Japan and Taiwan to move forward
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Almost 70 lawmakers of Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party led by Nobuo Kishi, a senior vice foreign minister and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's younger brother, are trying to institute a law that would serve as a basis for strengthening economic relations and personal exchanges with Taiwan, which does not have a diplomatic relationship with Japan. The move has been opposed by Beijing. A spokeswoman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying, said: "We firmly oppose the attempt to institute a so-called Japanese version of the Taiwan Relations Act by some Japanese lawmakers to strengthen ties with Taiwan." She added "The Taiwan question concerns China's fundamental interests. It also concerns the political foundation of China-Japan ties in handling Japan-Taiwan relations." "Deliberation of the act is actually a step that calls for a high alert,"said Liang Yunxiang, aprofessor of Japanese studies at Peking University. Gao Hong, a senior expert at the Institute of Japan Studies at the Chinese Academy ofSocial Sciences, said "The Taiwan question has always been a highly sensitive topic that concerns the basis of China-Japan diplomatic relations." Zhang Lili, director of the Center of Chinese Diplomacy Studies at China Foreign Affairs University, observed that the legislative campaign shows Japan's ulterior motive to undermine cross-Straits relations at a time when China-Japan ties have been deadlocked over territorial and historical issues. "Japan is seeking to contain China in this regard, and does not want to see prosperity andreunification across the Straits,"Zhang said.
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