Japan’s incoming prime minister yesterday pledged to seek a thaw in ties with China after a report said he would send a special envoy on a fence-mending mission to Beijing.
Ties between Japan and China have become increasingly strained over a disputed island chain also claimed by Taiwan — the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台列嶼), controlled by Tokyo, which calls them the Senkakus, and which Beijing calls the Diaoyu Islands (釣魚群島) — with neither side willing to budge after months of bitter wrangling.
“I want to make efforts to return to the starting point of developing the mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests,” Japanese prime minister-elect Shinzo Abe told reporters.
“The Japan-China relationship is one of extremely important bilateral ties,” he said.
The comments came after the business daily Nikkei reported Abe would send Masahiko Komura, the vice president of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to deliver a letter to Chinese authorities next month.
They also came a day after China sent ships into territorial waters around the disputed islands, in the first incursion since Japan elected a new government.
“I will shoulder grave responsibility [for Japan’s future],” Abe, who will officially be appointed as prime minister on Wednesday, told supporters in his constituency in western Japan yesterday. “My mission is to bring a breakthrough in the serious situations we face in economy, diplomacy, and education.”
Abe said on Friday he would dispatch former Japanese finance minister Fukushiro Nukaga to deliver a letter to South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye, who also triumphed in national elections just days ago.
Tokyo is embroiled in a separate row with Seoul over a different set of islets, with tensions flaring up earlier this year after outgoing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak paid a sudden visit to the disputed territory.
“Abe intends to improve frayed ties with South Korea and with China by sending special envoys,” the Nikkei said, without citing sources.
Abe’s sweeping parliamentary victory on Sunday was greeted with caution in Beijing and Seoul, with China saying it was “highly concerned” over Japan’s future direction under the new government.
In one of his first broadcast interviews after the parliamentary win, Abe said there was no room for compromise on the sovereignty of the disputed islands, calling them “Japan’s inherent territory,” and putting the onus for improved relations on Beijing.
Despite warm words about the importance of economic ties with Beijing — China is Japan’s biggest trading partner — Abe stressed the need to build relations with other countries, such as India and Australia.
Analysts have said at least some of this could be posturing, with some believing Abe’s LDP will have easier communication with China due to the contacts it developed during its more than half a century rule before it was ousted in 2009.
Abe said yesterday there was “no change in our plans to study” stationing officials on the disputed islands — a controversial policy option that would further provoke Beijing.
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
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