Hello from Tokyo. Last week, the people of Taiwan elected as their next president Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing brands as separatist. The vote focused mainly on how to deal with China, but so far both sides have shown restraint, and it will take some time to see whether cross-strait relations will change under Taiwan’s new leader.
In the U.S., the Republican primaries have started and, as expected, former President Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses. Although the American presidential election is still a long way off, the votes in Taiwan and the U.S. will definitely impact the future of U.S.-China relations. Our Washington correspondent, Ken Moriyasu, asked experts what to expect from those elections.
As I’ve noted before, Japan is one of the few countries that managed to maintain a stable relationship with Washington during Trump’s presidency, largely due to the efforts of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited Trump’s home before his inauguration and built personal trust. Now that Abe is gone, who can fill that role? Some say it might be former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is now 83 years old. He recently traveled to New York to explore the possibility of a meeting with Trump.
Of course, meeting with Trump during the primaries is questionable from a diplomatic protocol standpoint — and as it turned out, Aso was unable to land a meeting anyway. It is especially risky at a time when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, embroiled in his party’s slush fund scandal, is hurriedly preparing for a planned visit to the U.S. in April to meet with President Joe Biden. Japan’s Foreign Ministry, which is in charge of the preparations, was apparently wary of Aso’s efforts to meet with Trump.
Politicians aren’t the only ones rushing to reach out to the U.S. This week’s Big Story is about a Japanese company trying to make a comeback by expanding investments in the U.S. Panasonic Energy, once the world’s largest maker of batteries for electric vehicles and part of the electronics conglomerate Panasonic Holdings, plans to invest about $4 billion in a Kansas plant in an effort to rejuvenate itself and regain its former prestige.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, thanks to the research of Japanese Nobel laureate Akira Yoshino, Japan led the world in lithium-ion battery technology, helping companies like Panasonic, as well as Sony and NEC, become global leaders. However, Panasonic now struggles to keep its fourth place global ranking, behind China’s CATL and BYD and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. You can listen to the story’s author, Ryohtaroh Satoh, on this week’s Tech Latest podcast, where he gives an overview of the feature and shares insights on the subject.
Returning to the topic of elections, Pakistan and India are also scheduled to hold votes this year. Asia Insight looks at the plight of fishermen caught between the two countries amid territorial disputes, resulting in detentions that often end in personal tragedy. Meanwhile, our Business Spotlight examines why people from Russia, also due to hold elections, are rushing to buy homes on the Thai resort island of Phuket.
Lastly, our regular Opinion contributor Nobuko Kobayashi wrote a piece in our Tea Leaves column about settai (business entertainment, often in the form of dinners) in Japan. Although the settai tradition is usually seen as a symbol of old-fashioned Japanese corporate culture, Kobayashi says a modernized approach to the custom offers benefits that are timeless.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Shin Nakayama
Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia
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