Tokyo has protested and sought the partial removal of a statement made by China describing a discussion held between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), a Japanese government spokesperson said.
Wang was in Japan over the weekend for economic talks, during which he paid a courtesy visit to Ishiba.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Ishiba had told Wang that “Japan respects the positions elaborated by the Chinese side” — a statement that Ishiba had never made, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Chinese statement does not specify the positions that Ishiba allegedly respects, but notes that Wang said Japan should “earnestly fulfill important political commitments on historical issues and the Taiwan question” among other requests, such as adhering to four documents that underpin Japan-China diplomacy and safeguarding the legal foundation of their relationship.
Japan’s protests come amid increased tensions in the region as nations brace for the impact of additional tariffs from US President Donald Trump’s administration, and likely further conflicts between the US and China.
Japan is often caught between its security alliance with the US and China being its largest trading partner.
How Taiwan should be treated has continued to be a key issue of contention between Japan and China.
“We have lodged a protest and requested the immediate removal of the wording that is not factually accurate,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference yesterday.
“It is unfortunate that China released a statement that was not factual,” he said.
He declined to comment on how China had responded to the complaint.
Hayashi made the comments days after news of Taiwan naming Shigeru Iwasaki, former chief of staff of the joint staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, as a Cabinet consultant renewed focus on Japan’s and China’s differing positions on Taiwan.
Japan has close ties with Taiwan and adamantly opposes changes to the “status quo” concerning the self-governing nation, but China has ambitions to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the possibility of using force to do so.
Wang on Saturday met with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya for bilateral talks concerning issues of contention between the two Asian giants.
Iwaya urged the peaceful resolution of relations between Taiwan and China, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempts to change the “status quo” by coercion during the talks with Wang, according to a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai (黎智英) has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s (DW) freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster on Thursday said Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on June 23 at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle director-general Barbara Massing praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.” “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in
PHILIPPINE COMMITTEE: The head of the committee that made the decision said: ‘If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to hide, there is no reason to obstruct’ A Philippine congressional committee on Wednesday ruled that there was “probable cause” to impeach Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte after hearing allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated. The unanimous decision of the 53-member committee in the Philippine House of Representatives sends the two impeachment complaints to deliberations and voting by the entire lower chamber, which has more than 300 lawmakers. The complaints centered on Duterte’s alleged illegal use and mishandling of intelligence funds from the vice president’s office, and from her time as education secretary under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Duterte and the
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
RSS