Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), head of the Office of Trade Negotiations, on Tuesday said that the government would continue to improve ties with Japan and would not give up on seeking support for its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Deng made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony in Taipei to celebrate Japanese Emperor Akihito’s 85th birthday on Dec. 23, where Japanese Representative to Taiwan Mikio Numata said that despite Tokyo finding the results of the Nov. 24 referendum on a ban on some Japanese food imports “rather regrettable,” it would continue to collaborate with Taipei to create a bright future for both nations.
Numata’s comments represented a minor departure from the response to the referendum of Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono, who said that the results have rendered Taiwan’s chance of joining the CPTPP unlikely and that Tokyo did not rule out taking the issue to the WTO.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung Taipei Times
The referendum, initiated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), asked: “Do you agree that the government should, in connection to the March 11 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, continue to enforce the food imports ban on 31 regions in Japan, including agricultural and food products from Fukushima and the surrounding four prefectures and municipalities (Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba)?”
About 78 percent of the nearly 10 million voters who voted on the question voted “yes.”
Asked how the government now plans to further its CPTP after the referendum, Deng said that the government would not give up its efforts to join the CPTPP and that it would seek to improve its relations with Japan through other means, without elaborating further.
Acknowledging his disappointment with the result, Deng said that the referendum question was clearly leading, as it did not include the terms “radioactive” and “contaminated,” and failed to reflect the truth, which is that there is no way for food products contaminated with radioactivity to enter Taiwan.
“No government in the world would feed their people contaminated food,” Deng said, adding that products imported into the nation need to go through three to four examinations before they are permitted entry.
Deng said that he also has concerns over the attitude of some Taiwanese, whom he said have “taken pleasure” in the problems the referendum result has caused the Democratic Progressive Party administration.
Regardless of their political affiliation, people should refrain from adopting such a triumphal attitude when it comes to international affairs, Deng said, adding that Taiwan should send consistent signals to the international community that it is a supporter of free trade.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
RSS