Taiwan ruling party demands ouster of Japan de facto ambassador

Tuesday 05th May, 05:45 AM JST

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15 Comments

OssanAmerica at 07:42 AM JST - 5th May

These people need to make a decision on their own one way or the other instead of blaming third parties for their own indecisiveness.
some14some at 09:02 AM JST - 5th May

Saito responded by saying the comment represented his own view and not the position of the Japanese government, local media said.

His own view should be restricted within Tokyo family. Taiwan should issue a stern warning instead of sending him back to Tokyo.
TheVripper at 09:23 AM JST - 5th May

Saito's comments are so foolish from a diplomatic standpoint, that it might be possible that the outcome is exactly what he desired.

Officials in the J gov should look into his finances to make sure that he hasn't been paid outright by someone in the Chinese gov. It would not surprise me to discover that he is already in their pocket, or might be jockeying for future financial gain in China for friends, family, etc.
JoeBigs at 09:32 AM JST - 5th May

TheVripper you made a very good point. Japan should take a look at his finances and make sure he is really working for the good of Japan.
space_monkey at 09:42 AM JST - 5th May

This is just like the godfather and the tv show "the unit". Art imitates life. Life imitates art.
USNinJapan2 at 09:44 AM JST - 5th May

Taiwan’s international status remained unresolved.

And that Taiwan would be why you don't host ambassadors but other pseudo-diplomatic representatives instead. Saito stated the obvious and some Taiwanese got upset. Surprise surprise...
Shumatsu_Samurai at 06:15 PM JST - 5th May

Saito's comments are so foolish from a diplomatic standpoint, that it might be possible that the outcome is exactly what he desired.

How are they foolish? As USNinJapan2 says, he's 100% right - Taiwan's status is still unresolved.

What I think this proves is that the KMT really is what it means - a Chinese nationalist party. They should welcome support from countries like Japan that says Taiwan isn't party of China, yet they attack it whilst snuggling up to China which still threatens use of force, refuses to treat Taiwan fairly economically, diplomatically, etc.

The KMT aren't interested in doing what's best for Taiwan, they're interesting in doing what's best for themselves. That means doing whatever China wants so that top KMT officials can retire to nice directorships of Chinese companies, work on Chinese think-tanks and maybe even get involved in Chinese politics. Taiwan is too small for them, so they'd be happy to "trade up".
CZAR202030 at 07:46 PM JST - 5th May

The remarks made by that japanese representatives doesnt matter, even he was praising taiwan he will got the same blashings. The fact is taiwan followed china's anti-Japanese sentiment to appease China for a matter fortunes. You know the Ma Yin-jeo government were full of pro-CCP infiltrators. It was definately foolish to say anything rather than keep mute!
TheVripper at 06:42 AM JST - 6th May

> Saito's comments are so foolish from a diplomatic standpoint, that it might be possible that the outcome is exactly what he desired. How are they foolish? As USNinJapan2 says, he's 100% right - Taiwan's status is still unresolved. >

How are his comments foolish? Good question. The answer is that, as a diplomat, the first rule is to be diplomatic. That means not spouting off your personal opinions just because you feel like it. Diplomats are supposed to take their cues from the party line. Can you imagine how badly his superiors chewed his ass out over this?

That said, has anyone considered the possibility that he was drunk when he said this? :)

Maybe former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa has set the standard for Japanese diplomatic relations... Kanpai!
arashikage at 07:03 AM JST - 6th May

Taiwan's status has been resolved for decades. It is an island of displaced people.
TheVripper at 09:45 AM JST - 6th May

> Taiwan's status has been resolved for decades. It is an island of displaced people. >

This is just plain wrong, but unfortunately is a commonly held view by people who are simply misinformed, or who take the narrow view that states are mutually exclusive ethnic containers based on some imagined history.

Taiwan is Taiwan, and China is China. Taiwan is a vigorous democracy, China is anything but. Taiwan existed before there was a Communist Party, and before the Japanese started their "World Tour". I'll repeat that, there were plenty of Taiwanese people in Taiwan before China's Nationalist Army showed up one day. In fact, many Taiwanese view the Chinese who showed up as opportunistic carpetbaggers, who mistreated the local population.

It's disturbing to listen to people talk about how "Taiwan is not country", because they should know better. The situation in China is pretty horrible on many levels, including the most important ones, such as free speech, the ability to vote, and other basic human rights. The last time I was in China, I saw a man get beaten with batons by police; who knows if he did anything wrong, since there's no due process. It is a police state; it sucks.

The history of China, by and large, is a history of exploitation of the poor and powerless, genocide, ethnic discrimination, and in general is not something to be proud of. Granted, there are a lot of cool old buildings, cultural artifacts, etc, but by and large, its a history of warfare and massacres.

I think the basic crux of this conflict is one of ethnic identity. The ever lame and dominant Han ethnic group is only dominant in China because they have killed people for looking different, or having different customs. "Their noses don't look the same as ours? We'll kill them all..." Think I'm exaggerating? It's all in history. Chinese emperors and their armies killed millions because they couldn't tolerate even a tiny bit of ethnic diversity.

Nowadays, China people look at Taiwan, sneer, and ask "What's the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese?" Basically, it's a "You think you're better than me?" racial question, which is just sad, especially since the Communist Party is manipulating its people with group think. What's even sadder is that people who should know better support the China position.

Comparing Taiwan with China is like comparing the United States and the Soviet Union. In Taiwan, you can organize a protest and say "The government sucks!" As long as you have a permit, you could do it. Anyone who did this in China would catch a royal beatdown, and would likely die in a prison. Has the world forgotten the Tienanmen Massacre so quickly? If you ask certain people in China, well-informed and educated people, there's a decent chance they might say, "That never happened, that's simply lies told by people who are envious of China".

In Taiwan, there is freedom of communication, you can look up any news in the world via the internet, and there are many media outlets that can hold any opinion they please. In China, you can't even access Youtube, and the Commies control all the media. So don't be fooled just because Communists love money; they are still world-class human rights violators.

I believe that China's ability to effectively coerce other states into treating Taiwan as a unofficial entity says less about those states' relationships with Taiwan, and more to do with the balance of financial power between China and those states. Basically, states that tow the China line have acknowledged that China is a greater power than their state, which is sad because many of those states are democracies, and should support other democracies as well. Meanwhile, governments and companies worldwide work with Taiwanese companies without hesitation. It is true double-speak: claim that China is the boss in order to do business there, in the meantime, do business in Taiwan just as you would any other place.

I question where and when the Communist gov's hunger for power will stop? Perhaps someday, far in a future we cannot conceive, China will begin to claim that Japan or Korea is in fact a Chinese territory, and belongs to China in the same way that they claim Taiwan as a province. They will have their supporting evidence: shared use of Chinese characters, some kind of shared imagined history, cultural similarities. While the thought might abhor a Japanese, an outsider with little knowledge of the matter could legitimately say, "Yes, the Chinese and Japanese are the same people, they share a cultural past, proximity, etc. Therefore Japan rightfully belongs to China."

I shudder to think that there are well-educated, well-informed people the world over who swallow China's Communist party line without question, or perhaps, much thought.

I'm positive that there will be many people angered by what I've written, and hopefully some people who find it refreshing. Regardless of your reaction, my intention here is to spark thoughtful, well-discoursed thinking on the issue that doesn't resort to old, hackneyed ethnic-based thinking like "What's the difference between Taiwanese and Chinese?". It's time to push this discussion in a more intellectual direction.

One last point: Taiwan ranks 33rd on the global index of media freedom, right after the USA at 32. Where is China? Near the bottom of the list, where they keep company with North Korea and Turkmenistan.

All things being equal, (which they're not), where would you rather live?
arashikage at 04:14 PM JST - 6th May

TheVripper

tl;dr (too long didn't read)

Taiwan is an island of displaced persons. Short and simple.
TokyoHustla at 04:16 PM JST - 6th May

Taiwan ranks 33rd on the global index of media freedom, right after the USA at 32.

This is clearly a false poll. The USA ranks #1 in all forms of freedom, and any poll saying otherwise is clearly anti-American propaganda.
TheVripper at 04:22 AM JST - 7th May

> tl;dr (too long didn't read) Taiwan is an island of displaced persons. Short and simple. >

I guess my comments didn't push anyone towards intellectualism... (sigh)

Guess there should be no surprises though... people only bother to understand "short and simple" ideas.
lordomni at 04:35 PM JST - 7th May

Interesting post Vripper, but one shouldn't expect too much from JT news story article comments. It isn't a format very conducive to a large debate, since invariably it will be deemed off topic.