Katō Kōko is the pivotal figure behind the World Heritage inscription process and the controversial historical narratives of “Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution.” Several of these industrial sites used Korean as well as Chinese and Allied POW forced labor during wartime, and Japan agreed to present narratives of the victims forced to work at the sites when they were inscribed as World Heritage in 2015. The plans for the Industrial Heritage Information Centre for these sites officially agreed to document the remembrance of these victims, but a July 2021 UNESCO/ICOMOS report stated that the Centre conveys a message that no one was forced to work at the relevant sites. Katō Kōko, Managing Director of the Information Centre, was central in planning and collecting source material for its exhibitions. She is also UNESCO's direct contact as Managing Director of the Information Centre. Katō has created celebratory narratives of Japan that actively deny the history of its forced laborers. With the backing of powerful Japanese politicians, Katō has put on a false performance of cooperation for UNESCO and related international stakeholders.

This article considers the bases for establishing common ground with China in a period of rising tensions between the two nations.

This is an excerpt from Venetia Welby's novel, Dreamtime, set in Japan and Okinawa.

Dreamtime tells the story of an American woman's journey to Japan to find the father who abandoned her, a marine in Okinawa. It's set in the near future when both climate change and sabre-rattling between the US and China have intensified: sea levels are rising, commercial aviation's about to be banned – and anything can be justified in the face of the climate catastrophe and impending war. When Sol and her childhood friend Kit reach Tokyo, the gulf between expectation and reality becomes apparent; invisible boundaries start to shift. Soon they are joined on their journey by Hunter, a large marine who infatuates Sol and riles Kit. He leads them to the military heartland of Okinawa – and swiftly out of their depth.

Jiang Shigong (b. 1967) is a professor of law at Peking University and a prominent member of China's New Left, as well as a talented apologist for Xi Jiping Thought. This text, originally published in August, 2019, was republished online on September 26, 2020, following Meng Wanzhou's return to China. Jiang, who writes frequently about empire, and particularly the American empire, penned this text to explain to Chinese readers the legal mechanisms by which the “long arm of justice” of the United States works its mischief throughout the world on behalf of the financial and legal interests of the American empire.

On November 9, six days before the virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping attracted the world's attention, the two leaders had shared their thoughts about the relationship between the two countries. It was at the annual gala of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, held in the Plaza Hotel in New York. In their congratulatory letters to the committee, both acknowledged the challenges in the relationship of the two countries and expressed willingness to overcome them.