China and Japan toned down the rhetoric yesterday, but both said it was up to the other to take steps to repair relations damaged by the detention of a fishing captain and a verbal fight over disputed islands.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tokyo had to make the first move to put diplomatic ties back on track after nearly three weeks of bitterness since Japan detained the fishing captain after his boat and two Japanese patrol boats collided near islands in the East China Sea.
“If Japan values its relationship with China, it should take concrete action to repair ties,” ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) told a regular news conference. When asked what specific actions Japan had to take, Jiang would not say.
“Safeguarding bilateral relations requires the two sides to meet halfway and requires Japan to take candid and practical actions,” she said.
She urged Tokyo to “stop its stalking or disruption of Chinese fisheries law enforcement management boats” patrolling the disputed waters, but offered no other specifics on what steps should be taken.
Tokyo said Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan had no plans to meet with his Chinese counterpart at an ASEAN-EU summit in Brussels next Monday and Tuesday.
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Tokyo was “not taking any action” to arrange talks for the two leaders.
“My impression is that it would be difficult for such talks to be arranged,” he said.
Maehara welcomed Kan’s decision to attend the meeting, reversing an earlier plan to miss it, because it is important for Japan to give the rest of the world a fairer picture of developments since the collision.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku also told reporters that conditions had not been met for a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), reiterating it was up to China to repair relations.
Wen and Kan did not meet in New York last week when both attended a UN gathering.
Kan’s government has come under fire at home for its decision last Friday to release the fishing boat captain amid intense Chinese pressure.
His release failed to ease tensions after China demanded an apology for his detention and compensation over the weekend.
Tokyo countered by demanding that Beijing pay for damage to the patrol boats from the collisions near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), which the Japanese call Senkaku. Japan controls the islands but China and Taiwan also claim them.
Meanwhile, a top Japanese financial official said China’s ban on shipments to Japan of rare-earth metals crucial for advanced manufacturing threatens to undermine the Japanese economy.
Japanese trading company officials say China halted exports to Japan last Thursday of rare earths — exotic metals that are used in magnets, computer disk drives, components for hybrid cars and other high-tech products. Chinese officials denied there was a ban.
“The de-facto ban on rare-earths export that China has imposed could have a very big impact on Japan’s economy,’’ Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Banri Kaieda said. “We need to restore Japan-China ties, especially economic exchanges, as soon as possible.”
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
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