A group of prominent Japanese has issued a statement criticizing their government’s handling of territorial disputes and throwing support behind an East China Sea peace initiative broached by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The group, led by Nobel Prize-winning author Oe Kenzaburo, urged the Japanese government to immediately stop the vicious cycle of territorial spats with neighboring countries, referring to Japan’s battle with Taiwan and China over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in the East China Sea and with South Korea over Takeshima Island in the Sea of Japan (known as the East Sea in Korea).
The statement, issued on Friday, said that Japan annexed Takeshima, known as Dokdo Island in Korea, and the Diaoyutais, known as the Senkakus in Japan, when South Korea and China were not strong enough to assert diplomatic claims.
For Korean people, the statement said, the annexation of Takeshima symbolized the start of Japan’s aggression and colonization of their country.
In the case of the Senkakus, the latest flare-ups of tensions with China began with Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s announcement of his intention to purchase three islets in the uninhabited island group the statement said.
Ishihara’s move eventually led to the Japanese government’s nationalization of the islets, which China saw as a provocation that broke a previous tacit bilateral understanding to shelve their conflicting claims to the archipelago, the statement said.
The Diaoyutais are located about 120 nautical miles (220km) northeast of Taipei.
The “East China Sea Peace Initiative” proposed by Ma on Aug. 5 called for claimants to the Dia-oyutais to put aside differences, refrain from escalating tensions, pursue dialogue, seek consensus and cooperate in formulating a code of conduct.
Noting that Ma’s initiative is rational and feasible, the statement said it is worth promoting and that the Japanese government should support it by dropping its unrealistic perception that there is no dispute over the Diaoyutais.
The statement added that waters surrounding the Diaoyutai Islands have been traditional fishing grounds for people in Taiwan and Okinawa Prefecture.
Fishermen in those areas would not like to see the waters become the focus of international territorial rows, a hope that all contesting parties should respect, the statement said.
Atsushi Okamoto, editor-in-chief of Sekai Magazine, who hosted a news conference in unveiling the statement, said the civic group, composed of more than 500 elite figures from various sectors, has collected endorsements from many ordinary Japanese over the past week.
The signature campaign will last until Oct. 17, Okamoto said, adding that the group is scheduled to present the signatures to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s office on Oct. 18.
The Japanese statement came on the same day the top US diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, said the US would not play a mediating role in the dispute over the Diaoyutais.
His comments came after China and Japan traded angry accusations over the islands in a late-night exchange at the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
Campbell reminded the two countries, which have the world’s second and third-largest economies, to recognize the importance of their relationship and resolve their grievances through dialogue.
He said each government should set aside the territorial dispute from its other bilateral issues, acknowledging that it would be “extraordinarily difficult” to solve.
Additional reporting by AP
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique