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In this Sept. 24, 2015, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vice President Joe Biden, stand for the U.S. national anthem during an arrival ceremony in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

U.S., China ‘cold war’ poses immediate test for Joe Biden

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2000, file photo, a Japan Air Self-Defense Forces F-2 jet fighter is seen in Toyoyamacho, Aichi Prefecture (state), central Japan. Japan's Cabinet approved a ninth straight increase in the nation's defense budget as the government bolsters funding to develop longer-range cruise missiles and stealth fighters to counter potential threats from China and North Korea. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Japan Cabinet OKs more defense funds amid potential threats

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

Japan’s Cabinet adopts plan to bolster missile deterrence

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, a man and a woman look at the Olympic rings float in the water in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers are expected to unveil their fifth annual budget before Christmas. It is expected to show the rising costs of the postponed Games. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Tokyo Olympics Q&A: Costs, IOC, COVID-19, and vaccinations

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

Cars wait to be exported at Yokohama port, near Tokyo, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. Japan's exports fell more than 4% from a year earlier in November, despite an uptick in trade with China, according to customs data released Wednesday, Dec. 16. Exports of vehicles, semiconductors and other manufactured items showed the biggest declines.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Japan exports slip despite uptick in trade with China

Associated Press

This Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, photo released by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), shows black grains, right, thought to be from Ryugu are inside the sample container of the re-entry capsule. Japan’s space agency said Monday it has confirmed the presence of black soil samples inside a capsule that the spacecraft Hayabusa2 brought back from a distant asteroid last week. (JAXA via AP)

Japan’s space agency finds ample soil, gas from asteroid

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

FILE - In this March 20, 2020, file photo, three-time Olympic gold medalists Tadahiro Nomura, right, and Saori Yoshida light the torch during Olympic Flame Arrival Ceremony at Japan Air Self-Defense Force Matsushima Base in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. The torch relay for the postponed Tokyo Olympics is to start in just over three months, and it faces the same questions as the Olympics about being held safely during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Tokyo Games relay opens in 100 days with 10,000 torchbearers

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

A small capsule dropped by Japans' Hayabusa2 spacecraft in a container box arrives at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's research facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. The capsule containing asteroid soil samples that landed in the Australian Outback arrived Tuesday in Tokyo for research into the origin of the solar system and life on Earth. (Yu Nakajima/Kyodo News via AP)

Japan space agency confirms asteroid soil inside capsule

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

FILE - In this March 1, 2020, file photo, a department store employee with a mask dresses a mannequin in Tokyo. A quarterly survey by the Bank of Japan shows business sentiment has improved sharply with expectations that the economy is recovering from a year-long recession.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Japan ‘tankan’ business survey shows optimism over recovery

By ELAINE KURTENBACH - Associated Press

Hinako Shibuno, of Japan, smiles after putting on the 17th green during the second round of the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament in Houston, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

No longer a surprise, Shibuno leads by 3 at US Women’s Open

By DOUG FERGUSON - Associated Press

People ride escalators at a shopping mall in Tokyo on Aug. 24, 2020. Japan has reported its economy expanded at a 22.9% annual rate in the last quarter, as businesses and personal spending recovered from pandemic-related shocks in the spring and early summer. Economists said the upward revision released Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 was in line with forecasts and suggests Japan's economy, the world's third largest, is on the mend from the recession that started in late 2019, even before coronavirus outbreaks hit. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Japan’s economy grows 22.9% in 3Q, bouncing back from COVID

By ELAINE KURTENBACH - Associated Press

FILE - In this Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 photo provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a member of JAXA retrieves a capsule dropped by Hayabusa2 in Woomera, southern Australia. The small capsule from Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully landed in a sparsely populated desert in the Australian Outback on Sunday. (JAXA via AP, File)

EXPLAINER: What has Japanese space mission accomplished?

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020. Suga announced a 2 trillion green fund to promote innovation and technology to achieve his pledge to achieve a carbon free society by 2050.(AP Photo/Hiro Komae, Pool)

Japan PM pledges $19B to promote ecological businesses

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

File - In this Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 file photo, a statue commemorating so-called 'comfort women', an euphemism given by Japan to the women and girls enslaved for sex by the Japanese army during World War II, is displayed at a residential area in central Berlin, Germany. This week, Berlin's Mitte district assembly approved a motion urging the local government to let the statue stand and find a solution for its long-term exhibition. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Berlin district to keep ‘comfort women’ statue for now

Associated Press

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 220, file photo, a man wearing a mask walks on a pedestrian bridge over the train tracks in Tokyo as a large display of Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics games are seen in the background. Organizers of the delayed Tokyo Olympics are declining to confirm widely circulated reports in Japan that the costs of the one-year postponement will be about $3 billion. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

Tokyo Games won’t confirm added costs reported at $3 billion

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

FILE - In this March 24, 2020, file photo, a man is seen through the Olympic rings in front of the New National Stadium in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 announced a series of 18 test events set to begin in March and run into May. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Reports: Cost of Tokyo Olympic delay put at about $2 billion

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

FILE - In this March 24, 2020, file photo, a man is seen through the Olympic rings in front of the New National Stadium in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 announced a series of 18 test events set to begin in March and run into May. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Tokyo Olympic organizers plan to host 18 test events

By STEPHEN WADE - Associated Press

China' Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi (unseen) participate in a press briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. Wang met Motegi on Tuesday to discuss ways to revive their pandemic-hit economies as well as regional concerns over China’s growing influence. (Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP)

Japan, China agree on economic ties, split over islands

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

Biden China policy illustration by The Washington Times

Biden set to discard ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ strategy

By Brahma Chellaney

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, left, greets International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach before their meeting in Tokyo, Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. IOC President Bach is beginning a visit to Tokyo to convince politicians and the Japanese public that the postponed Olympics will open in just over eight months.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Tokyo governor: Japan can host Olympics despite virus spike

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press