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00:00Welcome to Newsroom Tokyo. I'm Yamasawa Rina and I'm Yoshikawa Ryuiichi. Here are the headlines.
00:14Japan-China tensions rise at sea after an incident in waters of Okinawa's main island.
00:21The Assad regime in Syria collapsed exactly one year ago, but divisions cloud the country's future.
00:28And it's Nobel Prize time. Two Japanese laureates are in Sweden ahead of the ceremony this week.
00:37First, the Chinese Navy. A spokesperson accuses Japan's air self-defense force of approaching and attempting to disrupt a training exercise.
00:49But senior government officials here in Tokyo insist that is not the case, and they say China has acted dangerously.
00:58China's claim comes after Japan's defense ministry said a Chinese fighter jet aimed its raider at an ASDF plane.
01:09It took off from the aircraft carrier Liaoning.
01:13The incident took place on Saturday in international waters southeast of Okinawa's main island.
01:18Japanese officials also say at least one Chinese fighter from the carrier targeted its raider onto some Japanese F-15s.
01:28They say that incident took place just hours later.
01:32Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru described China's actions as dangerous and regrettable.
01:40The government has lodged a strong protest with China and urged the country to prevent a recurrence.
01:51Japan will deal with the issue calmly and firmly.
01:54And Kihara denied Beijing's claim that the ASDF disrupted a Chinese drill.
02:05I have received a report that the Air Self-Defense Force planes kept a safe distance while performing their duties.
02:13China's claim is wrong.
02:14Security and foreign affairs research officials of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party discussed the situation on Monday.
02:26Former Defense Minister Onodera Itsunori serves as Security Research Commission chair.
02:31He says China's use of radar against Japanese jets undoubtedly raised the danger level.
02:40It should be regarded as an act of provocation.
02:44I hope the Self-Defense Forces will deal with the matter in an appropriate manner
02:48by keeping in mind that such acts are likely to continue.
02:54Other participants say the incident should be added to a timeline of other Chinese provocations.
03:00And they say the information should be released internationally in multiple languages.
03:07For more, I spoke with Japanese defense expert Yamaguchi Shinji.
03:13He says China's recent military moves are nothing new and likely designed to pressure Japan.
03:20China has a history of doing dangerous actions like intimidation against the other country's military forces when political relations deteriorate.
03:38Yamaguchi also referred to recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Takayichi Sanae.
03:43She told the Diet that a military emergency over Taiwan could be regarded as a situation that would threaten Japan's survival.
03:52Japan-China's political relations have become deteriorated, especially after Prime Minister Takayichi mentioned about the survival-threatening situation.
04:06So it is quite logical for Chinese perspectives that they are employing economic pressures.
04:13At the same time, Yamaguchi says China probably has a line it will not want to cross.
04:28China's main goal for this action is the intimidation against Japan.
04:36So China does not intend to escalate further.
04:41However, the fact remains that this action is extremely dangerous.
04:46And also, political situation will be unstable for the future.
04:54Similar situation like the targeting radar or dangerous approaching very closely.
05:02That's really what we can expect.
05:05We should expect the similar things can happen.
05:11So how should Japan react?
05:14He suggests patience and calm could be key.
05:17We should say and talk to other countries that how China's actions is really dangerous.
05:28And also talk to China that this is really, really dangerous one, which could trigger unintended conflict.
05:35China's political system is highly centralized.
05:38So Xi Jinping's will is very, very important.
05:41Yamaguchi says a summit between Takai-chi and Xi would be very difficult right now.
05:48But he also says a previous period of high tensions eased after former Japanese leader Abe Shinzo met Xi in 2014.
06:00Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard reports spotting more than 100 Chinese vessels near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
06:08Officials say flares were fired toward a Philippine aircraft patrolling the area.
06:16Filipino authorities said Saturday that a surveillance flight over Subi Reef, where Beijing has built an artificial island, identified 29 Chinese ships anchored nearby.
06:30The vessels appeared to be carrying maritime militia personnel known to coordinate activities with the Chinese military.
06:37Officials say flares were fired from the reef toward a plane of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, which had Philippine Coast Guard personnel on board.
06:50Flares emit a bright light and intense heat and are sometimes used as a countermeasure.
06:57The officials also reported more than 70 additional Chinese militia vessels near Whitsun Reef.
07:03It is a disputed area claimed by Manila, Beijing and others.
07:08The Philippine Coast Guard says it will continue to monitor the situation.
07:14Syrians are marking one year since the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad came to an end.
07:22The Assad family's authoritarian rule lasted for more than half a century.
07:27Interim President Ahmad al-Shala is attempting to put the country on a new course.
07:36He recently became the first Syrian leader to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly in about 60 years.
07:44He has also met U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin this year.
07:50Syrians remain divided after over a decade of civil war.
07:57A human rights group says more than 110-thousand people detained by the Assad regime are still missing.
08:06The country's relations with neighboring countries are strained.
08:10Israel has military forces stationed in a buffer zone along their border.
08:14And some areas of northern Syria are under the de facto control of Turkey.
08:23The newest Nobel laureates are set to receive their prizes in a week filled with ceremony and celebration.
08:31They include two Japanese scientists who have already arrived in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
08:37Sakaguchi Shimon is a distinguished honorary professor of the University of Osaka.
08:46And Kitagawa Susumu is an executive vice president and distinguished professor at Kyoto University.
08:54They took part in a long-held custom at the Nobel Museum on Saturday,
08:58adding their signatures to the cafe's chairs like other laureates.
09:03Sakaguchi shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with two Americans for discovering regulatory T-cells.
09:12He says Japan must find ways to keep children engaged in science.
09:16I told the government, well, it's important to support the basic sciences.
09:25And then so lots of interaction with people and the government and then especially young people.
09:34Kitagawa receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing metal-organic frameworks.
09:41He shares the award with two other researchers from Australia and the United States.
09:46He says funds for basic research must be increased.
09:51This achievement to the transfer to the society, it takes 25 years.
09:58So in the three categories, in the fundamental case, it should be the long-term funding.
10:06For more, we are now joined by NHK World Science correspondent,
10:10Hashiguchi Kazuto in Stockholm.
10:12So, Kazuto, the city must be buzzing ahead of the Wednesday ceremony.
10:18What is the mood over there?
10:21Yes, Stockholm is in full Nobel mode.
10:25Over there is a famous red brick city hall, which hosts a banquet.
10:29The food always generates a huge amount of interest here in Sweden.
10:35But the menu is being kept tightly under wraps.
10:39I asked the head chef a few days ago, and he gave me just one hint.
10:44Mushroom.
10:44I would like more hint than that, though.
10:47But I'm sure it will all be delicious.
10:49So, can you tell us more about what the Japanese laureates have been up to?
10:54Well, they both arrived in time for the weekends.
11:00Sakaguchi has already given his official Nobel lecture.
11:05He spoke on Sunday in front of more than 1,000 people about the potential uses for regulatory T-cells,
11:13also known as T-Rex.
11:16By expanding T-Rex, or strengthening their function,
11:20we can treat autoimmune disease, allergy, or immunopathological diseases,
11:26such as IBD, and organ transplantation.
11:28Sakaguchi also visited the Nobel Museum.
11:35He even donated copies of a manga featuring regulatory T-cells.
11:42Kitagawa visited a school attended by Japanese elementary and junior high students on Saturday.
11:49He gave a short lecture and offered some advice.
11:52There may be things you don't like to study,
11:58but there will also be things you do like to study.
12:02So, pursue those.
12:06It must have been a good opportunity for people to hear what Nobel laureates have to say.
12:12So, Kasuto, Kitagawa is also due to give a lecture, isn't he?
12:16Yes, actually, he's giving his Nobel lecture right now at Stockholm University.
12:25On Tuesday, he and Sakaguchi will attend a reception hosted by the Japanese embassy.
12:31And on Wednesday, they'll be at the hour's ceremony.
12:37They will receive their medals and diplomas from the king of Sweden.
12:40Well, thanks, Kasuto.
12:43That was NHK World Science correspondent, Hashiguchi Kasuto in Stockholm.
12:59Up next, Japan's economy.
13:01Two sets of data released on Monday paint a non-so-rosy picture.
13:07Yanaka-Mri from our business team is here with the details.
13:09Right. So, Marie, some numbers are more important than others.
13:13Which data sets are we talking about here?
13:16Inflation-adjusted pay and GDP.
13:18So, let's dive right in.
13:19Right.
13:20Real wages in Japan dropped for the 10th straight month in October.
13:25The rising cost of living continued to outpace pay increases.
13:31The labor ministry released preliminary data on Monday.
13:34They show inflation-adjusted pay in October dropped 0.7 percent compared to the same month last year.
13:42The ministry's monthly survey covers about 30,000 businesses nationwide with at least five employees.
13:50Workers took home an average of slightly more than 300,000 yen or about $1,900.
13:56That includes base pay, overtime, and other income.
14:01The figure is up 2.6 percent year-on-year, marking the 46th straight month of gains.
14:08The minimum wage increased in many parts of Japan in October.
14:13Average hourly pay for part-time workers grew 3.3 percent year-on-year to about 1,400 yen or $9.
14:21That was up for the 52nd month in a row.
14:26Ministry officials say wages continue to rise at a fast pace, but still not fast enough to catch up with inflation.
14:36Next, to the bigger picture.
14:38Japan's economy shrank more than first thought in the July to September period.
14:42The government's revised report lowered growth by another half a percentage point, due largely to sluggish corporate investment.
14:51Figures from the Cabinet Office on Monday revealed that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product contracted 2.3 percent in annualized terms in the period.
15:02That's weaker than the preliminary reading of a 1.8 percent decline.
15:07On a quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP shrank 0.6 percent.
15:14Corporate capital spending slumped 0.2 percent.
15:18The initial data predicted a 1 percent increase.
15:21Private residential investment plunged 8.2 percent, but it was revised up by 1.2 points from the initial estimate.
15:30The slide was mainly in reaction to a rush in housing starts before April, when tougher energy-saving standards took effect.
15:40Exports dropped 1.2 percent, as U.S. tariffs took their toll on shipments of automobiles and other items.
15:47This number was unchanged from the preliminary report.
15:52Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the economy, grew 0.2 percent.
15:58That was up 0.1 point from the earlier prediction, boosted by more spending on dining out and food delivery services.
16:06Over in China, trade data showed a conflicting picture.
16:12Overall exports jumped in November, but those to the United States fell further.
16:18That's mainly due to the Trump administration's tariffs.
16:21Chinese customs authorities on Monday said U.S.-bound shipments fell almost 29 percent in dollar terms last month from a year earlier.
16:32The decline is more than three percentage points larger than the October figure.
16:37China's imports from the world's biggest economy dropped 19 percent.
16:42The contractions came even as the two countries walked back tariffs in November, as agreed at summit talks in late October.
16:51Washington cut some extra levies on Chinese goods.
16:55Beijing suspended its additional tariffs on some American products, including soybeans.
17:01Meanwhile, the same report shows China's total trade grew.
17:05Exports rose 5.9 percent, driven by stronger shipments to Southeast Asia and Europe.
17:12Imports increased 1.9 percent.
17:16Now, a check on the markets.
17:18Let's start with Japanese government bonds, which have been seeing long-term rates climb.
17:24The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB rose to 1.97 percent.
17:29That's the highest level in over 18 years.
17:33Attention is on whether the yield will touch 2 percent as investors price in a rate hike from the Bank of Japan next week.
17:39The Takaichi administration's plan to ramp up spending has been adding to the upward pressure.
17:46Moving on to stocks, Tokyo's Nikkei average gained two-tenths of a percent.
17:50Investors were in a cautious mood ahead of monetary policy decisions in Japan and the U.S.
17:56The rest of the Asia-Pacific was mixed.
17:59Investors in Australia were also in a wait-and-see mood ahead of a policy decision from its central bank on Tuesday.
18:06And that's the biz for this Monday.
18:09Thank you very much for that, Marie.
18:11Tensions have reignited in a border area between Southeast Asian neighbors.
18:18Rosalind Devavalia in our Bangkok studio has the details.
18:23Thailand says it's carried out airstrikes on military targets in Cambodia along their disputed border.
18:30Both sides accuse the other of sparking the latest violence.
18:34Thailand says one of its soldiers was killed Monday after Cambodian troops opened fire.
18:43It says the airstrikes were launched in response.
18:47Officials from both sides say tens of thousands of people have fled the border area.
18:52Thai Prime Minister Anutin Chamirakun said his government will do the utmost
18:56to protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
19:01Cambodia denies triggering the fresh violence.
19:04The information minister said the Thai attacks killed four civilians.
19:09Cambodia called them a grave violation of the peace pact signed in October.
19:14That deal followed deadly clashes along the border in July.
19:18The Thai government says it was suspending the peace agreement last month,
19:23blaming Cambodia for a landmine explosion that wounded Thai troops, a claim Cambodia rejected.
19:29Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took to social media on Monday to call on both sides to exercise maximum restraint.
19:38Noting that Thailand and Cambodia are key members of ASEAN,
19:42he said the region cannot afford to see long-standing disputes slip into cycles of confrontation.
19:48In Australia, a firefighter was killed on Sunday as the country's bushfire season gets underway.
19:55In New South Wales, four homes were destroyed in the town of Buladila and 16 in the suburb of Kuliwong.
20:03In Tasmania, 19 homes were lost in the town of Dolphin Sands.
20:08The 59-year-old firefighter was killed after he was struck by a tree as he worked to contain a blaze in Buladila,
20:16about 200 kilometers north of Sydney.
20:19An official with the state's National Park Service expressed sorrow.
20:24It's a huge sadness to us as an organization.
20:28I would really like to again express my condolences and deep sadness of my organization to his family for his loss.
20:38Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told local media that this summer's bushfire season will be difficult,
20:44with New South Wales facing especially tough conditions.
20:48Timor Leste, which gained independence from Indonesia's rule in 2002,
20:54is one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries.
20:57Its budget mostly depends on a fund financed by oil and gas revenues
21:02that's expected to run out by the mid-2030s.
21:05In October, Timor Leste became the 11th member of ASEAN.
21:09It's hoping that opens doors to new ways to fuel growth.
21:13Marlon Christianto-Liu is an executive at a domestic travel agency and a tourism association.
21:21Marlon, who studied business at an American university,
21:25hopes joining ASEAN will become an opportunity to boost the country's economy through tourism.
21:30Once we officially, as a part of ASEAN economic community, we have that liberalization.
21:40Once we see, we're exposed to ASEAN market, we can go beyond that.
21:46He's focusing particularly on Timor Leste's rich marine resources.
21:56One of them is whale watching.
21:58From October through November, several species of whales migrate in the waters around Timor Leste,
22:05and tourists can swim close by with them.
22:07It was amazing.
22:10We saw one blue whale, and we could go and almost touch her.
22:17But some tour organizers worry that whales may stop coming to the area if they get too stressed.
22:25For sure, we would love to have more people coming here,
22:28but we really hope also that we will have proper regulation here in the future,
22:32that we will continue to work with other operators in the way we are doing now.
22:38Marlon also thinks another tourist draw is coffee, one of the country's main exports.
22:45Some facilities offer visitors experiences,
22:48including observing the process of drying coffee beans and coffee tasting.
22:54Marlon believes they will become an attractive destination
22:56for people who want to explore authentic coffee culture.
23:00But one challenge is access to rural areas, including coffee regions.
23:08Marlon says improving infrastructure like roads could attract more visitors.
23:12We just need to be more connected to, in terms of our network, as I said, scalability and connectivity.
23:21The government is also taking the initiative to improve tourism services.
23:30Tourism Bureau officials visited a hotel, which was built about 10 years ago, and checked out its condition.
23:38They also observed how staff were being trained,
23:41and explained ASEAN's standards for promoting sustainable tourism.
23:45The hotel met most of the rules, but the officials requested that signs be posted asking guests to turn off lights when not using them.
23:55The private sector has a different view, and may not always listen to our advice.
24:06So we'll keep trying to remind people in the sector how we can reach the standards we want.
24:14For Timor-Leste, ASEAN membership is seen as a chance to increase tourism nationwide.
24:25With the clock ticking on the country's current funding source, that can't come soon enough.
24:33And that wraps up our bulletin. I'm Rosalind Abouvalia in Bangkok.
24:37It's a time for a look at world weather with our meteorologist, Jonathan Oh.
24:55Hello. As we wrapped up the week last week, we were talking about some rain, even snow, importants of western Japan
25:01and some of the northeastern portions of the country dealing with that type of weather.
25:04But then things cleared up on Saturday. Take a look at this video.
25:08See what happened as bright, colorful hot air balloons filled the sky in western Japan Saturday.
25:14However, the attention was not about what was high up, but on the ground,
25:19because pilots were dropping small little markers to try hitting the target below, right there.
25:24Rain had fallen during the past few days, but sunny and calm weather returned Saturday in time for the big flights.
25:30Now, the competition will be held again in January.
25:33It was relatively calm along western side of Japan, but up into the north and east.
25:37Hello. You got the snow machine rolling here.
25:39So see a Japan side of the northeastern areas of Japan seeing the wintry weather.
25:44Snow continues into Sapuro as we go through the rest of this week.
25:48Tokyo, Osaka looking temperatures creeping slowly up to the mid-teens by the time we go into the middle of the work week.
25:54Saga looking at dry weather until Thursday.
25:57We'll see some showers coming into the picture.
25:59Speaking of some wintry weather, those of you in the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes,
26:03you're about to get smacked with some snow as we go through Monday.
26:06Low precipitation coming out of the Rockies and pushing toward the east,
26:09helping to really bring in some wintry weather.
26:11And as we go into Tuesday, some of those locations may be seeing a bit of a mixed precipitation.
26:15That can lead to some problems in the roadways for sure, with some of it being heavier rain as well.
26:21And chilly, too.
26:22Chicago topping off at three degrees below zero on Monday.
26:26One in D.C. with some snow.
26:27Rain to the Pacific Northwest with a high of 13.
26:30Bit of a messy setup across Europe as well.
26:32We have high pressure down to the south.
26:34A stretch of low pressure systems coming in from the north and west.
26:36And as those things roll on through, windy and wet weather will be the story as we go through Monday.
26:42I mean, London looking at some rain and windy weather with a high of 14 showers as far south as Paris into Vienna.
26:48Mid-teens, though, from Rome to Athens as we go through Monday.
26:51That's what looks at your forecast.
26:52Hope you have a good day wherever you are.
27:06And that's it for this edition of Newsroom Tokyo.
27:33You can catch this program on our website.
27:35I'm Yoshikawa Riuichi.
27:37And I'm Yamasawa Arena.
27:38Thank you very much for watching.
27:40Please join us again tomorrow.
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