Japan Officially Reiterates its Non-Recognition of Separatist Entity at TICAD 9
Yokohama (Japan) - The meeting of high officials, held on Tuesday in Yokohama, in preparation for the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), was marked by a firm clarification from Japan concerning its position of non-recognition of the separatist entity.
In fact, the head of the Japanese delegation recalled, since the opening of the meeting, that his country does not recognize the entity, whose intrusion to TICAD meetings does not change Japan’s constant position, not recognizing it as a State.
“I would like to state that the presence of an entity that Japan does not recognize as a State does not affect Japan’s position concerning the entity’s status,” the Japanese official declared.
The Japanese diplomat expressed reservations on the separatist entity’s presence, saying that his country has refused to extend it an invitation and instead invited “countries with which Japan holds diplomatic ties.” He pointed out that “it is the African Union Commission who invited all its members.”
This declaration comes only a few days after Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Takeshi Iwaya, reiterated, a day before the opening of TICAD, “Japan’s unchanged position.”
Interviewed by “PanOrient News” on the participation of “polisario,” a separatist militia whose so-called “republic” is neither recognized by Japan nor by the majority of UN members, the Japanese head of diplomacy stressed that his country “does not recognize the so-called +rasd+.”
“Our policy of not inviting it to TICAD remains unchanged,” Iwaya pointed out, recalling that the AU, co-organizer of the event, had insisted on inviting “all of its members.”
This double clarification, both during the meeting of high officials and in the minister’s declarations, confirms Japan’s strict alignment with international law and the UN practice.
Editorial team/le7tv
