ASIANOMICS

🇯🇵 Battle to pick next LDP head effectively kicks off, heavyweights join race The battle to pick the next leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party effectively kicked off Monday, with heavyweights such as former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi emerging as prominent candidates. The presidential election is likely to feature some of the candidates who ran in 2024, including Takaichi, who hopes to become Japan's first female prime minister, Hayashi, former Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi. Following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's announcement that he will step down, the LDP is expected to decide soon on the timing of its leadership race, with party sources saying arrangements are being made to allow rank-and-file members to vote. #Japan @asianomics

🇨🇳🇰🇵 China is ready to enhance strategic communication with North Korea China is ready to enhance strategic communication with North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a congratulatory message over the 77th anniversary of the founding of North Korea. China is willing to maintain close cooperation with North Korea for regional and world peace and development, Xi's message said. #China#NorthKorea @asianomics

🇨🇳🇷🇺🇲🇳 China, Russia, Mongolia step up security ties with border exercise China, Russia and Mongolia held their first joint border defense drills this week, the Chinese military said on Tuesday, underscoring closer security coordination among the three neighbors. The exercise, called "Border Defense Cooperation - 2025", took place on Monday and Tuesday in an unidentified border region shared by the three countries, the People's Liberation Army said. The live drills aimed to "enhance strategic cooperation among the three sides, strengthen the ability to deal with border security threats, and further consolidate strategic mutual trust," the military said. #China#Russia#Mongolia @asianomics

🇰🇷🇺🇸 South Korea trade talks with US deadlocked over forex, Seoul says South Korea's negotiations to finalize a US trade deal are being held up due to foreign exchange issues and Seoul has asked Washington to help find a way to cap any market impact from a $350 billion investment package, a senior presidential official said. The delay in striking a final deal comes after US President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order to implement Japan's trade deal, which includes a $550 billion investment package. Presidential Policy Secretary Kim Yong-beom said the most important matter that needed to be addressed in order for South Korea to sign any agreement on the investment package was the impact it would have on the domestic dollar-won exchange market. #SouthKorea#USA @asianomics

🇺🇸🇯🇵Trump says "surprised" about Japan PM Ishiba stepping down US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was "surprised" to learn that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to step down less than a year after taking office. "I was surprised, because I knew him, I liked him, and he's just now stepping down," Trump told reporters as he traveled back to the Washington area. "I found him to be a very nice man, actually. We dealt very well together." Ishiba held an urgent press conference on Sunday evening in Tokyo, saying he would resign as both prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. #USA#Japan @asianomics

🇺🇸🇨🇳 US probes malware email targeting trade talks with China US authorities are investigating a bogus email purportedly from a Republican lawmaker that contained malware apparently aimed at giving China insights into the Trump administration's trade talks with Beijing. The malware in the email that appeared to be sent by Representative John Moolenaar in July to US trade groups, law firms and government agencies was traced by cyber analysts to a hacker group - APT41 - believed to be working for Chinese intelligence Moolenaar, a harsh critic of Beijing, is the chairman of a congressional committee focused on strategic competition between China and the United States, including threats to US national security. #USA#China @asianomics

🇰🇷🇯🇵 South Korean and Japanese defense ministers to hold talks in Seoul The South Korean and Japanese defense ministers will hold talks in Seoul on Monday, Seoul's defense ministry said, marking the first official visit by a Japanese defense minister to South Korea in a decade. Japan's Gen Nakatani will meet South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-Back on Monday afternoon, the ministry said. During his two-day trip, Nakatani will visit the Seoul National Cemetery and the Korean Navy 2nd Fleet. #SouthKorea#Japan @asianomics

🇯🇵🇦🇺 Japan and Australia pledge closer security ties to counter Indo-Pacific risks Australia and Japan on Friday said they would deepen cooperation to address increasing security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, including assisting each other in evacuating citizens at risk overseas. "We agreed to further strengthen our collective deterrence capabilities and to activate discussions on potential contingencies that could affect the security of both countries and the region," Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said. His comments came after a meeting in Tokyo that also included Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani and their Australian counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles. Japan and Australia, both close allies of the United States, are forging closer ties as China's regional influence expands. Their cooperation includes joint military training and a reciprocal access agreement signed in 2023 that allows their forces to operate on each other’s territory. #Japan#Australia @asianomics

🇺🇸🇹🇼US and Taiwanese defense officials held secret talks in Alaska US and Taiwanese defense officials held talks in Alaska last week, a US official said on Thursday, a move likely to anger China. Jed Royal, the Pentagon’s top Indo-Pacific official, met Hsu Szu-chien, then-Taiwan’s deputy national security adviser, in Anchorage. The talks came months after a Washington meeting between more senior American and Taiwanese officials was cancelled, partly over concerns that it could derail a potential bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and the Chinese president Xi Jinping. #USA#Taiwan @asianomics

🇰🇷🇯🇵🇺🇸 South Korea, Japan and US to hold defense drills South Korea, Japan and the US will conduct annual defensive drills starting on September 15 to upgrade aerial, naval and cyber operational capabilities against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, South Korea's military said on Friday. The "Freedom Edge" exercise is an annual drill designed to implement regional peace and stability, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding that the drill will be conducted in compliance with international law. The exercise follows large-scale 10-day troop mobilization drills by the South Korean and US militaries last month to assess their defense readiness against North Korean threats, which Pyongyang criticized as proof of the allies' hostile intent against it. #SouthKorea#Japan#USA @asianomics

🇨🇳🇰🇵 Kim tells Xi that North Korea will support China's interests, KCNA reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Chinese President Xi Jinping that North Korea will continue to support China in protecting Chinese sovereignty, territory and development interests, North Korean state media KCNA said on Friday. "No matter how the international situation changes, the feeling of friendship cannot change" between North Korea and China, Kim told Xi during bilateral t in Beijing on Thursday, KCNA reported. The leaders discussed strengthening strategic cooperation and protecting common interests in international and regional issues, and conducting more visits among high-ranking officials between the two countries as well as strategic communication, KCNA said. #China#NorthKorea @asianomics

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Putin says China to benefit from market-based gas price via new pipeline Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the planned new Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline would give a competitive advantage to China because the world's biggest energy consumer would get gas at a price lower than Europe's. Russia and China gave their blessing to the vast pipeline project with a binding memorandum signed during Putin's visit to China, but little is known about the key details of the pipeline and Gazprom said that pricing was yet to be agreed. The pipeline, which could one day deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year to China through Mongolia from the Arctic gas fields of Yamal, gives China greater options to hedge against any future reliance on US liquefied natural gas. #Russia#China @asianomics