Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday told Asian leaders that ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was important for regional security, and that China is increasingly escalating tensions in the region.
Addressing the ASEAN summit in Cambodia, Kishida voiced “serious concern” over the human rights situation of the Uighur people, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“There has been continued, increasing actions by China in the East China Sea that violate Japan’s sovereignty. China also continues to take actions that heighten regional tension in the South China Sea,” the statement quoted Kishida as saying.
Photo: AP
A day earlier, Kishida also underlined the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait at the summit, Tokyo Broadcasting System TV reported.
Kishida was concerned about China “trying to change the status quo with military force and carrying out economic threats,” it reported, adding that this was the first time the prime minister has discussed Taiwan-related issues at an ASEAN summit.
To help ASEAN member nations revive their economies after the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan promised to provide loans totaling ￥29.5 billion (US$212.5 million).
Photo: AFP
The loans were announced in part due to Beijing’s growing economic clout among ASEAN member countries, the report said.
Kishida hopes to invest in high-quality infrastructure in these countries to extend Japan’s influence and win support in the event of a conflict breaking out across the Taiwan Strait, the report said.
Yesterday, Kishida, US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed a unified, coordinated response to North Korea’s threatening nuclear and ballistic missile programs, with Biden declaring that their three-way partnership is “even more important than it’s ever been” as the North is stepping up its provocations.
The three leaders met separately before sitting down together on the sidelines of the summit in Cambodia.
The meeting was heavily focused on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s recent escalations, although Biden said that they would also discuss strengthening supply chains and preserving peace across the Taiwan Strait, while building on the countries’ support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
Biden had also planned to seek input from Kishida and Yoon on managing China’s assertive posture in the Pacific region.
“We face real challenges, but our countries are more aligned than ever, more prepared to take on those challenges than ever,” Biden said. “So I look forward to deepening the bonds of cooperation between our three countries.”
Yoon and Kishida discussed the ongoing displays of aggression by North Korea, which has fired dozens of missiles in the past few weeks.
The launches include an intercontinental ballistic missile 10 days ago that triggered evacuation alerts in northern Japan, and the allies have warned of a looming risk that the isolated country might conduct its seventh nuclear test in the coming weeks.
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
J-6 REMODEL: The converted drones are part of Beijing’s expanding mix of airpower weapons, including bombers with stand-off missiles and UAV swarms, the report said China has stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to the Taiwan Strait, a report published this month by the Arlington, Virginia-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said. Satellite imagery of the airfields from the institute’s “China Airpower Tracker” shows what appear to be lines of stubby, swept-winged aircraft matching the shape of J-6 fighters that first flew with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in the 1960s. Since their conversion to drones, the aircraft have been identified at five bases in China’s Fujian Province and one in Guangdong Province, the report said. J.
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
RSS