Basin Energy (BSN:AU) has announced Drilling commenced for Sybella-Barkly uranium and rare earth
Download the PDF here.
This post appeared first on investingnews.com
Investor Insight
Australia’s ongoing energy supply challenges continue to highlight the need for innovative, low-carbon energy solutions. BPH Energy’s strategic investments in natural gas, hydrogen and emerging technologies position it to participate in this transition and capture value from a rapidly expanding clean energy market.
Overview
Australia is on the verge of an energy crisis. Inaction by the Australian government on gas and energy security has resulted in a gas market that is very nearly running on empty, with extreme price hikes and the possibility of significant losses in employment and capital. Against the backdrop of a global clean energy transition, natural gas represents a critical fuel for this transition. The switch to renewable energy cannot occur overnight, and natural gas offers an avenue for a gradual transition.
Natural gas represents a low-carbon, low-emission alternative to traditional energy sources, and could even be leveraged for sustainable energy.
BPH Energy (ASX:BPH) intends to do precisely that. An investment company headquartered in Western Australia, BPH has already invested in two highly promising businesses in the energy sector. The first, Advent Energy, is an unlisted oil and gas exploration and production company.
The second, Clean Hydrogen Technologies, has developed a CO2-free method of processing gas into hydrogen and conductive carbon.
BPH has a diversified portfolio with an investment in medical technology company Cortical Dynamics, providing yet another avenue for potential growth.
In the financial year ended 30 June 2025, BPH remained profitable, reporting a 49 percent increase in net profit after tax to AU$6.8 million. The improvement was driven by fair value gains from its strategic investments, particularly in Clean Hydrogen Technologies and Cortical Dynamics. The company’s net tangible asset backing also rose to 3.2 cents per share, reflecting stronger asset valuations and a solid balance sheet position
Company Highlights
- BPH Energy holds a 35.8percent interest in Advent Energy, and together with Advent holds a combined 20.5 percent interest in Clean Hydrogen Technologies. It also holds 16.4 percent interest in Cortical Dynamics.
- Clean Hydrogen Technology is in the process of upscaling into a much larger commercial operation.
- Cortical Dynamics has the potential to expand its technology not just into the EU marketplace, but globally thanks to a licence and cooperation agreement with Philips.
- Due to the predicted gas supply shortfall, Advent Energy’s PEP11 asset has generated significant interest among investors and displays the potential for a significant uplift in value.
- PEP11 also has the potential to fill the gap represented by the impending gas shortage.
- Cortical Dynamics’ BARM system has received FDA 510(k) clearance in the USA for version 1, and the company has now completed development of its next-generation AI-enhanced BARM 2.0, with clinical trials and regulatory submissions now being initiated.internationally.
- Delivered strong FY2025 financial performance, with net profit up 49 percent to AU$6.8 million and higher net tangible assets per share.
Key Investments
Advent Energy
An unlisted oil and gas exploration company based in Western Australia, Advent maintains two major assets: Retention Lease 1, an onshore permit in the Bonaparte Basin, and the offshore Petroleum Export Permit 11 (PEP11) in the Sydney Basin, representing its most compelling asset.
Jointly owned by Advent subsidiary Asset Energy (85 percent) and Bounty Oil & Gas NL,(15 percent) the exploration area covers 4,649 square kilometers.
PEP11’s estimated prospective recoverable gas resources is 5.7 trillion cubic feet. With this resource alone, BPH and Advent could potentially fulfill the energy needs of most of Victoria and New South Wales for the next several decades.
While PEP-11 remains a key asset within BPH’s energy portfolio, the permit has been subject to an extended regulatory process and legal review regarding its renewal. Advent, through Asset Energy, has lodged a judicial review application in the Federal Court challenging the Joint Authority’s January 2025 decision to refuse renewal of the permit. The Court has suspended that decision pending a full hearing, now scheduled for February 2026. PEP-11 remains in force during this process.
Highlights:
Well-positioned Assets: PEP11 is situated less than 50 kilometers from the Sydney-Newcastle greater metropolitan area. In addition to this:
- The Sydney Basin is a proven hydrocarbon basin with excellent potential for further discovery of natural gas.
- It represents the closest potential carbon storage (geosequestration) area to NSW carbon sources which collectively represent 30 percent of Australia’s total CO2 output.
- PEP11 may also have potential as a CCS (geosequestration) project in the Sydney Basin.
A Proven Petroleum Basin: Ongoing hydrocarbon seeps have been confirmed in PEP11 along with geophysical indications of escaping gas. The asset’s prospectivity is supported by the seismically-indicated gas features historically observed by Advent and a 2011 geochemical report.
Clean Hydrogen Technologies
Based in the United States, Clean Hydrogen Technologies (CHT) continues to advance its proprietary thermo-catalytic pyrolysis process, which converts natural gas into hydrogen and conductive carbon without producing CO₂ emissions.
Following successful pilot operations in India, CHT has entered the commercialization phase, designing production plants in both India and the United States. The company plans to begin limited hydrogen and carbon composite output within months of securing final project funding.
Highlights:
• Patents: Two comprehensive US patents filed, with additional filings planned as part of ongoing R&D.
• Expansion: Commercial facilities under design in India (Maharashtra) and the US (likely Louisiana).
• Ownership: BPH Energy now holds a 16.2 percent direct interest in CHT, and together with Advent Energy (4.3 percent) holds a combined 20.5 percent stake in the company.
Medical Technology Investment: Cortical Dynamics
Cortical Dynamics is an Australian neurotechnology developer and medical device manufacturer focused on developing the next generation brain function monitors by employing the latest theories and technologies in the field.
Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, Cortical Dynamics is focused on commercializing its core product, the Brain Anaesthesia Response Monitor System (BARM), which was developed with the objective of better detecting the effect of anesthetic and analgesic agents on human brain activity. BARM aids anesthetists in keeping patients optimally anesthetized and pain-free during operations using general anesthesia.
BARM was specifically developed to solve several problems associated with anesthetic and analgesic delivery in the operating theater and negative post-operative consequences. Its proprietary algorithms are based on innovative developments in understanding how the brain’s rhythmic electrical activity or EEG is produced.
Highlights:
- Physiology-based algorithm: Unlike other monitors, BARM’s algorithms are based on the individual patient’s physiological processes that produce electrical activity in the brain, providing more interpretable and personalized monitoring of their response to anesthetic agents.
- Global patents: Cortical has an extensive and growing global patent portfolio, and has secured FDA 510(k) clearance in the USA for its flagship technology, the Brain Anaesthesia Response Monitor or BARM system version 1.
- Regulatory Approvals: BARM version 1 is approved by regulatory bodies in Australia, the European Union and Korea.
- Recent Progress: Cortical has completed technical development of its next-generation AI-enhanced BARM 2.0 system, which unifies hypnotic depth and pain response monitoring. Clinical trials are now plannedin the US and the Netherlands, to be followed by global regulatory submissions.
- World-class Team: A team of experienced researchers, biomedical engineers and corporate financiers make up Cortical Dynamics, with a global network of key opinion leaders and clinicians advising the company on the development of the BARM technology based on real challenges they face in the operating room.
- Philips Partnership: Cortical Dynamics has a non-exclusive license and cooperation partnership with global medical industry player Philips Electronics North America to interface the BARM system with Philips’ operating theater monitors.
Management Team
David Breeze — Managing Director and Executive Chairman
David Breeze is a corporate finance specialist with extensive experience in the stock broking industry and capital markets. He has been a corporate consultant to Daiwa Securities, manager of corporate services for Eyres Reed McIntosh, and state manager and associate director for the stock broking firm BNZ Norths. Breeze is a fellow of the Institute of Company Directors of Australia. He has published in the Journal of Securities Institute of Australia and has also acted as independent expert under the Corporations Act. He has worked on the structuring, capital raising and public listing of more than 70 companies involving more than $300 million, covering a range of areas including oil and gas, gold, food, manufacturing and technology. Breeze is chairman of Grandbridge Limited, a public investment and advisory company and MEC Resources, a public company investing in exploration companies that target potentially large energy and mineral resources. He is also chairman of Advent Energy.
Tony Huston
Tony Huston has been involved for over 35 years in engineering and hydrocarbon industries for both on and offshore exploration/development. His early career experience commenced with Fitzroy Engineering, primarily working on the development of onshore oil fields. In 1996, Huston formed his own E&P company on re-entry of onshore wells primarily targeting shallow pay that had been passed or ignored from previous operations. This was successful and the two plays opened up 15 years ago and are still in operation. His focus over the last 10 years has been to utilize new technology for enhanced resource recovery, which has been demonstrated in various fields, including US, Mexico, Oman, Italy and Turkmenistan.
Charles Maling
Charles Maling was formerly the communications officer for the Office of the Western Australian State Government Environmental Protection Authority, advising the chairman of the EPA on media issues. Maling has worked with the Western Australian State Government Department of the Environment for 14 years and a further eight years for the EPA. His administrative roles included environmental research (including a major study on Perth Metropolitan coastal waters and Western Australian estuaries) environmental regulation and enforcement, and media management.
Dr Sunil Nagaraj – Chief Scientist (Cortical Dynamics)
Dr. Sunil Belur Nagaraj obtained his master’s degree from the University of Victoria in Canada in 2010; and doctoral degree from University College Cork, Ireland in 2015. His doctoral research centered around the development of AI-based real-time brain monitoring, utilising EEG recordings to monitor brain activity. After a role as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital in the USA. Nagaraj assumed the position of an assistant professor of medicine at the University Medical Centre Groningen in The Netherlands for two years. Concurrently, he dedicated three years to working as a scientist at Royal Philips, where he specialised in sleep disorders at the Innovation Forum, highlighting its potential to provide future insights into heart-brain connectivity.
This post appeared first on investingnews.com
Investor Insight
ReeXploration offers investors early exposure to the global build-out of secure, Western-aligned critical minerals supply chains. Leveraging proven metallurgy and discovery upside at its high-grade Eureka project in Namibia, the company delivers a rare combination of technical credibility, jurisdictional stability and responsible growth potential.
Overview
ReeXploration (TSXV:REE,FSE:KSi) is a discovery-driven critical minerals company advancing the Eureka rare earths project in central Namibia. The company sits at the intersection of two powerful global forces: the accelerating demand for critical minerals and the urgent drive to diversify supply chains away from China’s dominance in processing and production.
As electrification, renewable energy and defense technologies expand worldwide, governments and industry are investing heavily to secure new, transparent sources of essential materials, such as neodymium and praseodymium. ReeXploration provides investors early exposure to this generational realignment by advancing one of Africa’s most promising rare earths discoveries within a stable, mining-friendly jurisdiction.
The company’s metallurgy-first model flips the conventional exploration sequence by proving processability before scale. Bench-scale testing confirmed that Eureka’s monazite-hosted mineralization yields a clean, Western-standard concentrate, which derisks processing and establishes a strong foundation for growth.
ReeXploration’s Namibian-based technical team, supported by globally recognized critical-minerals experts, ensures efficient on-the-ground execution, strong stakeholder relationships, and alignment with Namibia’s national development priorities. Its ESG principles, centered on low-radioactivity mineralogy, transparent community engagement and environmental stewardship, position the company as a partner of choice for governments and end-users seeking secure, sustainable supply chains.
Company Highlights
- Strategic Exposure: Positioned at the heart of the global critical minerals transformation as governments race to diversify supply chains away from China.
- Proven Technical Base: Metallurgy-first strategy has already demonstrated clean, Western-standard concentrate production from monazite-hosted mineralization, reducing risk and accelerating timelines.
- High-grade Discovery: Eureka hosts a maiden resource of ~310,000 tonnes @ 4.8 percent total rare earth oxides (TREO), with multiple undrilled anomalies and clear expansion potential.
- Jurisdictional Advantage: Operating in Namibia, one of Africa’s most stable, mining-friendly jurisdictions with world-class infrastructure and transparent regulations.
- Disciplined Value Model: Advances assets through discovery and early development, where re-rating potential is highest, while preserving capital efficiency and ESG integrity.
Key Project: Eureka Rare Earths Project
Located near Usakos in central Namibia, the Eureka Project is the cornerstone of ReeXploration’s growth strategy and a foundation for Western-aligned rare earths supply.
Namibia is widely recognized as one of Africa’s most stable and mining-friendly jurisdictions, with transparent regulations, strong rule of law and a skilled workforce rooted in decades of uranium and diamond production. Its established infrastructure, including paved roads, rail, power, water and port access, provides a low-risk operating environment rarely matched elsewhere in the critical minerals sector.
Eureka’s geology, technical foundation, and location combine to make it a standout rare earths asset in Africa, offering early proof of processability, a clean mineralogy aligned with Western standards, and room for significant resource growth.
Project Highlights
- Resource Base: NI 43-101 resource of 310 kt @ 4.8 percent TREO (0.7 percent neodymium + praseodymium), anchored by magnet metals critical to EV, renewable energy and defense applications.
- Geology: Monazite-hosted carbonatite system with low impurities and low radioactivity across 14 identified dykes, open along strike and depth.
- Metallurgy: SGS testing confirmed production of a clean monazite concentrate grading ~60 percent TREO at ~65 percent recovery, with neodymium and praseodymium representing ~50 percent of basket value.
- Exploration Upside: 13 km x 6 km mineralized dome with multiple geochemical and radiometric anomalies; trenching shows REE mineralization in 18 of 19 trenches. Follow-up drilling is underway to expand known zones.
- Infrastructure: Situated 2 km from the Trans-Kalahari Highway with access to rail, power, water and the deep-water port at Walvis Bay, minimizing capital requirements and execution risk.
- ESG Integration: Low-radioactivity mineralogy simplifies permitting; environmental clearance certificates are in place; and ongoing engagement ensures alignment with community and government priorities.
Management Team
Chris Drysdale – Interim CEO
Chris Drysdale is an experienced mining executive and the current CEO of Antler Gold. He has international experience in exploration management and business development across Africa and Canada.
Patrick McGrath – Chief Financial Officer
A CPA with extensive financial experience in mining and energy exploration, Patrick McGrath brings strong governance and capital markets expertise, ensuring disciplined execution and shareholder value creation.
Prof. Frances Wall – Director
Professor of Applied Mineralogy, Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, Frances Wall has more than 30 years of research linking geology, mineralogy and responsible sourcing. She is the chair of the British Geological Survey Science Advisory Committee and member of the UK Critical Minerals Expert Committee.
Carl Sheppard – Director
Carl Sheppard is the president and managing partner of Strategic Concepts. He holds a Masters in Development Economics from Dalhousie University, and contributes strategic insight into sustainable growth and stakeholder engagement.
Tolene Kruger – Senior Geologist & Qualified Person
Tolene Kruger is a Namibian geologist with an MSc in Geology from the University of Stellenbosch. Her research focus is on structural controls on mineralization within Namibia’s uranium corridor.
This post appeared first on investingnews.com
Is gold’s price pullback a buying opportunity, or the end of its run?
Omar Ayales of Gold Charts R Us weighs in, saying either scenario is possible. He’s watching factors like the US dollar’s performance in order to determine what comes next.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
This post appeared first on investingnews.com
Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT, MFTA, editor and publisher of the Daily Gold, discusses how long the gold and silver correction could last, and how high prices could go once it’s over.
‘We’re in a new secular bull market, we’re going much higher. We’re really overbought right now, so we’re going to correct. That’s all you need to know,’ he emphasized.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
This post appeared first on investingnews.com
ReeXploration (TSXV:REE,FSE:KSi) is a discovery-focused critical minerals company advancing the Eureka rare earths project in Namibia. Strategically positioned, it taps into surging demand for critical minerals and the global push to diversify supply chains beyond China. The company offers early exposure to a generational supply chain shift, advancing a premier African rare earths discovery in a stable, mining-friendly jurisdiction.
Its metallurgy-first strategy derisks development by proving processability upfront, with tests confirming clean, Western-standard monazite concentrate — laying a strong foundation for scale.
Key Project: Eureka Rare Earths Project
The Eureka Project is the cornerstone of ReeXploration’s growth strategy and a foundation for Western-aligned rare earths supply. Eureka’s geology, technical foundation, and location combine to make it a standout rare earths asset in Africa, offering early proof of processability, a clean mineralogy aligned with Western standards, and room for significant resource growth.
Company Highlights
- Strategic Exposure: Positioned at the heart of the global critical minerals transformation as governments race to diversify supply chains away from China.
- Proven Technical Base: Metallurgy-first strategy has already demonstrated clean, Western-standard concentrate production from monazite-hosted mineralization, reducing risk and accelerating timelines.
- High-grade Discovery: Eureka hosts a maiden resource of ~310,000 tonnes @ 4.8 percent total rare earth oxides (TREO), with multiple undrilled anomalies and clear expansion potential.
- Jurisdictional Advantage: Operating in Namibia, one of Africa’s most stable, mining-friendly jurisdictions with world-class infrastructure and transparent regulations.
- Disciplined Value Model: Advances assets through discovery and early development, where re-rating potential is highest, while preserving capital efficiency and ESG integrity.
This ReeXploration profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*
Click here to connect with ReeXploration (TSXV:REE) to receive an Investor Presentation
This post appeared first on investingnews.com
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is glad the Senate finally managed to break through its weeks-long standoff on the government shutdown, he told Fox News Digital on Monday morning.
‘It’s a great development. It’s long overdue. It vindicates our position in this all along,’ the House leader said.
He added that he would have ‘a lot more to say at a press conference this morning.’
Asked how soon the House would return to session, Johnson said, ‘Immediately.’
‘We’re going to get everybody back on a 36-hour notice, so it’ll be happening early this week,’ Johnson said.
The House has not been in session since Sept. 19, when lawmakers there first passed a bill to avert a shutdown by extending current federal funding levels through Nov. 21. Democrats rejected that deal, however, kicking off weeks of a worsening impasse where millions of Americans’ federal benefits and air travel were put at risk.
Eight Senate Democrats joined all but one Senate Republican in breaking a filibuster to advance an updated government funding deal late on Sunday night.
It came on Day 40 of the government shutdown — which already holds the record for being the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
Terms of the deal include a new extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels through Jan. 30, in order to give congressional negotiators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY 2026 spending.
It would also give lawmakers some headway with that mission, advancing legislation to fund the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration; the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction; and the legislative branch.
They are three of 12 individual bills that are meant to make up Congress’ annual appropriations, paired into a vehicle called a ‘minibus.’
In a victory for Democrats, the deal would also reverse federal layoffs conducted by the Trump administration in October, with those workers getting paid for the time they were off.
It also guarantees Senate Democrats a vote on legislation extending Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are set to expire at the end of this year.
Extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies was a key ask for Democrats in the weeks-long standoff.
No such guarantee was made in the House, however, so Democrats effectively folded on their key demand in order to end the shutdown — a move that infuriated progressives in Congress.
This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
With a deal to end the record government shutdown taking shape, President Donald Trump is turning to foreign policy at the start of the week.
On Monday, Trump will host Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, the first official visit by a Syrian leader to Washington. Officials describe the meeting as a landmark attempt to bring Damascus back into the diplomatic fold after years on the international sidelines.
It will be the third meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa this year, as Syria’s new leadership works to rebuild a shattered nation and restore ties with Arab states and the West following the end of Bashar al-Assad’s 14-year civil war.
In a move paving the way for the talks, Washington eased key restrictions on Syria’s leadership ahead of the meeting.
On Friday, the United States lifted sanctions on al-Sharaa, mirroring a United Nations Security Council move a day prior, ahead of his meeting with Trump. According to a notice on the U.S. Treasury Department’s website, the Specially Designated Global Terrorist designations were removed from both Sharaa and Syria’s interior minister, Anas Khattab.
The White House meeting also comes against the backdrop of a grinding government shutdown that has paralyzed federal agencies and left Washington mired in a political standoff over funding.
Senate Republicans and Democrats have reached a deal to end the impasse on Sunday evening, but the government won’t officially reopen until the House, which has been out of session for nearly six weeks, approves the agreement. The measure would then go to President Trump for his signature.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Sunday evening, Trump said a deal to end the government shutdown was within reach.
‘It looks like we’re very close to the shutdown ending,’ he said.
The shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, has become the longest in U.S. history. It’s the 21st government shutdown since 1976 and the longest since a 34-day standoff over funding for Trump’s border wall halted operations from December 2018 to January 2019.
This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is sending a critical warning to House lawmakers as the government shutdown continues to wreak havoc on air travel.
‘As of Sunday, nearly half of all domestic flights and U.S. flights were either canceled or delayed, and it’s a very serious situation,’ Johnson said in comments to reporters on Monday.
‘So I’m saying that, by way of reminder, I’m stating the obvious, to all my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats in the House, you need to begin right now returning to the Hill. We have to do this as quickly as possible.’
The House leader was referring to taking up the Senate’s bipartisan measure to finally end the government shutdown, now on its 41st day.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to reduce air travel at the nation’s 40 busiest airports by 6% as of Tuesday, amid widespread staffing shortages that have been attributed to the shutdown.
Thousands of federal employees have been furloughed as agencies and critical programs run low on funds, while government workers deemed ‘essential’ have been forced to work without pay for weeks.
People in the latter group include air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, many of whom have been forced to take second jobs and call out sick to make ends meet.
‘The problem we have with air travel is that our air traffic controllers are overworked and unpaid, and many of them have called in sick. That’s a very stressful job, and even more stressful, exponentially, when they’re having trouble providing for their families. And so air travel has been grinding to a halt in many places,’ Johnson said on Monday.
He delivered a statement to the press less than 12 hours after the Senate broke its weeks-long impasse on the shutdown, with eight Senate Democrats joining the GOP to overcome a filibuster.
Johnson told Fox News Digital exclusively earlier Monday that he would call the House back ‘immediately’ upon Senate passage of the bill — which he suggested could come sooner rather than later.
‘We’re going to get everybody back on a 36-hour notice, so it’ll be happening early this week,’ Johnson said.
The House has not been in session since Sept. 19, when lawmakers there first passed a bill to avert a shutdown by extending current federal funding levels through Nov. 21. Democrats rejected that deal, however, kicking off weeks of a worsening impasse where millions of Americans’ federal benefits and air travel were put at risk.
This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
A Chinese consul general in Japan threatened to decapitate the nation’s new prime minister over her comments in defense of Taiwan, prompting outrage in Tokyo and underscoring the rising tension between the two regional powers.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last month, told a parliamentary committee Friday that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan would likely create a ‘survival-threatening situation’ for Japan — one that could compel Tokyo to deploy its Self-Defense Forces in response. The democratically governed island sits just 60 miles from Japanese territory.
Xue Jian, the Chinese consul general in Osaka, fired back in a since-deleted X post on Sunday: ‘That filthy neck that barged in on its own — I’ve got no choice but to cut it off without a moment’s hesitation. Are you prepared for that?’
Japan’s government condemned the statement, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara calling it ‘extremely inappropriate’ and confirming that Tokyo had lodged a formal protest with Beijing. Kihara said Xue had made ‘multiple’ inflammatory remarks in the past and urged China to take disciplinary action.
China instead appeared to defend the diplomat. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters Monday that Xue’s words came in response to Takaichi’s ‘wrongful and dangerous’ comments, which he said misrepresented China’s position on Taiwan. Lin accused Japan of ‘refusing to face up to its historical responsibilities’ and warned Tokyo not to interfere in ‘internal Chinese affairs.’
Takaichi later told reporters her comments were ‘hypothetical’ and said she would refrain from making similar remarks in the future.
The episode threatens to strain already fraught relations between Asia’s two largest economies. Takaichi, a nationalist known for her hawkish views on China and close ties with Washington, has sought to deepen defense cooperation with the Trump administration. She has pledged to push Japan’s long-stagnant defense spending above 1% of GDP and to play a more assertive role in maintaining stability across the Taiwan Strait.
U.S. defense officials have long argued that Japan’s participation would be critical in any potential conflict over Taiwan, which Beijing sees as its own.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara said that while the intent of the post was ‘not entirely clear’ Xue’s remarks were ‘extremely inappropriate.’ He said Xue had made multiple inappropriate statements and Japan has asked Beijing to take action.
Though the post was deleted, China backed up Xue. Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a news conference on Monday his words were in response to Takaichi’s ‘wrongful and dangerous’ remarks on Taiwan, urging Tokyo to ‘take a hard look at its historical responsibilities.’
Takaichi said on Monday her comments were ‘hypothetical’ and she would refrain from making them again.
The consulate in Osaka could not immediately be reached for comment.
This post appeared first on FOX NEWS