The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no plan to hold a ceremony or a news conference to mark the official renaming of the Association of East Asian Relations to the Association of Taiwan-Japan Relations, sources said yesterday.
The Association of East Asian Relations handles ties with Japan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, which ended in 1972. Its office in Tokyo changed its name to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan in 1992.
Japan also set up a quasi-official organization, formerly known as the Interchange Association, Japan, to represent its interests in Taipei. The organization was renamed the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in January, with a ceremony in Taipei to unveil the new plaque.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee on March 6 in response to lawmakers’ queries, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said the Executive Yuan was reviewing a proposal to change the name of the Association of East Asian Relations to the Association of Taiwan-Japan Relations.
Sources said yesterday that the proposal has been approved by the Executive Yuan, adding that implementation was held off due to US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) this month, and that the work is expected to be completed in the next several days after some technical details are worked out.
However, the ministry plans to quietly announce the renaming via a press release and would not hold a ceremony or a news conference, sources added.
Legislators pushing for a ceremony have said that such an event should be held in Tokyo if possible, and if not, then a news conference should be called in Tokyo about the name change.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said the name change should be celebrated with great fanfare, which would improve Taiwan’s foreign affairs morale and attract international attention, adding that Taiwan should also exercise caution to avoid harming its relationship with Japan.
Former representative to Japan Koh Se-kai (許世楷) said a press release is excessively low-key for the name change.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should more positively respond to the good relations between Taiwan and Japan, he said, adding that Taiwan is a sovereign nation and should not be concerned with China’s reaction.
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,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
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