0:04

This is Asian View from NHK World,

0:06

Japan. I'm Yoshio Gasuwara. Taiwan

0:09

says 11 Chinese government ships

0:11

entered what it calls restricted and

0:13

prohibited waters near the Jimmen Islands

0:16

on Thursday. Taiwan effectively

0:18

controls the islands. It

0:20

bars Chinese vessels from sailing into

0:22

areas around them without permission. Taiwanese

0:25

authorities say it's the fourth time this

0:27

month that China Coast Guard ships have

0:29

entered the area, and they

0:31

say it's the first time vessels belonging to

0:33

other Chinese government agencies have taken

0:35

part in such an incursion. Analysts

0:39

say China is increasing pressure on Taiwan,

0:42

as President-elect Lai Qing Te prepares

0:44

to take office on May 20.

0:48

Chinese Presidents Xi Jinping and Hungarian

0:50

Prime Minister Viktor Orban have agreed

0:53

to further strengthen bilateral ties through

0:55

China's Belt and Road Initiative. Xi

0:58

met with Orban on Thursday in Hungary. It

1:01

was the Chinese leader's last stop

1:03

on his European tour after France

1:05

and Serbia. European

1:07

Union member Hungary is stepping up economic

1:09

ties with China, even though

1:12

the EU is trying to reduce such

1:14

links with Beijing. The

1:16

lower house of Japan's parliament has

1:18

begun debating a bill aimed at

1:20

protecting children from sexual assault. The

1:23

legislation would require employers in child-related

1:26

sectors to conduct background checks of

1:28

job seekers to see if they

1:30

had sex crime convictions. This

1:33

comes after frequent incidents of sexual

1:35

violence by teaching staff and child

1:37

care workers. The proposed

1:39

new system is being called the

1:42

Japanese version of Britain's Disclosure and

1:44

Barring Service. It

1:46

would enable schools, nurseries, and other

1:49

facilities to check with the Children

1:51

and Family Agency if applicants have

1:53

criminal convictions. We're broadcasting

1:55

from NHK in Tokyo. Marine

2:00

ecosystems are rapidly changing and

2:02

fishing industries are under pressure

2:04

to quickly adapt to global

2:06

warming. Japanese oyster farmers in

2:08

some regions have recently been

2:10

suffering from low yields, but

2:12

now they're coming up with

2:14

ways to reverse the problem

2:16

using cutting edge technology. The

2:20

town of I non in a

2:22

he may prefecture is home to

2:24

a thriving oyster farming industry. Recently

2:26

in a very bad year, only

2:28

half of the young shellfish they

2:30

raised were big enough to be

2:32

sold at market. The. Local

2:34

oyster farming industry is now using

2:36

scientific data to reverse the trend.

2:40

Lock up so that it on an. Adventure

2:43

Fishery Company is helping by collecting

2:45

hourly data on water temperatures as

2:47

well as the water's oxygen and

2:50

salinity. Concentrations: A.

2:52

Conventional farming. Methods have been

2:54

drastically altered by using information gleaned

2:56

from the collected data. This

2:59

farmer has also stopped hanging oysters from

3:01

roots. Now

3:05

in our trials, we're keeping oysters

3:07

in baskets floating on the surface.

3:11

The floating oyster baskets can be

3:13

quickly submerged into deeper water if

3:15

the water temperature rises. They

3:18

can also be moved to a different

3:20

spot if the oxygen or salinity level

3:22

changes drastically. By

3:25

preserving the observation results as numerical

3:28

data and analyzing them, we

3:30

hope to open up new horizons for

3:32

the future of the fishing industry. A

3:36

company in Kumajima Island in Okinawa

3:38

Prefecture has been developing a method

3:40

for land-based oyster farming from

3:42

the larval stage. The

3:46

seawater is pumped from about 600 meters

3:48

below off the island's coast. With

3:51

this seawater, the company can lower

3:53

the risk of food poisoning as

3:55

it contains nearly no viruses or

3:58

bacteria. is

4:00

that there is very little phytoplankton because

4:04

sunlight can't reach deep beneath water.

4:08

For about 10 years, the company

4:10

has been conducting research on LED

4:12

lights with a wavelength that can

4:15

efficiently produce the necessary photosynthesis that

4:17

phytoplankton need. It

4:19

has developed a method to cultivate

4:21

large quantities of phytoplankton at low

4:23

cost. Land-based

4:28

agriculture is not affected by

4:30

environmental factors and allows for

4:32

stable supply throughout the year.

4:35

We hope to mass-produce oysters

4:37

while continuing to improve their

4:39

quality. With

4:42

the help of such cutting-edge technology, the

4:44

oyster farming industry is quickly adapting

4:47

and developing new methods to

4:49

address environmental changes.