Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has called for Japan to engage in a security dialogue with Taiwan, as both nations have come under military pressure and threats from China.
In an interview with the Sankei Shimbun published yesterday, Wu called for Taiwan and Japan to initiate a security dialogue, saying that ensuring security is a shared responsibility of the two nations.
The newspaper called Wu’s call a rare move, as Taiwan has no diplomatic relations with Japan.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Taiwan is looking forward to exchanges of views with Japan on ensuring security in light of increased activity by China’s armed forces in the Western Pacific in recent years and the threat it poses to both nations, Wu said.
Citing the close US-Taiwan security cooperation as an example, Wu said the lack of diplomatic ties with Japan should not be a hindrance to a security dialogue.
He also said that visits to Taiwan by high-ranking officials from the US administration have increased in frequency, while the administration of US President Donald Trump in June last year approved the sale of US$1.42 billion of arms to Taiwan.
The report said that after the US cut official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, then-US president Jimmy Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act into law later that year, laying the legal foundation for security talks between the US and Taiwan.
There have been US military attaches assigned to the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei office since 2005, the report said.
In contrast, after Japan ended diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1972, there has been a lack of legal foundation for exchanges between the two nations, the report said, adding that unofficial relations have only managed to bring about the appointment of one retired Japanese defense official to the Taipei office of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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