China warned yesterday that increasing US-Japan military cooperation should be strictly bilateral and not encompass Beijing's arch-rival Taiwan.
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
"Any part of putting Taiwan directly or indirectly into the scope of Japan-US security cooperation constitutes an encroachment on China's sovereignty and interference in China's internal affairs," Li said. "The Chinese government and people are firmly against such activities."
During a wide-ranging press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, Li characterized the military pact between Japan and the US as a "bilateral arrangement" that came about during the Cold War.
Such a relationship, Li warned, should be "strictly restricted" to a bilateral nature, adding that any expansion of the alliance could cause problems in the region.
"If it goes beyond the bilateral scope, definitely it would arouse uneasiness on the part of Asian countries and bring about complicated factors to the regional security situation," Li said.
Beijing has been increasingly wary of Washington and Tokyo's close strategic partnership.
The Taiwan issue was the "most sensitive" and core issue facing Sino-US ties, he said.
China last month voiced strong opposition to a US and Japanese statement which described Taiwan as a common security issue, slamming the allies' move as "inappropriate."
Washington and Tokyo jointly urged China, which has over 600 missiles amassed opposite Taiwan, "to improve transparency of its military affairs."
Regarding relations with Japan, Li said present ties with Tokyo should be "cherished" as they have come through "long-term and arduous efforts," but Tokyo must "properly" handle its relations with Taiwan and back down from its claims to the disputed Senkaku, or Tiaoyu Islands, in the East China Sea.
The long-standing territorial dispute has recently been at the center of noisy anti-Japanese protests in China, as well as in Hong Kong, but Li said China hoped to resolve the dispute through dialogue.
"China has indisputable, historical and legal sovereignty over the Tiaoyu Island and the adjacent islands," Li said.
"No glib words or tricky action can change this fact nor can it be changed by any unilateral action by any foreign country," he said in apparent reference to the recent building of structures by Japan on the islands.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS