Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday confirmed he would be appointed representative to Japan, adding that his mission would be to enhance cooperation between the two countries, but that he would not form any anti-China alliance with Japan.
Although it has long been an “open secret” among political circles and the media, Hsieh officially confirmed the appointment in an exclusive interview with the Nikkei Shimbun published yesterday.
In the interview with the Japanese newspaper, Hsieh said the appointment was significant for two reasons: First, it shows that president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) attaches great importance to the relationship between the two countries; and second, appointing a nonprofessional diplomat means that Tsai does not expect many problems between Taiwan and Japan.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
He said in the interview that the incoming government hopes to make Taiwan a buffer zone between Japan and China, adding that the new government “would neither form an alliance with China against Japan nor form an alliance with Japan against China.”
Separately yesterday, Hsieh, in response to media queries, said that although there are disputes between Taiwan and Japan, the two nations should solve the problems without jeopardizing friendly relations.
“As to the dispute over sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), I would say that the Diaoyutais belong to Taiwan, but the point is to solve the fishing issue for our fishermen, because they are disadvantaged and should not be sacrificed for political interests,” Hsieh said.
“That is why we eventually signed a fishing agreement with Japan,” he said.
Asked to comment on Japan’s recent seizure of Taiwanese fishermen near the Okinotori atoll in the Pacific Ocean, Hsieh said that both the executive and the legislative branches have handled it well.
“Premier Simon Chang (張善政) spoke about it, as did Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), while Japan soon released the fishermen,” Hsieh said.
“Now we should look at the fishing agreement we signed to see what we could improve to better take care of fishermen,” he said.
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
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS