Climate change is the biggest task facing humanity, and technology has a huge role in solving the problem, former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday at the opening of Germany’s Hanover Fair alongside German Chancellor Angel Merkel.Abe, speaking as the special envoy of the Japanese government, said Japan was at the forefront of technologies to counter climate change and to move to a low-carbon society.
As Partner Country at the Hanover Fair, the world’s largest industrial fair with a 60-year history, Japan’s presentation would show its expertise in automated manufacture, robotics, energy technology and micro and nano technology, Abe said.
“I am of the opinion that climate change is the biggest task facing all of humanity and that a solution must be found by the political leaders,” Abe said.
He noted that Japan had taken over the chairmanship of the G8 from Germany at the beginning of the year, carrying on the climate change agenda put forward by Merkel last year.
“Technology, in particular, has a huge role to play in solving this problem,” Abe said. “As can be see by our work on the hybrid car, Japan has promoted the development and introduction of an extensive range of energy-saving technologies, and is thus world leader with respect to the level of energy efficiency.”
Abe noted that Germany was Japan’s largest trading partner in Europe and said the aim was to extend these ties.
He also noted that the two countries faced the twin problems of an ageing society and falling birth rates and as advanced industrial societies needed to implement structural reforms and promote “next-generation industries.”
The Toyako G8 on Hokkaido in July represented a chance for Japan to convey its environmental message, Abe said.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’