TOKYO -- The construction of large data centers is gathering speed in Japan, with Mitsui & Co. leading the private sector, after the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga committed to backing the development of key 5G network infrastructure in hopes of turning the nation into Asia's hub for such services.

Demand for data centers is soaring, but the supply had been limited by the shortage of appropriate construction sites and high electricity costs. The government is now trying to expand supply by offering financial support and tax incentives,

TOKYO -- SoftBank Group's investment strategy in China remains unchanged even as some of its biggest investments in the country come under intense regulatory scrutiny, Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said on Tuesday.

SoftBank invested nearly $11 billion in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global, which went public in the U.S. before China's Cyberspace Administration on July 2 said its data management breached national security. Didi's share price has declined more than 20% since the IPO.

"The way of

ISTANBUL -- Istanbul announced Tuesday it will bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, in an attempt to become the first Muslim-majority nation to hold the quadrennial event.

The attempt, the Turkish city's sixth, comes after it lost to Tokyo in the competition to hold the 2020 Games. In 2013, the International Olympic Committee chose the Japanese capital over Istanbul in a second ballot, after Madrid was eliminated in the first round.

The delayed Tokyo Olympics

KYOTO -- Japanese chipmaker Rohm has launched a 5 billion yen ($45.3 million) venture capital fund to invest in next-generation semiconductor technology that can propel growth in the decades to come.

As a first step, Rohm's fund invested 300 million yen in U.S. startup Locix, which provides spatial intelligence solutions for warehouses and factories. Rohm believes its technology can help expand sales channels for semiconductors.

This is Rohm's first foray into venture capital. It plans to

TOKYO -- Astellas Pharma is spending over $100 million to build a state-of-the-art American plant for a key component of gene therapies, a hot new market expected to balloon in the coming years.

The North Carolina factory will be the Japanese company's second gene therapy production site, after a location in California. It is slated to go into operation as early as late 2022.

The expanded infrastructure will support the commercialization of multiple gene therapy candidates anticipated to effectively treat

NEW YORK/ISTANBUL -- Deep in the Anatolian heartland, a four-engine Airbus A400M strategic airlifter adorned the spanking new hangar. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on a video link that Turkey would continue to increase defense investment "until we completely free our country from foreign dependence."

When the opening ceremony for this new maintenance and repair facility in the city of Kayseri was held last week, Erdogan was in no mood to celebrate Turkey's membership in the world's strongest military alliance.

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK -- A method used by top Chinese companies to offer shares in the U.S. while skirting restrictions on foreign listings risks coming into regulators' crosshairs as Beijing ramps up oversight.

Variable interest entities are used by businesses in sectors where China limits foreign ownership, including telecommunications and education, to let foreign investors buy in through shell companies based in jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands. This is also called the "Sina model," after the internet company that used it to list in New York

Joe Zhang is co-chairman of SBI China Capital.

A small announcement escaped the market's attention when Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun resigned as chairman at Airstar Bank, a virtual bank in Hong Kong, saying he wanted to focus on Xiaomi's other businesses.

Fair enough, but I cannot help but ask why such a determined business owner threw in the towel right after the two-year-old bank announced a $232 million loss. Is the virtual banking sector's outlook so hazy that even

TOKYO -- A conflict in the Taiwan Strait would present one of the biggest challenges to Japan's security, a new defense white paper shows, as Tokyo delves into unprecedented detail on how it plans to protect the country's territory in such a scenario.

Japan must "pay close attention" to the Taiwan Strait "with a sense of crisis more than ever before," the document published Tuesday said.

The Defense Ministry cited the importance of cross-strait stability in its annual report for the first time,