President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday shunned issues relating to the contested Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) during his meeting with former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe arrived in Taipei yesterday on the inaugural flight from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Taipei International Airport (Songshan). Eyes were on his meeting with Ma and whether they would touch on issues related to the island chain in the East China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan.
During a trip to the US earlier last month, Abe used a Nazi-era term to accuse China of pursing a modern-day policy of lebensraum with its growing assertiveness over disputed territories.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Lebensraum, or “living space,” was a key tenet in the philosophy of Adolf Hitler who believed that Germany deserved space, especially in eastern Slavic areas, in which to grow.
Beijing and Tokyo have been embroiled in a bruising diplomatic row since early September, when Japanese authorities arrested the captain of a fishing trawler near the islets known as Diaoyutais in Taiwan and China and Senkaku in Japan. The Ma government said earlier this month that there was no need to object to China’s territorial claim to the -Diaoyutais since the -Republic of China (ROC) -Constitution states that China is still considered a territory of the ROC on Taiwan. This prompted concerns from Japanese officials over the political implications of this interpretation.
Ma avoided the contentious issue yesterday and instead focused on the resumption of direct flights between Taipei and Tokyo.
Describing Abe as “the ROC’s best friend,” Ma said Abe was the third generation of his family to have close ties with the ROC.
The resumption of flights between Songshan and Haneda was an important indication of improved Taiwan-Japan relations over the past two years, Ma said.
Aside from paying a visit to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Abe also visited the Martyrs’ Shrine (忠烈祠) where people who died in the state’s service are enshrined.
When asked by the press why he chose to pay a visit to the shrine, Abe said through a translator that people who sacrificed their lives for their country all deserved to be honored. When further pressed by the reporters whether he knew the shrine also honored anti-Japan martyrs, Abe did not answer as the accompanied translator did not translate the question.
Lee affirmed Abe’s shrine visit, saying it was a show of respect for the country.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP AND STAFF
writer
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS