This year has been “the year of Taiwan,” as more countries have stood up to support the free and democratic nation, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday.
Izumi made the remarks at a Christmas fair outside the Taipei 101 building, which was part of a series of events to mark Taiwan-Japan friendship.
Izumi said that on Jan. 23, he saw the slogan “Japan-Taiwan friendship” in Chinese displayed on Taipei 101, lighting up bilateral relations.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
In March, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and the Ministry of Culture cohosted an exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, demonstrating their robust bonds, he said.
When the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by Japan arrived in Taiwan, Izumi was grateful that Japan could finally use its own means to help Taiwan in return for Taiwan’s aid following the 2011 earthquake, he said.
When Japan was facing its most severe outbreaks of the pandemic, Taiwan donated medical equipment to assist the country’s medical personnel, he added.
During the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japanese and Taiwanese athletes were able to cheer for each other’s teams, transcending the divide between competitors, he said.
Many Japanese have been discussing on social media why they cannot have Taiwanese pineapples in the winter, which shows that bilateral relations are propped up by people, he said.
“The world will remember Japan and Taiwan in 2021,” Izumi said.
It is not only Taiwan-Japan ties are warming, he said, adding that more support for a free and democratic Taiwan can be heard across the world.
As Japan’s envoy to Taiwan, Izumi said he feels proud to see Taiwan securing more friends.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s establishment, he said.
Formerly known as the Interchange Association, Japan, the de facto embassy was renamed in 2017.
In the next 50 years, Japan and Taiwan are sure to continue being friendly neighbors, he added.
Asked about Taiwan’s ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster, Izumi said the ban is irrelevant to Taiwan’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Nevertheless, he said that farmers in Fukushima Prefecture are working hard on food safety.
Taiwan is responsible for its own food safety issues, while Japan adheres to international and scientific standards, he added.
Taiwan and Japan are discussing the matter, and Japan is waiting to see if Taiwan removes the ban, Izumi said.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He
RSS