Japan's foreign ministry issued a new warning for its citizens traveling to China over the May Day holiday week that kicked off yesterday due to concerns that more anti-Japanese demonstrations could turn violent.
Angry protests have erupted in China in recent weeks over differing views of World War II history, natural gas exploration and Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, sending the two countries' relations to their lowest level in decades.
Tokyo has demanded an apology, but Beijing has blamed Japan's lack of remorse over its wartime atrocities for causing the troubles.
In the latest travel warning, issued late on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said that activists planned more protests on the Labor Day holiday tomorrow and on May 4, the date of a 1919 student uprising over a treaty that ceded part of China to Japan, in major cities including Shanghai, Nanjing and Chongqing.
"We worry that [activists] may take advantage of [such memorial events] and hold anti-Japanese demonstrations," the ministry said in a statement, posted on its Web site.
"If you witness or obtain information on anti-Japanese activities, please do not approach potential venues and use caution not to be involved in unnecessary trouble," the statement continued.
There were signs that anti-Japanese riots are gradually receding, but the possibilities for more riots could not be ruled out, the ministry said.
The ministry issued similar warnings earlier this month.
In Shanghai, which is eager to burnish its image as a cosmopolitan center for culture and trade, authorities have been holding meetings with parents at local schools, warning them not to let their children join any protests.
State-controlled newspapers in Shanghai have also been running daily commentaries calling for "social stability."
In the earlier demonstrations, rioters smashed windows at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing and consulate in Shanghai and vandalized Japanese restaurants and company buildings.
The Chinese government has recently warned against unauthorized protests.
Meanwhile, Japanese business sentiment towards China remains unchanged despite the recent tensions, a senior Japanese official said in Singapore yesterday.
"Japanese business circles will understand the importance of relations between China and Japan," Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka said.
"As far as I know at this moment, Japanese business circles are very carefuly watching the situation but they [have] not changed any investment attitude, trade attitude. They are behaving in a very rational manner," Takenaka said.
He was speaking at a news conference after addressing the World Economic Forum's Asia Roundtable in Singapore.
Asked if angry Chinese protests over history textbooks that allegedly gloss over Tokyo's wartime atrocities had changed Japanese business sentiment toward China, Takenaka said: "I don't hear that kind of voice."
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