Japan's prime minister said yesterday that he is baffled by the Chinese premier's refusal to meet one-on-one, fueling a row dating back to World War II and clouding a summit with grand visions for a pan-Asian community.
South Korea and Southeast Asian nations inked an accord during meetings yesterday to set up a free trade area, while the Philippines invited Russia and China to join a Southeast Asian anti-terror coalition.
China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said she hoped "these two very important friends of ours will be able to sort out their political differences because their economic relationship is very good."
Koizumi told ASEAN leaders during their meeting yesterday that he found Wen's attitude to be inexplicable.
"No two nations are without their share of differences. I cannot understand why China won't have a meeting because of one problem," Koizumi was quoted as saying by a Japanese delegation official.
The Chinese delegation did not immediately respond, but Wen said late on Monday that Koizumi lacks the "correct approach toward historical questions ... deeply hurting the feeling[s] of the Chinese people, the Korean people and the people of Asia."
Koizumi maintains his visits are meant to express his remorse about the war.
China and South Korea say Japan has not fully atoned for wartime atrocities.
Meanwhile Russia held its first-ever summit with ASEAN, reflecting its desire to forge closer economic ties with the region.
The meetings in Kuala Lumpur end today when the 10 ASEAN leaders meet with counterparts from Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand at the inaugural East Asia Summit.
The 16-country group aims for an eventual Asian economic community comprising half the world's population and a combined economy of US$8.3 trillion, but the region's many rivalries make that goal elusive.
National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday said it disqualified a person from an entrance examination for using AI smart glasses to cheat, along with two others for making untruthful statements in their curriculum vitae. The three applicants were given null scores, Taiwan’s highest-ranked university said, calling on prospective students to be honest in the admissions process. NTU registrar Lee Hung-sen (李宏森) said that the cheating applicant wore a hat and thick-rimmed glasses to the second written exam for medical school, claiming that they felt cold. Suspicions were aroused when the applicant stared oddly at the test for long stretches while steadily bringing the paper
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NOT JUST NUMBERS: What matters to intelligence work is crucial, reliable information, so even a few credible leads can be highly valuable to national security, a legislator said The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it has finished the establishment of an information-reporting channel for Chinese nationals, the aim of which is to broaden intelligence gathering on China’s political, military, economic and social developments. Chinese nationals can submit information on the Web page, https://report.nsb.gov.tw, the NSB said in a statement. The move aims to expand the bureau’s diverse intelligence sources and is pursuant to the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), it said, adding that it referenced practices adopted by intelligence agencies in the US, the UK and Israel. An increasing number of people are approaching Taiwanese agencies to provide information, as
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