BASKING RIDGE: President Donald Trump said Saturday he believes the Russia-Ukraine war would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia and placed tariffs on China of 50 percent to 100 percent for its purchases of Russian petroleum.
Trump posted on his social media site that NATO’S commitment to winning the war “has been far less than 100 percent” and the purchase of Russian oil by some members of the alliance is “shocking.” As if speaking to them, he said, “It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia.”
NATO member Turkiye has been the third largest buyer of Russian oil, after China and India. according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Other members of the 32-state alliance involved in purchasing Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia.
The letter comes at a tense moment in the conflict after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of NATO ally. Poland shot down the drones. It also comes as the Congress is trying to get him behind a bill toughening sanctions.
Trump in his post said that a NATO ban on Russian oil plus tariffs on China would “also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”
The president said that NATO members should put the 50 percent to 100 percent tariffs on China and withdraw them if the war that launched with Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine ends.
“China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia,” he posted, and powerful tariffs “will break that grip.”
The US president has already placed a 25 percent import tax on goods from India for its buying of Russian energy products.
In his post, Trump said responsibility for the war fell on his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He did not include in that list Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the invasion.
Trump calls on all NATO countries to stop buying Russian oil, threatens 50 percent to 100 percent tariffs on China
Trump calls on all NATO countries to stop buying Russian oil, threatens 50 percent to 100 percent tariffs on China
- President Donald Trump says he believes the Russian-Ukraine war would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia and placed tariffs on China
Chinese visitors to Japan slump as spat rumbles on
TOKYO: Mainland Chinese visitors to Japan tumbled 60.7 percent in January year-on-year, figures showed Wednesday, in the continued fallout from the countries’ diplomatic spat.
“Last year, the lunar new year began in late January, but this year it fell in mid-February,” the Japan National Tourism Organization said as it published the data.
“Additionally, the Chinese government issued a warning advising against travel to Japan. Factors such as reduced flight frequencies also contributed to the number of foreign visitors to Japan falling below the level of the same month last year,” a statement said.
Previously Chinese visitors were the biggest contingent, contributing to a tourism boom in the land of cherry blossom and Mount Fuji that was fueled by a weak yen making shopping cheap.
But in January this year, South Korea was the biggest source with 1.2 million visitors, up 21.6 percent, compared with 385,300 from mainland China, down from 980,520 in January 2025.
Visitors from Hong Kong also tumbled 17.9 percent.
Overall the number of visitors to Japan fell 4.9 percent to 3.597 million in January compared to the same period last year.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force.
China, which regards the democratic island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it, was furious.
Beijing summoned Tokyo’s ambassador and on November 14 warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan, citing “significant risks to the personal safety and lives of Chinese citizens.”
The number of Chinese visitors to Japan already tumbled 45 percent in December to 330,000.
In December, J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan.
China also tightened controls on exports to Japan for items with potential military uses, fueling worries that Beijing may choke supplies of vital rare-earth minerals.
Japan’s last two pandas were even returned to China last month.
Takaichi, 64, was seen as a China hawk before becoming Japan’s first woman prime minister in October.
She won a landslide victory in snap elections on February 8, putting her in a strong position for the next four years to stamp her mark on Japanese domestic and foreign policy.
Takaichi said after her election win that Tokyo would bolster its defenses and “steadfastly protect” its territory.
She also said she was “open to various dialogues with China.”
But China’s foreign ministry said “genuine dialogue should be built on respect for one another.”
“Proclaiming dialogue with one’s mouth while engaging in confrontation — no one will accept this kind of dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.
Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that forces in Japan were seeking to “revive militarism.”
