In the news ニュース

Last day today. Sigh...

In the Japan Times today is this story about a life sentence being upheld for the Japanese killer of a Taiwanese tourist in Japan. In an unusual departure, the presiding judge actually made sense in his ruling. To quote:

"It is an atrocious crime. The (experience) of the blameless woman whose life was taken away in a foreign land is beyond imagination."

The accused:

"...pleaded guilty to murdering Hsiao (Jen-chiao) and dumping her body but maintained his innocence on the other charges, including abduction with the intent of molestation, rape and confinement, claiming he neither forced her into the car nor tied her. The judge called this argument irrational and incredible."

This is the first I've read of this case in either the Japanese or Taiwanese English-language media.

In the news ニュース

One more day in Washington, and then it's back to Taiwan. It's always hard facing up to the prospect of having to return to Isla Formosa, but this time I feel especially reluctant. However, I have little choice in the matter (namely, work commitments and personal possessions), and so tomorrow we must leave.

Meanwhile, the Daily Yomiuri has this article, "Japan-Taiwan relationship gets new guide", on Chen Horng-chi, the new chairman of Taiwan's Association of East Asian Relations, the organization responsible for Taiwan's relations with Japan. The story points out that:

"Chen served as deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan for three years until Oct. 31. He has worked hard to strengthen Taiwan's ties with Japan, including in the fields of national politics, business and local government. Taiwanese tourists have been able to visit Japan without visas for the past two years. From this autumn, Japan and Taiwan agreed to recognize each other's driving licenses. Such measures are prompting a steady rise in tourist traffic."

Relations between Japan and Taiwan have grown closer in recent years, and will probably continue to do so. The article goes on to say:

"Taiwan is generally seen as pro-Japan, due to the influence of a generation who speak Japanese, such as former president Lee Teng-hui 李登輝. Japanese TV dramas also are now popular among the young generation. However, the country's top students have increasingly been choosing to study in the United States, not Japan. Chen worries that this will lead to a decline in the number of Taiwanese who can act as bridges between Japan and Taiwan. 'Fewer and fewer people in Taiwan know Japanese politics and society well, or understand the true beauty of Japan,' he said. Chen teaches at a university in Taiwan, and is planning to establish a course on contemporary Japan next spring. The goal of the course is to nurture Taiwanese who understand Japan well."

I generally agree with Chen's assessment of things. From my own observations, I've realized that while many Taiwanese are interested in things related to Japan, there isn't a high level of awareness of the reality of modern-day Japanese society.

Not that I know a whole lot about Taiwan...

In the news ニュース

Snow! Not much, but there is a dusting of the white stuff on the ground this morning. And the Olympics look really close today. It's days like this I really don't want to go back to Taiwan. Sigh...

Speaking of the so-called Beautiful Island, according to an article in today's Daily Yomiuri, a Taiwanese firm is accused of selling precision equipment to North Korea 朝鮮民主主義人民共和国:

"Taiwanese investigators have sent papers to prosecutors on a company suspected of violating the trade law by illegally exporting precision equipment capable of producing nuclear weapons-related materials to North Korea...With Japan tightening its controls on exports to North Korea following the revelation of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development programs, North Korea is believed to have turned to Taiwan, which is not a member of the United Nations, to import Taiwanese machinery. The machinery are said to have contained high-tech parts from Japan...Taipei-based Yicheng Co. is suspected of this year exporting precision machinery capable of extracting plutonium and producing biological and chemical weapons to a company connected to the North Korean military, through Dalian, China. Exports of the machinery to North Korea are banned."

Apparently, it's not the first time this has happened:

"In March, investigators took action against a company in Taichung, Taiwan, for illegally exporting precision machinery capable of producing bullets to North Korea. In August, another company in Taipei was found to have exported Japanese computers and other products containing parts that could be used in missiles to North Korea. The North's importation of machinery capable of producing nuclear-related materials indicates that it is making a concerted effort to procure machinery capable of being used in the manufacturing of a wide range of weapons. The three cases revealed that North Korea was able to make contact with the Taiwanese firms through Taiwanese businessmen who traveled between Taiwan and China and also Chinese companies. They are said to have traveled to Taiwan via Macau and Hong Kong...North Korea targeted Taiwan because it manufactures high-tech precision machinery. (A) senior investigator said North Koreans had gone to Taiwan to receive training on how to operate and maintain the machinery...Taiwanese investigators are said to have been working with their U.S. counterparts, and plan to strengthen ties with Japan and South Korea to prevent illegal exports and shed more light on the North Korea-Taiwan connections."

To paraphrase an old cliche, international isolation makes for strange bedfellows.

It's off to the local mall today to do some early Christmas shopping.

In the news ニュース

We're getting ready to go to Seattle シアトル for the day, but I've noticed that the Japan Times has a follow-up article on Ma Ying-jeou's 馬英九 visit to Japan. It seems the trip has been a success a for Ma, judging by the headline: "Taiwan's Ma winning converts in Nagata-cho 永田町". To quote:

"Last year in July, when Taiwanese presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou, then mayor of Taipei, visited Japan, his reception by Japanese lawmakers and the media was, at times, chilly. Ma's grilling by the Diet for being 'anti-Japanese' dominated local headlines. But as the opposition Nationalist Party lawmaker wrapped up another three-day visit to Japan on Friday, he seemed to have won converts among Japan's power brokers. One of the many signs that Tokyo is warming to Ma was a secret meeting between the Kuomintang (KMT) 中国国民党 front-runner and 'multiple Japanese government officials' Thursday. The meeting ranks as a first...That Tokyo would risk a row with China by allowing Cabinet officials to meet a Taiwanese presidential candidate speaks volumes about Japan's attitude toward Ma. It would appear Tokyo attaches great importance to Ma and his ideas for boosting relations as, possibly, Taiwan's next president."

Faced with the prospect of the KMT winning the presidency next year, it makes good political sense for Japan to hedge its bets. Perhaps Ma has also begun to realize the importance of maintaining good relations with the Japanese:

"The KMT, which identifies strongly with Chinese culture and nationalism, has traditionally faired poorly in wooing Tokyo. Ma hopes to improve those relations as Japan becomes a more important trading and strategic partner for Taiwan."

Then again, Taiwan is one Asian country where anti-Japanese rhetoric doesn't necessarily result in more votes for a political candidate, unlike in South Korea. Japan, for its part, prefers things in this part of the world to remain stable:

"Behind Ma's improved reception in Tokyo are his vows to improve Taipei-Tokyo ties while maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait — a potential global flash-point that would likely impact Japan. China, which has vowed to unify Taiwan with the mainland, threatens to attack the island if it tries to make its independence stance a permanent one. Those threats keep Tokyo concerned because any conflict in the strait could see intervention from the United States, which would drag the Japanese military into the conflict via a joint defense pact and affect its southern territory. Ma wooed lawmakers this time by promising peace in the strait through improved economic and security relations with Beijing. He also vowed to make Taiwan a 'hard rock' by maintaining defense spending 'at no less than 3 percent of Taiwan's growth domestic product.' Central to Ma's message to Tokyo was a vow to seek 'neither unification nor independence,' while taking steps to otherwise ratchet down tensions in the strait, if elected."

In true Ma fashion, there were promises made all around:

"Ma's vision for closer Taiwan-Japan links also won converts, as a long, smiling embrace with Yokohama 横浜 Mayor Hiroshi Nakada made clear. A tentative agreement between Ma and Nakada to start a pilot student-exchange program between Taipei and Yokohama topped Ma's list of proposals. If elected, Ma said he would also seek a free-trade agreement with Japan increase tourism between the two countries and attract more Japanese students to Taiwanese universities."

As the U.S. learned last year when Ma visited, there is a big difference between what he says and what he does. At that time, Ma promised American officials he would end the KMT's stonewalling over the American arms package for Taiwan, a pledge that came to nothing once Ma was back in Taiwan. Let's hope Japanese government figures aren't as trusting.

In the news ニュース

The day after Thanksgiving is a time for sales, the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Perhaps I'm just getting old, or I've been away for too long, but I don't remember things being this out of control. Some stores have been open since midnight, others from 4, 5 or 6am this morning, to get a head start on attracting the shoppers. We're supposed to go out later today, so I will get to see the madness up close and personal.

In the meantime, there's yet another article in the Japanese English-language media about Taiwan. In the Op-Ed section of today's Japan Times, this piece by former diplomat Hisahiko Okazaki says it all: "It's Taiwan's referendum". It's one of the most refreshing articles to appear about the planned U.N. 国際連合 referendum:

"...China has also tried to influence Japanese policy. The position of the previous administration of Shinzo Abe 安倍晋三 was that Tokyo should not take any definitive action — for a good reason. Four years ago, when Taiwan held a similar referendum at the time of the presidential election, Tokyo publicly conveyed its opposition to Taipei, evidently under pressure from Beijing (whether Japan came under pressure from the U.S. as well is unclear). That action badly hurt popular sentiments toward the Japanese. The reaction there was: Why is Japan meddling in the affairs of Taiwan while making no contributions to the island's security?"

Exactly! The article goes on to point out the obvious:

"The question at stake is rather simple. If a referendum is actually held next spring, will China use military force? The answer, if put to all schools of China experts including pro-China ones, invariably would be 'no.' With China hosting the next Olympics, it is simply inconceivable for that country to resort to force if Taiwan, instead of making a formal declaration of independence, just changed its name from the Republic of China to Taiwan in its annual membership application to the United Nations. If so, then what compelled Hu (Jintao) 胡錦濤 to drop the dark hint, and what is his real motive?"

The question is then answered:

"To Chen (Shui-bian) 陳水扁 and his supporters, the purpose of the referendum is clear: Having voters reaffirm their Taiwanese identity and thereby bring electoral gains to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 民主進歩党. In opinion polls asking 'Do you consider yourself Taiwanese or Chinese?,' an overwhelming majority say Taiwanese. So it is a foregone conclusion that most people will prefer the name of 'Taiwan,' not China, in its application for U.N. membership. In democratic elections everywhere, political parties devise their own methods for campaigns. As long as the campaigns are lawfully carried out, outsiders should stay on the sidelines. What China wants to see may well be the opposite of what the DPP wants to achieve. Beijing wants the Nationalist Party (KMT) 中国国民党 to win in the next presidential election, so it is trying indirectly to promote the KMT, because U.S. opposition to the referendum hurts the Democratic Progressives while helping the Nationalists."

Okazaki sums it up quite nicely. The referendum is an exercise in Taiwanese domestic politics, an effort by the DPP to bring out their supporters in next year's presidential election, while China's protests and threats are an attempt to influence the electorate to vote for the KMT, a party which would be more amenable to China's attempts at taking control over Taiwan.

The conclusion to Okazaki's article is brilliant, and needs no further comment:

"For the (Yasuo) Fukuda 福田康夫 administration, the right course to follow is to stick with the policy of the previous administration, no matter what China says or does. The people of Taiwan are our neighbors who have a deep affinity and close feelings of good will toward Japan. At a time when they are trying to run their country as democratically as Japan, it is unconscionable for the Japanese to betray these feelings. Moreover, Japan has no legal or moral reasons for doing so. After all, interference in the internal affairs of other countries is strictly prohibited among modern states. China may say that Taiwan represents its internal affair, but by asking foreign countries to interfere, China is tacitly admitting that Taiwan is more than just an internal affair."

In the news ニュース

It's Thanksgiving today, and there's frost on the ground this morning. A common sight in western Washington, but not something you see very often in central Taiwan. We'll be going out for Thanksgiving dinner this evening, along with my parents, sister and nephew.

The Japan Times has an interesting article today, the headline of which says it all: "Seoul, Taipei wanted nukes in Okinawa. Return islands to Japan but stay strong for Cold War, they told U.S."

Here are a few excerpts that mention Taiwan:

"South Korea and Taiwan urged the United States in the late 1960s to return Okinawa 沖縄 to Japan but keep its forces there nuclear-capable in the event of a crisis in East Asia, according to recently declassified U.S. government documents."

"A State Department document of Sept. 12, 1967, said Foreign Minister Wei Tao-ming of Taiwan — which at the time the U.S., Japan and many other countries recognized as a sovereign nation — warned two U.S. government officials on May 15 that year against 'any change' in Okinawa's status. Any U.S. military withdrawal from Okinawa resulting from the island's reversion to Japan 'would cause serious strategic and military problems for Taiwan,' he was quoted as saying. The document said Taiwan's 'primary concern appears to be the possibility of a weakening of Taiwan's security' if Okinawa was returned to Japan and the U.S. military bases there were dismantled."

"Apparently reflecting the South Korean and Taiwanese views, a joint statement issued by (then-Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku) Sato 佐藤榮作 and (then-U.S. President Richard) Nixon after their talks 38 years ago said that while Okinawa would be returned to Japan nuclear-free, South Korean and Taiwanese security was vital to Japan's own security."

I remember reading somewhere that the Republic of China 中華民国 has never officially recognized Okinawa's incorporation into Japan in 1879 (despite the fact the islands have been under de facto Japanese rule since 1609).

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the news ニュース

I've been back in the U.S. (Bremerton, Washington to be exact) for three days now, and haven't done much of anything other than catch up on repeats of "South Park", "Seinfeld" and "Family Guy". Ah, bliss. If only I could retire early, and spend my days like this. The weather here is cold, but the air is fresh, and this morning the skies have cleared up enough to offer great views of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains in the distance. My sister and nephew are coming over tonight, and tomorrow evening everyone will be going out for Thanksgiving dinner. It's times like this I wonder why I ever left the States for Asia.

Or at least Japan for Taiwan, as the former actually has cold, snowy winters. Speaking of Taiwan, the Daily Yomiuri has an article in its November 21 edition on Ma Ying-jeou's 馬英九 current visit to Japan ("Taiwan opposition presidential candidate Ma wants to boost ties with Japan"):

"Taiwan should establish a free trade pact with Japan to boost bilateral economic and cultural ties, a Taiwanese presidential candidate said Wednesday during a trip aimed at bolstering his relations with Tokyo.

Ma Ying-jeou, of the main opposition Nationalist Party 中国国民党, said in a speech at a Japanese university that he also hoped to have frequent, high-level contacts with the Japanese government should he win the March elections.

'When I get elected, I will give Taiwan a new lens to look at the bilateral ties and improve exchanges in the private sector,' Taiwan's state-owned Central News Agency quoted Ma as saying at Doshisha University 同志社大学 in Kyoto 京都."

Comforting words, but as the story goes on to point out, Ma isn't trusted in Japanese circles:

"Ma has had to work to convince Japan that he harbors none of the anti-Japanese sentiments he expressed during heated protests in the 1970s against Japan's claim on a small chain of islands in the East China Sea also claimed by Taiwan and China."

The last time Ma was in Japan, he gave a speech promoting Japanese-Taiwanese friendship to Japanese reporters, and then, in true Ma fashion, made a number of anti-Japanese remarks to the Taiwanese media immediately afterward. The article then remarks:

"Ma...acknowledged 'some unpleasant fragments of history between Japan and Taiwan,' referring to Japan's wartime colonial rule of the island in the first half of the 1900s..."

Actually, seeing as how many TAIWANESE people tend to compare Japan's governance of Taiwan favorably in comparison to its domination by the post-1945 corrupt mainlander-dominated KMT dictatorship, Ma's remarks reveal how he seems to look at things from a CHINESE perspective, a perception reinforced by a later paragraph from the Yomiuri story:

"On Tuesday in Taipei 台北, Ma urged Taiwan to strengthen business partnerships with Japanese companies to jointly develop the Chinese market..."

Perhaps I'm taking his words out of context, but I would think a prominent Taiwanese politician (not to mention presidential candidate) would be encouraging Japanese companies to invest more in the TAIWANESE MARKET.

One other thing that struck me from the story was this:

"A visit by a Taiwanese political leader is a sensitive issue for Japan...China regularly opposes visits by Taiwanese officials to countries with which it has diplomatic ties."

That's true, but in contrast to visits to Japan by Lee Teng-hui 李登輝, I haven't read of any complaints by the Chinese government over Ma's trip.

Go figure...