Japan says will not sacrifice its rice farmers despite Trump threats | East Asia Tonight (Jul 1)

Japan says will not sacrifice its rice farmers despite Trump threats | East Asia Tonight (Jul 1)

This is East Asia Tonight.
Good evening. I’m Italian Edwitz. Tonight’s top stories. Japan is threatened with new US tariffs. A President Donald Trump claiming that Tokyo won’t buy American rights. Japan says its agriculture won’t be sacrificed. Now, China sanctions a former Philippine senator over claims in a disputed South China Sea. The politician says Beijing’s move is a badge of honor. A former South Korean leader Yun Seongo fails to appear for prosecutor questioning. Officials warn he faces an arrest warrant should he choose not to show up again. And China urges stability in Thailand after Prime Minister Pet Shinowat was suspended by the country’s constitutional court. [Music] Ahead on East Asia tonight, more Japanese today believe their country is in decline compared nearly 10 years ago. We take a look at the likely reasons and what can be done to disperse the cloud of pessimism. [Music] A trade tussle between the US and Japan. This time the issue of a rice is on the table. President Donald Trump has warned Tokyo it could face fresh tariffs if it doesn’t budge, threatening to upend negotiations just days before country specific US tariffs are set to resume. Now, Mr. Trump accused Japan of not wanting to buy American grown grain even as a country grapples with a rice shortage. Has also accused Tokyo of importing too few American cars. But Japan is standing its ground, refusing to sacrifice its farmers for the sake of tariff exemptions. Contrary to Mr. Trump’s claim, the US does export some rice tariff-free to Japan under a World Trade Organization minimum excess agreement. But Tokyo has set a levy on any imports beyond a 770,000 ton limit. According to US data, Japan bought nearly 300 million worth of US rice last year and more than $110 million worth between January and April this year. Rice, as you well know, an Asian staple food, is a politically sensitive issue for Japan. You see, rice farmers have historically been one of the key voting blocks of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. A poor harvest is among reasons behind the doubling of prices in the past year. It triggered shortages and forced the government to tap into its stockpiles for some relief. And uh now we have CNA’s Roland Lima joining us uh for insights on Japan’s agriculture protectionism. So Roland, I know you’ve been doing quite a fair bit of research, so just walk us through um how the Japanese government has historically taken steps to protect prices as well as rice supply. Well, Japan’s approach to rice has rather unique uh and is heavily managed. Back in the 70s, they introduced a policy called gentan seaku, which essentially means that the government pays farmers to grow less rice. Now, that sounds kind of counterintuitive, but it’s essentially to protect the wages for farmers. So, the idea was to reduce the over supply situation so that prices of rice remains high. And even though the policy was officially scrapped in 2018, uh much of it still prevails because today Tokyo still offers incentives for farmers to not grow rice, but instead other crops like soy beans and the government also annually sets production targets or uh demand forecasts for rice. So it still has a very heavy hand in the market. So the goal has always been to actually protect domestic farmers and to keep prices stable,
but it doesn’t quite seem like it’s working now. How has this agriculture protectionism backfired? Right? So, Japan now produces less rice each year. Uh at the same time, Japanese diets have moved on. They eat more noodles. They eat more bread. So, less rice bowls. Combine that with the bad weather that we had in Japan last year. So, that is what we’re seeing now, a rice shortage for this year. U supermarket shelves have gone empty earlier this year. As you mentioned earlier on, the rice price of rice has doubled. uh it currently costs for a 5 kilogram bag of rice about $30 US. That’s double what it was a year ago. So what really started as a way to protect the farmer’s livelihood has led to a fragmented global rice trade. Uh and we have studies going back uh decades including works by Lutz Bale, Martin and Anderson. They argue this kind of protectionism really raises rice prices globally. It also blocks export opportunities for poorer nations at the same time hurting food security in Japan.
Right. And I suppose as a Japanese then I would you know turn to other food sources even more. Um but all in how do you think Japan can actually balance its local agricultural support with the broader goals of food security uh and now we’ve got global trade. Right. So that’s that’s the tight rope it’s walking. So policy makers are trying to thread the needle by uh boosting its rice exports, but it’s going to be tough to do because they’ve got to make sure that the rice farmers in Japan are kept happy and that the domestic market isn’t flooded with foreign rice. And it’s also tricky because in trade talks, uh Japanese negotiators have made rice sacrosanite that, you know, that’s one topic that they’re not going to negotiate on. And on top of that, we’ve got the uh upper house elections in Japan on July 20th coming up. So, Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba doesn’t want to be seen as weak in front of voters versus Trump during trade negotiations. So, tensions, I mean, are still well, tensions are going to be ratcheted up, but trade talks, I should say, are still ongoing.
Right. So, we are still waiting and watching that space. Well, thanks very uh very much for the for your insights, Roland. But we’ll see you back again here uh during your with your business report in a short while. Now, China has sanctioned a former Philippine senator citing what it calls egregious conduct conduct on maritime planes over the South China Sea. And the sanctions will prohibit France’s Tolantino from entering mainland China, Hong Kong as well as Macau. Beijing says the decision is shaped by the country’s resolve to defend its national sovereignty at all costs. Uh Mr. But Tolantino has defended his actions, vowing to fight for what he says rightfully belongs to the Philippines. The former senator’s six-year term ended yesterday. A foreign ministry also accused several Filipino politicians of making what it calls malicious remarks and moves that could hurt ties between the two nations. Now, Beijing and Manila have long been locked in a long-running dispute with clashes between the two nations vessels becoming more frequent. Tensions over the disputed waterway have risen in recent years after a 2016 international arbitual tribunal ruled by Beijing’s maritime claims as having no basis in international law. Uh former South Korean president Yansy failed to appear today for questioning by a special prosecutor. It’s part of a probe into his martial law declaration last year that threw the country into political turmoil and led to his ouster. Well, it is the first time Mr. Yun had defied the special counsel’s summons despite the risk of arrest. His failure to appear though was widely expected. Mr. Yun’s lawyers had repeatedly requested a postponement, citing the former president’s health and the need to prepare for a separate criminal trial on insurrection charges. Uh Mr. Yun’s lawyers had accused the special counsel of going on a politically motivated quote witch hunt. During his first questioning last Saturday, he objected to procedures the ex- leader says violated his rights. Investigators have issued a fresh final summon for the former president this Friday, noting that it will seek an arrest warrant for Mr. Yun if he does not comply. China says that it hopes Thailand will continue to maintain stability after the kingdom’s prime minister was suspended from her duties amid an ongoing court investigation. for Thailand’s constitutional court earlier today unanimously accepted a petition that sought the the dismissal of Prime Minister Pongan Shinawat from office. Well, this coming less than a year since she took the premiership. Miss Pongan will be suspended for the duration of the case until a verdict is reached. Petition was filed by 36 senators accusing the prime minister of dishonesty and breaching ethical standards following a leaked audio from a phone call with former Cambodian leader Hudzen last month over a long-standing border dispute. The scandal had triggered a domestic outrage outrage and left the Thai leader with a razor thin majority after a key party abandoned the alliance. Miss Pongan meantime could face a potential no confidence motion and parliament resumes on Thursday. Well, the Thai leader held a press conference after the court announced its decision to suspend her from duty. Saxa Sombat takes us through her remarks. Miss Peritan says that she humbly accepts the constitutional court verdict and she says that she has 15 days to submit her defense. Now, that doesn’t mean that the case will be wrapped up in 15 days. It only means that um it will be the first line of defense. Of course, the court can ask for more evidence, for more defense submissions until it actually decides whether to have a verdict or not. But going back to what Miss Patton said also further or more um she emphasizes that in that leaked phone call with former Cambodian Prime Minister Hunen that every word that she says was with the purest and fullest of intentions that she was never going to deceive anybody that she had never any personal agenda in that. And she also apologizes to the Thai people that may have felt upset about what she said in that phone leak and and that if her methods um how she had conducted herself is not to up to the standard of some people here in the country. But she also said that even though she’s suspended as prime minister that she’s going to continue to serve as uh to serve the country and there is a little hint that she could actually carry on as culture minister in the reshuffle cabinet that has been confirmed earlier today but that is subject to an oath taking to the king that is still supposed to take place on July the 3rd according to our information and then led by caretaker prime minister who is also the current transport minister. So this is going to be the way forward at least for the immediate future. But um as we can see here that there’s a lot pressure on Miss Patutan on her governments in this ongoing political crisis that has been sparked by a military excursion between Cambodia and Thailand in the borderlands that has killed a Cambodian soldier sparking a territorial dispute. It has now spiraled into a bonafide political crisis here in Thailand that could unseat her but also very much shake Thai democracy to its core. Her Miss Pongan’s father, Tuxen Chinowat, is also under legal scrutiny. The former Thai prime minister is facing his first prosecution witness hearing in a less majestic case linked to remarks he made during a 2015 media interview while in exile. Tuxen’s lawyer says they are seeking to challenge the credibility of the 2015 interview clip. for a conviction for Le’s Majesty carries a maximum jail term of 15 years. A tuxin could be behind bars again in another hearing. That’s of the Supreme Court resentences him after a controversial decision allowing him to serve an 8-year sentence for graft and abuse of power in hospital instead of jail. Well, that sentence was later commuted to a year by the Thai king. Time now for a short break, but coming up next on East Asia Tonight, a surprising rise in confidence among large Japanese manufacturers. The sentiment is not felt across all sectors. And a victim of its own success. Long wait times for Xiaomi’s new SUV have some buyers demanding refunds, refunds. [Music] Hello again. It’s time now for a business update with Earl Lim. So Roland, tell us what does Japan’s latest tanken survey show? will do. Business sentiment among Japan’s large manufacturers improved in the last quarter, beating economist expectations. The improvement is a sign that Japanese companies are waiting for clarity on the potential hit from US tariffs as negotiations between Tokyo and Washington continue. Leading the charge were steel and paper makers, bringing the business sentiment index up to 13 points. That’s a onepoint increase on quarter. The better thanex expected results is likely to help the BOJ’s governor build his case for a rate hike when the board meets at the end of this month. The improved sentiment for manufacturers, however, is not across the board. It remains negative among the processed metals and motor vehicle sectors. These have been directly targeted by the Trump administration’s tariffs and both face a 25% tariff rate. The country’s factory output also grew for the first time last month in more than a year. The AU given bank manufacturing PMI nudged above the 50 threshold, up 0.7 points from May, but demand remains weak as new orders shrink. The Trump administration’s 90-day pause on tariffs set to expire next week, and most countries have yet to reach a trade deal with the US. In East Asia, Mr. Trump has threatened to end talks with Japan despite months of dialogue. South Korea is hoping for an extension to Mr. Trump’s 9th July deadline. It has a free trade agreement with the US. So, its main sticking points are on forex rates and defense costs. Only two deals have been announced so far. That’s a broad framework with the UK and a temporary deal with China. Stock market action. Asian stocks rose today amid optimism that the US will strike deals with countries except Japan. President Trump threatening to impose fresh tariff rate on Tokyo hitting out on Japanese rice. The nicke sank more than 1.2% today. Cosby ended higher although gains were capped as investors assessed the latest trade figures that showed that Korean exports rebounding despite tariff ws. Taiwan weighted index up 1.34%. Markets also closely tracking Mr. Trump’s big beautiful bill which is said to fuel more worries over America’s spending and debt that has translated to the US bond market volatility resulting in reduced appetite for treasuries among overseas investors. Meanwhile, the US dollar posted its worst first half performance since 1973 on those trade and debt concerns. China’s private factory activity rebounded last month amid a temporary truce in the trade war with the US which led to an increase in new orders. The Taiine manufacturing PMI rose to 50.4 in June from 48.3 in May beating estimates. The survey offers the first full month snapshot of China’s private sector health after Beijing and Washington agreed to reduce tariffs for 90 days in midMay. And it comes as both supply and demand recovered after the temporary easing of trade tensions. However, an official gauge of manufacturing activity at big and stateowned factories remained in contraction last month. The Chinese stocks close higher led by gains in financials and health care sectors and that the private sector survey showed the country’s factory activity expanded in June. The Shanghai composite ending the day 4/10en of 1% higher. Second B sun up 0.11%. Markets in Hong Kong closed for a holiday. Julius Bear’s market Matthews I should say explains why he believes that China’s pivot towards private sector growth matters more than the rollout of stimulus measures. Well, the trade news is looking better of course because on Friday the Chinese commerce ministry and Donald Trump both said that China and the US have signed a deal. I believe that to be true. Uh the PMI hovering at around 50 to me just says that the economy’s trundling along sideways because 50 is that level at which uh above which you have expansion below which you have contraction. So it’s just sort of hovering around there in the high 40s low 50s. Whether it’s high 40s or low 50s it’s kind of the same thing. It’s just going sideways. But it’s it’s nicer to have it going up a little than go down a little. But as far as the policy goes, to go back to what I said, I I don’t want stimulus, I think it’s better just to have a policy that is friendlier to the private sector because for the last 5 years, the policyy’s been profoundly unfriendly to the private sector. Started by shutting down the entire private education sector and then massive crackdown on technology. Of course, what they did to the property sector. Uh the list is endless. And so pivoting to a uh policy that is more friendly toward the private sector is much more important than just throwing a bunch of money at building new highways and airports. Uh we don’t need that stuff anymore. France is gearing up for Chinese foreign minister Wangi’s visit this week amid expectations of highlevel trade talks. The latest round of the China France investment dialogue has taken place in Paris and several speakers highlighted the need for stronger multilateral cooperation between Paris and Beijing in light of increasing geopolitical tensions. Ross Cullen reports. Well, the China France investment forum taking place here in central Paris on Monday and the room you can see behind me and lots of dignitaries in attendance including Dongchen, a minister at the Chinese embassy here in Paris and the former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Rafan. And in Mr. Rafaran’s speech, he focused on the challenges that are being faced around the world, including when it comes to climate, health, and the economy. and he called for more cooperation between Paris and Beijing to face those challenges together. The former French health secretary Olivier Veron he also spoke he was at the helm here in France during the coronavirus pandemic and he said that there is room for more work together more collaboration between France and China when it comes to the use and deployment of artificial intelligence in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Also there was a round table focused on consumer goods. Such an important market for particularly luxury conglomerates here in France like caring and like LVMH and that focus on trying to ensure that they can keep that market base in China. But this forum uh is coming at a time when the world is rapidly changing great uh geopolitical tensions and economic upheaval and it comes ahead of the visit to Europe this week by the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi when trade and economic policy will be on the table up for discussion. Ross Cullen, CNA, Paris. Now,
China will extend anti-dumping duties on steel from Indonesia, South Korea, the UK, and EU for another 5 years starting today. Under the extension, Indonesian steel exporters are subject to a levy of 20.2% while those from the EU and UK 43%. South Korean steel maker POSCO faces duty duties of 23.1% while other Korean producers more than 100%. China first introduced the anti-dumping tariffs back in 2019 over what it deemed as threats to its domestic steel industry. Japan was part of the original list but was removed in 2023 following a WTO dispute settlement. Chinese state media have supported the latest extension, citing an increasingly competitive global steel market and US tariff escalations. Chinese automakers continue to expand their foothold in Europe in the month of May, capturing their biggest share of both hybrid and EV sales in almost a year. Bloomberg reports that sales of battery EVs and hybrid vehicles exceeded 9% in Europe. That’s based on figures from industry researcher Data Force. Brands such as Xpang, Zika, and BYD experiencing record growth. While on the whole, all Chinese brands are up more than 50% in May on year. BYD in particular has focused on Europe. Last month, executive Stella Lee said that the company will spend up to $20 billion on the continent. A fresh wave of complaints against China’s Xiaomi after the EV maker told customers that its new sports utility vehicle or SUV that they’ll have to wait more than a year to receive their cars. Xiaomi says it received roughly 240,000 orders for the YU7 in the first 18 hours after the car went on sale on Thursday night. But only a small number of vehicles were available for immediate delivery. By Tuesday, the Xiaomi app shows a wait time of between 38 to 60 weeks. Since Friday, more than 400 buyers have lodged complaints, saying that they were not aware of the long wait and demanded a refund. Buyers had to make a non-refundable deposit of about $700 to place their order. The longer wait time could mean that they would have to pay more because a tax exemption for EVs is set to expire at the end of this year. The YU7 is Yami’s second car model that’s priced about $35,000, nearly 4% less than Tesla’s Model Y, currently China’s bestselling SUV. Early buys of Xiaomi’s first vehicle, that’s the SU7 sedan was also forced waiting times of up to 7 months. The company is ramping up output at its Beijing plant, to plan new factories. And that’ll do it for business. Otelli, thanks very much for that, Roland. Right, time now for another break, but coming up on East Asia Tonight, a recent poll has found that a mere 8% of respondents don’t see Japan in decline. What do they see as a bright spot that the others couldn’t? Well, we’ll be getting more insights from an expert after this break. [Music] This is East Asia Tonight and here are the headlines we’ve been following. A trade tussle between the US and Japan escalating over the issue of rice. President Donald Trump has warned Tokyo it could face fresh tariffs if it doesn’t budge. But China sanctions former Philippine Senator Francis Tolantino for what it calls egregious conduct on maritime planes over the South China Sea. And former South Korean President Yono fails to appear for questioning by a special prosecutor as part of a probe into his martial law declaration last year. Now, more Japanese today believe their country is in decline compared to nearly 10 years ago. That’s according to a survey of 31 countries by polling firm Ipsos last month, which found a global trend of profound pessimism setting in. A 70% of Japanese respondents agreed with the statement that Japan is in decline. Only France and Turkey have more respondents that believe their nation is in decline. Well, Japan was also well above the 57% average. The country has one of the steepest increases among the 31 countries pled with the latest findings showing a 30% increase in respondents with such sentiment compared to a similar survey conducted in 2016. Well, the IPSOS study says there are three main drivers behind this perception of national decline, economic anxiety and stagnation, disillusionment with political elites, and concern over immigration. Right, for more insights, let’s uh bring in Tommoiko Tanaguchi, special adviser at Fujitsu Future Studies Center and also specially appointed professor at the University of Suba. Well, thanks for joining us, Prof. So, this IPS poll suggesting this really uh stark picture, right? 70% of Japanese feeling the country is in decline and that’s a big jump from 2016 at 40%. Now with your deep insights into Japan, professor, I have to ask you, do you personally share that level of pessimism? Well, that’s a considerable jump. Uh I have to agree. However, if there is anything con consistent uh as as a trait of the Japanese, it is to stay very much pessimistic about their situation. Even at the zenith of Japan’s high growth era, uh which was in the 1960s and early 1970s, poll after poll indicated that a lot of people did not uh see the situation bright in a brighter tone. So being pessimistic being pessimistic is one of the national pastime. Uh that being the case uh as you say that there is a sort of um uh anxiety about economy, anxiety about politics and also if you look around there aren’t many young people, babies even uh there aren’t many um uh teenagers. A lot of them are 60s and 70s like me. And so it’s a grain situ it’s a grain society which is not uh sort of encouraging development uh situation for them
right uh so professor being pessimistic as you’ve mentioned it’s is a national uh pastime um but I suppose I mean with the price of rice going uh you know so so high I mean I would be quite pessimistic myself but I want to talk about um is this a new economic normal uh normal because you talked about stagnation right so for many Japanese uh ven who who remember the bubble years contrasted with today’s economic reality. Is Japan then truly trying to grapple and get used to the fact that this is a new uh economic normal one where the kind of rapid growth seen in the past is not achievable. to answer your question is very much difficult because it is uh very much imperative for the nation to be kinetic for the nation to be uh quick responding to the changing situations because Japan is situated in a very much precarious neighborhood with Russia, China, North Korea all developing their nuclear arsenal and so on so forth. So uh they must be uh very much uh uh future oriented. uh so what’s been the prime driver for them to be pessimistic nonetheless I think it is to do with the uh uncertainties about the future the US Japan trade frictions are sort of deja v for many but uh there is no exit at the moment for them for those negotiations and uh uh daily incursion of Chinese military uh uh Chinese Coast Guard vessels and so on so forth has been a constant reminder that uh the future may not be uh brighter rather it would be glooier and also as I said the uh constant increase of uh Japanese senior citizens uh uh uh the population of the senior citizens is not an encouraging factor. So those those things combined now is not the time for them to be very much forthcoming. But we have that optimistic minority though that 8% of those pled they don’t see Japan in decline. Some pointing to Japan’s incredible uh post-war recovery as a sign of of the potential. Um this 8% who actually feel uh optimistic. Do you think what are they perhaps missing the bigger picture that the 70% are perceiving and what would that be? It’s always like uh glass half empty, glass uh half full. Uh if you look at the brighter side uh the truth of the matter is the Japanese corporations are now recording uh record uh profits. Uh and many of the companies are paying more in terms of salaries and wages to their employees. The job situation has never been as good as it is. So if you look at those brighter uh side uh that brighter side uh there is actually little reason for you to be extremely pessimistic about Japan. So okay you’ve talked about um the the economy and you’ve talked about the regional risks um like China’s assertiveness. You got North Korea’s uh ongoing provocation. All of that sort of feeding perhaps into the overall perception of Japan’s decline. But um I I also want to talk about this survey actually finding that 53% of Japanese believe that society is broken. Many feel that the mainstream political parties don’t represent them. Uh how do you think Japan can sort of rebuild that trust and and this sense of unity you know when such a significant population of of the people feel alien alienated from its leadership? Uh I served the previous prime minister, Prime Minister Shinszou for 70 years. Uh and uh he uh carried national elections six times in a row. So Shinszu AB represented a strong uh leader and since that time there has been no such cohesiveness in the Japanese political uh arena and more chaos rather than stability uh will be just uh waiting for us to see because the upcoming elections for the upper house of Japanese parliament due on the 20th of this month July will probably result in uh weakening the coalition government still further and then uh people will uh start looking at the political situation um as uh would give them uh even more sources of anxiety rather than uh a clearer sense of direction. I think the sense of directionlessness is something that you can see uh prevalent increasingly among the Japanese people.
Maybe the government do need somebody like you uh back into being one of their advisers again. Uh but but just just looking ahead uh I mean um someone advising uh on future studies, right? What do you think is the most urgent action Japan needs now to regain that conf uh that confidence and what would that path to a more optimistic future look like? a clearer statement from the from the political leadership to the younger generations that there will be a u rewriting of social contract uh to make the social institutions more in favor of younger generations. uh a lot of uh too many institutions so social institutions in Japan have been designed to cater disproportionately disproportionately to senior citizens which is uh one of the reasons why younger generations don’t uh feel uh confident about uh their own future. So that’s the negative uh perception that any political leader must must to counter head on and I would very much like to see that uh happening um in the next uh at least couple of years.
Always good chatting with you. Thanks so very much for your time and thoughts to Tanaguchi there special adviser at Fujitsu Future Study Center and also specially appointed professor at the University of Sakuba. Now, Japan, meantime, is looking to mine rare earth minerals in a pilot project beginning January. Well, that’s according to Nik Asia. The first of its kind move by the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology will involve stationing a deep sea scientific drilling vessel about 100 kilometers from the Minami Tor uh Torishima Island. That’s nearly 2,000 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. The vessel, once in position, will then lower a pipe some 5,000 m below the surface to pick up 35 metric tons of mud from the seafloor. If it goes smoothly, this would mark the first time rare earths are harvested from such depths. As scientists believe that seabed in the area surrounding Minami Torishima could contain some 16 million tons of rare earths and that would make it the third largest reserve in the world. Now disprosium which is an element used in electric vehicle motor magnets and ghettoolenium used in nuclear control rods are said to be found abundantly in that area. A planned move comes amid concerns over the availability of rare earths as China mines more than 60% of the material the world uses and possesses 90% of the world’s refining capability. More recently, it has exercised control over their export. A disruption in supply could severely impact industries ranging from the automotive to defense. The countries in recent years have been ramping up the development of their own rare earth supply chains to counter Beijing’s dominance. Beyond East Asia, US President Donald Trump has imposed a tougher American policy against Cuba, the Caribbean island nation that is a close ally of countries such as China and North Korea. Washington’s latest move enforces a ban on American tourism to Cuba and supports the economic embargo of the country. It also renews a ban on financial transactions with entities and affiliates linked to the Cuban military. The only exceptions are transactions that either support the Cuban people or advance US policy goals. Well, Cuba reacting to the ban said that the US reinforces the aggression and economic blockade that punishes the entire Cuban people and that it hits country’s main development obstacle. A Cuba faces shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and has to contend with longunning blackouts. But it has sought solutions. In 2018, Havana joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing in the years since has invested in projects such as transportation, telecoms, port infrastructure, and more recently solar power plants. More solar power parks are set to come online to nearly cover a daytime shortfall and saying and saving precious fuel for Cuba to run its power plants at night. Okay. Adding to the slew of investments, the first regular international cargo route between China and Cuba was opened just last week, aimed at boosting practical cooperation between the two sides. This follows the 2024 resumption of a direct passenger flights from Beijing to Havana via Madrid. These moves by Beijing are seen to gradually displace its main benefactor, Russia, which is currently mired in a war against Ukraine and is hesitant to lend more money to Cuba. An analyst quoted by Reuters said that China’s investments are a major benefit to Havana, but will unlikely be able to help the country overcome wide-ranging US sanctions. Time now for another break. But coming up in East Asia tonight, Taiwan readies its troops to simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion of the island as part of its annual drills. And central China fighting floods after a summer downpour dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours on the city of Sienfang. [Music] Taiwan says that it will simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion of the island as part of its annual military and civil defense drills next week. The annual Han Kuang exercises starting on the 9th of July will last 10 days. Military exercise will mobilize more than 22,000 reserveists and uh feature civil defense drills which include issuing missile alerts and evacuation orders. The exercise is taking place at a time when Taiwan faces ramped up military pressure by China, which considers the island as its own. A President William Lie addressing soldiers in a video ahead of Hong Kuang exercises said that Taiwan has been cons constantly preparing for Chinese infiltration and disinformation attacks. The island’s defense ministry added that troops stand ready should there be any provocative moves from Beijing during those exercises. A North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has reportedly honored soldiers killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Footage released by state media show the leader mourning over flag draped coffins. A footage also showed images of North Korean troops in a battlefield accompanied by captions branding them as heroes. North Korean and Russian attendees were shown bursting into tears as a tribute played. Now, this was broadcast as part of an event in Pyongyang attended by a Russian minister to mark the one-year anniversary of a military pact signed between the two nations. A Pyongyang recently confirmed that uh it had been deploying military force and weapons in the Kremlin’s fight. According to Soul’s spy agency, around 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed alongside thousands of others who were injured. The US Department of Justice and the FBI are clamping down on fraudulent North Korean IT worker schemes. On Monday, US federal law enforcement announced that they seized 29 financial accounts and suspected laptop farms with North Koreans accused of working for US companies with fraudulent profiles through what’s called laptop farms. These are a collection of computers that allow remote workers access by two laptops owned by US companies. The FBI has uncovered hundreds of such laptops across 16 states. The US citizens facilitating these schemes have also been indicted. These individuals say they believe the IT workers were based in the US. The entire scheme involves North Korean citizens posing as US citizens using compromised social media profiles in order to get hired as remote IT workers. These IT workers then use this excess to steal money and information from a host of companies around the world. The Department of Justice says the scheme caused damages worth more than $3 million US in legal fees, a remediation, and other costs. Any salary payments is also funneled to North Korea with much of the money believed to be used to fund the government and its military. More than a 100 US businesses, including Fortune 500 companies, have fallen victim to these scammers losing money and valuable sensitive information. Meanwhile, Europole says it has busted a cryptocurrency investment fraud ring that has laundered hundreds of millions of euros so far. Investigators say the Spanish police led the operation with help from French, Estonian, and American law enforcement agencies. Five people were arrested, three on the Canary Islands and two in Madrid. The crime ring allegedly used a worldwide network of accompllices to raise funds through cash withdrawals, bank transfers, and crypto transfers. It’s also suspected of setting up a Hong Kong-based corporate and banking network to store and transfer the fraudulent funds. Now, the investigation continues. A US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting Quad members from Australia, India, and Japan in Washington today with a focus on issues in the Indo-Pacific region. Now on the agenda is defense spending, the intensifying regional tensions in the Middle East and China’s positions on the South China Sea. Mr. Rubio will discuss these with Australia’s Penny Wong, Japan’s Teeshi Iwaya, and India’s S. Jaishanka. Some frictions risk weighing on the meeting of the foreign ministers. Washington has called on its Asian airlines to up the military budgets, especially Australia, saying it needs to hike its defense spending to three and a half% of GDP. Canra has been anxious after the Pentagon announced it would review the Orca submarine pact, which is crucial to Australia security. Washington’s ties with Tokyo will also be in focus as trade talks between the two countries drag on. Japan reportedly cancelled a top level defense meeting after the US demanded more defense spending. Mr. Trump had earlier today threatened to send Tokyo a new tariff rate as both sides failed to come to an agreement ahead of a tariff deadline. Now reports are also saying that India’s foreign minister Estra Shanka is likely to use the visit to propose more stringent anti-terrorism measures. Meeting is likely to pave the ground for a leaders level summit hosted by India later this year. At least three people have died after heavy rain battered parts of central China overnight. Five others remain missing. A Chinese state media Shininoa reported that the towns of Taiping and Erlangping in Hernand province saw extremely heavy rainfall between 9:00 p.m. and midnight local time on Monday. More than 200 mm of rain fell in the affected areas, leading to a dramatic rise in water levels in the Shureway River. Authorities have launched a full-scale search and rescue mission in the area. A China’s central province of Hoope also hit by a record summer downpour which dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours on a city of Xienfang. More than 18,000 people have since been moved to safety. Authorities also shut schools and suspended bus services. Meanwhile, Ronjang County in southwestern Quuejo slowly getting back on its feet after heavy rainstorms triggered severe flooding in the area last week. Volunteers have been distributing relief supplies since roads reopen to traffic while cleanup of sludge in affected areas near completion. Many evacuated residents have also returned home with the resumption of water and electricity supplies. In neighboring Nepal, an ancient Himalayan village has disappeared due to climate change. The once snowcapped Samjong village is now a barren land and its populace emptied out. High altitude areas in the country are seen to be warming more quickly than the lowlands. Glacias as a result are retreating. Perafrost areas are thawing. The snowfall becomes scarce and unpredictable. A report warns that up to 80% of glacia volume in the region could vanish this century if greenhouse gases are not drastically cut. And with a lack of snow comes monsoon rains. They have caused traditional mud homes built for dry and cold climates to easily fall apart. In addition, steep and narrow slopes in the area means rain when it falls has little room to spread out, turning them into destructive flash floods that homes and farmland have little protection against. Such events triggered a wave of migration a decade ago. Now, relocating a small village of fewer than 100 residents such as Sam Jong is no simple task. Villages would need to source for reliable access to water and rebuild the village from scratch. Many other villages are also facing the inevitable of having to move out of the high Himalayas. Japan’s weather agency says the country saw its hottest June on record. The average temperature last month was the highest since data collection started in 1898 and uh that was about 2° C higher than usual. The weather agency warned hot weather is becoming routine for Japan and severe heat is expected to continue next month. Japan’s summers the last two years were the hottest since records started more than 100 years ago. The impact can also be seen across the seasons with the country’s cherry trees blooming earlier due to rising temperatures. The Mount Fuji snow cap also appeared late in November instead of the usual early October. And we have more climate related coverage across CNA platforms. So, uh, do catch our podcast, Climate Conversations, on our website, mobile app, and on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. And on that note, it it is time to wrap up East Asia Tonight. Don’t forget your headlines anytime at cn.asia. And you can always find us on Facebook and YouTube. Thanks for watching. [Music]

US President Donald Trump has accused Japan, which faces a rice shortage, of not buying enough of American-grown grain. Also on East Asia Tonight: Beijing bans former Philippine lawmaker Francis Tolentino from entering China over “egregious” South China Sea claims, as Taiwan prepares to simulate Chinese blockade and invasion as part of its annual Han Kuang drills. Also, Japan to start mining the deep sea for rare earths next year.

00:00 Headlines
01:19 Trump threatens fresh tariffs on Japan over rice exports
06:24 China sanctions former Philippine senator over South China Sea claims
34:00 Japan to start deep-sea mining for rare earths
35:30 China becomes key Cuban ally
38:20 Taiwan to simulate Chinese invasion in military, civil defence drills
39:30 North Korea honours troops killed in Russia-Ukraine war
41:46 Europol busts crypto investment ring that laundered over €460m
45:07 Nepal’s Samjung village vanishes due to climate change