South Korea and Japan must lead Asia in driving the world’s economic recovery and should work together to rid North Korea of nuclear weapons, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said yesterday.
Aso’s two-day trip to Seoul is part of a new effort by both North Asian countries to improve their ties. While they are key economic partners, diplomatic relations between the two countries have often strained over Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak praised Japan for agreeing last month to a currency swap deal of up to US$30 billion that helped reduce fears that South Korea could face a foreign exchange crisis.
Both agreed to work closely with US president-elect Barack Obama on the North Korean nuclear issue, Aso said.
Lee said they must continue to cooperate to realize a nuclear-free North Korea.
The meeting followed Lee’s election promises to improve ties with Japan.
Since taking office 11 months ago, Lee has said he would not demand a new apology from Japan for its colonial rule and has pushed for improved ties with Tokyo.
But Lee’s diplomatic overtures toward Japan took a hit in July when Tokyo announced it would recommend that a government teaching manual include Japan’s claim to uninhabited islets claimed by both countries.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said yesterday that Seoul maintained its position that the islets belong to South Korea, but that he believed the two countries would be able to respect one another’s position as long as they focus on “future-oriented” relations.
Trade between the two countries reached US$82.6 billion in 2007.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
RSS