Obama backs Japan for U.N. Security Council

YOKOHAMA: U.S. President Barack Obama said on Saturday that Japan was the “model” of the kind of country that should be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

He also said at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan that he had invited Kan to visit the United States in the first half of 2011 and that the U.S. commitment to Japan’s defence was unshakeable. AGENCIES

Recalled Japan ambassador to return to Moscow

TOKYO: Japan has ordered an earlier-than-expected return of its ambassador to Russia, who had been temporarily recalled amid a row over a disputed island chain, the Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

Kyodo said ambassador Masaharu Kono, recalled on Wednesday after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to one of four islands held by Russia but claimed by Japan, will return to Moscow around noon on Sunday.

The ambassador was not expected to return to Russia until after the Nov. 13-14 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Japan, and his earlier return is seen as an attempt to accelerate arrangements for a meeting between Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan during APEC, Kyodo said. AGENCIES

Japan says PM to meet Russian president despite row

TOKYO: Leaders from Japan and Russia will likely hold talks at an Asia-Pacific summit in mid-November, Japan’s top government spokesman said on Tuesday, despite a diplomatic row over disputed islands that both nations claim.

The flare-up of the feud over the islands, triggered by a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to one of the islands on Monday, adds to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s diplomatic headaches as he struggles to repair ties with Beijing, strained by another territorial row.

Medvedev visited one of four disputed islands known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, a move that was likely to snarl ties between the two nations ahead of the November 13-14 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit that Japan will host.

“I think that bilateral talks will be held,” Chief Cabinet Secretary told

Japan in new diplomatic row after Russian isle visit

SOUTHERAN KURILES/NORTHERN TERRITORIES: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited an island claimed by Moscow and Tokyo on Monday, sparking a diplomatic row with Japan as it struggles to mend ties with rising rival China.

Medvedev’s visit to the island, one of four known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, was likely to snarl ties with Japan ahead of an Asia-Pacific leaders summit that Japan will host in mid-November.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan quickly expressed regret over the visit — the first by a Russian leader.

“Japan’s stance is that those four northern islands are part of our country’s territory, so the president’s visit is very regrettable,” Kan told a parliamentary panel.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said any such visit would “hurt the feelings of the Japanese people”. Maehara said last

Japan, China ministers meet, agree to improve ties

HANOI: Japan and China have agreed to improve ties, Japan’s foreign minister said on Friday after talks with his Chinese counterpart likely to set the stage for fence-mending between the leaders of Asia’s biggest economies.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara told reporters after meeting China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that the leaders of both nations, whose ties have been strained by a dispute over islands in the East China Sea, were likely to hold one-on-one talks on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Hanoi.

“I think that Japan-China leaders’ summit will probably take place,” Maehara said, adding his talks with Yang, which lasted for about an hour, were held in a “very good atmosphere, in a calm and in a forward-looking manner.”

Speculation has swirled over whether Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, would hold direct

Europe seek heightened global role of emerging Asian giants

BRUSSELS: Europe sought a heightened global role with Asia’s emerging giants Monday at talks ranging from trade to climate change between nations representing more than half the world’s population.

The two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of 46 nations, followed by separate EU summits with China and South Korea on Wednesday, opens amid renewed tension between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, indisputably star guest of the talks, could hold a face-to-face meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to ease the dispute, diplomats said.

For the European Union, the get-together of dozens of heads of state and government in the gilded Goya-hung halls of the Belgian royal palace opens a window of opportunity to strengthen ties with the Asia region at a time of fast global change.

“I am convinced

Japan PM Naoto Kan survives leadership challenge

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan won the presidential election of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Tuesday to remain as the country’s leader.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has survived a party leadership challenge from veteran lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa. Lawmakers and members of the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) elected to retain Mr Kan by a margin of 721 points to 491.
His victory means that Japan will be spared a sixth leadership change in four years. Mr Kan, who took office in June, has said he wants to reign in spending and curb Japan’s massive public debt.
As his victory was confirmed, the yen hit a new 15-year high against the dollar.
Kan, 63, who took office three months ago, and rival Ozawa, 68, who has been in parliament for 40 years, have clashed over economic policies.

Japan PM Kan wins party leadership vote

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was set to keep his job after winning a ruling party leadership vote on Tuesday, but a strong showing by his rival among party parliamentarians could weaken his clout, complicating efforts to rein in huge public debt.

Kan, 63, who has promised to curb spending and cap borrowing, is already struggling with a strong yen and fragile recovery and will now have to try to unify his fractured party while forging deals with the opposition to pass laws in a divided parliament.

Markets had been braced for a shift toward more aggressive spending if Kan lost to powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, who had said he would consider issuing more debt if the economy worsened.

The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has floundered since sweeping to power a year ago, and the DPJ and a tiny partner lost their upper house majority in a July

Japan govt loses upper house majority

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s coalition government suffered a major blow in Sunday’s upper house election, exit polls showed, threatening efforts to curb massive public debt and putting his own job at risk.

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Japan govt loses upper house majority

PM meets world leaders

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani met with the world leaders including Japanese and Indian leaders here Tuesday at the Washington Convention Center on the occasion of Nuclear Security Summit.

Prime Minister Gilani and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exchanged greetings and spoke informally for a few minutes prior to a group photo of leaders attending the summmit.

The two South Asian leaders also had a handshake and exchange of greetings on Monday.

Gilani also had the opportunity to meet briefly with Japanese Prime Minister Yuko Hatoyama, King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kichner, Prince Muqrin Ibne Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, President of Saudi Arabian General Intelligence, and South African President Jaco Zuma.

The two-day summit focusing on nuclear security around the world will conclude later Tuesday. Leaders from nearly 50 countries are attending the summit, hosted by President Barack Obama.

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