at 18:30 (JST), April 05

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/20220405183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : 20 job
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220405_20/

A Japanese government plane carrying 20 Ukrainian evacuees has touched down at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The government plans to offer them assistance in cooperation with private companies and municipal governments.

Before disembarking, the evacuees will be tested for COVID-19. They will then go through immigration and be taken to their accommodations.

The development follows Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa's visit to Poland to see how it is handling an influx of Ukrainian evacuees.

The government plans to offer support for evacuees who don't have relatives or acquaintances in Japan. It will cover their daily needs and medical care, as well as language lessons, job training and education for children. The government estimates the aid will last about six months.

Japan has already accepted about 400 Ukrainian evacuees.

A Ukrainian woman who settled in Maebashi, north of Tokyo, started taking Japanese lessons on Monday. A language school there is offering free classes for evacuees.

Key words : nuclear envoy
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220405_04/

Top nuclear envoys of the United States and South Korea have agreed to seek a new UN Security Council resolution against North Korea following the North's missile launch last month.

Pyongyang launched what it claimed to be its newest intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong-17, on March 24. The missile is believed to have reached a maximum altitude of more than 6,000 kilometers -- the highest that a North Korean missile has ever reached.

US Special Representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, met with his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, in Washington on Monday.

At a news conference after the meeting, Kim said the two agreed on the importance of a strong UN Security Council response to North Korea's escalatory actions.

Noh also stressed the need to push for strong measures against the North.

Kim is expected to discuss the matter with China's Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs, Liu Xiaoming, when they meet later this week.

But there is a wide gap between the US and China as well as Russia over a new sanctions resolution against Pyongyang.

China and Russia, which are permanent members of the Security Council, are preparing a draft resolution aimed at easing sanctions against North Korea.

Key words : north sister
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220405_05/

The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned of a possible nuclear strike if South Korea opts for military confrontation with the North.

Kim Yo Jong issued a statement on Monday, her second since last Saturday, criticizing a remark by South Korea's defense minister Suh Wook.

Suh said on Friday that if South Korea believes a missile attack is imminent, its military has the capability to accurately strike any North Korean launch site and its command and support facilities.

Kim Yo Jong's latest statement again accuses the South Korean defense minister of referring to a "preemptive strike" against Pyongyang.

It says if South Korea opts for military confrontation, the North's nuclear combat force will "inevitably carry out its duty."

The statement says that while deterrence is the primary mission of the nuclear force, once a war begins, its mission will change to "eliminating the enemy's armed forces at a strike."

It adds that the aim of mobilizing the nuclear combat force is to take the initiative at the outset of a war and to prevent protracted hostilities.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency says US and South Korean forces are due to conduct their regular joint drills from April 18 to 28, with advance training scheduled for April 12 to 15.

Observers say the military exercises are expected to draw a further backlash from North Korea.

Key words : shanghai entire
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220405_03/

Authorities in the Chinese city of Shanghai say they will keep the entire city under lockdown until they come up with a new plan to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases.

The authorities announced on Monday that the lockdown will continue until they get the results of the PCR tests of all residents, analyze the data and decide on a response.

The outbreak in China's major financial hub shows no sign of slowing despite the stringent restrictions. Those measures, introduced in stages since March 28, were due to expire on Tuesday.

New daily cases in Shanghai hit a record high for the third straight day on Sunday, when the country reported 13,137, of which 9,006 were in the city.

City authorities said they are analyzing the results of tests on more than 24 million residents and will try to come up with new response plans.

Concerns are growing over the negative effects of a prolonged lockdown.

The city initially applied the restrictions in stages to its eastern and western districts to minimize the impact on economic activities. Officials even apparently tried to make the duration shorter than measures in other parts of the country.

Key words : sri lanka cabinet
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220404_39/

Sri Lanka's Cabinet quit Sunday en masse -- excluding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda, the prime minister.
The resignations came after Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday in response to a deepening economic crisis.

The president swore in a small interim cabinet on Monday. He called on all political parties to cooperate to find a solution to what he's calling a "national crisis."

Rajapaksa declared a 36-hour curfew from Saturday and deployed the military to quell mass protests.
On Sunday, demonstrators in the largest city, Colombo, defied the curfew and held small, peaceful protests over the economic crisis.

But near the central city of Kandy police used tear gas to disperse student protesters.

The island nation has imposed restrictions on imports, as its foreign reserves have dwindled. The pandemic is also overshadowing the nation's finances, as tourism revenues have tumbled.

Fuel shortages have forced Sri Lanka to impose rolling power cuts. The outages can last up to a dozen hours a day.

Key words : philippines dispute
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220404_20/

The Philippines' presidential front-runner, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has skipped a presidential debate organized by the country's election commission for the second time in a row.

The other nine candidates took part in the event held in the capital Manila on Sunday. The participants included Vice President Leni Robredo and Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso.

The topics of the debate included diplomacy with China. The two countries have a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Marcos has been shying away from presidential debates, including the first one organized by the election commission and another by a broadcaster.

He restricts his public exposure to some media outlets. Observers say he may be trying to avoid tough questions.

A recent poll conducted by a political consulting firm shows Marcos leading the race with a 55 percent support rate, followed by Robredo with 21 percent and Domagoso with eight percent.

Marcos is the eldest son of former president Ferdinand Marcos, who ran the Philippines with an iron fist.

The Philippines will hold the presidential election on May 9 to decide who will succeed incumbent Rodrigo Duterte.

Key words : drill philippines
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20220405_02/

The US military has deployed a Patriot surface-to-air defense system to the Philippines for the first time, as part of a joint exercise taking place in the country.

US officials said the Patriot missile system was moved ashore during a landing drill in northern Luzon last Tuesday.

The operation was part of the 12-day joint exercise that is scheduled to run through Friday and involves a record 8,900 troops from the two countries.

There was no test firing of the system, which arrived from a US base in Nagasaki Prefecture, western Japan.

The site where the operation took place is just across the sea from Taiwan and China.

The drills are seen as an attempt by the US military to show off its readiness to respond to an emergency in the region.