ASIANOMICS

🇯🇵Japan's ruling LDP wins 2/3 lower house majority in boost for PM Takaichi Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives in Sunday's election, scoring a landslide victory that will give Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a major boost in pushing ahead with her conservative policy agenda. Crossing the two-thirds majority line of 310 seats in the 465-member lower house means the LDP, the first party to achieve the feat in postwar Japan, can move toward amending the Constitution and enact bills even if they are rejected by the House of Councillors, where the ruling coalition remains in a minority. The sharp gain in seats, from 198 before the election, was apparently made possible by Takaichi's personal popularity, setting the stage for her to stay on as premier after taking office last October. The LDP and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will together have a huge presence in the chamber. #Japan @asianomics

🇯🇵🇺🇸Trump announces White House visit by Japanese PM Takaichi on March 19 Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will visit the White House on March 19, President Donald Trump said on Thursday, praising the Asian country’s first female leader ahead of weekend snap elections she is expected to win. Takaichi “has already proven to be a strong, powerful, and wise Leader, and one that truly loves her Country”, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social as he announced her visit next month. The United States and Japan have been working to strike a “very substantial” deal on trade, as well as collaborating on national security, Trump said, offering his “Complete and Total Endorsement”. Polls point to a resounding win in Sunday’s elections for Takaichi’s conservatives after a honeymoon start. #Japan#USA @asianomics

🇦🇺🇮🇩 Australia and Indonesia sign security pact Australia and Indonesia’s leaders signed a security deal on Friday, one of a series of agreements that Canberra has secured with neighboring countries to reinforce ties and limit China’s influence in the region. At a signing ceremony, President Prabowo Subianto met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said before he travelled to Jakarta that the pact was a “watershed moment” in ties. It “represents a major extension of our security and defense cooperation and demonstrates that our relationship is as strong as it has ever been”, Albanese said. The agreement aims to increase the security partnership between the two countries "to a new level", for mutual security and regional security. The text will be modelled on the 1995 Australia-Indonesia agreement to avoid a binding mutual defense obligation like the one currently held with Papua New Guinea. This structure ensures the pact remains a consultation process rather than a strict military requirement. #Australia#Indonesia @asianomics

🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan risks becoming numb to China drills, but threat is urgent, defense minister says Taiwanese people are at risk of becoming "numb" to China's daily military and other pressure tactics to wear down the island, but the threat is real and greater readiness is needed, Defense Minister Wellington Koo said. Koo said over the past year, China has used military pressure, cyberattacks and psychological warfare against Taiwan through more "complex and precise actions." The number of detected Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and drones, rose 23% in 2025 from a year earlier, as China tries to push the narrative that the Taiwan Strait is an "internal" Chinese waterway, he added. #Taiwan#China @asianomics

🇻🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳 Vietnam's trade surplus with US surges in January as imports from China hit new high Vietnam's trade surplus with the United States grew in January by nearly 30% year on year as exports climbed, while imports from China hit a new monthly high. The surplus with Washington was $12 billion in January, nearly 30% higher than a year earlier, and only slightly lower than the $12.3 billion in December. Imports from China reached a monthly record, climbing to $19 billion from $18.7 billion in December and $12 billion in January 2025. Hanoi has been in talks for months with Washington over a possible trade agreement after the Trump administration imposed 20% tariffs on Vietnamese goods in August and threatened higher duties on goods made mostly from components that Vietnam imports from China. #Vietnam#USA#China @asianomics

🇰🇷🇺🇸 Defense ministry proposes joint, partial management of DMZ to US The defense ministry has proposed to the United States that South Korea's military jointly manage parts of the southern half of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. The proposal came as the South Korean government aims to secure control of civilian access to the 248-kilometer-long, 4-km-wide stretch of the DMZ. Currently, the US-led UN Command (UNC) administers the military buffer zone as the south-side enforcer of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. Amid the UNC's outright objection to Seoul's move, the defense ministry proposed a measure under which South Korea's military oversees entry to parts of areas located south of the barbed-wire fence within the DMZ. In addition to making the request to the UNC, the ministry also seeks to include the issue as an agenda item in bilateral defense talks, such as the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue and the Security Consultative Meeting. #SouthKorea#USA @asianomics

🇻🇳🇺🇸 Vietnam willing to boost US purchases, trade minister says Vietnam is willing to increase purchases of US goods, especially machinery and high‑tech products, its trade minister said on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian nation began a sixth round of tariff negotiations in Washington this week. Trade Minister Le Manh Hung met with several US companies in the energy and technology sectors, including executives from Apple, Exxon Mobil, GE, AES and Excelerate Energy, according to a statement from the ministry. The White House in October said the United States and Vietnam would finalize a trade agreement that will keep tariffs on most Vietnamese goods at 20% but remove duties on certain products. #Vietnam#USA @asianomics

🇹🇼🇨🇳🇺🇸Relations with US 'rock solid,' Taiwan president says after Trump-Xi call Relations between Taiwan and the US are "rock-solid" and cooperation programs will continue and not change, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday after Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the island with President Donald Trump. Speaking to reporters in central Taiwan, Lai said Taiwan and the US have strong channels of communication. "Taiwan–US relations are rock-solid; all cooperation programs will continue and will not change," Lai said, adding that the US commitments to Taiwan also remain unchanged. #Taiwan#China#USA @asianomics

🇨🇳🇺🇸 US must be prudent when supplying arms to Taiwan, Xi tells Trump China's leader Xi Jinping called Taiwan "the most important issue" in China-US relations during a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Xi had told Trump to be "prudent" when supplying weapons to the island, state media reported, adding that he "attaches great importance" to ties with Washington and hoped both sides will find ways to resolve their differences. Trump himself is due to visit China in April, a trip he says he "very much looks forward to". He added that Beijing is considering buying 20 million tonnes of US soybeans, up from the current 12 million tonnes. #China#USA @asianomics

🇨🇳🇰🇷🇰🇵 China to play constructive role 'in our way' on N. Korea: top envoy China will continue to play a constructive role "in our way" for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Beijing's top envoy has said, hoping that the parties involved will take "effective" steps to help resolve the security issues lying at the core of the stalemate. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing made the remarks in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, as Seoul is pushing to restore inter-Korean ties and help revive the stalled talks between the North and the United States. Pyongyang has so far rejected the olive branch. Seoul has repeatedly called for Beijing -- North Korea's traditional ally and key economic benefactor -- to play an active role in helping bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. Following recent talks with Xi, South Korean president said that he had requested Xi to act as a mediator on North Korea issues and that Xi advised him to "have patience." #China#SouthKorea#NorthKorea @asianomics

🇵🇭 Philippine lawmakers weigh impeachment for President Marcos Philippine lawmakers met on Tuesday to decide whether to advance impeachment complaints against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is accused of betraying the public's trust, corruption and violating the constitution. Marcos, who is midway through his six-year term and denies wrongdoing, faces two separate complaints filed by a lawyer and activists, which hurdled an initial step at the House justice committee on Monday when lawmakers said both were "sufficient in form". The committee reconvened on Tuesday to determine whether there was "substance" to move the complaints forward. The committee's decision, regardless of which way it goes, would be put to a vote of the lower house of Congress, which is dominated by allies of the president. #ThePhilippines @asianomics

🇺🇸🇨🇳 Nvidia AI chip sales to China stalled by US security review Nvidia's H200 AI chip sales to China remain in limbo nearly two months after US President Donald Trump approved exports, pending a US national security review, the Financial Times reported. Chinese customers are, meanwhile, not placing H200 chip orders with Nvidia until it becomes clear whether they will be able to secure the licenses or what conditions will be attached. In January, the Commerce Department eased export curbs on the H200 for China, but required license applications to be reviewed by the US departments of State, Defense and Energy. The Commerce Department has completed its analysis but the State Department was pushing for tougher restrictions to make it harder for China to use the H200 chips in ways that would undermine U.S. national security. #USA#China @asianomics