japan prime minister
June 2, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Japan’s prime minister says he will resign
Yukio Hatoyama’s decision stems from his failure to deliver on his promise to move a U.S. military base off Okinawa after taking office in September.Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama ended weeks of internal discontent with his leadership by announcing Wednesday that he would resign, a swift fall from grace for a politician who just eight months ago led his endemic opposition party to a historic victory.
His collapse in approval ratings was prompted largely by his failure to deliver on a campaign promise to move a major U.S. military base off Okinawa’s main island. 
The move was a centerpiece of Hatoyama’s campaign for office last year, but its implementation would have required American consent to alter a painstakingly negotiated 2006 deal with the previous Japanese government before the base could be moved to another part of Okinawa.
The U.S. military has been ensconced in the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa since the end of World War II. Home to most of the 47,000 military and civilian personnel in Japan, the base remains crucial to Marine operations in the Pacific. But the accompanying noise and disruption have created a deep current of opposition from many Okinawans.
In elections last year, Hatoyama’s pledge to move the base off the island was part of a broader agenda to give Japan more say over security matters in its alliance with the U.S. It struck a chord not only with Okinawans, who contend the base’s intrusion on their lives is ignored by politicians in Washington and Tokyo, but also with those Japanese leery at how the U.S. alliance has dragged Japan into conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
No survivors in India plane crash: police
May 22, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
BANGALORE: There are no survivors from an Air India plane, which crashed with more than 160 people on board in the southern Indian city of Mangalore on Saturday, a senior police officer at the accident site said.
Chinese PM to visit SKorea, Japan
May 22, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
BEIJING: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will visit South Korea, Japan, Mongolia and Myanmar on a four-nation Asian trip starting later this month, the foreign ministry has confirmed.
Wen will attend a three-nation summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the island of Jeju in South Korea, ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoyu said in a statement late Friday.
The summit, on May 29 and 30, will likely focus on the North Korean nuclear issue, including the alleged torpedoing of a South Korean naval vessel by a North Korean submarine that killed 46 sailors.
Japan”s foreign ministry announced the Japanese leg of Wen”s visit earlier this week. He is due to meet Hatoyama in Tokyo on May 31 and Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on June 1. The four-nation trip will last from May 28 to June 3.
Japan, Australia hold security talks
May 19, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TOKYO: Japan and Australia were to hold talks in Tokyo Wednesday on stepping up military and diplomatic cooperation, despite a dispute between the Pacific allies over Japanese whaling.
Japan”s Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa were to meet their Australian counterparts Stephen Smith and John Faulkner in the late afternoon.
Tokyo and Canberra are working on an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, under which their armed forces would provide each other with food, fuel and logistical support during peacekeeping and disaster-relief missions.
It is the third such meeting by the foreign and defence ministers of Japan and Australia since the nations signed a security pact in March 2007, and the first under the government of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Starts Tweeting, Launches Blog
January 2, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TrendPK.com Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Starts Tweeting, Launches Blog:TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has launched a blog and started using Twitter in a New Year bid to reach out to the public at a time when his ratings have tumbled.
Hatoyama began using the microblogging service Twitter and launched a fully [...]
Japan PMs Ex-aide Charged over Funds Scandal
December 24, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TOKYO: A former close aide to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was charged on Thursday over falsified political funding records, public broadcaster NHK said, in a development that threatens to erode support for the government.
The scandal, which has been public knowledge for months, is thought unlikely to force Hatoyama to resign but the indictment will be another headache for his government, which marked 100 days in office on Thursday and faces key decisions on next year’s budget and relocating a U.S. airbase.
A sharp slide in voter approval could endanger the premier’s grip on his post ahead of an upper house election in mid-2010, in which his Democratic Party wants to win an outright majority to reduce the clout of two tiny but vocal coalition partners.
Opinion polls have shown voters are unhappy with Hatoyama’s explanation of the scandal over misreported donations, but a majority have said he need not resign over the affair.
Jiji news agency said the Tokyo summary court would fine the former aide 300,000 yen ($3,280). Tokyo prosecutors’ office said it could not confirm the report.
The indictment is thought unlikely to cause a quick, sharp drop in Hatoyama’s voter support, although it has slipped to as low as just below 50 percent from initial highs over 70 percent as doubts grow over the premier’s leadership skills.
Media reports have said prosecutors will not charge Hatoyama himself.
“It coincides with the end of the honeymoon period, as Hatoyama’s government marks 100 days in office and in that sense, it is symbolic and fateful,” said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital Japan, adding that he expected limited impact on financial markets.
“The (opposition) Liberal Democratic Party is too weak to force him to resign… and I don’t think Hatoyama will voluntarily step down either. But it may worsen voter support ahead of the upper house election,” he said.
Hatoyama said earlier in the day he would explain more about the funding scandal once prosecutors make decisions.
Japan PMs Ex-aide Charged over Funds Scandal was first posted on December 24, 2009 at 4:50 pm.
