Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday underlined Tokyo's concern over the EU's plans to lift an arms embargo on China at a summit with European leaders in Luxembourg, while in Manila, Japan's defense minister agreed to expand cooperation with the Philippines.
The EU's presidency insisted that ending the 16-year-old ban, slapped on Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, would not threaten security in the region.
Koizumi, speaking after the talks, said he believed the 25-member bloc understands Tokyo's opposition to the plans.
"I did express our concern and I think ... Japan's concern is very well understood," he said in a joint press conference with EU leaders including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
He added that the EU had made clear to him that, "while fully understanding the concerns of Japan, [it] should like to deal with the matter so that it would not lead to a problem."
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, reiterated that the bloc hopes to reach an agreement on lifting the plan by the end of June.
But he also underlined that a lifting of the arms embargo would have "no material consequences" -- an apparent reference to any increase in arms sales to China.
"We are in the process of discussing the subject with our closest partners, that means Japan [and] the United States," he said. "We take very seriously the observations made by both Japan and the US.
"The intention of the EU if it reaches an accord on lifting the embargo is not to develop arms exports to China in a way that would [increase] the security concerns regularly mentioned by our partners," he said.
In Manila, defense ministers from the Philippines and Japan agreed to expand cooperation, especially in the areas of maritime security, disaster management and counter-terrorism.
Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and visiting Japanese Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno also agreed to develop a mechanism wherein they can meet annually to discuss security issues.
"The first step is to develop a mechanism for an annual continuation of the political security dialogue and the frequency of the exchange of visits between senior and middle level officers," Cruz said after meeting with Ohno who was in Manila for an overnight visit.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying