Asian countries will likely agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea when regional leaders meet for a summit in November, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo said Monday.

The Japanese and Georgian foreign ministers agreed Friday to formally commence talks on a bilateral investment agreement, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. During their 35-minute talks in Tokyo, Fumio Kishida and Mikheil Janelidze also confirmed that Japan and Georgia, marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, will bolster broader economic cooperation, it said. The envisioned agreement would eliminate….Read more

All papers wrote that the Lower House approved on Tuesday a bill granting consent for a civilian nuclear cooperation pact between Japan and India despite opposition from the Democratic Party and four other opposition parties. The bill is likely to be enacted during the current Diet session after deliberations at the Upper House. Asahi wrote that although the pact is….Read more

Saturday morning’s Asahi and Mainichi wrote that the Lower House is expected to approve this week a pact on Japan-India civil nuclear cooperation for deliberations by the Upper House. The papers noted that the Democratic Party and other opposition parties are opposed to the pact on the grounds that it will allow India to obtain Japan’s advanced nuclear generation technology….Read more

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh at the Prime Minister’s Office on May 8. The two leaders exchanged opinions on effectuating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement among 11 signatories without the U.S. Bearing in mind the TPP ministerial meeting among the 11 countries slated for Vietnam at the end of May, Abe reportedly….Read more

Finance leaders from Japan, China and South Korea agreed to resist all forms of protectionism in a trilateral meeting Friday, taking a stronger stand than the G-20 major economies did against the protectionist policies advocated by U.S. President Donald Trump.   In an attempt to reduce the region’s vulnerability to dollar swings, Japan also proposed forming bilateral swap arrangements with….Read more

The foreign ministers of Japan and five Central Asian nations have issued a joint statement saying North Korea’s nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches cannot be tolerated.

Central Asia, wedged between China and Russia, is located in an important position geopolitically. Building strategic relations with countries in Central Asia will have a positive impact on Japan’s diplomacy toward China and Russia.   Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visited Turkmenistan and held a ministerial meeting with his counterparts in the five Central Asian nations, the sixth such gathering to….Read more