ASIANOMICS

🇨🇳🇯🇵 China and Japan need ‘frank’ talks to find common ground, Tokyo’s envoy says China and Japan should increase “frank” communications, Tokyo’s top envoy to Beijing said, as the two Asian neighbours grapple with disputes ranging from the East China Sea to Japan’s alignment with the US. Kenji Kanasugi, Japanese ambassador to China, said ties between China and Japan should not be confined to security matters. “As we all know, government-to-government relations are sometimes in a very difficult state, and there could be a lot of fluctuations in government-to-government relations between Japan and China, but cooperation between local governments and exchanges between the two peoples could make an influence and improve bilateral ties.” #China #Japan @asianomics

🇨🇳🇪🇺 China cognac probe is a reaction to EU car tariffs China's anti-dumping probe into Europe's cognac industry is a tit-for-tat reaction to European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, the finance chief at Hennessy cognac owner LVMH said. China announced plans for a hearing on European brandy imports, ramping up tension on the same day the European Commission's provisional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles took effect. Hennessy and other European cognac producers will attend a hearing on China's anti-dumping probe of the industry in Beijing on July 18. French cognac accounts for most of China's brandy imports. #China #EU @asianomics

🇯🇵🇬🇧 Japan PM, Britain's new leader agree to deepen bilateral relations Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed with his new British counterpart Keir Starmer to work together to deepen bilateral relations, during their first phone call since his Labour Party scored a victory in a general election. Kishida was quoted by the Foreign Ministry as telling Starmer that Japan will cooperate with Britain to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law amid a more complex global security environment. The two leaders also confirmed that Japan and Britain will continue a joint project with Italy to develop a next-generation fighter jet, the ministry said, adding that Kishida and Starmer exchanged views on Ukraine, the Middle East and Asia. #Japan #UK @asianomics

🇨🇳🇪🇺 China autos group 'strongly dissatisfied' with EU anti-subsidy tariffs The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) is "strongly dissatisfied" with anti-subsidy tariffs proposed by the European Union, the industry group said in a statement on Saturday. Manufacturers had cooperated with the European Commission's investigation into Chinese subsidies, but the inquiry had ignored the facts and preselected results, CAAM said. The provisional duties of between 17.4% and 37.6% without backdating are designed to prevent what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said is a threatened flood of cheap Chinese electric vehicles built with state subsidies. #China #EU @asianomics

🇲🇾 Malaysia rescues hundreds of tortoises from ‘Ninja Turtle Gang’ The Malaysian authorities have rescued hundreds of smuggled tortoises meant for sale in Southeast Asia, disrupting an international crime ring called the “Ninja Turtle Gang”. Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, wildlife and national parks department director-general, said 400 tortoises worth $800k bound for the lucrative exotic pet trade were seized during an operation by the police and wildlife officials on June 29. “This is the biggest ever seizure in the past 10 years,” he said, adding that the reptiles were to be sold on to Thailand and Indonesia after local demand was met. #Malaysia @asianomics

🇵🇭🇺🇸🇨🇳 Philippines turned down US help amid South China Sea tensions The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States to assist operations in the South China Sea, after a flare-up with China over missions to resupply Filipino troops on a contested shoal, its military chief said. The US, a treaty ally, has offered support but Manila prefers to handle operations on its own, Armed Forces Chief General Romeo Brawner said. Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano also stated that the Philippines wanted the resupply missions to be a “pure Philippine operation”. “This is our legitimate national interest, so we don’t see any reason for them (the US) to come in,” Ano said. #ThePhilippines #USA #China @asianomics

🇯🇵🇹🇼 Japan intercepts Taiwan boat suspected of illegal fishing A Taiwanese fishing vessel was intercepted by Japanese authorities in the early hours of Friday on suspicion of illegally operating in waters near Amami-Oshima Island in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. The Fu Yang No. 266, registered in Taiwan's northern port city of Keelung, was intercepted by the Japanese Fisheries Agency around 300 kilometers northwest of Amami-Oshima. A Kyushu regional office of the agency said it had arrested the 71-year-old captain of the boat on suspicion of fishing without permission Friday morning in Japan's exclusive economic zone. #Japan #Taiwan @asianomics

🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan probes senior official who deals with China over bribery suspicions Taiwan prosecutors said on Saturday they were investigating a senior official and member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who deals with China on suspicion of bribery. He said he had done nothing wrong. Cheng Wen-tsan is head of the Straits Exchange Foundation under the China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council that deals with day-to-day issues like accidents involving Taiwanese in China. Prosecutors in the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan, where Cheng was mayor from 2014–2022, said he had been summoned for questioning on Friday on bribery suspicions and that they had applied to a court to detain him. #Taiwan #China @asianomics

🇵🇭🇨🇳 China anchors 'monster ship' in South China Sea The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday that China's largest coastguard vessel (CCG-5901) has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea. The China coastguard's 165-meter 'monster ship' entered Manila's 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2. The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was anchored 800 yards away from the PCG's vessel. In May, the PCG deployed a ship to the Sabina shoal to deter small-scale reclamation by China, which denied the claim. #ThePhilippines #China @asianomics

🇨🇳🇮🇳 China-India border row ‘not in either side’s interest’, foreign ministers agree China and India should double their efforts to resolve their differences and resume normal ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed on Thursday. The two ministers reached the consensus during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, four years after a border dispute erupted in a deadly clash. The foreign ministers agreed that “prolongation of the current situation in the border areas is not in either side’s interest”, and meetings between diplomatic and military officials should be improved to “resolve the remaining issues at the earliest”, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said. #China #India @asianomics