Taiwan will continue negotiating with Japan to secure justice for Taiwan’s comfort women. That’s the word from Tsai Ming-yao, an official with the foreign ministry’s section for Japanese affairs.
Comfort women were women forced into sex slavery by the Japanese military during WWII. Three former Taiwanese comfort women survive, and have yet to receive any apology from the Japanese government. Tsai said on Thursday that the foreign ministry has expressed Taiwan’s stance to Japan several times.
When asked to talk about Taiwan-Japan relations after the presidential elections, Tsai Ming-yao said that Japan’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister value relations between the two sides. He said this demonstrates the international recognition that Taiwan’s freedom and democracy have received.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry is still declining to comment on a British citizen’s online petition to the UK government to recognize Taiwan as a country. As of Wednesday, the petition had received more than 10,000 signatures, the number required for a response from the UK government. Deputy foreign ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee said the ministry will not comment on the UK’s domestic affairs.