Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee was speaking at an event to mark the release of the Chinese-language version of his book Bushido Kaidai (武士道解題), a commentary on the traditional samurai spirit.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee said this essential part of Japanese culture has been lost, resulting in Japan's appeasing China at the expense of Taiwan's interests.
"The old Japanese values of the samurai have long since disappeared and the Japanese have become weak. Whatever China opposes, Japan dare not say something different," Lee said.
"When China opposes Taiwan's referendum plan, Japan reacts in a fearful way and even allowed a low-ranking official of the Interchange Association [Japan's representative office in Taiwan] to secretly deliver the Japanese government's concerns."
Lashing out at Japan's bowing to pressure from China, Lee said, "The top authority of Japan may not act in an obvious way to make concessions to China, but lower-level government officials will then do something to appease China."
Lee was referring to a representative of the Interchange Association, Katsuhisa Uchida (內田勝久), who visited Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) late last month to express Tokyo's dissatisfaction with the referendum plan.
Lee said Japan will act against Taiwan as compensation for its policies that irritate China.
He said Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine, a symbol of Japanese militarism and a focal point for China's anti-Japanese sentiment, and a recent visit to Taiwan by former prime minister Yoshiro Mori (森喜朗) are the main reasons why Japan is willing to grant China concessions.
Lee urged the Japanese people to restore the samurai value of honesty, adding the weakness and appeasement Japan has shown goes against the samurai spirit.
He also criticized Japan's vacillation, saying Japan's Constitution was based on the US Constitution -- the same situation Taiwan faces by using the Republic of China Constitution, which was drafted in China and brought to Taiwan in 1949.
At yesterday's book release, Lee urged the people of Taiwan to find their own cultural spirit. He called on people to insist on "Taiwan-centric" beliefs and to further efforts to build a Taiwanese identity.
The book was originally written in Japanese by Lee and was first published in Japan in 2002.
Born in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era, the former president received a Japanese education for more than 20 years. His interpretation and observation for the book was inspired by Japanese pundit Nitobe Inazo, who completed Bushido, the Soul of Japan in 1900.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it plans to revise the export control list for strategic high-tech products by adding 18 items under three categories — advanced 3D printing equipment, advanced semiconductor equipment and quantum computers — which would require local manufacturers to obtain licenses for their export. The ministry’s announcement yesterday came as the International Trade Administration issued a 60-day preview period for planned revisions to the Export Control List for Dual Use Items and Technology (軍商兩用貨品及技術出口管制清單) and the Common Military List (一般軍用貨品清單), which fall under regulations governing export destinations for strategic high-tech commodities and specific strategic high-tech commodities. The
RSS