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Academic calls for island ties

An academic yesterday said the government should embark on "island diplomacy" by promoting "sister city" ties between the nation's cities and nearby countries' island-cities.

"Instead of looking west like we usually do, Taiwan should seriously consider expanding its diplomatic web to the east, north and south of the country," said National Taiwan Normal University political science professor Chen Ting-hui (陳廷輝).

Many islands around Taiwan are eager to form closer relations with Taiwan because they share similar beliefs, customs and even languages, he said.

More than 100 people from the Japanese island of Yonagunicho flew to Hualien City early this month to celebrate the quarter-century-long friendship between the eastern city and the island.

The trip also highlighted the islanders' will to be self-reliant from Tokyo and their interest in forging closer ties with Taiwan despite an absence of official relations between the two countries, Chen said.

For centuries, Japanese islanders, such as those on Yonagunicho, have been keen to establish tighter economic ties with Taiwan, even to the point of attempting to declare independence from Tokyo, he said.

For example, Ilan County's Suao Township (蘇澳) has been a sister city to Ishigaki for nearly 20 years. Keelung City and Miyako also became sister cities in June.

Chen said that some residents of the Philippines' Batan Islands can communicate with people on Orchid Island (蘭嶼) because they speak very similar languages.

During the pre-World War II era, Taiwan and the Japanese islands enjoyed close communications and people were allowed to freely travel, seeking business or education opportunities and medical attention.

Many people have close friends and extended families in both places.

Some Taiwanese farmers even went to Ishigaki to teach locals how to plant and process sugarcane.

Many "Okinawa Villages" were also established along the coastal cities of Taiwan, Chen said.

After World War II, the US kept a tight lid on Japan's foreign dealings and thus cut off communication between the islands and Taiwan. The isolation, coupled with the diminishing budget from the central government, has put a huge strain on the islands' economic growth.

Chen said the total island population plummeted from over 20,000 during its peak days to 1,600 today.

One-seventh of the residents are senior citizens, he said.

"These islands feel a closer kinship to Taiwan, which is only 110km away versus Tokyo, which is 2,200km away. For many islanders, Taiwan is the country they want to be part of, both on a geographical and emotional level," the professor said.

In 2005, the islanders started an independent movement to secede from Japan.

They wanted to become a self-governing body so they could develop official ties with Taiwan without the attendant political hassles.

Although the movement was quickly quashed by Tokyo, the islanders are still eager to develop closer ties with their Taiwanese counterparts.

One example is Chiyoki Tasato, who has been stationed in Hualien in recent months as a representative of Yonagunicho.

"I want to build bridges between Yonaguni and Taiwan to generate new ties," Tasato was quoted as saying in the Daily Yomiuri, an online Japanese news outlet.

"I feel an affinity as we are the same kind of people -- residents of remote regions. Many things, from food to weeds, are similar [between Yonagunijima and Taiwan]," he said.

"I want to bring things back to the way they were 60 years ago when people could visit each other freely. I also want to show the central government the future of my island, which, with the help of Taiwan, will become self-reliant," Tasato said.
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