Asian View
Key words : osaka rapidly an hour earlier
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210401_03/
The Japanese government plans to issue a designation to Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, allowing it to take stricter antivirus measures, without a state of emergency declaration, as coronavirus cases are rising again there.
The government is expected to reach the decision on Thursday at a meeting of its taskforce. Osaka will be the first prefecture to be allowed such strong measures against the virus.
The central government is also working to issue the same designation to Miyagi and Hyogo prefectures after listening to experts' opinions.
Osaka Prefecture officially requested the designation from the central government on Wednesday night.
It wants to start intensive measures by next Monday and implement them for about three weeks. The measures will cover Osaka City, where infections are spreading rapidly.
The prefecture plans to ask restaurants and bars in the city to shorten their business hours by one hour to 8 p.m., an hour earlier than the current limit of 9 p.m.
Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi also wants to make it mandatory for people to wear masks when they eat and drink out.
He also says he thinks operators will be obliged to ban people from entering eating and drinking establishments or ask them to leave if they refuse to wear masks.
Key words : myanmar one month
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210401_04/
Myanmar's military has called for a one-month ceasefire in the fight against ethnic minority armed forces supporting anti-coup protesters. But it has not indicated any intention to stop its crackdown on the protesters.
More than 500 people have been killed in the military's violent repression of demonstrations. But protests continue across the country. In the largest city of Yangon and elsewhere on Wednesday, demonstrators who split into small groups voiced their defiance of the military.
The military has carried out airstrikes against armed ethnic minority groups that attacked military positions in support of the protesters. The military has also sent ground troops to step up its offensive.
On Wednesday night, the military announced that it will suspend operations for one month from Thursday if there is no new attack from the militants. It called on the militants to agree to talks for a ceasefire.
But the statement does not mention ending the violence against protesters.
There are about 20 ethnic minority militias in Myanmar. At least five of them have attacked military positions or expressed their intention to attack them, saying they aim to protect civilians.
If the military continues its attacks on civilians, the militants are expected to continue attacking the military. It looks uncertain whether a ceasefire can be achieved.
Key words : china defense ministry negative
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210401_02/
China's defense ministry says it expressed "strong dissatisfaction" and "grave concern" to Japan for what it calls the country's "negative acts" toward China during a video meeting earlier this week.
Defense officials from Japan and China held online talks on Monday. The Japanese side expressed strong concern about China's new coast guard law and told the Chinese side that heightening tensions in the East China Sea and other areas is absolutely unacceptable.
A spokesperson for the Chinese defense ministry issued a comment. It says that at the meeting, "the Chinese side expressed strong dissatisfaction with and grave concern over a series of Japan's negative acts against China."
It adds that Chinese officials asked Japan to "stop smearing China."
This comment is also believed to be a response to developments earlier in March. The foreign and defense chiefs of Japan and the United States condemned China's maritime activities and expressed serious concern about its human rights situation. Also, the leaders of Japan, the US, Australia and India agreed at a "Quad" online summit to strengthen the countries' cooperation, with China in mind.
Beijing apparently wants to sound a warning to Tokyo before a planned Japan-US summit in Washington in April.
Global Times, a media outlet affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, ran a comment by an expert on Wednesday. It warns that if Japan worsens ties with China, the Japanese economy will be affected.
Key words : BBC
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210401_05/
The BBC says one of its journalists in China has moved to Taiwan. He has been covering the treatment of the Uighurs in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Britain's public broadcaster said on Wednesday that John Sudworth, who was based in China for nine years, left Beijing with his family after it became increasingly difficult for them to remain in the country, citing pressure and threats from the Chinese authorities.
The BBC said, "John's reporting has exposed truths the Chinese authorities did not want the world to know." It said it is proud of his reporting, and he remains its China correspondent.
Sudworth said he faced "intensifying attempts to obstruct and harass us wherever we film."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a news conference, "We have not heard of any threat from any Chinese authorities targeted against him."
She added, "If there was evidence that he was threatened in any way, he should have called the police, and we would have kept him safe."
In February, Beijing blocked the airing of BBC World News in China. The ban came after China's Foreign Ministry strongly criticized a BBC report on China's re-education camps in Xinjiang. The ministry called the report false.
Key words : hitachi
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210331_34/
Japanese firm Hitachi has made a major acquisition to boost its information technology business overseas. The company will buy US software developer GlobalLogic for 9.6 billion dollars.
Hitachi aims to acquire all shares of GlobalLogic by the end of July. It says the deal includes repayment of the American firm's debt.
GlobalLogic develops platforms for companies pursuing digital business opportunities.
The Silicon Valley-based firm was founded in 2000 and has operations in 14 countries.
Hitachi says demand for the services offered by GlobalLogic is rising sharply.
Hitachi President and CEO, Higashihara Toshiaki, said "GlobalLogic has expertise in the medical and automotive sectors as well as industrial development. I'm confident that we will be able to provide new value to our worldwide customers through this acquisition."
The Japanese company is overhauling its group business to concentrate on the IT sector while reducing non-core operations.
Key words : bank of japan hotels and result
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210401_14/
A closely watched survey in Japan shows business sentiment among big manufacturers has returned to pre-pandemic levels. But the mood is expected to take longer to recover in some other sectors, including hotels and restaurants.
The Bank of Japan compiles the Tankan every three months, covering about 9,500 companies.
It shows the difference between the percentage of firms saying business is good and those saying it's bad.
The latest report came out on Thursday. It shows confidence at major manufacturers rose 15 points to 5. The improvement from the previous report released in December has come on the back of growing exports. It marked the third-straight quarterly rise.
The gauge is also at the same level as in September 2019, before the start of the coronavirus crisis.
But the Tankan's results paint a different picture for many non-manufacturers. The sector overall was on a recovery path, but still negative, at minus 1.
Confidence among managers at tourism agencies and restaurants fell sharply. They were weighed down by restrictions during the pandemic such as shortened business hours at bars and restaurants.
The outlook for major manufacturers sees a 1-point retreat. Sentiment at non-manufacturers is not expected to change.
Key words : vietnamese
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210331_31/
People from Vietnam became the second-largest foreign population in Japan last year.
Japan's Immigration Services Agency says there were about 2.89 million foreign nationals in Japan at the end of last year, down about 46,000 from the previous year.
By country and region, China topped the list with 778,112 people, followed by Vietnam with 448,053 and South Korea with 426,908.
Vietnam accounted for more than 15 percent of the total, posting an increase of more than 10 times over the past 10 years.
The country surpassed South Korea for the first time, due to a recent surge in the number of Vietnamese, mainly students and technical interns, coming to Japan.
Meanwhile, 15,875 foreign nationals were ordered to leave Japan for overstaying their visas and other reasons last year.
Nearly 70 percent of them, or about 11,000 people, were working illegally, mainly in the agriculture and construction sectors.
The number of foreigners who were deported was 5,450. That's just over half of the previous year's figure, as the number of flights fell due to the coronavirus.
Foreign nationals who are ordered to leave Japan often refuse to do so and are detained for long periods of time in the country.
To address the issue, the Immigration Services Agency aims to enact a bill to revise the immigration control and other relevant laws to allow foreigners to live with relatives until they leave Japan.
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