NEW YORK: Japan announced Thursday that it will lift tough COVID-19 restrictions on foreign tourists, reopening the borders after two and a half years.
Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the pandemic had interrupted the free flow of people, goods and capital that had helped the nation flourish.
“But from October 11, Japan will relax border control measures to be on par with the US, as well as resume visa-free travel and individual travel,” said Kishida, who is in the city for the United Nations General Assembly.
Japan, along with China, has been a holdout in continuing tough restrictions on visitors, as much of the world has moved on from the pandemic.
But unlike China, Japan never imposed a strict lockdown during the crisis.
Tourists who come to Japan will enjoy a weak yen, which has plummeted so low against the dollar that the finance ministry intervened in the currency market Thursday for the first time since 1998.
The return of the visa-waiver program suspended in March 2020 will restore the ease of access that saw a record 31.9 million foreign visitors to the country in 2019.
Since June, Japan has allowed tourists to visit in groups accompanied by guides, a requirement that was further relaxed to include self-guided package tours.
The cautious approach to reopening has been deliberate, said James Brady, Japan analysis lead at US-based consultancy Teneo.
Kishida “took office a year ago knowing that perceived mishandling of the pandemic had been a key factor in undermining public confidence” in his predecessor’s government, Brady said.
“He has been extremely careful not to repeat those mistakes.”
Japan has recorded around 42,600 coronavirus deaths in total — a vastly lower rate than many other countries — and 90 percent of residents aged 65 and over have had three vaccine shots.
There is no law requiring people to wear masks, but they are still near-ubiquitous in public places like trains and shops, with many Japanese willing to sport masks when ill even before the pandemic.
On the streets of Tokyo, members of the public hailed the announcement.
“I think it’s a good thing to gradually bring foreign tourists back here,” said Michio Kano, 76, who runs a bar.
He called for the move to be followed by a loosening of anti-COVID-19 rules.
“You can’t soften the rules on one side for foreigners and still say to the Japanese, ‘Don’t do this or that’,” he said.
Katsunori Mukai, 28, said Japan should welcome tourists as long as there are no surges in cases.
“It’s true that here we still have the culture of wearing masks and other things but I think that if there is no serious danger of catching a serious disease in general, people can come as many times as they want,” he said.
While the return of mass tourism should give a “slight bump” to Japan’s economy, the benefits are likely to be limited by China’s zero-COVID-19 policy, Brady, the analyst, said.
“Much of the economic benefit pre-pandemic came from high numbers of Chinese visitors coming and spending lots of money on tech products (and) cosmetics,” he explained.
But “currently, Chinese citizens face their own travel restrictions at home and won’t be traveling to Japan in large numbers.”
There is pent-up demand for travel to the country, however, according to Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights for travel analytics firm ForwardKeys.
“Searches for travel to Japan reached their highest point this year at the end of August,” and while flight bookings were just 16 percent of 2019 levels in early September, “we’d expect bookings to jump” when the visa rules are scrapped, Ponti said.
Demand from Europe may still be subdued “due to the increase in the cost of living in Europe caused by the Russian-Ukraine crisis plus the rising fuel costs driving up air travel costs,” said Liz Ortiguera, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
Japan to lift COVID-19 restrictions on foreign tourists from October
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Japan to lift COVID-19 restrictions on foreign tourists from October

- Japan, along with China, has been a holdout in continuing tough restrictions on visitors
- But unlike China, Japan never imposed a strict lockdown during the crisis
Rubio to meet Russia's Lavrov as strikes pound Kyiv
Rubio’s first visit to Asia as secretary of state also comes as US President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, threatening more than 20 countries with punitive tariffs.
The top US diplomat is to meet Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur, a senior State Department official said.
Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people, the city’s military administration said Thursday, after earlier warning of incoming missiles and reporting around a dozen wounded.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard loud blasts echoing over the city throughout the night and saw flashes from air defense system lighting up the sky.
Dozens of residents of the capital took shelter in a central metro station, an AFP reporter said, sleeping on mats, calming pets and waiting out the attack on camping furniture.
That came a day after Russia’s biggest missile and drone attack on Ukraine in more than three years of war — and after Trump launched an expletive-filled attack on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Trump accused Putin of talking “bullshit” about Ukraine, saying that the United States would send Kyiv more weapons to defend itself.
Rubio and Lavrov last met in February in Saudi Arabia, following a rapprochement between Trump and Putin. The two diplomats have also spoken multiple times by phone.
After Malaysia, Lavrov will visit North Korea this weekend, the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military ties.
Pyongyang has emerged as one of the Kremlin’s main allies during its Ukraine invasion, sending thousands of troops to Russia’s Kursk region to oust Kyiv’s forces and providing the Russian army with artillery shells and missiles.
US officials said ahead of Rubio’s trip that Washington was “prioritising” its commitment to East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Speaking in Malaysia, Rubio said the United States has “no intention of abandoning” the region.
But his visit comes after Trump threatened more than 20 countries, many in Asia, with tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent, and announced a 50 percent toll on copper imports and a possible 200 percent duty on pharmaceuticals.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Asia’s top diplomats on Wednesday of a new era when tariffs are among the “sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry.”
Trump said Monday that duties he had suspended in April would snap back — even more steeply — on August 1.
Among those targeted were top trade partners Japan and South Korea, which each face 25 percent tariffs.
Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Myanmar — all members of ASEAN — face duties ranging from 20 percent to 40 percent if they do not strike deals with Washington by Trump’s new deadline.
The levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some rates were notably lower this time.
Vietnam, which is also an ASEAN member, is one of only two countries — Britain being the other — to have reached a tentative agreement with Trump.
In Malaysia, Rubio will attend a post-ministerial conference and a meeting by East Asian foreign ministers — which will also see Japan, South Korea and China participating.
He will also meet with Anwar and hold trilateral talks with the Philippines and Japan.
Rubio’s Chinese counterpart Wang Yi is also at ASEAN, but details of any meeting between the pair have not been announced.
The superpowers remain locked in a range of disputes on issues from trade and fentanyl, to Taiwan and cutting-edge technology.
Without mentioning the United States, Wang on Thursday called for a “fairer and more reasonable” international order.
Pakistan police arrest 149, including 48 Chinese, in scam center raid

- The agency said they were acting on a tip-off about the network
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan police arrested 149 people — including 71 foreigners, mostly Chinese — in a raid on a scam call center, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency said Thursday.
“During the raid, a large call center was uncovered, which was involved in Ponzi schemes and investment fraud,” the agency said in a statement.
“Through this fraudulent network, the public was being deceived and vast sums of money were being illegally collected.”
The agency said they were acting on a tip-off about the network, operating in the city of Faisalabad, a manufacturing center in the east of the country.
It said the raid was at the residence of Tasheen Awan, the son of the former chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority, a government agency.
All those arrested were in custody, including 78 Pakistanis and 48 Chinese, as well as citizens from Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Myanmar.
Some 18 of the 149 were women, it added.
China says ‘verifying’ case of citizens held for alleged spying in Ukraine

- Ukraine’s SBU security service said the son was a 24 year old former student of a technical university in Kyiv, and that the father, who lives in China, had traveled to Ukraine to coordinate his son’s “espionage activities”
BEIJING: Beijing said Thursday it was still “verifying” the case of a Chinese father and son detained by Ukraine for allegedly trying to smuggle navy missile technology out of the war-torn country.
“If Chinese citizens are involved, we will... safeguard Chinese citizens’ legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Relations between Kyiv and Beijing, a key Russian ally, are strained.
Ukraine and the West accuse China of enabling the Russian invasion through trade and of supplying technology, including for deadly drone attacks.
Ukraine also says dozens of Chinese citizens have been recruited by Russia’s army and sent to fight.
Ukraine’s SBU security service said Wednesday the son was a 24-year-old former student of a technical university in Kyiv, and that the father, who lives in China, had traveled to Ukraine to coordinate his son’s “espionage activities.”
The two were “attempting to illegally export secret documentation on the Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune missile system to China,” the agency said.
Moscow and Beijing struck a “no limits” partnership on the eve of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, and have since deepened political, military and economic cooperation.
Hundreds of migrants moved from Crete to Greek mainland as island struggles with Libya arrivals

- EU officials earlier this week were turned away from eastern Libya following an apparent disagreement on the format of talks planned on curbing crossings
LAVRIO: More than 500 migrants arrived at the port of Lavrio near Athens Thursday after being intercepted south of the island of Crete, as Greece implements emergency measures to address a surge in Mediterranean crossings from Libya.
The migrants, consisting mostly of young men, were transferred overnight aboard a bulk carrier after their fishing trawler was intercepted by Greek authorities. Service vessels helped bring them ashore at the mainland port. They will be sent to detention facilities near the capital.
Their transfer to the mainland was ordered because makeshift reception centers on Crete have reached capacity, with roughly 500 news arrivals per day on the Mediterranean island since the weekend.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced Wednesday that Greece would suspend asylum processing for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months. The measure targets arrivals on Crete and was taken during a diplomatic strain between the European Union and Libya over migration cooperation. EU officials earlier this week were turned away from eastern Libya following an apparent disagreement on the format of talks planned on curbing crossings.
Authorities on Crete are struggling to provide basic services, using temporary facilities to house migrants, primarily from Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and Morocco, according to island officials.
Ukraine to launch Starlink mobile Internet in 2026, becoming Europe’s first, Kyivstar says

ROME: Ukraine will become the first European nation to offer Starlink mobile services when leading operator Kyivstar launches messaging by year-end and mobile satellite broadband in mid-2026, Chief Executive Oleksandr Komarov said.
Field tests have begun under an end-2024 deal with Space X’s commercial broadband constellation to allow tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company to launch direct-to-cell services in the war-torn country.
Direct-to-cell devices connect to satellites equipped with modems that function like a cellphone tower, beaming telephone signals from space directly to smartphones.
“The first phase is over-the-top (OTT) messaging ... so messaging via WhatsApp, Signal, and other systems ... it will be in place at the end of this year,” Komarov told Reuters in Rome.
“And probably at the beginning of 2026, let’s be on the safe side, Q2 2026, we will be able to propose mobile satellite broadband data ... and voice.”
SpaceX did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
US carrier T-Mobile will introduce a data service on its satellite-to-cell network, powered by Starlink, at the start of October, the company said in June.
Komarov was speaking ahead of a Ukraine recovery conference Italy is hosting three years after the Russian invasion, with President Volodymyr Zelensky also due to attend.
He said his main aim at the conference, the fourth since the war began in February 2022, was to support the Ukrainian government and establish new business ties, some with Italian firms willing to expand in the country.
Kyivstar, owned by telecoms group VEON, is also working toward a US listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Komarov said the project was “moving forward” and hoped to finalize it in the third quarter of this year.
“I think it will be an exemplary move,” he added. “The first in history, the direct placement of (a) Ukrainian entity on the American stock exchange ... during the war.”
Komarov said Ukrainian telecom infrastructure was holding up well under Russia’s escalating assaults in recent weeks.
Last year one of its attacks on power grids and transmission lines caused daily blackouts in major cities after it knocked out about half Ukraine’s available generation capacity.
“I think that we are much more resilient than we used to be in 2022. Right now we can run our fixed and mobile services up to 10 hours during the blackouts, even national blackouts.”