The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called on the Japanese government and Japanese politicians to face up to the facts of history and to learn lessons from the past rather than engage in acts that hurt the feelings of the people of neighboring countries.
In response to a visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine by Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs Yoshitaka Shindo and Japan’s National Public Safety Commission Chairman Keiji Furuya yesterday, the anniversary of Japan’s World War II defeat, the ministry in Taipei issued a very short statement of just one paragraph.
“The government of the Republic of China hopes that the Japanese government and its politicians will develop friendly relations with neighboring countries, with visionary thinking and a responsible attitude,” the ministry said in the statement.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
Separately yesterday, several dozens of people set a model paper Izumo-class ship on fire in protest against Japan’s claim to sovereignty over the contested Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), known as the Senkakus in Japan, outside the building of the Interchange Association, Japan, in Taipei.
Last week, Japan launched its largest military ship since World War II, the 19,500-tonne Izumo, at a ceremony in Yokohama.
The destroyer, which will be helicopter-equipped, will be deployed by the Maritime Self-Defense Force in March 2015.
Chang Chun-hong (張俊宏), a former lawmaker of the Democratic Progressive Party who now leads an alliance calling on Japan to return the Diaoyutai Islands to Taiwan, said it would be “a declaration of war against China” when Japan launches the destroyer for a maiden run and “the Diaoyutai Islands would become the battlefield.”
The destroyer symbolizes Japanese imperialism and is a provocative act that threatens peace and stability in East Asia, Chang said.
“Only when Japan returns the Diaoyutai Islands to Taiwan can peace be sustained,” he said.
Chang filed a lawsuit for conversion and tort against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the issue of the Diaoyutai Islands in the Yilan District Court in June, seeking NT$2 million (US$66,749) in compensation.
Yilan District Court on Wednesday decided to dismiss the case, while Chang said yesterday that he did not rule out the possibility of suing Abe in Japan over the matter.
A former DPP lawmaker Payen Talu, an Aborigine of Atayal tribe, said that the Diaoyutai Islands were traditional territory of Kuvalan tribe, urging Japan to give back the islands to Taiwan’s indigenous people who occupied the land long before the islands were discovered by China and Japan.
921 EARTHQUAKE: The magnitude 7.3 quake left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, while 53,661 houses were fully destroyed and 53,024 houses damaged The Central Weather Bureau yesterday received about 50,000 views on Facebook after it posted the data that it collected on Sept. 21, 1999, when the nation was devastated by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake. The data showed that the 921 Earthquake hit the nation at 1:47am, with the epicenter being 7km southwest of the bureau’s quake detection center in Nantou County’s Yuchi Township (魚池) at a depth of 8km. The quake left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, while 53,661 houses were fully destroyed and 53,024 houses damaged, with the cost of the damage estimated at NT$300 billion (US$10.8 billion at the current
British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reported that Prince Charles met with Bruno Wang (汪家興), a Taiwanese fugitive who describes himself as a Chinese philanthropist and donated ￡500,000 (US$683,522) to the prince’s charity, the Prince’s Foundation. The newspaper reported that Wang is wanted in Taiwan on charges related to money laundering and being a fugitive from justice, allegations he denies, and drew comparisons between Wang and the Russian banker Dmitry Leus. Investigation and cooperation with foreign authorities have found that Bruno Wang’s father, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), had stashed proceeds from a scandal involving the procurement of Lafayette frigates in 61 bank accounts,
AT ODDS: The KMT called on the government to seek bilateral dialogue with Beijing to resolve the issue that led to the ban on custard apple and wax apple imports Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials and lawmakers yesterday condemned China’s sudden ban on imports of custard apples and wax apples from Taiwan as “obvious political retaliation,” while the opposition called for a scientific investigation into Beijing’s claim to have found pests in imports of the fruits. China earlier yesterday announced a ban on the importation of the two fruits from today, citing repeated discoveries of Planococcus minor, a type of mealybug. The announcement follows a similar ban on Taiwanese pineapples imposed in February. At least Beijing gave a few days’ notice when it banned pineapple imports, an unnamed government official said yesterday. This time
BY OTHER MEANS: China could see CPTPP membership as a means of circumventing trade restrictions imposed by the US, amid an ongoing trade dispute between them The US could invoke a clause in its trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to block China’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a government official said yesterday. Under Article 32.10 of the Exceptions and General Provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), if either Canada or Mexico enter a free-trade agreement with a nonmarket economy — such as China — the US could withdraw from the agreement. “If that clause applies to multilateral free-trade agreements such as the CPTPP — which Mexico and Canada are members of — that might be cause for the two
RSS