at 18:30 (JST), December 26

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/20221226183000_english_1.mp3


Key words : two chinese navigate
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221225_15/

Japan's coast guard has said that two Chinese government ships which entered Japan's territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Thursday both left on Sunday morning.

The vessels navigated in waters off Japan's Okinawa Prefecture for 72 hours and 45 minutes. That marks the longest-ever continued intrusion of its kind since the Japanese government purchased some of the Senkakus from a private Japanese owner in 2012.

Japan Coast Guard officials said the ships entered waters off Taisho Island shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

They appeared to have followed the movement of a Japanese fishing boat, and were replaced by two other Chinese ships on Friday morning.

They left Japan's waters by 10:20 a.m. on Sunday, around the time the Japanese fishing boat left the area.

The Chinese ships' intrusion into Japan's territorial waters broke the previous record of a similar incident that lasted for 64 hours and 17 minutes between July 5 and 7 of this year.

The Japanese coast guard remained on alert after warning the vessels against re-entering Japan's waters.

Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. China and Taiwan claim them.

Key words : chinese government stopped
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221225_13/

The Chinese government says that it will stop releasing daily figures on coronavirus cases and deaths starting Sunday.

It says relevant COVID information will be published for reference and research.

China stopped releasing the number of asymptomatic COVID cases on December 14. It cited difficulty in getting precise numbers, as many people without symptoms are not taking PCR tests.

Key words : daily tally
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221226_04/

China's Zhejiang Province reported more than one million new coronavirus cases on Sunday as the number of the infections surge nationwide.

Provincial health authorities say the number of new COVID cases is expected to peak before the New Year holidays. They say the daily tally could reach up to 2 million.

But the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention says new COVID cases nationwide reached only 2,940 on Saturday.

The center says confirmed cases in Zhejiang were just 22, an extremely small number compared to figures reported by the local government.

Large discrepancies are being seen in reported daily tallies released by national and local authorities.
This comes after the Chinese government recently dropped its zero-COVID containment policy.

Zhejiang is a large industrial region with a population of about 65 million, and is a base for many Japanese businesses.

Key words : 20 percent 250,000
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221225_02/

A surge in coronavirus cases is severely straining hospitals in Beijing and other major Chinese cities.

The virus has been spreading rapidly across the country since the government eased antivirus measures on December 7.

Health authorities in Qingdao in Shandong Province estimated on Friday that 490,000 to 530,000 people per day have contracted the virus. Many Japanese companies are operating in the city.

The manufacturing hub Dongguan in Guangdong Province on Friday reported 250,000 to 300,000 cases.

The cases pose an unprecedented challenge for medical workers.

A Beijing hospital official says about 500 patients daily are received at its emergency unit. That's 2.5 times the usual. About 20 percent of them have developed serious symptoms.

Other hospitals in the capital are setting up makeshift intensive care units and increasing the numbers of beds for patients with serious symptoms.

Hong Kong media are reporting on Chinese government documents leaked on social media.
They estimate that 248 million people have been infected between December first and 20th.
That's about 20 percent of the population.

Key words : taliban ordered
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221225_17/

The Taliban, which seized power in Afghanistan last year, have ordered both domestic and international non-governmental organizations active in the country to suspend female employees from coming to work until further notice.

The Islamist group announced on Saturday that failure to comply would result in the cancelation of permissions NGOs need to carry out their activities in the country.

The Taliban claimed that some female workers improperly wore "hijab" scarves, which Muslim women use to cover their hair in public places, as a reason for the ban.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, criticized the move, saying "Any such order would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as be a clear breach of humanitarian principles."

The Taliban on Tuesday announced a ban on women in Afghanistan attending universities. That announcement sparked protests and triggered a global backlash.

Key words : china sea and airspace taiwan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221226_02/

The Chinese military says it has conducted drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said in a statement on Sunday the drills were a resolute response to what China says was the current escalation of collusion and provocation from the United States and Taiwan. But the command did not give details about the drills or their exact location.

The drills followed a new US defense authorization law that includes up to 10 billion dollars in military assistance for Taiwan over the next five years.

Taiwan's defense ministry said on Sunday that it is monitoring all relevant movements, and dealt with the latest situation appropriately by deploying its troops following the guidelines of defending the median line of the Taiwan Strait, its territorial waters and its sovereignty.

It added Taiwan-US cooperation contributes to the freedom, openness, peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific.

Key words : wang warned
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221225_20/

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the United States could face consequences over its commitment to Taiwan.

Wang sent a video message to a symposium on the international situation and China's foreign relations held in Beijing on Sunday.

He claimed that the US "has stubbornly continued to see China as its primary competitor," and because of this, "China-US relations were plunged into serious difficulties."

He also criticized US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting Taiwan in August "in disregard of China's stern warnings."

Wang said Beijing has "taken firm and resolute measures, which have strongly deterred anti-China elements in the United States and the 'Taiwan independence' forces."

The foreign minister said regarding China-Russia relations, the two countries will "deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation."

Wang mentioned normalization of bilateral ties with Japan, which marked their 50th anniversary this year. He said, "The two countries need to take history as a mirror, treat each other with sincerity."

He added that it's important for Beijing and Tokyo to "steer the course of the bilateral relations from a strategic perspective."

Key words : south arrested
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221223_43/

South Korean media say a former head of the police station overseeing Seoul's Itaewon district has been arrested in connection with a deadly Halloween crowd crush.

The incident on October 29 claimed 158 lives. The former chief is accused of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, as well as falsification of public documents.

The station chief at the time is suspected of failing to take appropriate measures before and after the accident.

He is also alleged to have been involved in creating a false report claiming that he arrived at the site about 50 minutes earlier than he actually did.

Key words : moriyasu stay
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221225_21/

Sources say the Japan Football Association has asked men's national team coach Moriyasu Hajime to stay in his post.

The JFA has been considering who should lead the team, as Moriyasu's contract expired at the end of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Japan advanced to the last 16 after beating powerhouses Germany and Spain in the group stage, but failed to reach the quarterfinals as the team had hoped.

Once the JFA and Moriyasu agreed on contract details, his new tenure will be finalized upon approval by the association's executive committee.

When Moriyasu appeared on an NHK program after returning from Qatar, he was positive about staying at the helm of the national team.

JFA President Tashima Kohzo praised the coach for creating a sense of unity among the players and said he is one of the candidates for the top job.

Key words : ueno zoo
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20221224_04/

One of Ueno Zoo's most popular residents will be leaving Japan next February. Xiang Xiang the giant panda will be heading to China, her parent's birth country.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko announced at a news conference on Friday that Xiang Xiang would leave on February 21.

The five-year-old panda was born at Ueno Zoo. Her parents are on loan from China, and based on the agreement she was due to be transferred to the country when she turned two.

But the plan has been pushed back five times due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Xiang Xiang's final public appearances at the zoo are expected to draw great interest. Zoo officials will hold a lottery for tickets to see her between January 21 and February 19. Up to 2,600 people will be able to view her each day during that period. The zoo will begin taking applications online from January 6.

Koike said people may feel sad that the beloved Xiang Xiang is leaving, but she hopes they understand that the panda will play an important role in the preservation and breeding of the species.