Japanese business press

A further threat to the Ukrainian people forced to live in the cold due to lack of electricity

(Yoichi Masuzoe: scholar of international politics)

The year 2023 has got off to a bleak start as fighting continues on New Year’s Day in Ukraine. This year’s topic is the war in Ukraine.

The spread of the new coronavirus will also have a major impact on the global economy. However, as soon as the Xi Jinping administration changed the zero-corona policy, the infection spread to China, increasing the risk of creating new mutant strains.

It’s the beginning of a difficult year.

Ukraine in battle

On New Year’s Day, a Russian troop barracks in Makyivka, near the capital of the Donetsk region, was attacked by the Ukrainian army’s highly mobile missile artillery, the Hymers, killing and wounding dozens of soldiers. Russia’s Defense Ministry puts the death toll at 89, but the real number is believed to be higher.

The casualties include many mobilized soldiers, but if the number of casualties among Russian soldiers increases in this way, it is possible that anti-war movements in the country will expand. In December 1979 Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan. Despite heavy sacrifices, he didn’t give results and in February 1989, ten years later, he was retired.

The great pressure to withdraw came from the voices of Russian mothers whose sons had been killed on the battlefield. How many victims and how long will it take for these voices to rise again and gain great political power?

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, which is said to have killed 15,000 and injured 50,000, was a prelude to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This time in Ukraine, the number of killed and wounded Russian soldiers seems to have already vastly exceeded that.

On January 5, Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire starting at noon on January 6, the Russian Orthodox Christmas Day. The move comes in response to Patriarch Kirill’s call for a Christmas truce, but the Ukrainian side dismisses the ceasefire proposal as hypocrisy.

The dictator’s New Year’s loneliness portrayed by the US media

(Yoshihisa Komori: Sankei Shimbun Washington Resident Correspondent, Distinguished Professor at Reitaku University)

An analysis has been reported detailing in the United States that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who continues to invade Ukraine, is becoming increasingly politically isolated in Russia.

While Putin remains a powerful force in Russia and intends to drive Ukraine into military submission, a new distance has emerged between him and his close longtime allies. It has also been warned that Putin’s loneliness in the new climate could lead to even bolder military offensives.

International isolation that emerges from the words of the allies

An analysis of Putin’s new isolation was reported in a lengthy Washington Post article (December 30, 2022). “Putin, unaccustomed to defeat, delves into isolation as war stalemate,” read the headline.

The author is Catherine Belton, known for her many years of reporting on Russia in the newspaper’s international news department. The journalist currently lives in London, but has worked extensively in Russia. In his book “Putin’s Supporters,” he details Putin’s political career from his time in the KGB, and sheds light on his supporters and aides, garnering international attention. . Also this time you conducted local coverage in Russia and Ukraine, and in particular you interviewed many people directly from the Russian side.

The 80-year cycle of turmoil continues and there is a risk of an acceleration of the turmoil due to the weakening of the financial system

(Shigeo Ichioka: Market Researcher)

Russia shocks US with restrictions on resource exports

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the surge in global prices due to rising energy prices, etc., a sharp depreciation of the yen to the level of 150 yen against the dollar and the de facto increase in interest rates interest from the Bank of Japan… the unexpected 2022 has come to an end. , the new year is over.

What year will 2023 be?

I predict that the world will become more unstable and chaotic, and that the “global scale of the Bakumatsu era” will progress, with political, economic, military and natural upheavals.

In terms of markets, we expect a year of price volatility across markets as geopolitical tensions escalate and debt issues escalate. While it sounds like a pinch to investors, the turbulence also means opportunity for the market.

The main reason for the volatility is the escalating war between Russia and the US-backed Ukraine.

In general, Russia is believed to have been harmed by economic sanctions from leading Western countries and is on the defensive in military terms. However, Russia, a resource-rich country, is trying to shake up the stock price, which is the strength and weakness of the United States, by limiting the export of various resources and increasing inflation concerns.

Will China’s ‘coronavirus’ be the start of a new pandemic?

(Kaori Fukushima: reporter)

The Corona virus in China is raging. In the three years since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, China now probably has the highest number of infected people and the highest number of deaths from the infection.

However, at this stage, China has lifted the quarantine measures for immigrants and the ban on free movement within and outside the country. The New Year and Lunar New Year holidays in late January are likely to see large-scale migrations of Chinese, once again creating tensions around the world.

Ahead of Japan in the real was “with crown”.

On December 26, the Chinese government changed the name of “new coronary pneumonia (new coronavirus pneumonia)” to “new coronary pneumonia (new coronavirus infection)”. Along with that, we will relax preventive control measures for infectious diseases from class A (strict management control) to class B (basic prevention and treatment), and from January 8, we will not take quarantine measures for people entering the country from abroad did. Both Chinese and foreigners are free to enter the country as long as they have a negative PCR test certificate 48 hours before entering the country. Aircraft seats have also lifted the social distancing restriction of “one person in five seats”. It also removed restrictions on the number of flights, which were previously limited to one country and one route.

Close contact determination is not performed. It will not distinguish between high and low risks, treat infected people according to their severity, adjust medical safety policies in a timely manner, and fail to implement quarantine management for immigrants and cargo. PCR tests after entering Japan are not mandatory, and even if they test positive, they will not be forced into quarantine if they are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and no underlying disease, and will be left to voluntary management.

China’s infectious disease policy is divided into three categories, Class A, Class B, and Class C (A, B, C), according to the danger of the virus. Shellfish are plague and cholera. Type B includes SARS, AIDS, hepatitis B, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, rabies, and dengue fever. Type C includes flu, mumps, and measles.

Russian Medvedev meets Xi Jinping, China will not allow “American hegemony”

(Yoichi Masuzoe: scholar of international politics)

Russia is making life difficult for Ukrainians by attacking power plants and other infrastructure as Ukraine’s counterattack escalates into the Ukrainian War. It is used by General Winter.

With no prospect of a ceasefire, President Zelensky visited the United States on the 21st, met with President Biden and addressed Congress. It will be Zelensky’s first trip abroad since the Russian invasion on 24 February.

Let us consider the background of this visit to the United States and its effects.

US arms support is a lifeline

Ten months ago, Russia launched an invasion with the intention of taking the capital Kyiv within days, overthrowing the Zelensky regime and creating a puppet government. However, that view was misplaced.

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the United States has invested large sums of money to modernize the equipment of the Ukrainian military and train its personnel. As a result, the Ukrainian army valiantly resisted the Russian army. The most effective was the arms support from the United States and other NATO countries.

“Stinger” portable surface-to-air missile, “Javelin” anti-tank missile, “Mi17” helicopter, 155mm howitzer, “Himers” high-mobility rocket artillery system, “Switchblade” and “Phoenix Goat” self-destructing drones, anti- drone. These include the “Vampire” system and medium-range surface-to-air missiles “NASAMS”.

These state-of-the-art weapons have been extremely effective in incapacitating the Russian military, forcing it to retreat. Without these weapons, Ukraine would not be able to continue the war.

However, NATO countries cannot continue to provide weapon support forever, and the rising prices of various goods caused by the war have increased the dissatisfaction of ordinary people in Western countries. The growing power of the far right in countries like Italy and Sweden is a direct manifestation of this dissatisfaction. This is “Ukrainian fatigue”.

Rumors are circulating of Putin’s defection plan and running out of ammunition, but one shouldn’t underestimate Russia’s ability to keep fighting

(Yoichi Masuzoe: scholar of international politics)

There are only two weeks until the new year and the war in Ukraine shows no sign of ending. On the contrary, the appearance of a proxy war with the United States has become increasingly apparent. There have also been reports that President Putin will defect to Venezuela if Russia is defeated.

However, the reports we are exposed to are primarily those of the United States and Ukraine, and just as Russia manipulates information, so does the West.

Therefore, I would like to come full circle, look back on the last eight months of the war and consider future developments.

Russia on the defensive

Russia’s plan to take Kiev, overthrow the Zelensky regime and set up a puppet government within days has gone awry. It shows that Russia’s intelligence capabilities are declining and can be said to be below the Soviet-era level with the KGB, which Putin chose to work for.

Moreover, during the 20 years of Putin’s administration, the KGB’s successor, the FSB, has only communicated information that satisfies the president.

The Zelensky administration of Ukraine was also taking a quiet approach, not anticipating an invasion, even though the Russian military had conducted repeated exercises in the border area since the second half of last year. The warning information should have come from NATO. This point is also Zelensky’s mistake.

The Russian invasion did not go as Putin expected due to Ukrainian resistance and military support from the United States and other NATO countries. NATO’s latest weapons, in particular, have surpassed Russia’s in terms of performance and have caused great damage to the Russian side.