Taiwan will closely monitor Chinese leader Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) upcoming visit to Japan, said the nation’s representative to Tokyo yesterday, adding that president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) request to visit Japan prior to his inauguration next month is unlikely to happen.
In his report to the legislature, representative Koh Se-kai (許世楷) said Taiwan would keep a close tab on Hu’s trip to Japan from May 6 to May 11 to ascertain whether Taiwan’s status is mentioned during the visit.
Koh, a leading authority on Japanese politics, said China has been asking Japan to sign a fourth communique; stating that Japan agrees Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, which Tokyo has long refused to do.
Since Japan and Taiwan severed formal ties more than 30 years ago, Japan has never stated they support the “one China” policy. The Japanese position is that they “acknowledge” and “respect” China’s position on the issue of Taiwan, Koh said.
He added that on several occasions, top ranking Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last December, have publicly repeated that in Japan, the phrase “not support” and “oppose” have vastly different meanings.
On the issue of Taiwan’s bid to become a full member of the UN and its subsidiaries under the name “Taiwan,” Tokyo has always stated that it “does not support” but never that it “opposes” such moves, Fukuda said at a press conference during his trip to China in December.
When asked about the possibility of Ma visiting Japan prior to his May 20 inauguration, Koh said such a trip was unlikely to happen because the dates are too close to the time of Hu’s visit.
Some Japanese politicians and academics have reportedly been worried about Taiwan-Japan relations under Ma’s leadership because of the KMT’s past anti-Japanese sentiment.
Ma tried to assuage those fears by publicly touting Taiwan-Japan ties and even expressed his wish to visit Japan prior taking office.
“When the Japanese tell me about their worries about bilateral ties under Ma’s administration, I tell them that some people in Taiwan are also worried about warming relations between China and Japan,” Koh said.
The representative, however, offered assurances that despite Japan’s own unstable political climate, Taiwan-Japan ties should continue to remain strong and friendly.
So far 30 Japanese dignitaries, including retired officials, incumbent government leaders and those from cultural circles have been invited to Ma’s inauguration ceremony.
The incumbent Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who is known for his Taiwan-friendly stance, will most likely be part of the delegation, Koh said.
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