The Presidential Office expressed regret yesterday over the Japanese government's denial that Taiwan informed it of the intrusion of a Chinese submarine into its territorial waters earlier this month.
Questioned by a Diet member at the House of Representatives Thursday whether Japan received reports from Taiwan about the submarine, Ichiro Aisawa, vice minister of foreign affairs, said "there is no such matter."
"We express regret [over the denial]. Japan said this because it has its own concerns," Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (
"China is expanding its military power on a massive scale and frequently invades other countries' territorial waters. For its neighboring countries, such as Taiwan and Japan, the main task at hand is to work together to maintain regional security and a balance of power," Su told reporters.
The official declined to comment when asked whether Japan denied it received information on the submarine from Taiwan out of fear of China.
President Chen Shui-bian (
"We are very honored that Taiwan could, in advance, provide related information to Japan and the United States," he told Hattori.
"We believe Japan feels the threat from China just as Taiwan does," Chen said. "This shows that Japan, the US and Taiwan share the same interest in safeguarding the security of the Asia-Pacific region."
Koh Se-kai (
Koh told the association, consisting of 47 Taiwan-friendly Diet members, that Taiwan detected the activities of the Chinese submarine.
Taiwan informed Japan of the intruding submarine, but Japan denied it received the report "probably because of its concerns about China," Koh said.
Koh stressed that the submarine incident revealed that Taiwan and Japan are under similar threats from China and that both sides need to establish security dialogue.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
He said Japan's denial of Taiwan's help hurts the nation.
"Japan has advanced anti-submarine aircraft, which are almost as good as those owned by the US. Taiwan does not have such anti-submarine warfare equipment. How could it be possible that we found the submarine and Japan did not?" Chang asked.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
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