ID :
14603
Sat, 08/02/2008 - 09:05
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https://oananews.org//node/14603
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Taiwan's Ma meets new Japan envoy, affirms bilateral ties
TAIPEI, Aug. 2 Kyodo - Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Friday met Japan's new top representative to Taiwan and affirmed the island's bilateral relations with Tokyo, according to the island's Central News Agency.
During the meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Ma told Masaki Saito that warming of relations across the Taiwan Strait is a boon for the bilateral relationship between Taipei and Tokyo, ''allowing them to significantly enhancetheir interaction,'' according to the CNA report.
Ma seeks better relations with Beijing and has said further regional stability from improved cross-strait ties will benefit Japan, whose security concernsinclude the possibility of conflict between Taipei and Beijing.
Saito told Ma that Japan-Taiwan relations were ''extremely smooth,'' citingreciprocal visa waivers and strong tourism and trade links, the agency said.
Saito's formal title is chief representative of the Interchange Association, Tokyo's de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official ties. He wasdispatched last month to the island at a sensitive time in Japan-Taiwan ties.
Their typically robust relations were sent reeling in June after a Japan Coast Guard vessel rammed and sank a Taiwanese fishing boat near islets claimed by both Taipei and Tokyo. A diplomatic row ensued, with Saito's predecessor referring to the political fall-out as a ''crisis.'' No serious injuries were reported in the collision, and tensions eased after Japan expressed regret and offered to reimburse the Taiwanese captain for hissunken boat.
''Many were concerned that the incident would affect bilateral relations, but...in bilateral consultations it was peacefully solved,'' Ma said, according to the agency. ''At the time, it seemed like a stand-off, but it wasn't.'' Publicly, Japanese and Taiwanese officials play down the seriousness of the boat row, but privately, some officials tend to express concerns that thebilateral relationship has gone astray since the high-seas crash.
Ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung put it bluntly last month when he said in a press release ''that bilateral ties were showing cracks,'' with misunderstandings abound. Failure to appoint a new facto ambassador toJapan, Wu added, highlighted the island's dearth of Japan-savvy diplomats.
The last top envoy, Koh Se-kai, resigned to protest what he said was Ma's impulsive handling of the row. Since then, Taiwan's mission in Japan has had only an acting chief, while Ma has scrambled to seek out a new toprepresentative.
Saito's meeting with Ma came just one day after an unprecedented Cabinetmeeting was convened to discuss ways to repair the island's ties with Tokyo.
Taipei is expected to announce the appointment of a new envoy to Japan soon,but speculation abounds as to whom the post will go.
CNA was the only media outlet allowed to report on the historic Ma-Saito meeting, while the Presidential Office had not issued a statement by presstime. The office spokesman was unavailable for comment.
==Kyodo
During the meeting at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Ma told Masaki Saito that warming of relations across the Taiwan Strait is a boon for the bilateral relationship between Taipei and Tokyo, ''allowing them to significantly enhancetheir interaction,'' according to the CNA report.
Ma seeks better relations with Beijing and has said further regional stability from improved cross-strait ties will benefit Japan, whose security concernsinclude the possibility of conflict between Taipei and Beijing.
Saito told Ma that Japan-Taiwan relations were ''extremely smooth,'' citingreciprocal visa waivers and strong tourism and trade links, the agency said.
Saito's formal title is chief representative of the Interchange Association, Tokyo's de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official ties. He wasdispatched last month to the island at a sensitive time in Japan-Taiwan ties.
Their typically robust relations were sent reeling in June after a Japan Coast Guard vessel rammed and sank a Taiwanese fishing boat near islets claimed by both Taipei and Tokyo. A diplomatic row ensued, with Saito's predecessor referring to the political fall-out as a ''crisis.'' No serious injuries were reported in the collision, and tensions eased after Japan expressed regret and offered to reimburse the Taiwanese captain for hissunken boat.
''Many were concerned that the incident would affect bilateral relations, but...in bilateral consultations it was peacefully solved,'' Ma said, according to the agency. ''At the time, it seemed like a stand-off, but it wasn't.'' Publicly, Japanese and Taiwanese officials play down the seriousness of the boat row, but privately, some officials tend to express concerns that thebilateral relationship has gone astray since the high-seas crash.
Ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung put it bluntly last month when he said in a press release ''that bilateral ties were showing cracks,'' with misunderstandings abound. Failure to appoint a new facto ambassador toJapan, Wu added, highlighted the island's dearth of Japan-savvy diplomats.
The last top envoy, Koh Se-kai, resigned to protest what he said was Ma's impulsive handling of the row. Since then, Taiwan's mission in Japan has had only an acting chief, while Ma has scrambled to seek out a new toprepresentative.
Saito's meeting with Ma came just one day after an unprecedented Cabinetmeeting was convened to discuss ways to repair the island's ties with Tokyo.
Taipei is expected to announce the appointment of a new envoy to Japan soon,but speculation abounds as to whom the post will go.
CNA was the only media outlet allowed to report on the historic Ma-Saito meeting, while the Presidential Office had not issued a statement by presstime. The office spokesman was unavailable for comment.
==Kyodo
