North Korea’s nuclear extortion drama, the repeated threat of nuclear attack followed by demands for food and financial aid, has exhausted South Korean and Japanese diplomatic patience. Last year, Japan indicated that North Korea should expect more than expressions of anger the next time it put a ballistic missile on a launch pad in preparation […]
Japan
Posted inOp-Eds
Japan amends military force restrictions
On September 19, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government succeeded in passing legislation revising pacifist interpretations of his nation’s post-WW 2 constitution. The U.S.-imposed document placed limitations on Japanese military forces. Imperial Japan was the aggressor who started World War 2 in Asia. In essence, the law restricted Japanese forces to defending Japanese territory from […]
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Asian naval arms race a cause for alarm
The great East Asian naval arms race has definitely begun. It is and will be quite costly. Last November, StrategyPage.com estimated that over the next two decades China and its frightened neighbors will spend $200 billion on naval weapons acquisition. The bulk of that figure will purchase warships. China, which started the arms race, will […]
Posted inObituaries, sj-web
Keiko E. Ingerson
1932 – 2015 LEWISTON — Proud owner of Keiko’s Family Hair Care and longtime Lewiston-Auburn barber stylist Keiko Endo Ingerson died peacefully at her home on Wednesday, April 29, surrounded by family after a brave battle with cancer. Keiko died as she lived her life — with grace and dignity. Keiko was born in Tokyo, […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
LePage to lead trade mission to Japan, China in October
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage will lead a trade mission to Japan and China this fall. LePage will travel to Tokyo and Shanghai with a group of Maine businesses and educational institutions in October to attract investments to Maine and highlight the state’s exports. LePage said in a statement that the group will educate […]
Posted inObituaries
Lucien ‘Vince’ Levasseur
1940 – 2015 AUBURN — Lucien ‘Vince’ Levasseur, 74, went to his heavenly reward Tuesday, April 14, at the Hospice House in Auburn, surrounded by his loving family after a brave and hard-fought six-year battle with cancer. He was born April 17, 1940, in Lewiston, the son of Emile and Ella (Provencher) Levasseur. Vince attended […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine to release thousands of beetles to combat invasive insect
PORTLAND (AP) — Maine officials are beginning to release thousands of beetles in a long-term effort to eliminate an invasive insect that is attacking hemlock trees in the southern part of the state. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry will release predator lady beetles at Baxter Woods in Portland next week to help reduce […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Largest economies are operating at varying speeds
WASHINGTON — The global economy is plodding ahead in fits and starts as the largest countries struggle to achieve consistent growth. Europe is faltering again. Japan is suddenly surging. China is cooling. The U.S. is strengthening. In the background, central banks are aiming to administer just the right amount of stimulus — not too much, […]
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Austin Bay: Disputed islets test Pacific diplomacy
Vice-President Joe Biden’s strong reaffirmation of the U.S.-Japan alliance is better news following bad. The bad news is what made the American reaffirmation necessary: China’s latest act of “barbed wire diplomacy,” the extension of its Air Defense Identification Zone to include a disputed chain of Japanese-administered islets northwest of Okinawa. The Japanese call the disputed […]