China on Sunday voiced strong indignation over a remark made by
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who credited Taiwan's current
high education standard to Japan's colonial rule. In defiance of
the joint communiqué signed in 1972 when China and Japan
established diplomatic ties, Aso also mentioned Taiwan as a
"country" in his speech in Japan's prefecture of Fukuoka.
"We are shocked by and express our strong indignation over the
Japanese foreign minister's remark of overtly glorifying its
history of invasion," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kong Quan
said.
Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China. In 1895, after a
war of aggression against China, Japan forced the Qing government
to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki and forcibly occupied
Taiwan.
Following Japan's World War II defeat in 1945, Taiwan was
returned to China as required by the Potsdam Proclamation and the
Cairo Declaration.
Japan's occupation "made Taiwan people suffer enslavement and
brought grave disaster to the Chinese nation. It is a fact everyone
in the world knows," Kong said. "The half century of colonization
of the island was an evil aspect of the Japanese militaristic
invasion against China."
Kong said Aso's remark distorted history and severely hurt the
feelings of the Chinese people.
The move, just like lifting a rock only to drop it on his own
feet, defies human justice and conscience and will ultimately bring
ill benefit to Japan itself, Kong said.
Also on Sunday, Kong highlighted the US' adherence to the
one-China policy, opposing the so-called "Taiwan independence."
On January 29, Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian proposed the
abolishment of the "National Unification Council (NUC) and the
National Unification Guidelines" and talked of "applying for UN
membership under the name of Taiwan."
A US Department spokesperson on January 30 repeated the
one-China policy, saying the US opposes unilateral changes to the
status quo across the Taiwan Straits.
"We hope the US and the international community will keep alert
to the danger and severe damage caused by the so-called 'Taiwan
independence'," Kong said.
"(We hope they will) support the Chinese government?in
striking at Taiwan separatist activities, promote the peaceful and
stable development of cross-Straits relations and jointly keep
peace and stability across the Straits and in the Asia-Pacific
region," he said.
Chen's remarks again proved his separatist stance and "exposed
the dangerous direction" of the Taiwan authorities to stimulate
separatism and undermine cross-Straits relations, Kong added.
(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2006)