Japan's recognition of Taiwan's post-tsunami donations angers China

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Japan's recognition of Taiwan's post-tsunami donations angers China

March 11 marks the two year anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, but China saw a conspiracy in Japan's inclusion of Taiwanese representatives in the commemorative ceremony.

"We have made solemn representations to Japan and are strongly dissatisfied with Japan's acts," China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a prepared statement on March 11.

China accused Japan of violating the "One-China" policy by including staff members from Taiwan's unofficial Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office [TECRO] in Japan in the official ceremony marking the 2011 disaster.

Taiwanese private donations to the Japanese disaster relief effort were among the largest from any nation in the aftermath of the triple disasters [earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear meltdown] in March 2011.

The Chinese protest came during the height of a Sino-Japanese military standoff over the disputed Senkaku islands or Diaoyudao in China.

"The Chinese government resolutely opposes any attempt by word or deed to create 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan,'" said the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Hua Chunying.

"We urge Japan to correct the mistake and keep its promises," she added.