A Japanese newspaper yesterday expressed “regret” over any confusion caused by a story it published on Tuesday last week in which it quoted an unidentified source as saying that many discharged military personnel in Taiwan become spies for China.
The Japanese-language Nihon Keizai Shimbun, or Nikkei, said in a statement that it regretted the “confusion” caused by its article, titled “Unknown truths about Taiwan part 1.”
The comments in the article “introduce the views and opinions of the interviewees, and do not represent the views of Nihon Keizai Shimbun,” the statement said, adding that the paper would continue to strive to report with fairness.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
At no point in the statement did the Nikkei back down from the assertions in its report or suggest that they might be inaccurate.
The statement was issued after Taiwan’s representative office in Tokyo demanded on behalf of the government, in particular the Ministry of National Defense, that the paper issue a correction.
In the first part of a series, the report quoted an anonymous source as saying that 90 percent of retired Taiwanese military officers later travel to China and provide intelligence to China for money.
The article also said that top positions in the defense ministry have long been held by “Chinese Mainlanders,” referring to Taiwanese born in China before the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in 1949 moved to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War.
Armed forces led by such pro-China personnel could not possibly fend off Chinese invaders, the report cited the sources as saying.
Following the article’s release, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) called the claims “ungrounded” and “demoralizing” to Taiwanese troops, adding that he asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a protest to the Nikkei and demand an explanation.
In response to the Nikkei statement yesterday, the foreign ministry said it appreciated the clarification and hoped that rationality would prevail.
It also said that the government would ensure that the integrity and loyalty of its armed forces are not questioned or tarnished, as they defend the country and its people.
At the legislature, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that the Nikkei statement should “mark the end” of the controversy.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
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