Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) said yesterday that he supports Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The minister made the remarks after meeting with the new deputy representative to Japan, Chen Hung-chi (陳鴻基), who left for Tokyo yesterday and was to assume his new post the same day.
The minister said that during his recent visit to the US, he was asked about his view on Japan's quest for a Security Council permanent seat.
"I told my US hosts that I support Japan's bid and would be pleased to see Japan enter the Security Council as a permanent member," he said.
He said that Japan donates 20 percent of the annual UN budget and has had outstanding economic achievements over the past decades.
"The world should not continue to restrict Japan's role in international affairs due to its aggressive military action 60 years ago. I think the United Nations should work out a more reasonable Security Council organic framework with Japan, Germany, India and Brazil being given permanent seats," he said.
Regardless of the fact that Taiwan lost its UN seat in 1971, Chen said that, since the Republic of China had been a founding member of the world body, it could possibly help Japan's efforts to obtain a permanent seat, although the issue would need further study.
Meanwhile, Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission Chairwoman Chang Fu-mei (張富美) also expressed support for Japan's Security Council bid, as Tokyo has on many occasions spoken out in favor of Taiwan in the international arena, and the two countries have traditionally maintained close relations. Chang said Japan cast a "yes" vote in Taiwan's failed bid to join the World Health Assembly in May.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS