An official from the Presidential Office said yesterday the government was upset by remarks early last month by the de facto Japanese ambassador on Taiwan’s status, but dismissed speculation that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has refused to see the Japanese envoy.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, disputed a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday that said Ma had refused to see Masaki Saito after the Japanese representative said that Taiwan’s status was “still unresolved.”
Saito made the comments at an annual meeting of the Republic of China (ROC) International Relations Association at National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi County. Saito’s remarks were made days after Ma declared that the 1952 Treaty of Taipei affirmed the transfer of Taiwan’s sovereignty from Japan to the ROC.
The Japanese representative later apologized for his remarks after Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) lodged a protest and demanded an explanation.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release announced that Hsia had met Saito, who said that it was his personal view that Taiwan’s status was unresolved and that his comment did not reflect the position of the Japanese government.
“[Ma and Saito] recently attended an event and had short exchanges,” the official said yesterday, dismissing the report, which said Ma was so furious that he planned to ask Tokyo to replace Saito.
“Although his remarks were indeed inappropriate and hurt the feelings of Taiwanese people, the president is not as angry as the media portrayed,” the official said. “The Presidential Office does everything with the country’s best interest in mind.”
The report said the government declined to describe Ma’s move as a “boycott” or a “reluctance to see” Saito, instead saying it was “inconvenient [for the two] to meet.”
No one knew exactly when Ma would be willing to see Saito, the report said.
The report also said Tokyo had no immediate intention to replace Saito and had recently given Taiwan’s representative to Japan, John Feng (馮寄台), the “cold shoulder” in retaliation.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus on May 4 urged the Executive Yuan to declare Saito persona non grata and ask Tokyo to recall him.
At a separate setting yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he had no information on whether the KMT caucus was acting under instructions from the Presidential Office.
“Taiwan-Japan relations have been sound,” Wang said.
While the Ma administration was upset by Saito’s remarks, Taiwan independence supporters rallied in support of the Japanese representative to Taiwan, saying the Japanese government and Saito need not apologize because “they told the truth.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN AND STAFF WRITER
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