INTERVIEW: Beijing concerned over Taipei 2020’s reach
Hideki Nagayama, the director of the Taiwan 2020 Campaign Council and chairman of the Taiwan Research Forum, in an interview with ‘Taipei Times’ staff reporter Huang Tai-lin said that the campaign has made Beijing anxious due to its outreach and appeal to Japanese, and that China is concerned about the extent of the campaign’s effects, while acknowledging pro-China and China-phobic tendencies in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly

Taipei Times (TT): From the initiative that you launched years ago that ended up allowing Taiwanese living in Japan to list “Taiwan” as their nationality instead of

A member of the Tokyo-based Taiwan 2020 Campaign Council speaks through a loudspeaker at a petition stand at the Keisei Ueno station in Tokyo on June 2.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan 2020 Campaign Council director Hideki Nagayama

“China,” to the campaign promoting Taiwan’s participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics under the name “Taiwan” instead of “Chinese Taipei,” why are you, a Japanese, so supportive of the efforts to rectify Taiwan’s name in the international arena?

Hideki Nagayama:It first came to my attention in 2003 that Taiwan was listed as “China” on the alien registration cards issued by the Japanese Ministry of Justice. I found it to be unreasonable, but my demand for a correction was rejected by the ministry, despite the ministry being aware that Taiwan does not belong to China and that the Japanese government does not recognize Taiwan as a part of China.

It appeared to me that the ministry was afraid of incurring China’s anger by making such a correction.    [FULL  STORY]