedly discussed the detention of an Australian man who serves as Aung San Suu Kyi's economic advisor.
After the talks, Motegi told reporters that he and Payne held an in-depth discussion on Myanmar, and shared concerns about the current situation. He added they confirmed that the two countries will continue to work closely together on the matter.
Key words : UN security
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210210_21/
A UN Security Council panel has alleged that North Korea stole more than 300 million dollars through cyberattacks over a two-year period to finance its nuclear and missile programs.
A panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang said in its annual report that North Korea-linked cyber actors conducted operations against financial institutions and virtual currency exchange houses.
The report said the country's "total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately 316.4 million dollars."
The panel said in a report in 2019 that a group of hackers working under North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau may have launched massive cyberattacks.
The latest report also accuses the North of illegally importing refined petroleum in an amount several times more than the annual cap set by the sanctions, via ship-to-ship transfers.
Key words : refrain traveling china
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210211_04/
The Chinese government is making efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as the country's one-week Lunar New Year holiday starts on Thursday.
The government is calling on people to refrain from traveling. It requires those who return to their hometowns to undergo PCR tests before their journey.
Beijing estimates more than 1.1 billion trips will be made during a 40-day period including the holidays. That's down by over 60 percent from two years earlier -- before the pandemic.
Almost no one is making sightseeing trips overseas. No passengers were seen at the international terminal of an airport in Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong on Wednesday.
State-run China Central Television reported that workers who remained in urban areas spoke with their children and parents in rural areas by video call. It is calling on people to cooperate on measures against infection.
In January, the number of infections rose at one point in the country. But for the past week, the number of new cases, excluding people arriving from abroad, has been below 10 per day.
Beijing is apparently wary of a surge in the spread of the virus ahead of the National People's Congress meeting to be held next month.
Key words : training vessel
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210210_13/
A memorial service has been held to mark the 20th anniversary of the sinking of a Japanese fisheries school training vessel off Hawaii by a US navy nuclear submarine.
The USS Greeneville struck the Ehime Maru on February 10, 2001, Japan time. The ship belonged to the Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime Prefecture, western Japan. Nine people died, including students and teachers.
About 260 people attended a memorial service at the high school on Wednesday. Students and bereaved family members were among them. They observed a minute of silence at 8:43 a.m., the exact time of the accident. A bell from the sunken ship was rung nine times in memory of the nine victims.
School principal Takechi Seiji read out the victims' names. He said that even the passage of 20 years has not assuaged the resentment and grief over the accident, because one can still imagine how sad the victims felt.
He said the accident must not be forgotten.
Many people offered flowers.
Second-year student Fukumoto Shoken said the accident occurred before he was born, so he did not learn about it until after he enrolled in high school. He said he hopes many people will hear about the tragedy.
In the United States, the former commander of the submarine, Scott Waddle, wrote an open letter to the families of those who died in the collision.
He said the purpose of the note was to "apologize to the families who lost loved ones, apologize to those aboard the Ehime Maru who were injured."
Waddle said he wanted to make it clear that he was solely responsible for the accident. He wrote, "The collision was avoidable, and I failed in my duties as the captain to prevent it."
He said he has carried the shame, sorrow, burden, and remorse every day since then, and will do so until the day he dies.
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