Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) used her private talk with former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe yesterday to call for greater bilateral cooperation on the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
The dispute surrounding the islets, currently administered by Japan, but also claimed by Taiwan and China, should be dealt with peacefully and reasonably, she said in a four-point memo read during the breakfast meeting.
The opposition party stands by the principle that the Diaoyutais fall under Taiwanese sovereignty, Tsai told Abe, and the DPP will not consider working with China to resolve the issue.
Echoing recent remarks by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Tsai said that during the meeting, she told Abe that Taiwan and Japan should work together and jointly develop the area’s resources “through dialogue in a cooperative manner.”
Tsai said that the two also spoke on the possibility of a free-trade agreement (FTA) between Taiwan and Japan and discussed regional problems arising from -China’s growing economic clout.
In August, the Japanese Cabinet confirmed what analysts had been predicting for months, by releasing figures showing that the emerging superpower overtook Japan to be the world’s second-largest economy in the second quarter.
“[I] pointed out that facing up to China’s rise isn’t just Taiwan’s problem, but it is an issue that all Asia-Pacific countries will have to deal with in the next few decades,” she said.
“This doesn’t mean that we have to unite against [China], but we hope that we can deal with them through dialogue in a regional framework that also includes China,” she said.
Equality and mutual respect, she said, should make up the basis of relationships with China.
Referring to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Tsai said she told Abe that there were concerns Taiwan was too economically reliant on China. To reverse this, she expressed hope that the two sides could quickly begin talks for a Taiwan-Japan FTA, she said.
“We want to strengthen our relationships with other major trading partners to decrease this reliance on China,” she said. “This is why we hope for some progress on the issue of an FTA.”
Originally scheduled to meet Abe at 9am at the Ambassador Hotel, Tsai had to reschedule the meeting to 7:30am after a conflict arose with an election event in her role as the DPP’s mayoral candidate for the soon-to-be established special municipality of Sinbei City.
Communication between the two was hampered after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which planned other aspects of Abe’s visit, including a meeting with Ma on Sunday, did not manage to coordinate his talks with the opposition party leader.
While ministry spokesman James Chang (章計平) said records showed the ministry was not told of the meeting until it was held, the DPP claimed that the government had tried to prevent the meeting from taking place.
A source knowledgeable about the incident said that Japanese councilors traveling with Abe had approached the DPP to schedule the meeting after finding out that the ministry would not be planning the talks. It was unclear how this was revealed by the ministry but it would be highly unlikely that paper records exist, the source said.
Confirming some of these remarks, Tsai later said that the DPP was directly contacted by Abe’s representatives. Despite saying she was not involved in the initial discussions, she said she believed the government had exerted pressure to prevent the meeting.
In a statement, Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), the director of international affairs for the DPP, said the talks had to be planned through intermediaries because the ministry had told Abe that the opposition party was “too caught up in election affairs.”
It was regrettable, but it wasn’t the only time this had happened, she said.
“Recently, many foreign friends have told the DPP that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has attempted to discourage them from meeting with the opposition during their visits to Taiwan,” Hsiao said. “[They] should be a bit more accommodating.”
In response, ministry spokesman James Chang (章計平) said the ministry always respected foreign visitors’ opinions when arranging their schedule in Taiwan.
“As far as we know, the guest did not propose to meet with [chairpersons] of any specific political party,” Chang said, calling Hsiao’s allegations “groundless.”
According to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), Abe has accepted an invitation by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to deliver a speech to the legislature next time he visits Taiwan.
Abe also said he would recommend that former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visit Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Ma said the resumption of flight services between Taipei International Airport (Songshan) and Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) showed that his policy did not tilt toward China, but rather struck a balance.
Speaking at a cocktail party to celebrate the launch of the flights at the Ambassador Hotel, Ma said the flight services proved that Taipei International Airport did not need to be relocated or even demolished.
“It also proves that China is not the only friend we develop relations with, but instead we adopt a very balanced policy,” he said. “I’m glad to see two of the three cities I proposed in a ‘Northeast Golden Aviation Circle’ establish direct flights with Taipei.”
Ma has proposed that Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul form what he called a Northeast Golden Aviation Circle, with direct flights providing faster and more convenient services to travelers.
With the flights in service, Ma said he expected to see the number of Taiwanese and Japanese tourist exchanges to reach a record high.
Abe said he believed the flights between Songshan and Haneda would benefit bilateral relations and future development in the long run. He also hoped that Taiwan and Japan could strengthen economic and cultural ties, and increase bilateral visits by politicians because it would be conducive to prosperity in Asia and the world as a whole.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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