Politics

MOFA urges release of HK Diaoyutai activists

The Hong Kong Diaoyutai activists were detained Aug. 15 by the Japanese government. (CNA)

• Publication Date：08/16/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Grace Kuo

The Japanese government should release 14 Diaoyutai activists from Hong Kong as soon as possible to reduce tensions in the East China Sea, the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 15.

The Hong Kong activists, who sailed to the Diaoyutai Archipelago to protest an upcoming visit to the islands by Japanese lawmakers, were taken into custody by the Japanese government after they landed on one of the islets. They have now been transferred to Okinawa for questioning.

On Aug. 5 ROC President Ma Ying-jeou proposed the East China Sea peace initiative, calling on all parties involved to exercise self-restraint to avoid escalating confrontation, MOFA pointed out.

“Japan’s arrest of the Hong Kong activists is not conducive to the maintenance of regional peace and security,” MOFA stressed.

The ministry reaffirmed that the Diaoyutais are an inherent part of ROC territory, administered as islands affiliated to Taiwan. “ROC sovereignty over the Diaoyutais is indisputable, and unilateral claims or actions by any party will not change this fact.”

The uninhabited archipelago, comprising Diaoyutai Island and the islets of Huangwei and Chiwei, lies about 170 kilometers northeast of Taiwan proper.

Separately, MOFA spokesman Steve C.C. Hsia urged Japan to face up to its past military aggression against Asian neighbors after members of the Japanese Cabinet visited the Yasukuni Shrine to honor World War II dead earlier the same day.

“Japan should avoid actions damaging to its friendship with the countries it invaded,” Hsia said. (THN)

Write to Grace Kuo at mlkuo@mofa.gov.tw