Japan yesterday said that a Chinese military delegation was on a rare exchange visit as the Asian neighbors attempt to thaw frosty ties ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday next week.
Members of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were visiting their Japanese counterparts and senior Japanese defense officials from Monday through Friday, Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
The trip was organized after the Japanese and Chinese defense ministers met in November last year in Laos on the sidelines of a regional defense gathering, where they agreed to increase exchanges among troops, Hayashi said.
Photo: Reuters
“For the first time in five years, this resumes exchanges among troops,” he told a regular news conference.
“The promotion of mutual understanding and trust through frank communication at commanders’ level will contribute to the building of constructive and stable relations between Japan and China. We think this visit contributes to the peace and stability of the region,” Hayashi said.
The Eastern Theater Command echoed the view.
“This visit will help enhance understanding and mutual trust between the two sides, and promote defense exchanges between China and Japan,” it said in a statement.
Japan and China have been trying to patch up relations that for years have been strained by territorial and historical disputes, as well as other issues.
To ease tensions, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya last month visited Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅).
Japanese lawmakers were also visiting China this week, and Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Taku Eto is due in the country today.
Japanese National Security Adviser Takeo Akiba visited China in November last year and held talks with Wang. Tokyo is expected to invite Wang to Japan next month, seeking to pave the way for a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Nikkei reported.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS