The Presidential Office yesterday welcomed a joint statement by the US and Japan that underscores their commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The statement, issued by the White House after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, highlighted the countries’ deepening partnership on defense — including of cyber and space defense — as well as on key technologies, healthcare and the climate.
“We oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea. We reiterated our objections to China’s unlawful maritime claims and activities in the South China Sea,” it said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
“We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. We share serious concerns regarding the human rights situations in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” it added.
The government is glad to see that the US and Japan continue to emphasize the importance of peace and stability in the region, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a statement yesterday.
Cross-strait relations have become a concern for the Indo-Pacific region and even the world, he said.
Photo: CNA
“We hope that Beijing will fulfill its responsibility ... [and] make positive contributions to regional security and welfare,” he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has repeatedly said that Taiwan would not succumb to pressure, nor would it make reckless moves, even if it garners more support, Chang added.
Taiwan, the US and Japan share common values in defending freedom, democracy and human rights, as well as common interests in promoting regional security and prosperity, Chang said, pledging to deepen relations with like-minded partners.
Meanwhile, Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi yesterday on Twitter posted photographs of a meeting with soldiers on Japan’s westernmost populated island of Yonaguni.
The photos show him looking toward Taiwan, although he wrote that he could not see it due to the cloudy weather.
Yonaguni is about 110km from Taiwan, and boosting Japan’s southwestern defense system is very important for Japan, Kishi wrote.
During his visit, he has met with Japanese army, navy and air force members on the island, he added.
Separately, Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’ Consultative Council chairman Keiji Furuya yesterday posted a photo on Twitter of Japan’s national flag hoisted in front of a building.
Japanese Representative to Taiwan Hiroyasu Izumi has defied Beijing’s pressure and raised the flag at the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei, Furuya said.
The photograph shows Izumi’s official residence in Taipei’s Yangmingshan area (陽明山), where the envoy started flying the flag in January, the association said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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