Taiwan will have to take extra precautions to safeguard its relations with Japan now that Beijing’s former ambassador to Tokyo, Wang Yi (王毅), is head of the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), Taiwan’s former representative to Japan Koh Sei-kai (�?�) said at a seminar in Taipei yesterday.
The TAO is Beijing’s official agency on cross-strait affairs.
Speaking at the Taiwan New Century Foundation, Koh, an expert on Japanese culture and politics, said that based on his experience dealing with Wang, China will take every chance to sabotage relations between Taiwan and Japan, which could include adding anti-Taiwan conditions in any future China-Japan joint ventures.
“China’s strategy is to ask Japan for whatever Taiwan seeks from Tokyo. If Tokyo rejects China’s request, then Beijing will use Japan’s adherence to the ‘one-China’ policy as an excuse to say that if Tokyo fails to grant China’s requests, then it certainly cannot grant Taiwan’s requests,” Koh said.
Koh said that although Japan-China relations appeared to be improving, an increasing number of Diet members were starting to see the “true colors” of China, such as the sustained double-digit military budget buildup over the past decade.
Taiwan-Japan ties were put to the test early last month after a Japanese coast guard vessel rammed into and sank a Taiwanese fishing boat in the waters surrounding the disputed Diaoyutai (釣魚台) islands, an area claimed by China, Japan, and Taiwan.
Taiwan demanded that Japan provide compensation, release all the men on the fishing boat and publicly apologize for the mishap, conditions that were met by Tokyo just as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was recalling Koh from Tokyo.
A group of pan-blue lawmakers accused Koh of being a “traitor” and alleged he was “siding with the Japanese” in his handling of the incident.
“During the negotiations, many prominent Japanese officials — including three former foreign ministers — agreed that the cherished Taiwan-Japan relationship should not be affected over the incident,” said Koh, adding that the Japanese government had made many exceptions to ensure that the matter was concluded on friendly terms.
In a recent interview with the Japanese Sankei Shimbun, former Japanese representative to Taiwan Tadashi Ikeda said Taiwan-Japan relations could deteriorate as the new government focuses on improving relations with China, saying that anti-Japanese sentiment could easily be stirred up in Taiwan by sensational news reports.
Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said Taiwan highly values its relations with Japan and would seek to strengthen them.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS