Tag: Japan

  • Asia in Obama's 2014 State of the Union: We're Still Number One

    President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union does not emphasize Asia, except as a competitor. Last year’s post is here. Opening comments Asia got scant attention in this State of the Union. Japan was not mentioned at all, which has been a kind of norm for Obama. China came up twice as a competitor…

  • Key documents on Biden's trip to Asia (in progress)

    This is a collection of U.S. government releases and other key documents on Vice President Biden’s trip to Japan, China, and South Korea this week. I will try to update it as more documents emerge. These are in close to chronological order, though I don’t guarantee I got all the timezone conversions right. Please e-mail…

  • Japanese constitutional revision, and welcoming Tobias Harris and Observing Japan back to blogville

    After a reasonably long hiatus that led me to remove Observing Japan from the Transpacifica blogroll (which I have capped at 25 in an effort to list only the most valuable sources), author and friend Tobias Harris is back, and with a vengeance. Reasons to welcome him back: (1) While he apparently did not win…

  • Updated: Did the Chinese government really call Diaoyu/Senkaku a 'core interest'?

    The Japanese news wire Kyodo News last week reported that the Chinese government called the Senkaku/Diaoyu island issue a ‘core interest.’ “The Diaoyu Islands are about sovereignty and territorial integrity. Of course, it’s China’s core interest,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press conference, using China’s name for the Japanese-administered isles in the East…

  • Asia in the State of the Union: Bringing jobs home and—psst!—cybersecurity

    UPDATED at bottom with further comments The State of the Union speech this year was not suited for heavy lifting in foreign policy, and it had almost nothing to say about policy in the Asia-Pacific. According to the prepared speech, President Obama mentioned a push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, responded to North Korea’s recent nuclear…