Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) yesterday summoned Japan’s top envoy to Taiwan to lodge a “serious protest” over a visit by Japanese activists to the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), the ministry said.
Yang summoned Japanese representative Sumio Tarui to protest the visit by a 150-member group led by Japanese lawmakers, some of whom landed on the island group in the East China Sea, the ministry said in a statement.
During the meeting with Tarui, Yang reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutais and described the visit by the Japanese group as a “provocative move” that has fueled tension in the East China Sea.
The Japanese group sailed from Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture a day earlier and arrived in the waters off the Diaoyutais early yesterday, according to media reports.
The stated purpose of the trip was to commemorate victims who died near the island group in an attack by the US during World War II and also to bolster Japan’s claim over the archipelago, according to the reports.
The landing followed a visit to the islands earlier in the week in which Hong Kong activists landed there and brandished flags of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China to bolster their claim that the islands belong to the Chinese people.
The activists were detained and later released by Japanese authorities.
Taiwan, Japan and China have had competing claims over the Diaoyutai Islands for several years. The island chain is known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and as the Diaoyu Islands in China. From the perspectives of geography, history and international law, according to Yang, it is “indisputable” that Taiwan enjoys sovereignty over the Diaoyutais.
The minister also urged Japan to immediately stop any action that violates Taiwan’s sovereignty over the island group, the ministry statement read.
Citing the East China Sea peace initiative that was proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) earlier this month, Yang called on Japan to exercise restraint and use peaceful means to address the territorial dispute.
Ma’s peace initiative includes calling on all parties to refrain from taking hostile action, to shelve their differences, to not abandon dialogue, to observe international law and to resolve the dispute via peaceful means.
All sides should also seek consensus on a code of conduct for the East China Sea and establish a mechanism for cooperation on exploring and developing resources in the region, according to Ma’s plan.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS