by WorldTribune Staff, December 9, 2018 China’s Foreign Ministry has summoned U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad in response to the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou and vowed to take “further action” if needed. Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 on the orders of U.S. authorities for allegedly violating American sanctions on selling technology […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Despite the widespread view that Japan is ethnically homogeneous, Professor John Lie argued in “Multiethnic Japan” (Harvard Press) that it is more accurate to describe Japan as a multiethnic society. Such claims have long been rejected by other sectors of Japanese society such as former Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō, who once […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― We hear so much about North Korea’s secret bases that it’s sometimes easy to forget the ruckus over U.S. bases in the region. They may not be secret, but they can be controversial. Take, for instance, the huge U.S. air and marine bases on Okinawa. People over […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — In a week of speeches which swirled from the sublime to the ridiculous or were simply just boring, the recent UN General Assembly debate reached some notable exceptions. Among the sonorous drone of 193 addresses, either restating the obvious or repeating by rote the contemporary […]
by WorldTribune Staff, April 18, 2018 CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong-Un during a secret visit to North Korea over Easter weekend, a report said. Pompeo, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, made the trip to discuss the planned Trump-Kim summit, The Washington Post reported on April […]
by WorldTribune Staff, April 17, 2018 The candidate seeking to become the first robot mayor in Japan is promising “fair and balanced opportunities for everyone.” The robot, with an all-silver body and what appear to be female features, has been nominated to run for mayor of Tama City in west Tokyo against a slate of […]
by WorldTribune Staff, April 13, 2018 Researchers in Japan have discovered what is being described as a “semi-infite” supply of rare earth elements in the country’s exclusive economic waters. More than 16 million tons of rare earth elements were discovered in deep-sea mud off the coast of Japan, according to a study released on April […]
by WorldTribune Staff, February 22, 2018 Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force reported it spotted the transfer of possibly banned items to a North-Korean registered tanker in the East China Sea, a report said. A Japanese P-3C patrol plane saw the North Korean tanker alongside a small ship of unknown registry at a point some 250 kilometers […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The strange case of NBC sports commentator Joshua Cooper Ramo touched the sensitive nerves of millions of Koreans. Thousands responded with indignation, aggrieved feelings, even outrage to his on-air remark at the Winter Olympics to the effect that “every Korean will tell you that Japan as a cultural and […]
by WorldTribune Staff, February 11, 2018 NBC issued an apology after one of its Olympics correspondents infuriated Koreans by saying “every Korean” is thankful for Japan’s key contributions in the resurgence of South Korea as a nation. NBC Asia Correspondent Joshua Cooper Ramo made the comment during the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 9, setting off […]