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Editorial: Japan knows who its friends are

On Friday, the Japanese Diet passed a bill granting visitors from Taiwan visa-free treatment for their entries into Japan. The move is of course welcomed by the Taiwanese government and the public, since most countries do not formally recognize Taiwan and therefore do not grant such treatment to Taiwanese visitors, causing a lot of inconvenience for those who wish to travel abroad.

Even more noteworthy in these events was the fact that the bill was enacted against the backdrop of strong protests from Beijing, which, coupled with several other recent developments between Japan, Taiwan and China, suggests a gradual shift in the triangular relationship.

Taiwanese know full well how inconvenient it can be to travel abroad with a "Republic of China" Taiwanese passport. The granting of visa-free status to the citizens of a country is usually done through the signing of bilateral treaties or accords. But most countries do not formally recognize Taiwan, and therefore cannot enter into such agreements or accords with Taipei. This means locals typically need to get tourist visas issued by the government of the country which they intend to visit beforehand. However, this can be an extremely inconvenient and time-consuming process.

Despite the lack of a formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, the Japanese government managed to overcome the legal and technical challenge by granting the status through the passage of a domestic law. This reflects a high degree of friendship on the part of Japan toward Taiwan.

Making this move on the part of Japan even more prominent is the fact that such treatment continues to be denied to visitors from China, despite repeated requests from Beijing. In fact, as Japan was preparing to grant visa-free status to Taiwanese travelers, Beijing protested against the discrepancy in treatment between visitors from Taiwan and the "Chinese mainland," calling for the extension of the treatment to all "Chinese" visitors.

Understandably, from the standpoint of the Japanese government, there are many reasons to not grant such status to Chinese visitors -- the biggest one being the existing problem withillegal Chinese immigrants.

Japan is not the only country in the world which has a problem with Chinese students and visitors working and living in their host countries once their visa has expired. The US, Canada and even Taiwan have their hands full in this regard. It seems some people don't want to go back to the social paradise the Chinese Communist Party has created.

On the other hand, of all foreign tourists in Japan, Taiwanese rank No. 2 in terms of number, trailing only South Koreans. So, it is anticipated that the granting of visa-free status will further boost the number of Taiwanese tourists to Japan. Moreover, Taiwanese are well known for their willingness to spend big bucks on shopping and dining while abroad. The passage of the bill will therefore generate a lot of business opportunities and revenue for Japan as the host country.

This is not the first time that the Japanese government has been willing to deal with issues involving Taiwan against a backdrop of vocal protests from Beijing, and excluding Chinese participation during the entire process. A similar pattern was observed during the last round of negotiations between Taiwan and Japan over fishing rights -- in which requests for participation by Beijing were simply ignored.

These developments may be subtle, but are noteworthy. As China's rise as a regional threat continues, Japanese policy toward Beijing seems to have taken on a subtle and gradual shift. One can only hope this will lead to further, more significant changes in the future.
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