Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left for a weeklong visit to South and Southeast Asia yesterday and said he plans to reshuffle his beleaguered government's Cabinet upon his return.
The three-nation trip aimed at strengthening bilateral ties comes less than a month after Abe's ruling bloc suffered a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections following a series of gaffes and scandals involving key ministers.
Speaking to reporters at Tokyo's Haneda Airport before his departure, Abe said he was "basically thinking along the lines" of reshuffling his Cabinet and the leadership of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Aug. 27 -- moves he pledged to undertake in response to the electoral setback.
Abe's first stop is Jakarta, where he and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are expected to sign a free trade agreement. The deal will ensure oil and gas shipments to Japan and reduce most tariffs on trade between the countries, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
Abe heads to India tomorrow, where he is expected to discuss environmental issues with Indian President Pratibha Patil, as well as address parliament.
In Kuala Lumpur, Abe is set to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and call on the Malaysian king.
Also see stories:
India to seek pact approval during Abe visit
Bureaucrats in Japan celebrate Abe's dwindling power to reform
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS