Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday resumed their attacks on Masaki Saito, demanding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expel the Japanese government's representative to Taiwan.
Saito incurred the ire of the pan-blue camp in May when he told a university forum that Taiwan's status remained “undetermined.” The comment immediately drew caustic remarks from the KMT, which accused Saito of propagating false information and said that such action was unfitting of a diplomat.
While MOFA has repeatedly said that the matter was settled, pan-blue lawmakers continued to seek his expulsion.
“It is virtually unheard of for a diplomat to openly question the sovereignty of his host country. MOFA must protect Taiwan's national dignity by asking Saito to be removed in three months,” KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said in the legislature.
Another KMT lawmaker, Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民), upped the ante by demanding that Saito be kicked out by next week.
In an attempt to douse the anger in the room, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said the matter had been dealt with and Tokyo’s position was clear — Saito's comment was his personal opinion and did not represent the Japanese government's.
As for Saito's fate, Yang said: “We have explained our sentiment on this issue and [I believe] the Japanese government will make the appropriate decision.”
While Saito's remark has been heavily criticized by the pan-blues, the pan-green camp has largely supported his comment and said he should not be reprimanded for speaking the truth.
The Japanese Interchange Association could not be reached for comment yesterday.
This year has been designated the Taiwan-Japan Special Partnership Year. Under Saito's watch, there has been an increase in educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries, including a program that allows Taiwanese youth under 30 years of age to apply for Japan's working holiday program. The foreign ministry is also scheduled to open a branch office in Sapporo before the year ends.
In other news, the ministry said it would raise passport fees starting in January to cover increased costs.
The ministry started issuing passports with an embedded integrated circuit in December. Plans to raise the fee from NT$1,200 to NT$1,600 has met with opposition, however.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) argued that charging the public an additional NT$400 is “treating people like ATMs [automated teller machines],” especially during an economic crunch.
Tsai said the Bureau of Consular Affairs had to destroy 130,000 un-issued passports last year because of the switch and there are still 160,000 in stock.
Bureau Director-General Loh Yu-chung (羅由中) said the price hike would only apply to people 14 years and above applying for a new 10-year passport to offset the cost of the electronic chip.
Charges for five-year passports for children below the age of 14 will remain unchanged.
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