TAIPEI: Taiwan lifted all restrictions on Japanese food imports on Friday in another show of support for Tokyo after reports that China will stop purchases over a row with the new prime minister.
The government in Taipei imposed a blanket ban on food imports from five Japanese regions in and around the site of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami, before easing some restrictions in 2022 and 2024.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that “Japanese food safety management measures return to normal,” with immediate effect.
“Since 2011, Taiwan has conducted border inspections on over 270,000 batches of Japanese food for radiation testing, with a failure rate of 0 percent,” it said in a statement.
“The risk assessment of additional radiation exposure risk from Japanese food is ‘negligible’,” it said, citing unspecified scientific data.
After Taiwan’s relaxation, only China, Hong Kong, Macau, Russia, and South Korea have specific import control measures for Japanese food products, the agency said.
Taiwan’s announcement comes after a row between Japan and China was triggered by a suggestion from new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this month that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on the island.
China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
Images of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te holding a plate of sushi were posted on social media on Thursday in a show of support for Tokyo.
Lai, an outspoken defender of Taiwan’s sovereignty and detested by China, has accused Beijing of “severely” affecting regional peace in the escalating spat.
China’s foreign ministry branded Lai’s posts a “stunt.”
Japan’s foreign ministry welcomed Taiwan’s decision to lift all restrictions, saying in a statement it would “encourage the reconstruction” of the areas hit by the 2011 quake and tsunami.
Taiwan lifts all restrictions on food imports from Japan
https://arab.news/5b42v
Taiwan lifts all restrictions on food imports from Japan
- Taipei imposed a blanket ban on food imports from five Japanese regions before easing some restrictions in 2022 and 2024
Muslim World League commits resources to help victims of Indonesia flooding
- Floods, landslides on Sumatra island killed more than 800 people and injured 4,200 others
- Al-Issa is in Jakarta this week for meetings with Indonesian officials, religious leaders
JAKARTA: The Muslim World League is ready to mobilize its resources to support relief efforts in Indonesia, its chief said on Friday during a visit to the Southeast Asian country, which was recently hit by its most devastating floods and landslides in decades.
At least 867 people were killed and more than 4,200 others injured after the disasters inundated three provinces on Indonesia’s Sumatra island in late November.
More than 121,000 homes were destroyed and more than 1,100 public infrastructure sites were severely affected in about 50 cities and regencies in the region, where emergency support has been limited due to the collapse of roads and bridges. About 1.1 million people were displaced at one point and for days communities were cut off from basic supplies, power and communication.
“I conveyed my sincere condolences to H.E. for the victims of the recent devastating floods and landslides across various regions of the Republic,” MWL Secretary-general Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa said on X, following his meeting with President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.
“Furthermore, I confirmed the MWL’s commitment to mobilizing all its resources to provide relief and support to those impacted by this terrible calamity.”
Despite offers from several countries and international organizations, Indonesia is not accepting international humanitarian aid, as the central government has yet to declare the Sumatra floods a national emergency,
Al-Issa arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday at the invitation of the Indonesian government for meetings with officials and religious leaders.
On Saturday, he is scheduled to attend talks on interreligious harmony alongside Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar.
The MWL is an international non-government Islamic organization founded in Saudi Arabia in 1962. Its work is focused on promoting and clarifying the worldwide understanding of Islam, with headquarters in Makkah and offices around the world.
Din Syamsuddin, former chairman of Indonesia’s second-biggest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, told Arab News that Al-Issa’s visit brought a “positive message” to promote global unity in the Muslim world.
“We see the visit as an appreciation for Indonesia as the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, where there is unity and harmony amid religious and ethnic diversity,” he said.
“In the context of the visit of the secretary-general of the Muslim World League, from Indonesia we would like to call on Muslims around the world to unite. (The MWL) has a strategic and central role to play for this purpose.”
