Report on Japan Not Considering Security Dialogue is Groundless: Hsieh|日"不考慮"台日安保對話? 謝長廷:捕風捉影

China-based newspaper Global Times said, in a recent report, that Japan won't consider a security dialogue with Taiwan after President Tsai Ing-wen called for one in a recent interview. ROC's representative in Japan, Frank Hsieh, criticized the report as hearsay. Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that it is trying to engage in dialogue with Japan through different channels. The ministry also said it will continue to monitor the alleged fake news from China.


In a recent report from Japan-based newspaper, Sankei Shimbun, President Tsai Ing-wen has called for a dialogue with Japanese government officials on Taiwan-Japan security. Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times published a report later on, saying an official from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Japan won't consider such a dialogue. ROC's representative in Japan, Frank Hsieh, criticized the report as hearsay since it did not publish the official's name. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs refrained from commenting on the matter, and said it will continue to communicate with Japan through various channels.

We won't comment on the validity of the report.

It's not just Taiwan, many countries in the world have been affected by the so-called fake news from China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up an inter-departmental platform with other government divisions to handle the matter.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will continue to monitor the development of fake news from China. However, some scholars believe that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is currently working hard to maintain China-Japan relations, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has made plans to visit Japan in the near future. This means there cannot be any distraction in the development of China-Japan relations.

The Tsai administration is really hoping to elevate Taiwan-Japan relations to a new level. But a security talk between Taiwan and Japan has clear strategic significance. If it's carried out publicly, it will make things very difficult for Japan.

Li said, the Tsai administration considers Taiwan-Japan relations to be as important as Taiwan-U.S. relations. He said Tsai proposed a Taiwan-Japan security dialogue at a very sensitive time, and the matter should be handled discreetly in order to not trigger a potential backlash.