Taiwan will closely monitor Chinese leader Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) upcoming visit to Japan, said the nation’s representative to Tokyo yesterday, adding that president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) request to visit Japan prior to his inauguration next month is unlikely to happen.
In his report to the legislature, representative Koh Se-kai (許世楷) said Taiwan would keep a close tab on Hu’s trip to Japan from May 6 to May 11 to ascertain whether Taiwan’s status is mentioned during the visit.
Koh, a leading authority on Japanese politics, said China has been asking Japan to sign a fourth communique; stating that Japan agrees Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, which Tokyo has long refused to do.
Since Japan and Taiwan severed formal ties more than 30 years ago, Japan has never stated they support the “one China” policy. The Japanese position is that they “acknowledge” and “respect” China’s position on the issue of Taiwan, Koh said.
He added that on several occasions, top ranking Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last December, have publicly repeated that in Japan, the phrase “not support” and “oppose” have vastly different meanings.
On the issue of Taiwan’s bid to become a full member of the UN and its subsidiaries under the name “Taiwan,” Tokyo has always stated that it “does not support” but never that it “opposes” such moves, Fukuda said at a press conference during his trip to China in December.
When asked about the possibility of Ma visiting Japan prior to his May 20 inauguration, Koh said such a trip was unlikely to happen because the dates are too close to the time of Hu’s visit.
Some Japanese politicians and academics have reportedly been worried about Taiwan-Japan relations under Ma’s leadership because of the KMT’s past anti-Japanese sentiment.
Ma tried to assuage those fears by publicly touting Taiwan-Japan ties and even expressed his wish to visit Japan prior taking office.
“When the Japanese tell me about their worries about bilateral ties under Ma’s administration, I tell them that some people in Taiwan are also worried about warming relations between China and Japan,” Koh said.
The representative, however, offered assurances that despite Japan’s own unstable political climate, Taiwan-Japan ties should continue to remain strong and friendly.
So far 30 Japanese dignitaries, including retired officials, incumbent government leaders and those from cultural circles have been invited to Ma’s inauguration ceremony.
The incumbent Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who is known for his Taiwan-friendly stance, will most likely be part of the delegation, Koh said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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