Thai parliament convenes, IAEA Fukushima report, Huawei developer conference

Welcome to Your Week in Asia.

Thailand's newly elected parliament will hold its first session on Monday.

On Tuesday, Japan is set to receive a final report from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the government's plan to release treated wastewater from the disaster-struck Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Two events featuring artificial intelligence will take place in China later this week: the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai and the Huawei Developer Conference in Guangdong.

Saturday marks one year since the assassination of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. On Sunday, South Korean boy band BTS release their highly anticipated memoir.

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MONDAY

Thai parliament opens

King Maha Vajiralongkorn will preside over the opening of the Thai parliament on Monday evening, 50 days after the May 14 general election. But the main event will be on Tuesday, when the House of Representatives elects the speaker, a powerful position that has created a public rift between the two winning parties, Move Forward and Pheu Thai. The speaker vote sets the stage for the House and Senate to jointly select a prime minister next week. The two parties and their coalition have agreed to nominate Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat for prime minister.

Okinawa governor visits China

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki will visit China for four days, starting Monday, as part of a delegation from Japan's International Trade Promotion Association. According to reports, Tamaki will visit Beijing and Fujian province, with which the prefecture has friendly relations.

Tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over Okinawa Prefecture have continued since the Japanese government nationalized the Senkaku Islands in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping caused a stir by recently referring to Okinawa Prefecture as "Ryukyu." China is wary of Japan's increased involvement in the Taiwan issue and some observers believe Xi may question whether Okinawa, which is near Taiwan, belongs to Japan.

BOJ tankan survey

The Bank of Japan's Tankan quarterly business sentiment survey is expected to rise for the first time in nearly two years, as chip shortages ease and auto production returns to normal. The lifting of all travel restrictions at the end of April has also boosted overseas tourism to Japan and is likely to have lifted sentiment in the service sector.

TUESDAY

IAEA chief meets Japan's Prime Minister Kishida ahead of Fukushima water release

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi is expected to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. He will present the agency's final assessment on the safety of treated water that will be released from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. Japan hopes to start the discharge this summer and will decide on the date after receiving the IAEA report. Grossi also plans to visit and explain the IAEA's views to countries concerned about the environmental impact of the release, including South Korea, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands, chair of the Pacific Islands Forum.

India hosts SCO summit online

India, the current chair of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization, hosts the regional security grouping's summit online with the theme "Towards a SECURE SCO." SECURE is an acronym coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that stands for security; economy and trade; connectivity; unity; respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; and environment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to deliver a speech to the summit, which takes place against the backdrop of Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and strains in India's ties with neighboring China over a lingering border standoff. India's relationship with Pakistan, another neighbor and fellow SCO member, remains tense as well.

THURSDAY

World Artificial Intelligence Conference

The annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference will be held in Shanghai. The three-day event is expected to feature global technology companies, including Apple, ChatGPT developer OpenAI and Nvidia. Tesla Bot, the conceptual general-purpose humanoid robot being developed by U.S. electric carmaker Tesla, will be shown to the public for the first time in China.

Monetary policy: Malaysia, Sri Lanka

FRIDAY

Huawei developer conference

Huawei Technologies kicks off its technology conference mainly for cloud developers, known as HDC.Cloud 2023, in the Chinese city of Dongguan on July 7. The Chinese tech champion said the three-day event will focus on artificial intelligence, a buzzword for the global tech industry this year. The event will showcase the latest developments in Huawei's cloud-computing business, including how it uses AI technology to help other industries with digital transformation.

G7 Justice Ministers' Meeting

For this year's Group of Seven meeting on law and justice, Japan has invited ministers from the big industrialized economies, as well as from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to Tokyo. Japan, as the only Asian G7 member, hopes to promote the G7's values on the rule of law and human rights to ASEAN governments.

Taiwan releases trade data

Earnings: MUJI Q3, Samsung Q2 earnings guidance

WEEKEND

One year on from Abe assassination

July 8 marks one year since Shinzo Abe, Japan's former prime minister, was shot and killed while giving a campaign speech in Japan's western Nara Prefecture. Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, has been charged with murder and is awaiting trial. Yamagami is thought to have shot Abe over Abe's alleged links to the Unification Church, to which Yamagami's mother, a church follower, had donated money, pushing his family into bankruptcy.

The assassination has led Japan to rethink the connection between religious organizations and politicians. Deep ties between the church and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were revealed in the months after the shooting, badly denting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's approval rating.

BTS release memoir

On Sunday, South Korean global boy band sensation BTS release their first memoir titled "Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS," celebrating the 10th anniversary of the group's debut. Based on interviews with seven members over the last two years, the book tells the story of the members' growth from teenagers to "pop icons of the 21st century," according to the group's agency Hybe. The book will be published in 23 languages including Korean, English and Japanese. Bookstores are taking preorders of the book.

IPEF talks round begins in Busan

The fourth round of talks on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity will be held from July 9 to 15 in Busan, South Korea. Negotiators from 14 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Singapore and Australia are traveling to the port city to discuss how to cooperate on trade, and creating a clean and fair economy, after the participants reached an agreement on supply chains in the U.S. city of Detroit in May.

Uzbek presidential election

Uzbekistan goes to the polls on Sunday for a snap presidential election, just months after a constitutional referendum changed the rules on term limits. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who had been due to leave office in 2026 after the end of his last five-year term, can now seek another two seven-year terms. While Mirziyoyev has overseen a number of economic reforms and promised to strengthen individual rights, observers have long questioned the fairness of Uzbekistan's electoral process, and there appears to be little doubt about the outcome of the election.