Japan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
China has so far not acted in an aggressive manner toward shipping in the South China Sea, but the very potential of action creates a clear threat to the economies of Japan and South Korea.
Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images
The following commentary is from Kevin Klowden, chief global strategist of Milken Institute.
News coverage of the weekend’s Group of Seven meetings focused on Ukraine, but China’s rising global presence was the other big topic on the G7 agenda. For two of East Asia’s biggest economies, in particular, the implications of that rise are critically important.
China wants to be the great military and political power of East Asia. Nowhere is that more evident than in President Xi Jinping’s “nine-dash” declaration, through which Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea. And of all the countries with cause to be concerned about that claim, perhaps none have more on the line than Japan and South Korea.
Most of the world is focused on the resource and military implications of Chinese claims to the islands in the region, and Beijing’s development of what is becoming the world’s largest navy. For Japan and South Korea, the threat to their supply chains and energy imports is a far more real and present issue.
In particular, Japan and South Korea are concerned about Chinese declarations which invoke not only the right to inspect cargo, but also the ability to restrict traffic. Neither Japan nor South Korea has any political interest in the ownership of the Spratly Islands, or in China replacing the United States as a dominant naval power. However, they have a strong economic stake in moving their energy imports and manufacturing components without fear of restriction. Even in a non-wartime situation, China has taken the position that the South China Sea is a controlled territory rather than open international waters under Chinese guardianship.
China has so far not acted in an aggressive manner toward shipping in the sea, but the very potential of action creates a clear threat to the economies of Japan and South Korea. China wouldn’t even have to directly stop vessels — it could merely electronically track specific cargo, or carry out inspections or diversions. Such actions would raise the specter of unpredictability and significantly rising costs.
For Japan and South Korea, the role taken by the United States in the post-World War II period was far less disruptive, not only because of their alliance but, more importantly, because the United States acted as a guarantor of free trade and protected movement through the corridor.
Linking the two countries to trading partners in Southeast Asia, India, and beyond is going to increase rather than decrease in importance.
Kevin Klowden
Milken Institute
Few people outside Japan or South Korea focus on or understand just how significant the South China Sea is when it comes to regional and even global energy supplies. Significantly, the sea is estimated to carry 30% of the world’s crude oil, supplying China and providing a vital lifeline for the energy-dependent economies of South Korea and Japan.
For Japan, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent nuclear accident at Fukushima only exacerbated that dependence. The resulting curtailment of Japan’s nuclear program has left the country dependent on energy imports, with as much as 98% of Japanese oil coming from the Middle East.
In many ways, South Korea is even more dependent on energy imports than Japan, making oil and natural gas imports especially significant.
The South China Sea is important in more than just energy. It also serves as a key passageway for Japan and South Korea’s global supply chains. Estimates suggest that the sea carries between 20% and 33% of global trade; for Japan, that figure reaches as much as 40%.
As global supply chains regionalize, the role of the South China Sea in the Japanese and South Korean economies will only grow. Linking the two countries to trading partners in Southeast Asia, India, and beyond is going to increase rather than decrease in importance.
Japan and South Korea have been able to rely on the stability of the South China Sea as a conduit for driving their economic growth, even as the global political situation has changed over the decades. Significant shifts, including the Vietnam War and the end of the Cold War, haven’t stopped trade in the sea from growing more and more important.
As the United States balances commitments in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, the three strongest economies of East Asia — China included — all have a vested interest in ensuring the stability of trade, supply chains and energy flows.
For South Korea and Japan, trade remains stable in the South China Sea for now. But with China increasingly looking to assert itself and change the status quo in its favor, it’s essential that both countries ask themselves: How much are they willing and able to concede to China in the region before it becomes untenable? And are they prepared with alternatives that will allow them to compete economically?
Knowing the answers to those questions and being prepared for a more Chinese-dominant future in the South China Sea is important for all three countries — even if the status quo holds for now.
Volkswagen is putting its Tesla Robotaxi rival through its paces in Wolfsburg, Germany, where the self-driving Gen.Urban research vehicle is now driving autonomously in real urban traffic – without a steering wheel or pedals!
VW’s Gen.Urban research project sets out to explore how passengers experience riding in a self-driving vehicle on real roads, among real drivers, and without a traditional steering wheel or pedals, and what those requirements might mean for future vehicle concepts.
Some of the key questions VW is asking include:
- How do people spend their time in a self-driving vehicle?
- Which digital features best support work, entertainment, or relaxation?
- How should interaction between the vehicle and passengers be designed, particularly for older people or children?
- Most importantly: Do people feel comfortable?
“The technology for autonomous driving is making rapid progress,” explains Dr. Nikolai Ardey, Head of Volkswagen Group Innovation. “With our Gen.Urban research vehicle, we want to understand exactly how passengers experience autonomous driving. Because: The key to a positive customer experience is to build trust – through meaningful interaction, a relaxed atmosphere, and intelligent assistance systems that respond precisely to the needs of passengers. Ultimately, technology should fit people, not the other way around. We will benefit from these insights across the entire Group in the long term.”
Not QUITE fully autonomous
It’s important to note here that, while Volkswagen designed the Gen.Urban without a steering wheel or pedals, the vehicles participating in these test have a trained safety driver monitoring the vehicle from the passenger seat, ready to step in to control the vehicle using a specially developed control panel with a joystick – which means we’re still a long way from the 2022 Volkswagen Gen.Travel concept (above).
Even so, Volkswagen’s autonomous driving efforts have been in public testing phases since at least 2023, when the company unveiled a fleet of ten specially modified VW.Buzz AD electric vans. Tests with those vans have gone well enough, at least, to lead Volkswagen to announce plans for large-scale production.
The current test phase is limited to Volkswagen Group employees as riders, and is planned for a period of several weeks. If results are satisfactory, VW could expand its rider base by the end of Q1.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volkswagen.
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Ask anyone who owned or owns one, and they’ll tell you that Honda Element was ahead of its time, delivering a flexible interior, car-like ride, and SUV-levels of visibility – and, if Honda really wanted to, they could roll out an all-new, all-electric Element riding on an Ultium-style electric skateboard tomorrow.
Honda’s first Element made its debut way back in 2003, when it was still a bit strange to think of companies like Cadillac, Volkswagen, and Porsche selling anything as big and clunky as an SUV. It earned plenty of fans, however, and for all the same reasons, they’ll love an electric Element even more.
Consider the following:
Car-like handling
The original Element rolled around on a lot of bits originally developed for the Honda Civic – widely regarded as a fun-to-drive, great-handling little car. That car-based chassis earned it some mockery among automotive journalists who, more than two decades ago, still widely believed that an SUV had to have some off-road chops to it.
Today, we’re a more enlightened bunch. In 2025, an SUV needs to be practical above all else, emphasizing the “Utility” aspect. With a low-slung, low-cg, and low-intrusion electric skateboard underneath its boxy body (more on that in a minute), a modern Element would be than more than capable of delivering a “car-like” ride with plenty of sporty acceleration, as well.
Flexible interior
Remember that comment about the low-intrusion nature of the Ultium EV chassis? Without a transmission tunnel to get in the way, Honda was able to offer a massive, flat floor that made the Element ideal for moving, camping, beach days, tailgating, antiquing, and (not to put too fine a point on it) drive-in movies – which we still had those in Florida until at least 2010.
In an EV, all that flat-floor goodness is still there, with the added benefit of being able to offer a flat floor without a transmission tunnel ruining the bedroom cargo bay.
Add a bit of extra width inherited from the Prologue, toss in a friendly ASIMO interface to keep the investment class happy, and offer a full range of inflatable tents, dog beds, and other overlanding, pet, or surf-friendly accessories, and Honda could watch the money roll in. At the very least, if Honda had built a modern Element instead of the Prologue on GM’s skateboard, they might have an easier time moving them in post-rebate America, I think. What do you guys think?
You guys are smart, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find all the problems with this particular take – and I can’t wait to hear them! Should it be FWD only? A plug-in hybrid? Ship with a tent? Scroll on down to the comments and let me know what you think it would take to make a battery-powered Honda Element revival make sense to you.
Original content from Electrek.
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File this under “wishful thinking” if you want, but a fresh trademark filing for the Buick Electra name could mean that the storied nameplate is set for a return to US shores.
GM Authority reports that Buick parent company General Motors has renewed its trademark for the Buick Electra name in the US in a filing from 09DEC2025 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and received an assigned serial number 99538079. The application carries a Goods and Services of, “Motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles.”
Electra a nameplate that holds a long history with the near-luxe Buick brand and has generally been believed to be one that’s especially relevant to Buick’s electrification strategy in the US. That’s a notion that seems especially true when you consider the following two facts:
- the Buick Electra nameplate is already featured on a number of hugely successful GM products being sold in the ultra-competitive Chinese market
- 2027 is the fortieth anniversary of the Buick Grand National, and GM’s marketers are way too smart to let that moment slide
It’s worth noting, of course, that this most recent renewal for the Buick Electra trademark is a long, long way from a confirmation of a new all-electric Buick for the US market and even further from a confirmation that we’re getting the hot, sexy Electra GM sells in China. If anything, it’s likely just a matter of course legal thing that GM needs to protect its IP in China while, at the same time, preventing some kind of disastrous Sierra Mist scenario from playing out at home (which– yeah, I get that it’s not true, but you got the idea).
That said, I want to believe.
Electrek’s Take
I’m a huge fan of GM, GM’s EVs, and the way Mary Barra has managed the General over the past several years. I also think a big, sexy sedan is sorely missing from GM’s lineup, and the fast, flashy electric sedan formula might play better at the Buick store than at the Cadillac brand.
Combine that with an overwhelming desire to see a new-age Buick Grand National parked in my garage next Christmas and you can see that I’m not to be trusted. So, what say you? Head on down to the comments and let us know what you think of an American Electra revival just in time for the 2027 model year.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GM Authority; GM.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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