Geopolitics

A large Japanese-owned oil tanker flying a Panamanian flag has been permitted to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime tracker shows, marking a rare movement for Tokyo-linked shipping since the outbreak of hostilities with Iran. The Very Large Crude Carrier Idemitsu Maru is carrying roughly two million barrels of Saudi crude and is currently reported in the Gulf of Oman, with an estimated arrival in Nagoya on May 18, according to data from maritime analytics provider

Japan’s ruling coalition partners led by the Centrist Reform Alliance urged Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this week to push a fast-track supplemental budget to blunt the economic pain from the simmering crisis around the Strait of Hormuz. At a meeting on April 24, LDP policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi presented a set of recommendations to the prime minister that ranged from short-term consumer relief and measures to stabilize prices to a proposal to consider sending minesweeper

China shifts its strategy against the U.S., combining defensive measures with offensive actions, including blacklisting U.S. arms firms over Taiwan and restricting rare-earth exports. The U.S. responds with hints of canceled meetings and potential 100% tariffs, escalating the great-power rivalry.