On the eve of the 11th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the government announced plans to lift a ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, turning a “stumbling stone” between Taiwan and Japan into a “stepping stone.”
The lifting of the ban is expected to enhance Taiwan-Japan relations.
In the midst of a cold winter in Japan, Taiwan’s action is like “sending charcoal in snowy weather,” as the Chinese proverb goes. It has warmed the hearts of tens of thousands of those affected by the nuclear power plant disaster who have yet to return to their homes, and repaid Japan’s generous donations of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan in the Year of the Ox.
As the Year of the Tiger unfolds, it is also a gift to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration as it combats the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the emergence of COVID-19, two pro-Taiwan Japanese prime ministers — Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga — have resigned. Abe is the longest-serving Japanese prime minister and the friendliest to Taiwan. Three generations of the Abe family held key posts in the Japanese government — three prime ministers and two top officials — all of whom were close friends of Taiwan.
As Abe’s successor, Suga supported Taiwan without hesitation. During his term of less than one year, he not only donated five batches of vaccines when Taiwan needed them most, but also spoke up for Taiwan at summits with the US and Europe, as well as adding the phrase “importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” to the concluding communique at the G7 summit in June.
These two friends of Taiwan were unfortunately obliged to step down for various reasons, including their handling of the pandemic.
Since taking office in October, Kishida has waffled back and forth between the US and China, raising doubts in Washington. Despite his eagerness to visit the US and clarify his position, Washington has not responded.
To resolve this, a farsighted Abe in December said: “A Taiwanese emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance.” This is similar to US President Joe Biden’s likely intentional “slips of the tongue,” as he twice pledged in public to defend Taiwan if China attacked, and was later corrected by top US officials.
Such statements have transformed the trilateral Taiwan-Japan-US partnership from “strategic ambiguity” into “strategic clarity.”
Although Abe stepped down as Japanese prime minister, he is a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, as well as leader of the largest political faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), so he plays a decisive role in Japanese politics.
Abe’s December remarks kept Kishida from leaning too much toward China, while also taking a peek at the cards held by the US. His words have so far not provoked any protest in Japan or the US, showing that his bid to bring Taiwan, Japan and the US together was not in vain.
Under pressure from an enemy, “a distant relative is not as good as a near neighbor,” the saying goes. Today, this can be seen in the bold words of Abe: “A Taiwanese emergency is a Japanese emergency.”
Taiwan should see that the differences between the governing and opposition parties are insignificant. On the matter of right and wrong, Taiwanese should unite and move forward together, now that the government has announced an end to the ban on Fukushima food imports.
At a difficult time when the pandemic is still rampant in Japan, Taiwan could display magnanimity by saying that “a Japanese emergency is a Taiwanese emergency,” and putting the slogan “Taiwan can help” into practice. As the saying goes: “The more people you help, the more successful you become.” Courtesy demands reciprocity; this is a basic principle of being neighborly.
Wang Hui-sheng is chief director of the Kisai Ladies’ and Children’s Hospital in Japan.
Translated by Eddy Chang
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which
RSS