Japan's foreign minister has appealed to China to steer clear of an uninhabited island chain claimed by both nations that has been the site of recent altercations between Japanese police and Chinese protesters.
Yoriko Kawaguchi, in meetings with China's premier and foreign minister, raised the dispute over the islands -- called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China -- as "the most important issue" of her visit, Japanese officials said.
Kawaguchi took issue with "the illegal landing of the Chinese activists on ... territory that is legally and historically Japanese," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said. Japan arrested and deported seven Chinese activists who landed on one of the islands last month.
"The Chinese said the islands are Chinese territory. The Japanese foreign minister made it clear she could not accept that notion," Takashima said Saturday night.
Of the Chinese protesters, he said, "There was no direct response to the Japanese request to prevent recurrence."
Relations between China and Japan, economic partners who are diplomatically cordial, always unfold against the backdrop of historical context -- namely the Japanese invasion and mistreatment of China in the years leading up to and during World War II.
"The issue of history was raised at both meetings," Takashima said.
Even today, China frequently brings up Japan's aggression, which remains a sensitive subject among many Chinese. Last week, China told Japan that "history really matters" and emphasized that Tokyo's 20th-century aggressions still reverberate.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
"Only if the two sides proceed from the overall situation of bilateral ties and appropriately tackle existing problems can the Sino-Japanese relationship overcome difficulties and score new progress," China's official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Wen.
Particularly galling to China are Koizumi's visits to the Tokyo war shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead -- including convicted war criminals. Koizumi has visited the memorial four times since taking office in 2001, drawing rebukes each time from Beijing.
"We do hope the Chinese government and the Chinese people will understand the sincere reasons for Mr. Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine -- not to honor war criminals but to remember the Japanese civilians who suffered and on whose sacrifice the current prosperity of Japan has been built," Takashima said.
He added, "We hope neighboring countries, including China, will recognize our effort to become a peaceful nation."
Koizumi's visits have prevented Beijing from inviting him on a state visit, and that apparently hasn't changed: Takashima acknowledged China is "not in a position" to host the Japanese prime minister because of the shrine brouhaha.
Kawaguchi was also briefed on Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's (李肇星) recent visit to North Korea, whose nuclear program is the subject of six-nation talks that include Japan and China.
Kawaguchi acknowledged the diplomatic bumps openly to Li as they began their meeting.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS