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TAIPEI: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday (September 20) that there were no plans for her to speak by phone with the new Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, after a Japanese envoy told Tsai that Suga might be open to it, prompting concern in Beijing.
Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has close cultural and historical ties to Japan, although Japan, like most countries, recognizes China’s government in Beijing, not Taiwan’s.
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Meeting Tsai in Taipei on Friday, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who was visiting for a memorial service for the late President Lee Teng-hui, said Suga told him that “if the opportunity exists, look forward to speaking on the phone or By other means”.
China’s Foreign Ministry said late Saturday that Japan had told them such a thing “will never happen” after Beijing asked Tokyo for clarification.
Tsai told reporters that she did not discuss this with Mori.
“We also don’t have this plan at this time to have a phone conversation,” he said.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours on Sunday.
Japan cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China in 1972.
Taiwan was a Japanese colony between 1895 and 1945.
Unlike China or South Korea, many Taiwanese have a broadly positive view of Japan, saying that Japan’s government brought progress to what was an undeveloped, primarily agricultural island.
