Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) yesterday paid a visit to Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo.
Speaking during the meeting, Motegi said Taiwan is an extremely important partner to Japan and a precious friend with shared values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, adding that the two countries have close economic relationships and regular personnel exchanges.
Motegi said while he was serving as Japan’s foreign minister in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic was bringing suffering to people all over the world, and that he is still grateful to Taiwan for its donation of 2 million masks and various medical resources to Japan at that time.
Photo: AFP
Japan also donated around 4.2 million doses of COVID- 19 vaccines to Taiwan, he said, adding that around the same time he also received a warm letter from Cheng expressing his hope that the Japanese people were managing to cope with the challenging situation.
Cheng expressed gratitude to Japan for its donation of the 4.2 million vaccine doses, pointing out that the figure accounts for about 20 percent of Taiwan’s population.
Cheng added that Taiwan and Japan have shared values and extremely close trade ties, and also face common geopolitical challenges.
Most importantly, the two countries have a shared vision, he said, saying that at the recently concluded G7 summit in Hiroshima, the world’s wealthiest democracies laid out a strategy of "de-risking, not de-coupling" from China.
"De-risking" refers to reducing reliance on China’s supply chains, without completely isolating it.
Yesterday afternoon, Cheng also visited contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s 3DIC R&D Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Cheng is currently leading a delegation of economics officials on a visit to Tokyo from Monday till today to conduct exchanges in energy, net-zero emissions and fifth generation wireless cellular technology.
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