Japan raised the stakes yesterday in a row with China over five North Korean asylum seekers dragged from its northeastern consulate by Chinese police with a decision to send a senior vice minister to Beijing.
News of the move came a day after an angry Japan dismissed Chinese reports that its diplomats had allowed police to enter the consulate in Shenyang last Wed-nesday to drag out the North Koreans who had rushed inside, apparently to seek asylum.
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura was to be sent to Beijing as early as today to negotiate with China on the handover of the North Koreans -- two men, two women and a child, Japanese media reported quoting government sources.
"Although the decision is not 100 percent final, it is highly likely and we are moving in that direction," a Foreign Ministry official said.
"It would not be to investigate but more to negotiate with Chinese officials, to repeat Japan's basic stance that they must be handed over and that efforts must be made to prevent a recurrence," he said.
The vice minister would leave as soon as possible, he added.
The decision to send a high-ranking politician rather than a bureaucrat was intended to underscore Tokyo's anger over the incident, domestic newspapers quoted an unidentified senior Foreign Ministry official as saying.
Meanwhile, two North Koreans have sought refuge in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing and are asking for passage overseas, an embassy spokeswoman said yesterday.
The man and the woman appear to be in their late 20s or early 30s and got into the embassy together on Saturday, said spokeswoman Jennifer May. It was unclear if they are married, she said.
Canadian diplomats are negotiating their passage with Chinese officials and "would like to see them on their way as quickly as possible," May said. "They are in the embassy and we are looking after them."
The pair evaded Chinese police patrols and security that has increased dramatically in Beijing's embassy districts following the recent rash of asylum bids by North Koreans.
More than two dozen of them have barged past guards and clambered over walls of foreign missions in the Chinese capital in the past two months and won passage to South Korea.
Last week, three North Korean men climbed walls of the US consulate in Shenyang. They were still there yesterday while US diplomats negotiated with Chinese officials, a consulate spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS