Welcome back to NHK Newsline. Here's the latest we have for you at this hour.
China says its military exercises around Taiwan are continuing for the second day.
This comes amid Beijing's criticism of the Taiwanese administration as being pro-independence. The military announced on Wednesday it carried out drills in the central and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait, which runs between Taiwan and China's mainland. The drills, named Strait Thunder 2025A, reportedly involved testing sea blockade capabilities and precision strikes on key targets. The military said long-range live-fire drills in the East China Sea were also carried out. Taiwan's defense ministry said Chinese aircraft flew more than 70 sorties and 19 naval and other ships were spotted around Taiwan as of Wednesday morning. The ministry said some military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
US State Department officials say China's military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan only add to tensions and put the region and world at risk. They say Washington supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo, including through force or coercion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited to be Russia's Victory Day guest of honor. The May celebrations mark the former Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Putin met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wan Yi in Moscow Tuesday.
I would like to ask you to convey friendly greetings to the Chairman of the People's Republic of China, our good friend, Mr. Xi Jinping. We are expecting him in Russia on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War in World War II.
Putin said together they will mark the victory over Nazi Germany and what he called militaristic Japan. He said he also hopes to hold a summit with Xi during that time.
The cooperation between China and Russia is never directed against any third party, nor is it subject to external interference. The relationship will not stand still, but will only become more extensive. Our friendship is not only about the present, but also about the longer-term future.
Wang said he also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday to discuss Xi's visit. He said that preparations are going well. For more on this, I earlier spoke to NHK World's Nakamura Genta in Beijing.
Genta, are these latest drills part of Beijing's strategy to ramp up pressure on Taiwan?
Without a doubt, but at the same time, They are also sending a signal to the Trump administration. Just to look at the timing, the exercises kicked off right after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrapped up his first trip to Asia. In a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Nakatan Niigen, Hegseth called Tokyo an indispensable partner in deterring Chinese aggression, including in the Taiwan Strait. That statement alone may have been enough to irritate Beijing. At the same time, China probably doesn't want to look like it's directly confronting the US. In that sense, Taiwan might be a convenient target for Beijing.
And that's likely to continue. Since 2022, the Chinese military has held large-scale exercises in the Strait twice a year. This two-day operation suggests military pressure on Taiwan is becoming the new normal.
Well, meanwhile, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, met with Russian officials this week. What is Beijing hoping to accomplish there?
Well, I would argue it actually has a lot to do with the United States.
Beijing seems surprised by the speed of recent US-Russia talks. Since Russia invade Ukraine in early 2022, China has branded itself as neutral, but in reality,China is a close political and economic partner of Moscow.
Notably, China has never condemned Russia's invasion. But now, with peace talks over Ukraine underway, China doesn't have a role to play as an ally or a mediator. Beijing has been effectively left out in the court. President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Moscow this May. Why the visit to Russia will likely lay the groundwork for that trip?
It's unclear if that visit will change the fact that Beijing isn't involved in these talks.
Well, considering the rising tensions between the US and China, does Beijing have mixed feelings about Washington getting close to Moscow?
That's certainty, the case. Wang reiterated the importance of China and Russia's growing relationship Tuesday. Beijing likely wants to demonstrate its presence as an ally.
Besides, China's foreign policy challenges go beyond just the US.
Tensions with the European Union are rising, especially over tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
Brussels says it wants to reduce risk by lowering its dependence on China.
And As for Japan, Beijing would prefer to keep that relationship steady.
Wang's recent visit to Tokyo was likely meant as a signal of goodwill. But when the US-Japan defense ministers meeting touched on Taiwan, Beijing had no choice but to respond.
China has focused recent efforts on building influence among so-called Global South nations, but some are concerned about becoming too dependent on Beijing.
So it's unclear how many countries want to follow China's lead.
Suffice to say, China's foreign policy is in a tough spot.
The number of people killed in last week's magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Myanmar has reached 2,700. And the military warns that number could still rise. More than 4,500 are injured and hundreds are missing.
Rescue crews and locals are trying to reach any survivors who might still be buried alive. A 63 year old woman was reportedly rescued in the capital Nepido on Tuesday after having been trapped under rubble for more than 90 hours.
In Mandalay, people like this man are coming to terms with the disaster. Most of his family members were able to escape their home, but his 15-year-old sister was killed.
My sister rushed out of the building, but she went back in to save her cat and never came back. I'm very sad. Everything has totally changed.
He says ten others were also killed when the building collapsed. Rescue operations are making slow progress because the quake affected wide areas and destroyed so many houses.
We want to rescue missing people, but we don't have the know-how and theequipment.
Japan's government is providing $6 million toward humanitarian assistance in Myanmar. It's also dispatched a medical team to help people affected by the quake.
We want to know what is needed there most and how people are coping. We want to provide necessary support.
The medical team will work there for about two weeks, joining another group sent by Japan to assess Myanmar's relief needs. The quake also collapsed a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok in neighboring Thailand. Local authorities say at least 13 people have been found dead, while more than 70 are still missing. Authorities say samples of some of the steel reinforcing rods used in the building have been found to be below strength standards. The Thai government has set up a panel to look into the cause of the collapse. It's called on Japan to send experts due to this country's extensive experience dealing with earthquakes. Meanwhile, Bangkok residents are still worried about the threat from aftershocks and other hazards. Officials say that the quake damaged more than 10,000 buildings in the capital. Many are now being inspected to see if they're at risk of collapsing.An NHK survey has found that municipalities across Japan believe they are unprepared to handle disaster related deaths following an earthquake or tsunami. This comes after the government's latest estimate on a possible mega quake in the Nankai Trough found that 10s of thousands of people could die after that disaster.
The report, released on Monday, includes an estimate on disaster-related deaths for the first time. These refer to deaths of people who survived the initial disaster, but later die from health issues and other problems stemming from the evacuation. The report says the number would reach 52,000 in the worst-case scenario of a Nankai trough quake. NHK conducted a survey earlier this year of 139 municipalities. These are areas the government has asked to bolster evacuation measures ahead of a Nankai Trough disaster. The survey found that many municipalities lacked the planning and materials needed to prevent the spread of illness at shelters.
52 municipalities said they do not have any air conditioning equipment, 6 said they have no portable toilets, while 15 have no portable beds.
125 or 93% said they do not have enough supplies generally. NHK asked the municipalities what challenges are preventing them from keeping adequate supplies. 94% said they do not have enough storage space. 72% said they do not have enough money.
And 30% said they do not know how to estimate how much to stockpile.
Japanese police have told NHK they're investigating how a tourist from the US allegedly smuggled a handgun into this country by accident. They've arrested the 73 year old man on suspicion of violating Japan's firearms control law.
The tourists landed at Kansa Airport on March 22nd after flying in from Hawaii.
The next day, as he was preparing to board a cruise ship, he told port officials he had accidentally packed a revolver in his luggage and was taken into custody. The man also admitted to disposing of three bullets in a trash can at Kobe's port terminal, which were recovered. Japan strictly prohibits people from possessing firearms in the country. Investigators are probing how the man was able to bring the gun through airport security checks in the US as well as Japan.
People in the village of Yomitan on Okinawa's main island have marked 80 years since American troops came to their shores. The marine landing was a major phase in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
Residents hold a moment of silence every April 1. They remember those who were lost, pray for peace, and pass on knowledge to future generations.
There was a terrible war here 80 years ago. I'd like to spend the day thinking about that and also about peace.
The battle took place during the closing stages of the war. More than 200,000 people were killed, including one in four Okinawa residents.The US president's administration is raising eyebrows again over its data security practices. The Washington Post reports the National Security Advisor and his staff used Gmail for government communications. The newspaper quotes officials as saying a senior aide of Mike Waltz used Google's commercial e-mail service for highly technical conversations. They say the emails were with government agencies and involved sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems relating to an ongoing conflict. The Post also reports Waltz received less sensitive but potentially exploitable information in his Gmail account, including his schedule. The National Security Council has responded to the report. It says that Waltz has never sent classified material over his personal e-mail account or any unsecured platform. Well, this comes about a week after Donald Trump's administration. The administration made headlines over its use of the commercial messaging app Signal. Waltz created a group chat that included core government officials. It led to the leak of details about military operations targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
President Trump is urging his counterpart in Moscow to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine. He's warned President Vladimir Putin there could be economic consequences if he feels the Russian leader is not doing his job.
I want to see him make a deal so that we stop Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers and other people from being killed.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the American and Russian sides are still in contact, but he says the discussions around settling things in Ukraine are very complex. One challenging element in the negotiations involves the Black Sea. The Trump administration announced last week it had reached an agreement with Russia and Ukraine on a maritime ceasefire there. But Russia says the truce cannot take effect until its conditions are met for lifting some sanctions.
Zelenskyy says that talks will happen Friday with officials from the countries that say they are ready to take part. He says he wants to iron out details such as troop numbers as well as the locations where they will be sent.
I think we'll see some clarifications, some details. It's important for this to be based on the proposals that we Ukrainians have prepared.
Both France and Britain have expressed interest in sending troops to Ukraine to ensure a ceasefire holds. Leaders in Kiev say a peace deal with Russia must include security guarantees from European countries as well as the United States.Otherwise, they fear Moscow will be free to resume the invasion sometime in the future.
Finland says it plans to withdraw from a treaty banning anti-personnel landmines.
The country has also decided to boost its defense spending to at least 3 percent of its GDP by 2029.
Finland shares a 1,300 kilometer border with Russia. It joined NATO in 2023. The country was invaded by the then Soviet Union during World War II.
The Ottawa Convention prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. It's more than 160 signatories include Japan and Ukraine, but Russia is not a member. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo spoke to reporters on Tuesday about the withdrawal.
Finland and Europe need to evaluate all measures to strengthen our deterrence and defense capabilities, individually and in NATO.
The three Baltic states and Poland announced in March that they would withdraw from the convention. The four countries also share borders with Russia.The countries are wary of becoming targets of possible invasion by Moscow.
Now let's see what's happening in the world of business. Here is Ramin Mellegard from The Biz Desk.
Thank you very much. Now, Japan's SoftBank Group says it will make follow-on investments of up to $40 billion in the US developer of ChatGPT.
SoftBank Group announced a deal with Open AI on Tuesday. It says it will see Co investors for $10 billion of the maximum planned offering. The company wants all investments completed by the end of this year. SoftBank Group has been boosting ties with Open AI as it positions artificial intelligence as a pillar of its growth strategy. SoftBank Group has invested $2.2 billion in the US company through a subsidiary fund since last year. The two sides unveiled a project in January to build dedicated infrastructure for Open AI in the US. And in the following month, SoftBank Group announced plans to establish a joint venture with the company To develop and sell a generative AI to businesses in Japan.
Now US magazine Forbes has named Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and close ally of US President Donald Trump, as the richest person on the planet. Forbes released its annual list of the world's wealthiest people on Tuesday. Musk regained the top spot for the first time in three years, with an estimated net worth of $342 billion. Forbes said a surge in the stock market valuations of Musk's SpaceX and XAI businesses pushed up his assets by $147 billion over the past year. Musk has drawn criticism over his aggressive drive to cut US government spending and slash personnel as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. There has been a series of incidents across the United States in which Tesla vehicles were vandalized and a sell-off of Tesla's shares. Forbes pointed out that Tesla's shares are still trading higher than one year ago, despite the protests and a recent crash in stock prices.
And the World Expo in Osaka opens on April 13th to highlight the latest in technology and innovations to improve society and tackle global challenges. Now the event also provides an opportunity for business networking in the Kansai region in western Japan.
Hello, this is Osaka One Stop Business Service Desk. How can I help you?This so-called one stop desk was set up in April 2024 by local governments and businesses. It aims to connect overseas companies with Japanese counterparts in the Kansai region. Desk members identify Kansai businesses with specialized technical skills and technology that are relatively unknown outside Japan. On this day, they visited a testing equipment maker in Osaka to discuss business opportunities.
If business people from overseas would like to visit your company, would you be open to meeting them?We are developing markets in ASEAN countries, mainly in Thailand, so I would be grateful if you could introduce me to any companies from Southeast Asia.
This company is currently focusing on this equipment for checking product surfaces.The device scans the surface of metal and resin products, and makes visible any marks or stains.
In Southeast Asia, there are many places where workers conduct visual tests. I think there is a demand for this testing equipment. Many small and medium-sized companies in OSSAC have excellent manufacturing expertise, so I hope to use the World Expo opportunity to create new business relationships.
Beside approaching Japanese companies, the one-stop desk staff are also building bridges to businesses outside of Japan.
On this day, the staff met Filippo Manara, the Consul General of Italy in Osaka.
They introduced some local companies that wish to expand overseas.
If necessary, we will organize or to coordinatethe business between the foreign companies and the Kansai. So you would be helping through the one-stop desk, doing the matchmaking between the foreign company, in this case the Italian company, and and the local one. We can count on you.
The Consul General plans to use the one-stop desk to find potential partners for Italian companies in the Kansai region.
The main objective for Italian companies is to discover opportunities through contact with Japanese businesses. The World Expo is the main event and it is also an important venue for companies to connect. In this way, they can identify opportunities and build new businesses into the future after the Expo is over.OK, let's get a check on the markets.
Let's get a check on the weather with our meteorologist, Jonathan Oh. So, Jonathan,It might have been a touch warmer Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo, but Oh my goodness, it was wet this morning across many areas in Japan. Do we have more rain coming along for Thursday?
Maybe not a literal ray of sunshine, but we are looking at a slight uptick in temperatures in Tokyo as we head into Thursday. Just a little bit, but we're still below average for this time of year, 13 for the high. On Thursday in Tokyo, but there is warmer weather on the way that's more appropriate for this time of year. That's toward the weekend. So if in the meantime you'll need to make sure that you have to ring out those socks if it's getting wet, if you're stepping outdoors, snow up toward the north and Sapporo mid teens from Osaka into Fukuoka as we go throughout the day on Thursday.
And that wraps it up for this edition of NHK Newsline. We will have more for you soon. Thanks for joining us.
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