Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday criticized China for lodging a protest against Japan’s Sankei Shimbun after it published an interview with him, saying that Beijing infringed on the press freedom of the two Asian democracies.
“It is astonishing that the authoritarian China not only cannot tolerate freedom of speech and of the press inside its borders, but it has also interfered with that enjoyed by the two most democratic Asian nations with the greatest press freedom,” Wu was quoted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) as saying.
The incident proves that China poses a threat to the global values of freedom and democracy, Wu said, calling on like-minded nations to work together to prevent the trend from spreading.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
China’s protest also shows that “we have done something right,” Wu added.
In the interview published on Wednesday, Wu called for Taiwan and Japan to initiate a security dialogue on the grounds that ensuring security is a shared responsibility of the two nations.
Wu also criticized China for limiting the room for interpretation of its “one China” principle, which he said cannot be accepted by Taiwanese.
After the US severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, it enacted the Taiwan Relations Act that laid down a legal foundation for a security dialogue between Washington and Taipei, the report said.
However, there is no legal foundation for exchanges between Japan and Taiwan after they broke off relations in 1972, it added.
The Chinese embassy in Japan lodged a stern protest against the Sankei Shimbun, saying that Taiwan is a part of China and that the article included portions that advocated Taiwanese independence.
When the newspaper opened a branch office in China, it pledged to abide by the “one China” principle in its reporting, a consensus that the paper had contravened, the embassy said.
“In the process of the normalization of China-Japan relations, we hope to see the Sankei Shimbun publish reports that are conducive to the establishment of mutual understanding between the Japanese and Chinese people,” the embassy said.
Relations between Taiwan and Japan are handled by two non-governmental agencies, the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, which last year changed their names to better reflect their functions.
The Taiwan-Japan Relations Association was previously called the Association of East Asian Relations, while the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association was previously called the Interchange Association, Japan.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS