The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent, its highest level in three decades, after a two-day monetary policy meeting.
The move marks the first rate hike since January and also the first under the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who advocated an aggressive fiscal policy and monetary easing.
The rate hike is part of the central bank's latest step towards monetary normalization after the BOJ ended its negative interest rate policy in March 2024. The central bank raised its policy rate in July 2024 and again in January.
Since Takaichi took office, the yen has sharply depreciated amid concerns that her expansionary policy would further deteriorate Japan's fiscal health, prompting the selling of the currency and government bonds. The yield on the benchmark newly issued 10-year government bond -- a key indicator of long-term interest rates -- is edging closer to 2 percent.
Market expectations for further rate hikes have intensified as Japan continues to grapple with persistent inflation and negative real interest rates.
Bank of Japan raises interest rate to 30-year high
China's permanent representative to the United Nations Fu Cong on Thursday strongly condemned Japan's colonial atrocities in Taiwan and called for unwavering vigilance against the resurgence of militarism.
At the UN General Assembly high-level plenary meeting to commemorate the first International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations, Fu said the world has yet to emerge from the shadow of colonialism despite the end of colonial occupation and the collapse of colonial system.
He urged the international community to firmly oppose any words or actions that challenge or seek to subvert the post-war international order.
Fu noted that the International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations aims to urge the international community to remember the harm of colonialism, accelerate the ongoing decolonization process, and end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.
Reflecting on the history of the World Anti-Fascist War, Fu stressed that peace needs to be striven for and safeguarded.
Following the victory of World War II, the trials of war criminals at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East ensured that the principal perpetrators of the war of aggression, whose hands were stained with the blood of people of many nations, received the punishment they deserved. The justice and integrity of the trials are unshakable and beyond challenge, Fu said.
"In history, Japan invaded China, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia, imposing horrendous colonial rule. Japanese aggressors committed innumerable crimes and atrocities in Taiwan, killing over 650,000 compatriots in Taiwan, forcibly recruiting around 200,000 young people to serve in the military, forcing more than 2,000 Taiwan women to become sexual slavery, or 'Comfort Women', occupying 70 percent of Taiwan's land, and destructively exploiting natural resources, including coal and gold mines. It was the darkest page in Taiwan's history," Fu said.
Fu called on the international community to resolutely defend the victorious outcomes of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and resolutely defend the post-war international order.
"We must never allow any denial or distortion of the history of aggression, never allow the revival of militarism, and never allow the recurrence of historical tragedies," the Chinese envoy said.
Any words or actions that challenge or seek to subvert the post-war international order could create instability in the world and bring immense suffering to humanity as a community with a shared future," Fu said.
"Japan, as a defeated country in World War II, must do deep soul-searching regarding its historical crimes, abide by the political commitments it made on the Taiwan question, immediately stop provocative actions that cross the line, and retract its erroneous remarks," he said.
China condemns Japan's colonial past in Taiwan, urging vigilance against militarism
