Japanese government spokesman Osamu Fujimura said a decision not to invite Taiwan’s representative to present flowers at a ceremony on Sunday marking the first anniversary of last year’s massive earthquake and tsunami was made by the Japanese Cabinet and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a Japanese media report yesterday.
The remarks, coming one day after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said he was sorry that Taiwan’s representative was not called to present flowers at the ceremony, was “tantamount to recanting the prime minister’s apology to Taiwan,” the Sankei Shimbun reported.
Deputy Representative Lo Koon-tsan (羅坤燦) was seated on the second floor, with representatives of Japanese enterprises and nongovernmental organizations.
Noda, in response to questions by opposition lawmaker Hiroshige Seko at a Budget Committee meeting of the Diet on Monday, said Taiwan warmly extended assistance in the wake of the calamity and if Japan had hurt Taiwan, he felt truly sorry and promised to reflect on his actions.
Seko said he felt ill at ease over two things at Sunday’s ceremony, one being that representatives of other countries and sectors did not rise to greet the emperor and empress when they entered the venue, and the other being that a Taiwanese representative was not invited to present flowers.
Seko said Taiwan was one of the first countries to extend a helping hand and donated the most to the country, adding that the Japanese government had been impolite toward Taiwan. He said he understood that there could be diplomatic difficulties, but it was important to overcome such difficulties to reciprocate Taiwan’s friendship.
He said he felt sorry about Japan’s handling of the ceremony, and he hoped that Noda would apologize to Taiwan as the representative of the nation.
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,
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
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS