Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Monday urged Japan not to sacrifice Taiwan's interests when Tokyo signs a new communique with China this week, according to dpa. "Regarding (Chinese President) Hu Jintao's visiting Japan, we are happy to see China-Japan ties improve because it benefits Taiwan- Japan ties," Chen said while receiving Japanese parliamentarian Tamazawa Tokiuchiro. "As to the ... political document Chinese and Japanese leaders are going to sign, I hope it will not contain words which hurt the Taiwan people. Taiwan is a sovereign country, not part of China," he said. Hu is due to start a five-day visit to Japan on Tuesday. He will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to discuss climate change, China-Japan ties, a dispute over gas fields in the East China Sea, Chinese food safety rules and perhaps Taiwan and Tibet. Press reports said China and Japan are working on a joint communique to be issued after the Hu-Fukuda summit on Wednesday. Japan cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan to recognize China in 1972, but maintains close trade ties with Taipei. Taiwan hopes that Japan can treat Taiwan as a de facto sovereign country and maintain high-level unofficial ties with Taipei despite the lack of official ties with Taiwan.
