Politics

By Keishi Koja of Stripes.com

Japan lodged another protest with China last week, its third in less than two weeks, after it said Chinese coast guard vessels entered waters around Japanese islets in the East China Sea.

Four vessels crossed the 12-mile territorial limit claimed by Japan around the Senkaku Islands between 4 p.m. and 4:06 p.m. Friday, according to a Japan coast guard news release that day.

Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry then lodged complaints with the Chinese Embassy in Japan and with the Chinese government in Beijing, a ministry spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

Some government officials in Japan are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

Two Chinese vessels approached Taisho Island from the northwest and entered the 12-mile limit at 4 p.m. and 4:06 p.m., according to the release.

Meanwhile, the remaining pair of Chinese vessels simultaneously entered the area around Uotsuri Island, also from the northwest.

The Chinese vessels appeared to be armed with deck-mounted machine guns and were met by a larger contingent of Japanese coast guard ships, a Japan coast guard spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

They warned the Chinese vessels to leave the area using radio and electronic message boards, he said.

“We do not know why the Chinese vessels intruded Japanese waters,” he said. “There were no Japanese fishing boats operating in the area.”

All four vessels left Japanese waters without incident by 6:01 p.m.

The incidents marked the 32nd and 33rd times this year that Chinese coast guard vessels intruded into Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkakus, the spokesman said. The last incident occurred Aug. 28.

The Senkakus are 105 miles east of Taiwan. The islets, whose surface area amounts to about 2½ square miles, are also claimed by China and Taiwan.

The incidents followed the intrusion of a Chinese military aircraft and a survey vessel into Japanese airspace and territorial waters around Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, in late August.

A Chinese Y-9 surveillance plane flew into Japanese airspace on Aug. 26 just southeast of the Danjo Islands, about 100 miles southwest of Nagasaki. It was the first time a Chinese military aircraft breached Japan’s airspace.

The flight was a “grave violation” of Japan’s sovereignty and a threat to its security, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said during a press conference Aug. 27.

“We filed extremely severe protests through diplomatic channels on the same day and strongly asked for measures to prevent recurrences,” he said.

Five days later, a Chinese naval survey vessel navigated into Japan’s territorial waters southwest of Kuchinoerabu Island, Kagoshima prefecture.

“We expressed strong concerns and filed a protest to the Chinese government through diplomatic channels on the same day,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said during a press conference Sept. 2.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel questioned China’s intent on his account on social platform X.

“China says it’s still ‘investigating and verifying’ the recent violation of Japan’s airspace by one of its surveillance planes,” he wrote Sept. 3. “But with a Chinese survey ship sailing into Japanese waters only the other day, two territorial incursions in less than a week looks more intentional than accidental.”

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

One in five borrowers with outstanding student loans have made no payments, as many hold out for potential debt relief, a recent survey reveals.

The survey, published on Sept. 5 by Intuit Credit Karma, found that 20 percent of student loan borrowers said they have yet to make any payments on their loans. This figure rises to 27 percent among borrowers with a household income of less than $50,000.

More than half (55 percent) of respondents reported being unable to afford their student loan payments, while nearly half (49 percent) said they feel “financially unstable.”

The survey underscores the financial strain faced by borrowers, with affordability challenges largely attributed to the high cost of living (69 percent). Many loan holders said they are forced to make difficult trade-offs, with 38 percent saying they are falling behind on other bills—such as auto loans, mortgages, or credit card payments—to meet their student loan obligations. Additionally, 39 percent of borrowers said they are prioritizing paying off higher-interest debt over their student loans.

The report also highlights the difficult financial situations of younger borrowers. Notably, 44 percent of Gen Z and 41 percent of millennial borrowers said they have depleted their savings to manage student loan payments. Overall, about one-third (34 percent) of all borrowers surveyed reported having $0 in savings.

Borrowers who haven’t been making payments should be on high alert, as their credit scores could be impacted once the federal government’s “on-ramp” grace period ends, the survey warns.

During this one-year transition period, payments are due and interest accrues, but missed payments won’t be considered delinquent, placed in default, or reported as such to creditors or debt collectors.

When the grace period ends on Sept. 30, borrowers will again face the usual consequences of missed payments, including default. Defaulting on a loan can damage one’s credit score and may result in the federal government garnishing wages, seizing tax returns, and intercepting Social Security benefits.

The survey suggests that some borrowers appear to have taken “irresponsible advantage” of the soon-to-expire relief. About one in seven (15 percent) of those who have not been making consistent on-time payments admitted they were intentionally avoiding payments, knowing their credit scores would not be impacted during the grace period.

“With Biden’s SAVE plan in limbo, many borrowers face uncertainty about whether they will benefit from lower monthly payments and a clear path to loan forgiveness,” said Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma, referencing the Biden administration’s income-driven repayment plan currently blocked by court orders.

“While it’s understandable to hope for potential loan forgiveness, borrowers shouldn’t rely solely on it,” Alev said in the survey release. “Those struggling to make payments should proactively reach out to their lenders to explore available options.”

The SAVE plan was designed to reduce monthly payments for borrowers and accelerate the path to having their balance discharged. Approximately 7.5 million borrowers have already signed up for the SAVE plan, and 150,000 have had their debt erased.

Two groups of Republican state attorneys general challenged the plan in two federal district courts. They argued that the Biden administration lacks the legal authority to implement the plan and that it contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer that struck down an earlier attempt at large-scale student loan cancellation.

On Aug. 28, the Supreme Court denied the Biden administration’s emergency request to temporarily reinstate the SAVE plan. This is not a final ruling, and either or both cases could return to the high court once the federal appeals courts rule on the merits of the dispute.

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Qualtrics on behalf of Intuit Credit Karma between Aug. 3 and Aug. 19 among 1,995 adults ages 18 and older with outstanding student loan debt.