Japan gov't under fire for plan to use lenders to enforce alcohol ban

The administration of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga faced a growing backlash Tuesday for a controversial plan, retracted after a day, to have financial institutions help enforce a ban on eateries serving alcohol in Tokyo to curb the spread of COVID-19.Both ruling and opposition parties criticized the proposal, viewed as an implicit threat to withhold loans from restaurants and bars already hit hard by the pandemic.Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the coronavirus response, apologized at a press conference for "causing confusion and anxiety" by suggesting the move last Thursday.…READ FULL ARTICLE