Although Japan is Taiwan's neighbor, it has always viewed the island with considerable misunderstanding and ignorance. Since Taiwan's democratization, Japan has paid more attention, but this has led to even more misunderstandings.
One year after President Chen Shui-bian (
Interviews Lee has given to Japanese reporters, in Japanese, have reinforced his popularity in Japan -- though many of the comments have created a furor back home in Taiwan. A clear example of this tendency is Japanese author Ryotaro Shiba's (司馬遼太郎) Travel Notes from Taiwan (台灣紀行) -- which included Lee's remarks on the "sadness of being Taiwanese."
Recent publications which introduced Lee and Taiwan to the Japanese include Yoshinori Kobayashi's (
Lee's goodwill toward Japanese of his generation has satisfied their nostalgia for the old days. In addition, while Japan has constantly been reproached by the world for its wartime invasions, Lee has been the only foreign leader who praises Japan. Such comments are music to the ears of the Japanese, mostly because they come from the (now former) leader of a former Japanese colony. Plus, many Japanese are deeply attracted to Lee's personal charm, his erudition in Japanese culture and his fluent Japanese.
Undeniably, Japan's understanding of Taiwan has increased because of Lee's contributions. Many Japanese have become fans of Taiwan. But when Japanese authors -- whom Lee praises and appreciates -- were portraying Lee or Taiwan, they only wrote down that which tallied with their own ideologies -- and therefore twisted the facts.
For example, Japanese authors have described Taiwan as a place extremely close to Japan. Except remarks made by Lee and "local Taiwanese" (本省人),descendants of the early immigrants from China) of his generation, the authors ignore all criticism of Japan by Taiwan's other ethnic groups.
As a result, Japanese readers are biased and interpret the criticism Lee receives in Taiwan as the pro-unification camp's attacks against the pro-independence camp. From such a vantage point, pro-Japan and pro-independence local Taiwanese are considered "good" while anti-Japan and anti-independence "mainlanders" (外省人) and other ethnic groups are considered "evil." Hidden behind such an interpretation is the growing Japanese dislike for China.
The question should be how Japan can get along with Taiwan and China at the same time, not humanitarian concerns, such as Lee's recent trip to Japan for medical tests..
Chen's inauguration marked a change of generations in Taiwan. But the old generation's "human sympathy" diplomacy (
Takefumi Hayata is publisher of the Taiwan Report Weekly.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US