The government should update how school textbooks address Taiwanese women forced into prostitution by the Japanese army during World War II, a women’s rights group said Friday.
The Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation urged that the term “comfort women,” which is used in junior-high and high-school textbooks and curriculums, be changed to “military sexual slaves,” as this term is used in a 1995 UN report.
Taiwan should adopt the term used by the UN Human Rights Commission, the foundation said on Friday, the International Memorial Day for Comfort Women.
The foundation also reiterated its call for the Japanese government to formally apologize to women enslaved in World War II and compensate them.
An apology is essential, especially as Japan seeks to become one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the foundation said.
The issue has reverberated throughout Asia in places occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army during the war, most notably in South Korea and Taiwan, it said, adding that Japan reached an agreement with South Korea in December 2015, apologized to enslaved women in the country and set up a US$8.3 million fund to help them.
Despite repeated lawsuits, the Taiwanese women have never received the same treatment and the Japanese government has been reluctant to recognize their plight, the foundation said.
More than 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese during World War II, it said, adding that the foundation is only aware of two of the women still being alive.
“The foundation helps people remember the history of the ‘comfort women’ every year on International Memorial Day,” said Yeh Der-lan (葉德蘭), the president of the foundation that has championed the rights of sexually enslaved women for nearly three decades.
Speaking of the two women who are still alive, Yeh said the foundation has only been able to offer “meager” compensation to them, which is insufficient in view of the women’s experience during the war.
“But the resilience they have shown and their ability to find harmony in their lives are worthy of emulation and respect,” Yeh said.
The foundation would continue to appeal to the Japanese, it said, adding that it would also continue to educate the public on the issue and tell the women’s stories.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,