China yesterday warned ties with Japan were at a 30-year low and reiterated it would not apologize for widespread protests, but Japan said it saw no need to change its policy despite a "very uncomfortable situation."
As Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura held a second day of talks in Beijing, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei (
"There are serious difficulties between China and Japan at the moment. It is the most difficult time since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1972," he told reporters, blaming Japan's refusal to face its past record of aggression.
PHOTO: EPA
In contrast, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima attempted to put a more positive spin on relations as he focused on economics at a press conference in the Chinese capital.
He added, however, that Chinese protesters who damaged Japanese property had created a "very uncomfortable situation."
Ties between East Asia's two most powerful nations have rapidly approached a nadir after Japan approved a nationalist textbook that glossed over wartime atrocities.
They have been further ruffled by Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, three out of every four Japanese voters believe Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has not done enough to improve long-strained relations with China and South Korea, according to a newspaper poll published yesterday.
Seventy-six percent of respondents to a poll of about 1,000 voters the Mainichi Shimbun on Saturday and Sunday said Koizumi had not done enough to mend ties with Japan's neighbors, both of which were occupied by Japan before and during World War II.
In Tokyo, shots were fired yesterday at a Chinese language school, hitting a door but causing no injuries, in the latest apparent backlash against violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, police and media said.
A razor blade with an anonymous note complaining about the protests also was delivered by mail last week to the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka the Kyodo News agency reported.
Police said they found several bullet holes in the glass door at the entrance of the Japan-China Friendship Center. Investigators also found several bullets at the site. Kyodo said the shooting was believed to be linked to the protests. Nobody claimed responsibility.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed down 3.80 percent yesterday amid the escalating tensions, ending at 10,938.44 points -- its lowest point since Dec. 16.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS