China’s derecognition of the Sino-Japanese Treaty has left no basis for the Republic of China (ROC) to team up with Beijing in defense of sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Given that the treaty is the main basis for the ROC’s declaration of sovereignty over the Diaoyutais and that China does not recognize it as valid, “there is no basis for cross-strait cooperation” on the matter, ministry spokesperson Steve Hsia (夏季昌) said during a regular news briefing.
Hsia was asked by reporters to elaborate on comments President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) reportedly made at a closed-door meeting with China-based Taiwanese businesspeople on Monday giving three reasons why it was unlikely that Taiwan and China would join hands to guard the islands.
The Sino-Japanese Treaty, also known as Treaty of Taipei, was signed on April 25, 1952, by the ROC and Japan and took effect on Aug. 5 that year.
Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have said that under the treaty Japan agreed to return Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, as well as the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) to the ROC.
The treaty also nullified all agreements with Japan concluded before the ROC declared war on Japan, including the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, under which Ma claims the Diaoyutais were ceded to Japan.
The Diaoyutais are administered by Japan, which calls them the Senkaku Islands. China also claims sovereignty over what it calls the Diaoyu Archipelago (釣魚群島).
Ma reportedly told the businesspeople that the Diaoyutais came under the administration of China in the 15th century, which held them until they were taken by Japan after 1895, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
CNA cited Ma as saying the government has not received a response from China to the peace initiative he proposed in August last year that called on the concerned countries to set aside the territorial row and jointly explore resources in the region.
Ma said China has hoped that his administration would refrain from touching upon the issue of sovereignty over the Diaoyutais with Japan after Taipei and Tokyo resume talks on fishing rights in the area, but he did not think it would be possible to avoid the issue, the CNA report said.
“How can we have the right to fish if we do not have sovereignty over the region?” CNA quoted Ma as saying.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS