Rights advocacy groups demonstrated outside the Japanese representative office in Taipei yesterday morning as part of globally coordinated action to demand that the Japanese government apologize and pay compensation to those forced to serve as military comfort women during World War II.
Holding placards condemning Japanese politicians — including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, Okasa Mayor Toru Hashimoto and Representative Shintaro Ishihara — for denying or playing down the comfort women issue, more than 100 demonstrators joined their partners in the US, Canada, Germany, South Korea, the Philippines and Japan in demanding that the Japanese government apologize and compensate women forced to serve in military brothels during World War II.
“We are here — as we have been in past years — to demand that the Japanese government formally apologize to and compensate comfort women,” Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation executive director Kang Shu-hua (康淑華) said. “The Japanese government is both legally and morally responsible for the sexual exploitation.”
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
Kang said that as many as 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced to work in Japanese military brothels and that there are only six left alive — one of them is 92 years old, while the others are in their 80s.
“They have waited for all these years for an apology, how long do they still have to wait?” she asked.
Taiwan Women’s Link president Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said that forcing the women to suffer sexual exploitation and abuse was a war crime.
“You [the Japanese government] are wrong if you think the injustice will be buried with these former comfort women when they are all gone,” Huang said. “Generations of Taiwanese will continue to fight for justice for them, as long as we are still around.”
Labor Rights Association chairwoman Wang Chuan-ping (王娟萍) accused Japanese politicians who twist history of being accomplices in a war crime.
An official from the Japan Interchange Association’s General Affairs Department came out to receive the petition, but demonstrators questioned the sincerity of the office as it sent a lower-ranking official to receive the petition.
With the crowd chanting “apologize” and “representative, come out,” the association eventually sent Deputy Representative Yukuke Sami to receive the petition.
Three demands were listed in the petition — that the Japanese prime minister apologize to the comfort women on behalf of the Japanese government, with an endorsement from parliament; the Japanese government should recognize the fact that there were comfort women who were forced to work at military brothels and should never change its stance on the issue; and that Japan should have legislation prohibiting remarks that twist the facts about the comfort women.
The crowd vowed to return next year if the Japanese government fails to respond positively to the demands.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
RSS