Kyodo News Digest: June 20, 2025

KYODO NEWS - 1 hour ago - 08:26 | All, Japan, World
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Japan destroyer sails Taiwan Strait after China jet encounter
TOKYO - A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week, days after a Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a Japanese patrol plane over the Pacific, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
It was the third known passage through the waterway by an MSDF ship, with all occurring within the past year, apparently aimed at warning China, which continues to pressure Taiwan, the self-ruled democratic island it claims as its own.
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Japan's core consumer prices in May rise 3.7% on year
TOKYO - Japan's core consumer prices in May rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Friday.
The increase in the nationwide consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food, followed a 3.5 percent rise in April. The inflation rate has remained at or above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target since April 2022.
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Japan PM Ishiba rules out lower house dissolution for now: lawmaker
TOKYO - Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday ruled out dissolving the powerful House of Representatives for now, ensuring that elections for both chambers of parliament will not be held on the same day in July, party executives said.
The decision comes as Yoshihiko Noda, head of Japan's main opposition party, said he will not submit a no-confidence motion against Ishiba's Cabinet, arguing that such a move would stall progress on key political issues.
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Xi seeks Middle East cease-fire in phone call with Putin
BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a cease-fire amid Iran-Israel tensions during phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, describing it as an "urgent priority," the Foreign Ministry said.
Xi said the international community should make efforts to de-escalate the situation and that disputes should be resolved through negotiations rather than force, stressing the need to protect civilians, according to the Chinese ministry.
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Emperor renews peace hope in Hiroshima for 80th anniv. of war's end
HIROSHIMA - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Thursday renewed their hope for peace as they visited Hiroshima to pay their respects to atomic bomb victims on the 80th anniversary year of the end of World War II.
In their first trip to the city since the emperor's accession in 2019, the imperial couple laid white flowers and bowed deeply at a cenotaph in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which holds the names of around 340,000 victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing.
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Japan PM vows to develop ties with S. Korea on 60th diplomatic anniv.
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday pledged to continue working closely with South Korea at a ceremony in Tokyo to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties, despite wartime and territorial disputes.
"We need to continue close communication so that the bilateral relationship will steadily develop," Ishiba said in a speech at the reception held by the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, welcoming the vast exchanges that have taken place between what he called "the closest neighbors to each other."
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Nippon Steel confident management freedom ensured in U.S. Steel deal
TOKYO - Nippon Steel Corp.'s top executive Eiji Hashimoto said Thursday that the U.S. government's role set under its $14.1 billion buyout of United States Steel Corp. "will not hamper" the U.S. unit's business going forward.
At a press conference in Tokyo, Hashimoto said $11 billion of investment in U.S. Steel operations -- 10 times more than the initial plan -- and a golden share issued to the U.S. government that allows it to veto key management decisions among other conditions are rational, even as analysts view them as downside risks to U.S. Steel's management.
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Honda president eager to collaborate with Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors
TOKYO - Honda Motor Co. President Toshihiro Mibe expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Nissan Motor Co. and its alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. during a general shareholders meeting on Thursday, after merger talks with Nissan collapsed earlier this year.
Asked about the likelihood of revisiting a merger with Nissan, which fell through due to disagreements over management structure, Mibe said it was not possible "for the time being."
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