The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday admitted for the first time that former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe took a taxi during a late night dinner with several opposition party politicians during a recent two-day visit to Taiwan.
The admission came after ministry officials had been insistent, amid growing questions raised over the diplomatic lapse, that government-supplied courtesy cars were provided at all times during Abe’s visit.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said yesterday that Abe shared a taxi with members of the entourage at 11:30pm on Sunday night.
He maintained, however, that the incident, first revealed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials, only took place after Japanese diplomatic officials told the driver of a ministry supplied van that he could retire for the night.
“Under the circumstances of having no car, it seems like [Abe and his entourage] did take a taxi,” Yang said. “But it wasn’t because the MOFA purposely withdrew the cars.”
Yang’s remarks contradicted MOFA spokesperson James Chang (章計平), who claimed on Tuesday that a van was supplied at all times during Abe’s visit, adding the opposition party’s remarks on the taxi incident were “completely false.”
Yang yesterday said he called the van driver surnamed Tan (譚) to determine the causes of the discrepancy between the DPP and the ministry. The van driver said he was told by the Japanese that he could leave after he drove the former Japanese prime minister from the restaurant where Abe met the DPP politicians back to the hotel, Yang said.
“It was then about 10:20pm. It was impossible that our van driver would leave without permission. They are all very disciplined,” Yang said.
Several DPP politicians, all of whom were at the dinner on Sunday night, originally told the Taipei Times on Tuesday that the incident was first mentioned by a Japanese representative at the dinner party.
The DPP account said Abe had been escorted in a van provided by the ministry to the dinner party at 9pm on Sunday. He later left the party halfway through in the same van to meet with members of the Japanese press at his hotel.
At about 10:30pm, according to the DPP’s account, which differs slightly from Yang’s, Abe returned to the dinner venue in a taxi accompanied by a bodyguard and another member of the Japanese Diet.
After the dinner concluded, Abe left the venue, a seafood restaurant near Yijiang Street, accompanied by a senior DPP official and a bodyguard in DPP Secretary General Wu Nai-jen’s (吳乃仁) private sedan.
These events have since been independently confirmed to the Taipei Times by other witnesses at the venue.
Wu yesterday suggested that it was unlikely Japanese officials had told the MOFA-supplied driver he could retire from the night, adding that if this was the case, “the member of [Abe's] entourage would not be feeling this way.”
According to Wu, the member of the Abe’s entourage that told the DPP of the incident thought that it was “a bit strange” and said it was hard to understand how this could have happened.
“We know of this because a member of his entourage mentioned it. Abe didn’t talk about it at all,” he said. “We thought it was outrageous ... we had expected him to take the MOFA van back since that was the vehicle that took him to the hotel.”
This latest diplomatic bungling, could point to a serious lack of diplomatic protocol amid growing concerns that Japanese officials have been hampered by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government during their meetings with opposition party politicians.
Information given by the DPP yesterday suggested Taiwan’s representative office in Tokyo told a visiting Japanese parliamentary delegation that it was “inconvenient” to help them schedule meetings with former DPP politicians.
The statement, which the DPP said was obtained from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tokyo, says that it would be inconvenient to help plan visits with former Taiwanese representatives to Japan, Koh Se-kai (許世楷) and Lo Fu-chen (羅福全), as well as World United Formosans for Independence chairman Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂).
The Japanese delegation, including a number of members of the Japanese Diet, had originally hoped to meet the trio during their three-day trip last month, which was separate from Abe’s, DPP officials said.
“This is not the only time that meetings with [DPP] politicians have been blocked” by foreign affairs officials, DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said. “This has happened many times before.”
MOFA denied the allegation in a press release yesterday, saying it had arranged for the Japanese guests to meet with Wu.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military