A meeting of Taiwanese, US and Japanese lawmakers is being discussed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, while an exclusive report by Kyodo News on Wednesday said that a teleconference might be held at the end of this month.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group of the Japanese Diet has held discussions with Taiwan and the US about convening talks on controlling COVID-19, advancing Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHO as an observer, and reaching an agreement on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co pledging a stable provision of semiconductors to Japan and the US, Kyodo News said.
Taiwan’s membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership would also be on the agenda, it said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The idea stemmed from comments made by Japanese Representative Keiji Furuya, a Liberal Democratic Party member, during the Yushan Forum in March last year.
Furuya, who participated in the virtual conference, expressed the hope that lawmakers from the three countries could form a society to promote security cooperation.
Furuya and Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) met in March to discuss the issue, while the details are still being finalized, a source familiar with the matter said.
Asked for comment, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that talks among the three nations are ongoing, but no definite date has been set for a meeting.
Ou thanked Furuya for making the proposal, saying that the ministry was happy to promote the trilateral dialogue.
In other news, Ou said that the Japanese government’s ban on non-Japanese people entering the country from India, Nepal and Pakistan, which took effect on Monday, does not extend to transit passengers.
Taiwanese in India can return to Taiwan via Tokyo, she added.
As of Monday, 10 employees at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in India had tested positive for COVID-19, including two Taiwanese diplomats who on Saturday last week had returned to Taiwan for medical treatment via a chartered flight arranged by the French insurance company Carps International, she said.
Other infected employees can also return for treatment via charter flights, while those with minor symptoms can stay in India for treatment, she said, adding that the ministry had delivered a batch of medication for infected TECC employees.
While local media reported that the TECC’s head, Representative to India Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱), had tested positive, Ou said that the ministry could not release the identity of those who had tested positive due to privacy concerns.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS