Japan’s and China’s top diplomats met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum on July 26, hoping to increase exchanges that promote mutually beneficial relations. However, the Chinese ministry misquoted the Japanese official’s comments on the “one China” issue, further fueling tensions between two sides.
Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi (王毅), had their first one-on-one talk in eight months on the sidelines of a gathering of foreign ministers in Laos to discuss issues between the two sides, including Japanese nationals being detained in China, Beijing’s bans on Japanese food imports and Japan’s semiconductor curbs.
After the meeting, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying “the Japanese foreign minister said that Japan’s adherence to the One China policy has not changed.”
That was different from the Japanese foreign ministry’s statement, which said that the Japanese minister expressed serious concern about the intensification of China’s military activities in areas surrounding Japan, and reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Kamikawa said China’s statement did not cite her words at the meeting correctly and reiterated that Japan has not changed its stance on Taiwan, which has long been consistent with the “ Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China” issued in 1972.
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China. The Government of Japan fully ‘understands’ and ‘respects’ this stand of the Government of the People’s Republic of China,” the document states.
Only 51 countries — not 180 as Beijing says — fully comply with China’s “one China principle,” while 16 “acknowledge” China’s claims, nine “recognize” the claims and some “respect” it, a study by National University of Singapore assistant professor Chong Ja Ian (莊嘉穎) found.
Meanwhile, 27 do not recognize the PRC as the sole legal government of China nor do they mention Taiwan’s sovereignty in official documents, the study showed.
China has long attempted to distort international perceptions of Taiwan through its cognitive and legal warfare. Its moves have also escalated and gotten more daring and arrogant. However, those could cause more nations and politicians to underline ambiguity and doubt about Beijing’s claims over Taiwan.
At least eight lawmakers from other countries, including Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia and Bosnia, said that they had been pressured by Chinese diplomats not to attend the annual meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) that was held in Taiwan on July 30.
China’s move was “unprecedented,” “massively overstepping” and “unacceptable,” IPAC said.
To oppose China’s acts of intimidation, about 50 parliamentarians from 23 countries and the European Parliament participating at this year’s summit officially invited Taiwan to be a member of the alliance and collectively voted to pass a “ Model Resolution on 2758” against China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758, which merely said the PRC was the representative of China to the UN, but did not mention Taiwan, address its political status nor establish PRC sovereignty over Taiwan.
The IPAC members — more than 250 cross-party members from 40 countries — said they would seek to pass the model resolution in their respective parliaments to redress China’s misinterpretation of the UN resolution and inappropriate linkage to its “one China principle.”
The diplomatic incidents caused by China have obviously dealt more blows to its campaign against Taiwan and Beijing has gotten itself into more predicaments internationally.
The US Department of Defense recently released this year’s “Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China.” This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of China’s military capabilities, strategic objectives and evolving global ambitions. Taiwan features prominently in this year’s report, as capturing the nation remains central to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) vision of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” a goal he has set for 2049. The report underscores Taiwan’s critical role in China’s long-term strategy, highlighting its significance as a geopolitical flashpoint and a key target in China’s quest to assert dominance
The National Development Council (NDC) on Wednesday last week launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday. The new visa is for foreign nationals from Taiwan’s list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts, but it is not clear how it differs from other visitor visas for nationals of those countries, CNA wrote. The NDC last year said that it hoped to attract 100,000 “digital nomads,” according to the report. Interest in working remotely from abroad has significantly increased in recent years following improvements in
The Legislative Yuan passed legislation on Tuesday aimed at supporting the middle-aged generation — defined as people aged 55 or older willing and able to work — in a law initially proposed by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) to help the nation transition from an aged society to a super-aged society. The law’s passage was celebrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the TPP. The brief show of unity was welcome news, especially after 10 months of political fighting and unconstitutional amendments that are damaging democracy and the constitutional order, eliciting concern
Following a series of suspected sabotage attacks by Chinese vessels on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea last year, which impacted Europe’s communications and energy infrastructure, an international undersea cable off the coast of Yehliu (野柳) near Keelung was on Friday last week cut by a Chinese freighter. Four cores of the international submarine communication cable connecting Taiwan and the US were damaged. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) dispatched a ship to the site after receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom and located the Shunxin-39, a Cameroon-flagged cargo ship operated by a Hong Kong-registered company and owned by a Chinese
RSS