Tokyo’s outspoken and nationalistic governor yesterday said he was quitting after nearly 14 years in office to form a new political party ahead of expected national elections.
Shintaro Ishihara, who recently played a key role in reviving a bitter territorial dispute with China, told a packed news conference that he wanted to fix the nation’s fiscal and political problems. He blamed the central government and bureaucrats for obstructing policies he believes would benefit the country.
“We must change the inflexible rule of the central government bureaucrats,” he said, comparing their influence to the dictatorial rule of the shogun.
Ishihara, 80, angered China earlier this year when he proposed that Tokyo buy and develop a cluster of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea controlled by Japan, but also claimed by China and Taiwan. The national government responded by buying three of the islands from their private owner, saying it would not develop them.
“I’m returning to national politics by forming a new party with my colleagues,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is everything I’ve been trying to for Tokyo.”
Ishihara is renowned for his outbursts against China, North Korea, foreigners, immigrants, women and even the French language.
He once told reporters he “hates” the US icon Mickey Mouse for not having the “unique sensibility that Japan has.”
Ishihara wrote the 1989 book The Japan that Can Say No, a best-selling paean to ultra-patriotism. He has also tried his hand at screenwriting, authoring the 2007 film I Go to Die for You, which glorified kamikaze pilots who flew suicide missions in the ending months of World War II.
Earlier yesterday, four Chinese government ships spent several hours in territorial waters around the disputed islands for what Japan Coast Guard said was the first time in three weeks.
The move came as Tokyo and Beijing reportedly prepared for talks on a row that has derailed the relationship between Asia’s two largest economies and dented their huge trade ties.
Maritime surveillance vessels began entering the 12-nautical-mile (22.2km) zone around one of the islands shortly after 6:30am, Japan Coast Guard said in a statement.
They remained there for more than seven hours before moving out to so-called contiguous waters, a band that stretches a further 12 nautical miles from shore.
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai “strongly protested to the Chinese ambassador by telephone about the Chinese ships’ intrusion into Japan’s territorial waters,” the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) said there was nothing abnormal about Chinese ships exercising jurisdiction in the area.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source