A court ruled yesterday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi violated the Constitution when he visited a religious shrine in 2001 that honors Japan's war dead, but the defiant premier vowed to keep going.
Such visits to Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo have long angered China, South Korea and other Asian countries because of the site's association with the ideology of emperor worship behind Japan's wartime conquests.
The court case dealt with Koizumi's first visit as prime minister in August 2001, finding he violated the ban on religious activity by the government. Koizumi has gone to the shrine three times since then.
The plaintiffs cheered the ruling on Yasukuni, which enshrines the souls of 2.5 million Japanese who died in wars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Japanese executed for war crimes after World War II, including wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo, are also enshrined there.
"This is a fantastic ruling that clearly acknowledges the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni as unconstitutional," said Tsuneaki Gunjima, leader of the plaintiffs.
The activists had also demanded ?21.1 million (US$200,000) for psychological pain and suffering related to the visit, but that was rejected by the court.
The ruling stated that Koizumi's visits were made in his official capacity, though officials have argued they were private. Koizumi signed the shrine visitors' log with "Prime Minister" and arrived at the grounds in a government car.
A defiant Koizumi dismissed the distinction between official and personal shrine visits, and said he would go to Yasukuni again.
"I don't know why it violates the Constitution. I go there as prime minister and as an individual," Koizumi told reporters. "I'm both a public and private person. I will continue my visits there."
The government did not immediately announce whether it would appeal the decision.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS