More than 70 activists gathered outside Japan’s representative office in Taipei yesterday tore up Japanese rising sun flags in a protest against the country’s move to buy three of the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkakus in Japan, from their private owner.
The activists, including members of the Taiwan Labor Party, said that Japan’s move to purchase and nationalize the islands, part of a chain that is also claimed by Taiwan and China, has undermined stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Demanding that Japan stop what they described as the “illegal occupation” of the uninhabited islands, the demonstrators chanted slogans and threw shreds of the torn-up Japanese flags at the Taipei office of the Interchange Association, Japan, Tokyo’s de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Office personnel accepted a protest letter from the demonstrators after the 30-minute rally and promised to forward it to their superiors.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard Administration said it would continue its regular missions to protect Taiwanese fishermen operating in waters near the islands and that it does not rule out increasing the number of boats patrolling the area when Taiwanese activists head to the islands to make sovereignty claims.
The remarks came in response to reports that fishermen’s associations have vowed to dispatch more than 100 vessels to the islands if the government plans any activities in the region to bolster Taiwan’s claim.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Although the Diaoyutais fall within a “provisional enforcement line” tentatively agreed upon by Japan and Taiwan, Japanese patrol ships tend to harass or disperse Taiwanese fishing boats if they are within 12 nautical miles (22km) of the islands.
The Suao Fishermen’s Association said yesterday that the operations of Taiwanese fishing vessels are not affected as long as they stay at least 12 nautical miles from the archipelago.
Association director Lin Yueh-ying (林月英) said that, so far, she had not heard of any plans by fishermen to sail to the disputed area to protest or make territorial claims.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s APEC envoy Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday said he had called on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to handle the dispute over the Diaoyutais in accordance with international laws and to resolve the issue peacefully.
Lien and Noda met on Saturday on the sidelines of an APEC leaders’ forum and exchanged ideas on issues including economic cooperation, negotiations on fishing rights and cooperation in the fishing industry.
While Noda proposed to strengthen efforts to push forward cooperation in the fishing industry, Lien called on Japan to exercise self-restraint when handling territorial disputes in the East China Sea.
In the wake of Japan’s move to nationalize some of the disputed Diaoyutai Islands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled Taiwan’s representative to Japan Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳).
Shen returned to Taiwan yesterday to brief the ministry on the latest developments.
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved an aid and recovery package authorizing the government to allocate up to NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) for regions hit by Typhoon Danas and subsequent torrential rains last month. Proposed by the Executive Yuan on Aug. 7, the bill was passed swiftly after ruling and opposition lawmakers reached a consensus in inter-party talks on relief funding and assistance for disaster-stricken areas. The package increases the government’s spending cap from the originally proposed NT$56 billion to NT$60 billion, earmarked for repairing and rebuilding infrastructure, electricity systems, telecommunications and cable TV networks, cultural heritage sites and other public facilities.
RSS