Two groups from Taiwan and Japan yesterday called for the formation of an association of Taiwanese and Japanese city councilors to push back against Chinese pressure.
The initiative was proposed by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and Tokyo-based Taiwan 2020 Campaign Council at a news conference held by the TSU to bolster Taiwanese and Japanese efforts to petition for Taiwan’s participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the name “Taiwan.”
Council chairman Satoru Mizushima said he has been in contact with several Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) legislators, and has also proposed the formation of an association of Taiwanese and Japanese city councilors to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is the president of Japan’s ruling LDP.
Photo: Cheng Hung-ta, Taipei Times
Abe approved of the idea and the council plans to establish the association this fall, he said.
The council hopes to work alongside TSU chairman Lau Yi-te (劉一德), Mizushima added.
Abe likes Taiwan very much, Mizushima said, adding the he could be described as the Japanese prime minister who cares about Taiwan the most in the 73 years since the end of World War II.
The association would be a union connecting Taiwanese and Japanese city councilors, Lau said.
Faced with Chinese pressure, Taiwan and Japan should not content with having only strategic ties between governments, but should also take the friendly relations between Taiwanese and Japanese a step further, he said.
City councilors are like bridges connecting the two nations and their people, Lau said, adding that lawmakers should also be included.
China’s “united front” strategy toward Taiwan is all-pervasive, therefore the pro-independence camp needs to catch up and work harder to establish friendly relations between Taiwan and Japan, he added.
The campaign in Tokyo for Taiwan’s participation in the Tokyo Olympics under the name “Taiwan” has been well-received, Mizushima said.
The council launched the campaign because it wants to speak up against the unjust treatment that Taiwan has received, he added.
China has sent letters to dozens of international airlines, including Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, demanding that they change the way they refer Taiwan on their Web sites to conform to Beijing’s “one China” principle.
The Japanese airlines had complied with the demand.
However, council director-general Hideki Nagayama in a Facebook post called on the carriers to change the reference back, and they removed the remarks that described Taiwan as a part of China.
“I felt the good conscience of Japanese companies, and was relieved,” Nagayama said.
This allowed the carriers to first respond to Chinese pressure and then use protests from Japanese as a reason to change the references back, he added.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS