President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday conferred the Order of Brilliant Star on former Japanese director of the minister’s secretariat of the ministry of foreign affairs Hideo Tarumi in recognition of his contributions to Taiwan-Japan ties.
On behalf of Taiwanese, Tsai thanked Tarumi for being a long-term friend of Taiwan and an important promoter of ties between Taiwan and Japan.
Serving in the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Office in Taipei from 2001 to 2003, and 2016 to 2017, as well as in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tarumi has always worked to bolster Taiwan-Japan cooperation, she said.
Photo: CNA
For example, he facilitated Japan’s granting of visa-free entry for Taiwanese tourists and promoted youth exchanges between Taiwan and Japan by delivering talks at Japanese schools to encourage Japanese students to come to Taiwan for educational visits, she said.
As Tarumi retired from the Japanese foreign ministry at the end of last year and has become a photographer and cross-strait relations professor at Ritsumeikan University in Japan, Tsai invited him to visit Taiwan regularly to travel, take photos and meet friends.
Tarumi said that he was greatly honored to receive the medal, adding that during his nearly four-decade career as a diplomat, he built a deep relationship with Taiwan and made many friends, including Tsai, senior advisor to the president Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
He has experienced firsthand the close relations between Taipei and Tokyo as he was treated with kindness while living and working in Taiwan, he said.
He would continue to cherish the bonds with Taiwan, not as a diplomat, but a photographer, Tarumi said.
Later yesterday, Tarumi met with Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who congratulated him on the decoration and thanked him for his contributions to Taiwan-Japan ties.
Tarumi helped promote cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on maritime affairs, developing Asian markets and exchanges among young researchers, Lai said.
The president-elect expressed hope of continuing to work with Tarumi and others to further bolster Taiwan-Japan ties, including people-to-people exchanges and economic and industrial cooperation.
Tarumi expressed his heartfelt congratulations to Lai for his victory in January’s presidential election, adding that having a senior politician like Lai serve as president is a very good and happy thing for Taiwanese and the region.
He hoped that Taiwan and Japan, both of which are facing a severe international environment with challenges to stability, can continue to foster exchanges and cooperation, adding that he is ready and willing to contribute to the endeavor.
‘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