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July 05, 2026
 

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CHINA

U.S. service members conduct early morning security rounds at the Cryptologic Operations Center in Misawa, Japan. Japan needs its own central agency to integrate signal and human intelligence, as well as open-source and cyber data, to produce actionable analysis.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 8, 2026
Japan’s intelligence overhaul is overdue, not ominous
Japan’s planned reforms would upgrade the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO) into a national intelligence bureau.
Participants line up to install OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent, outside the Baidu offices in Beijing on March 17.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2026
There’s method to China’s OpenClaw madness
It arrived at exactly the right moment for China’s AI sector. After months of brutal price wars, it gave model builders a reason to charge more for tokens.
Members of the United Nations Security Council vote during at a United Nations Security Council meeting on a Hormuz resolution at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2026
China and Russia veto security council resolution on Hormuz
The vote followed days of negotiations and pressure from a number of Gulf countries to restore free passage in the strait.
Kuomintang chief Cheng Li-wen arrives at Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2026
Taiwan opposition chief arrives for China ‘peace’ mission as president calls for talks
Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the ​Kuomintang — Taiwan’s largest opposition party — could meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
A Chinese H-6 nuclear-capable strategic bomber flies from the East China Sea over the Miyako Strait into the Western Pacific in December.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 7, 2026
How should Japan respond to China’s nuclear threat?
The U.S. Department of Defense assesses that China could possess more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in September. China is trying to leverage its close ties with Iran to present itself as a mediator in the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2026
China can’t end the Iran war. But it can shape the endgame.
Beijing does have skin in this game and, therefore, incentive to find a solution.
The Deepseek chatbot interface is displayed on a smartphone in Shanghai in January. The practice of artificial intelligence distillation first drew significant scrutiny in 2025 after DeepSeek released its R1 reasoning model. The release prompted Microsoft and OpenAI to investigate whether the Chinese startup had improperly exfiltrated large amounts of data from the U.S. firms' models to create R1.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 7, 2026
OpenAI, Anthropic and Google cooperate to fend off Chinese bids to clone models
The U.S. firms are concerned some users are creating imitation versions of their products that could undercut them on price and siphon away customers.
A Chinese research vessel at Avatiu Harbour in the Avarua district of the Cook Islands last year. New Zealand and the Cook Islands have repaired relations that were strained when the tiny South Pacific nation entered a strategic agreement with China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2026
New Zealand signs Cook Islands pact to counter China deal
While the Cook Islands is a self-governing state, it is part of the Realm of New Zealand and has a special constitutional relationship with Wellington.
Last month, the EU agreed to overhaul its customs system, including a crackdown on mainly Chinese e-commerce platforms that could face fines if ⁠they sold illegal or unsafe products in the bloc.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2026
China issues e-commerce guidance after EU lawmakers’ visit
European Union lawmakers had pressed China about a surge ​of dangerous products that entered the bloc.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for accelerated planning and construction of a new system to safeguard the country's energy security, as conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global markets.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2026
China’s Xi urges faster development of new energy system as Middle East war continues
The leader of the ‌world’s second-largest ‌economy also emphasized hydropower development and ecological protection, while urging the safe ​and orderly expansion of nuclear power.
U.S. Army soldiers and Philippine Marines and Rangers carry out a simulated air assault on Calayan Island in the Philippines in May last year.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2026
Japanese troops make history by joining military drills in Philippines
The GSDF soldiers on Monday became the first “combat-capable” Japanese troops to train in the Southeast Asian country since the end of World War II.
A drone operator flies his drone as Chinese drone maker DJI holds a demonstration to display an app that tracks a drone’s registration and owner in Montreal, Canada, in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 6, 2026
China built the world’s drone industry. Now it’s locking down the skies.
New regulations are tightening rules for recreational and civilian operators, with penalties for unauthorized flying of drones to include possible jail time.
An employee inspects a printed circuit board at a factory, which is in partnership with Agilian Technology, in Dongguan, China, on March 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 6, 2026
How one factory in China learned to live with Trump, tariffs and turmoil
A Chinese electronics supplier ended 2025 more convinced than ever of China’s manufacturing strengths.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters on the island of Iwo Jima on March 28.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2026
Japan to strengthen Pacific Ocean defense system
“A vast area on the Pacific side is a defense vacuum,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters during his visit to the island of Iwo Jima.
Tongan King Tupou VI and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands after a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last November.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 5, 2026
Tonga’s debt to China hinders rebuilding effort four years after eruption
Tongan Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua has said his country will not be accepting any more loans from Beijing.
Despite steady leadership from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during rising global risks, her tenure so far lacks decisive economic vision, raising questions about whether she can use the current narrow window to pursue structural reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2026
Takaichi’s path from crisis manager to ‘champion’ builder
Despite steady leadership amid global risks, Prime Minister Takaichi lacks decisive economic vision, leaving questions about whether she will seize the narrow window for reform.
Newly elected opposition Kuomintang leader Cheng Li-wun delivers a speech during the party's national congress in Taipei in November.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 5, 2026
Taiwan opposition leader to make ‘peace’ visit to China, first in 10 years
Kuomintang chief Cheng Li-wun said she wants to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping to build cross-strait “peace.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Feb. 18.
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2026
Takaichi plans Australia visit to discuss rare earths, report says
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will also discuss ‌cooperation on safe navigation ​in the Strait of Hormuz and regional security issues.
The value of China's growing urban pet market is estimated to reach 405 billion yuan ($59 billion) in 2028, according to a recent report by PetData.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2026
Streaming channel meant for pets launched in China
The new channel on Tencent Video — China’s most popular online streaming platform — is meant to keep pets company while alone or can be watched by animals and humans together.
The United States has serious domestic flaws, but its freedoms, alliances and global influence distinguish it from authoritarian states, a distinction its allies must recognize and actively invest in through engagement.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2026
The Moon and the Turtle: A lesson in false equivalence
Following the United States does not mean following blindly; it means understanding that the CRINKs offer no alternative order worth living in.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
X Games returns to Chiba with new team format
Skateboarder Sora Shirai practices at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Friday afternoon. X Games Chiba begins on Saturday.
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex.  
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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