Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday called for a leaders’ summit or a foreign ministers’ meeting between his country and China as soon as possible, drawing a cool reaction from Beijing, which accused Japan of lacking sincerity.
Sino-Japanese ties, often fragile, have been seriously strained since September when a territorial row flared over tiny islands in the East China Sea which Taiwan also claims. Concerns that the conservative Japanese leader wants to recast Japan’s wartime history with a less apologetic tone have added to the tensions.
“I think there should be a summit meeting and also a foreign ministers meeting as soon as possible ... I think such meetings should be held without pre-conditions,” Abe said in response to a question at an academic conference in Singapore.
Photo: Reuters
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its door was always open for talks, but that the problem lay in Japan’s attitude.
“The crux of the matter at present is Japan’s unwillingness to face up to the serious problems which exist in Sino-Japan relations, and it is avoiding having earnest talks and consultations with China,” the ministry said in a statement faxed to Reuters.
Japan, it said, should “stop using empty slogans about so-called dialogue to gloss over disagreements.”
Earlier yesterday, the Japanese Defense Ministry issued a policy report repeating Japanese concerns about China’s military build-up and its activities near the islands.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it hoped Japan would respect the concerns of neighboring countries and “take the path of peaceful development and not artificially create and exaggerate tensions.”
The policy report called for an increase in the country’s military capabilities and a more assertive role in regional security due to increased threats from China and North Korea.
If implemented, some of the changes outlined by the interim Defense Ministry paper would be a major shift in policy for a military that is currently limited to self-defense and is banned from operating in overseas combat zones under a pacifist constitution.
The paper said Japan should increase its surveillance capability and consider using drones, or unmanned surveillance vehicles, capable of wide-range, high-altitude monitoring around the clock.
The paper also proposed creating a marine force with amphibious functions to defend disputed islands in the East China Sea. It said the Japan-US security alliance remains “the cornerstone” of Japan’s defense policy and urged Japan to step up its ability to respond to ballistic missile attacks amid concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.
A final report is expected at the end of this year.
On Friday, four ships from China’s newly formed civilian coast guard entered what Japan considers its territorial waters near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands and as the Diaoyu (釣魚) in China, but left the area later without incident.
Abe also met with US Vice President Joe Biden in Singapore, after which the US restated its wish for tensions to subside.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS