A former foreign minister-turned-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker charged yesterday that Japan should recall its representative to Taipei over the latter’s comment that Taiwan’s status is unclear. Taiwan’s former representative to Japan, on the other hand, supported the Japanese representative, saying that he did not say anything wrong.
The fuss stemmed from remarks made by Masaki Saito, head of the Taipei office of Japan’s Interchange Association — Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan — on Friday that Taiwan’s status is “still unresolved.” Saito made the comments at an annual meeting of the Republic of China (ROC) International Relations Association at National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi County.
The Japanese representative later apologized for his remarks after Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) lodged a protest and demanded an explanation.
A news release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Hsia summoned Saito, who said that it was purely his personal view that Taiwan’s status was unresolved and that his comment did not reflect the position of the Japanese government.
The release said Saito apologized to Hsia, saying he was sorry that his remarks had created difficulty for the ROC government. Saito said he would contact the International Relations Association to withdraw his statement, the release added.
KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) said yesterday neither Saito nor the MOFA had done enough to deal with Saito’s “serious gaffe.”
Saito and the Japan Interchange Association should offer a public apology in a written statement and not just an oral apology to Hsia, Chiang said, adding that the explanation offered by Saito and the Japan Interchange Association afterwards that what Saito said was his personal opinion was “unacceptable.”
“Without a doubt, [Saito’s] comments in a public speech in a university in Taiwan were his opinions made in his official capacity,” he said.Chiang called on MOFA to “take stronger action” to demand a clear explanation of the matter and to ask the Japanese government to recall Saito or have him replaced if it is not satisfied with Japan’s response.
KMT Legislator Liu Shen-liang (劉盛良) said Saito and the Japan Interchange Association should admit that Saito made “incorrect comments” on the status of Taiwan instead of saying that his comments were personal.
Former Taiwan representative to Japan Koh Se-kai (?? yesterday said he believed Saito had no reason to apologize because he did not say anything wrong and that Hsia’s chiding was “merely a show.”
Koh made the comments on the sideline of a forum organized by the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Koh said the Treaty of San Francisco signed in 1951 did not clearly name a recipient when Japan gave up its claim over Taiwan. The fact that no recipient was specifically named means Taiwan’s status remains ambiguous even though it maintains an independent body of governance with its own territories and population, he said.
He said the ROC ceased to exist after the UN in 1971 passed a resolution in which the People’s Republic of China replaced the ROC in the international body.
The view that the ROC and Taiwan are the same would only further confuse the international community, he said, adding that such rhetoric was used as a political tactic by people who want Taiwan to unify with China.
“Go ask any senior Japanese foreign ministry official. None of them will say that Japan supports the view that Taiwan is part of China. But all of them will say that Japan does not oppose such a view,” he said, adding that there is a clear degree of difference between “supporting” and “not opposing.”
Koh also accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of betraying Taiwanese by declaring a “diplomatic truce” with China.
The raison d’etre of diplomacy is for a country to survive in the international community by co-existing with other nations. Any sacrificing of this effort means the country wishes to discontinue its sovereignty, he said.
While the US and other countries are gravely concerned about China’s rapid military buildup in recent years, he said, Ma has dragged his feet in procuring arms to boost Taiwan’s defense capability.
Ma’s “diplomatic truce” is putting Taiwan’s future in Beijing’s hands, he said.
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,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
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
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS