Politics: News & Insights - Nikkei Asia

    Politics

    29 October 2026
    German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to reporters beside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after their summit in Tokyo Oct. 28. (Photo by Tomoki Mera)
    A gyrotron brings fusion reactors to ultrahigh temperatures. (Kyoto Fusioneering)
    Energy

    Japan to team with Germany on fusion energy project, including power plant

    Kyoto Fusioneering looks to improve equipment and power generation technology

    27 October 2026
    British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. (Source photos by Takahashi Miyazaki and Reuters)
    Opinion

    From trust to growth: the next chapter in Japan-UK relations

    Countries can benefit from enhanced cooperation in finance and disaster preparedness

    26 October 2026
    Claus Kress, professor at the University of Cologne and a special adviser to the ICC, gives a keynote address in Courtroom 600 for the Nuremberg Forum 2026 on Oct. 7.  (Photo by Shin Nakayama)
    Comment

    Nuremberg at 80: Japan's role in the unfinished fight against aggression

    Tokyo backs ICC but stops short of accepting expanded jurisdiction over war

    26 October 2026
    Japanese Prime Minister and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are scheduled to meet in Tokyo on Oct. 28. (Nikkei and Reuters photos)
    International relations

    Japan PM Takaichi to urge Germany for favorable EV treatment in EU

    Friedrich Merz to visit Tokyo as Japanese vehicles set to miss out on preferential status

    25 October 2026
    Killer drone on display outside Russia's National Defense Management Center in Moscow. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters)
    Interview

    SF writer Daniel Suarez warns of AI-powered authoritarianism

    Leader armed with killer robots, mass surveillance could imperil democracy

    24 October 2026
    The yen-dollar exchange rate has fluctuated in a narrow band since early October.
    Currencies

    Yen on track to gain from US midterm elections and France unrest

    Japanese currency appreciated after 9 out of 10 US midterms, data shows

    23 October 2026
    The U.K. is BYD's largest market outside of China. It and other Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers may soon face higher import tariffs to the U.K. 
    Politics

    UK under pressure to align with EU duties on Chinese EVs

    Turkey, Japan, South Korea also want exemption from Europe's localization rules

    21 October 2026
    Thales CEO Patrice Caine said global defense investment will likely continue to be strong "for the next decade." (Photo by Shogo Kodama)
    Aerospace & Defense Industries

    Japan offers opportunities, partnerships for defense contractor Thales: CEO

    Patrice Caine sees radar and sonar as prime areas for providing support

    21 October 2026
    U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during a rally in Park City, Kansas, on Oct. 19.
    20 October 2026
    A person walks as flames rise during civil unrest, the day after a national day of demonstrations against the cost of living and rising fuel prices in Paris on Oct. 18.
    Politics

    Macron urges calm as France counts the cost of worst unrest in years

    Police make more than 2,000 arrests as rioting broke out in multiple cities

    19 October 2026
    German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to journalists before European Council meetings on Oct. 15. Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for urgent action to address the EU's trade imbalance. 
    Trade

    EU seeks faster China de-risking with new diversification tool

    France, Germany aim to let UK off localization rules for alignment on Chinese-made cars

    17 October 2026
    Container ships are docked at Yangshan Port outside Shanghai in May. China is on track to exceed a $1 trillion trade surplus again in 2026.
    Trade

    China's export engine hits fastest pace since February with 36% growth

    Chips and cars fuel September rise as Beijing strives to cool trade tensions

    14 October 2026
    French high school students gather outside a high school in Paris as part of a nationwide day of demonstrations and blockades.
    Comment

    When it comes to France's public finances, the problem is politics

    Rising yields signal trouble, but consensus for radical fiscal change remains elusive

    14 October 2026
    Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung.
    International relations

    Taiwan warns Europe of dangers of dependence on China

    Island's foreign minister speaks at Warsaw Security Forum

    14 October 2026
    Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Abdul Ghani speaks at the EU–Malaysia Business Day event in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 13. (Photo by Norman Goh)
    Trade

    Malaysia targets June 2027 signing of EU trade deal

    Negotiations are 80% complete, trade minister says; palm oil and auto issues remain

    13 October 2026
    Vietjet passengers were given souvenirs on the airline's first-ever flight outside Asia-Pacific when an Airbus A330 flew from Hanoi to Prague in the Czech Republic via Almaty in Kazakhstan on Oct. 10. (Vietjet)
    Transportation

    Vietjet's maiden Prague flight reveals Vietnamese carrier's global ambition

    Budget airline prepares more European flights, taps growing underserved markets

    12 October 2026
    U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a joint press conference in Washington at the White House in February  2025.
    Ukraine war

    Trump's Russia-Ukraine truce claim comes as India urges peace

    Analysts say New Delhi has limited leverage, proposal could be sidelined briefly

    12 October 2026
    An injured man stands amid rubble at the site where a house was hit by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Oct. 11.
    Ukraine war

    Russia and Ukraine agree to 'energy ceasefire,' Trump claims

    US leader offers no details as Kyiv says attacks continue

    12 October 2026
    Defenders of the rules-based international legal order are being tested on whether they have the resolve to sustain it over time, says Claus Kress, special adviser to the ICC prosecutor on the crime of aggression. (Photo by Shiori Goso)
    Interview

    Trump sanctions will not break the ICC, court's special adviser declares

    Support from key backers including Japan and Germany could determine the system's resilience

    10 October 2026
    Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, left, stands at the scene of the burning National Academy of Sciences on Sept. 28. (Photo by Eiji Furukawa)
    Ukraine war

    Russia's attacks on Kyiv test civilian resilience as winter looms

    Moscow steps up strikes aimed at destroying urban life as battlefield gains stall

    10 October 2026
    The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2025. The U.S. announced sanctions against the ICC on Oct. 9.
    International relations

    US hits ICC with sanctions hours after former judge wins Nobel

    Sanctions 'must be condemned,' says International Criminal Court's deputy prosecutor

    10 October 2026
    Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, speaks with Nikkei in an exclusive interview in Nuremberg on Oct. 8. (Photo by Shiori Goso)
    Interview

    Nobel laureate Pillay calls US sanctions on ICC judges 'shocking'

    International justice has still made 'great progress,' former UN rights chief says

    10 October 2026
    Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay at a news conference at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva in 2012.
    Society

    South Africa's Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

    Judge's legal career spans anti-apartheid advocacy and major international tribunals

    9 October 2026
    European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in discussions this week to avert a trade war. (Screenshot from Maros Sefcovic's X account)
    Trade

    China-EU trade talks yield prospect of Chinese hybrid exports halving

    Europe says it is given $4.5bn in improved market access; Beijing statement more muted

    9 October 2026
    An attendee sits in the cockpit of a full scale mock-up of a GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme) Tempest fighter plane at the Farnborough International Airshow in July.
    Aerospace & Defense Industries

    UK PM Burnham says he is open to Germany joining GCAP fighter program

    Berlin could join joint UK-Japan-Italy program after partnership with France falls through

    8 October 2026
    French Air and Space Force aircraft, including Rafale fighter jets, fly in formation at Japan's Hyakuri Air Base.
    Defense

    France showcases long-range air power to bolster Indo-Pacific deterrence

    Country's military major general says center of gravity shifting toward the region

    7 October 2026
    A former security official told Nikkei Asia that British academia was deeply penetrated by the Chinese Communist Party.
    International relations

    UK universities review China ties after MI5 espionage alert

    Chinese Embassy rejects claim that collaborations are used to fund spycraft

    7 October 2026
    August Hanning, the former president of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND), appears as a witness before an investigative committee at the German parliament in 2015. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP)
    International relations

    Former German spy chief arrested on suspicion of attempted treason

    Ex-official obtained state secrets to prepare analysis for foreign intelligence service, prosecutors say

    7 October 2026
    Jeffrey Archer's final novel, "Adam and Eve," is due to be published on Oct. 6.
    Obituaries

    Jeffrey Archer, UK novelist and politician plagued by scandal, dies at 86

    Conservative Party official under Thatcher, his bestselling novels sold over 300m copies worldwide

    6 October 2026