Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that his government invited Taiwan to send a representative to an earthquake memorial service to make amends for the fact that Taiwan was not properly recognized at last year’s ceremony.
Although Taiwan donated more than ￥20 billion (US$208.2 million) in relief and reconstruction aid after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, more than any other country, it was not named at last year’s anniversary memorial on the list of the countries that had helped Japan, Abe said in a Facebook post.
This omission hurt the feelings of Taiwanese and was against proper protocol, even though a Taiwanese official was present at last year’s event, said Abe, who assumed office in December.
For this reason, Abe said, he decided to do things differently.
During Monday’s second anniversary memorial, when the list of countries that helped Japan was being read, Taiwan was included, although the country’s name was not mentioned, but rather the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan” was credited.
Representative to Japan Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳) and other members of the foreign diplomatic corps were invited to lay wreaths in memory of the disaster victims.
Because of Japan’s decision to include Taiwan, China did not send a representative to the memorial service, which Abe said was “regrettable.”
However, Japan has to mind its manners, Abe said, expressing gratitude to Taiwan and all those who supported Japan after the March 11, 2011, disaster.
The Facebook post received more than 30,000 “likes” and was “shared” by about 4,000 people within three hours of Abe uploading the message.
At last year’s anniversary event, Vice Representative to Japan Lo Koon-tsan (羅坤燦) was seated with representatives of civic groups, and not with the dignitaries.
Lo was also not invited to go on stage to lay wreaths.
These arrangements were panned by Japanese parliamentarians and the media.
Then-Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda later apologized for the snub.
Additional reporting by Chang Mao-sen
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS