The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday recalled Taiwan’s representative to Japan in response to Japan’s decision to nationalize some of the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said at a press conference that the ministry filed a strong protest against Japan’s move and said the ministry has sent a telegram asking envoy Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳) to return home.
The ministry wants him to return to Taiwan “in the shortest possible time” to explain the situation, and he could return home as soon as today, Yang said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Earlier yesterday, Yang summoned Japan’s representative to Taiwan, Sumio Tarui, to protest the decision made by Japan’s government at a Cabinet meeting yesterday morning to buy three of the Diaoyutai islands from their private owner for ￥2.05 billion (US$26.18 million).
The Japanese government later signed a contract with the owners to cement the deal, according to Japanese media.
Yang said he told Tarui that Japan’s move had not only seriously infringed on Taiwan’s territorial sovereignty, hurt Taiwan-Japan relations and intensified regional tensions, but had also hurt the Taiwanese people’s feelings toward Japan.
He told the Japanese representative that Taiwan would “absolutely not accept and absolutely not recognize” Japan’s actions, and he urged the Japanese government to immediately withdraw its decision or be held responsible for the consequences.
Yang said he also reiterated the government’s stance that the Diaoyutais “are the inherent territory of the Republic of China,” which he said is a historical fact that cannot be changed.
Japan should first admit to the fact that there are territorial disputes surrounding the Diaoyutais to help resolve the issue, Yang said.
After meeting Yang, Tarui was mobbed by reporters as he walked out of the ministry, but he declined to answer questions.
The Diaoyutai Islands, called the Senkakus in Japan, lie about 120 nautical miles (220km) northeast of Taiwan. The island group is claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China.
China acknowledges that the islands fall under the jurisdiction of Taiwan, but stakes its claim to the Diaoyutais on its contention that Taiwan is part of its territory.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative cacus yesterday called for lawmakers across party lines to jointly make a visit to the Diaoyutais to assert the nation’s sovereignty over the island chain.
However, the Democratic Progressive Party caucus said that the KMT government, aside from stating that the Republic of China does not recognize the validity of the so-called purchase of the islands by the Japanese government from the private owner, should also make its stance clear and lodge a protest against China over the latter’s claiming of the Diaoyutais.
Additional reporting by Shih Shiao-kuang and Chen Ching-min
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
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS