An estimated 26 Japanese lawmakers are expected to attend the May 20 presidential inauguration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, but it remained mum on the likelihood of president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visiting Japan.
Peter Tsai (蔡明耀), deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Committee of Japanese Affairs, refused to say anything at yesterday’s press briefing about the prospects of a trip.
In an effort to appear friendlier toward Japan and to quash suspicions of anti-Japan sentiment, Ma said he would like to visit Japan before taking office.
However, some academics and politicians who are familiar with Taipei-Tokyo ties believe the comment was just a gesture because Ma’s camp knew there was little chance of it coming about, especially since Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) will visit Tokyo next Tuesday.
Tsai said that a “fourth communique” between Tokyo and Beijing would most likely be signed during Hu’s trip.
“The communique would be more like a public declaration affirming bilateral cooperation on topics such as fighting terrorism, environmental protection and financial humanitarian aid based on mutual interests. The communique itself will not be legally binding,” he said.
Tsai, however, said that the government would scrutinize any declarations made during Hu’s trip to ensure that Taiwan was not mentioned and that Japan remains firm on its “non-supportive” attitude toward Taiwan’s bid for more diplomatic space.
Tokyo severed relations with Taipei in 1972 and two years later forged formal ties with Beijing.
It remains friendly with Taiwan, taking a “non-supportive” rather than the “opposing” stance on Taiwan’s bid for membership in international organizations that require statehood.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told a press conference in Beijing last December there was a drastic difference between the two terms.
Japan and the US are the only two non-allies of Taiwan to support its endeavors to become an observer at the annual WHA meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said last Friday, after the WHO returned Taiwan’s membership application.
However, unlike last year, when the WHO surreptitiously placed Taiwan’s application under door of Taipei’s Geneva Representative Office on a non-working day, the WHO secretariat this year mailed the application back to the office via registered mail, ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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