Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday thanked Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi for emphasizing the importance of safeguarding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait during Koizumi’s meeting with Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍).
Koizumi made the remarks when he met with Dong at the 12th ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), ASEAN’s defense platform, during his visit to Malaysia.
In the meeting, Koizumi said that among the various aspects of Japan-China relations, the security field remains the most challenging area.
Photo: AFP
He expressed Japan’s serious concern over Beijing’s increasing military activities in the East China Sea and the Pacific region.
He also reiterated concern about China’s military activities around Japan, including those conducted jointly with Russia, and the situation in the South China Sea, as he emphasized the significance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a news release said that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is of shared interest to the international community, and indispensable to the world’s prosperity and security.
Photo grab from x.com/takaichi_sanae
As authoritarianism expands, constantly challenging the rules-based world order and intensifying tensions, Taiwan continues to strengthen its self-defense capabilities and whole-of-society resilience, the ministry said.
Taipei would continue to work with democratic allies to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, it added.
Meanwhile, the ministry yesterday also responded to China’s protests to Tokyo about a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and presidential adviser Lin Hsin-i (林信義), Taiwan’s envoy to this year’s APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Takaichi wrote on social media that she had met with Lin on Friday and Saturday.
Tokyo is looking forward to deepening cooperation between Taiwan and Japan, she said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Saturday criticized Takaichi for meeting with Lin on the sidelines of the APEC summit and posting on social media about the discussions.
“Those actions are egregious in nature and impact,” it said. “China expresses its firm opposition and has made serious demarches and protests to Japan.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was natural for Taiwan, as a formal member of APEC, to engage in exchanges with other member states.
Lin engaged in exchanges with the leaders or representatives of more than 10 economies, including Takaichi and US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, during the summit, the ministry said.
The ministry reiterated that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent country and it is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The PRC has never governed Taiwan, which is a fact and the “status quo” acknowledged by the international community, it said, adding that Beijing has no right to comment on and interfere in the sovereign actions of other nations.
China’s criticism about the interactions between Taiwan and Japan based on the so-called “one China principle” has violated the core principle of equal participation for all APEC members, it said.
Taiwan and Japan, as important partners and friends, share universal values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law, the ministry said.
Taiwan is to continue to deepen cooperation with Japan on the solid foundation of their bilateral relations to jointly safeguard peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS