A report published on Thursday morning claimed Taiwanese tourists stranded in Japan by Typhoon Jebi were compelled to identify themselves as “Chinese,” rather than Taiwanese, to receive emergency assistance.
The report was published by one of China’s state-run news organs, the Global Times, which seemed to regard the incident as amusingly humiliating for Taiwan.
The South China Morning Post summarized the Global Times report:
The newspaper seized on Chinese tourists’ claims that they told tourists from Taiwan to board buses only if they identified as Chinese. Beijing regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
“A few Taiwanese asked if they could board the bus provided by the Chinese embassy for evacuation,” a Chinese witness in the airport was quoted as saying. “[Chinese people] all said, ‘Sure, if you identify yourself as Chinese, follow your home country.’”
[…] Another Chinese witness told Chinese state news outlet Guancha.cn: “After asking, some Taiwanese tourists queued for the buses like the Chinese tourists.”
The SCMP spoke to an employee of the Taiwanese trade office in Osaka who confirmed that Taipei has not provided transportation for Taiwanese citizens caught by the typhoon in Japan.
“What we can do now is advise them to transit to other airports or railway stations so they can leave as soon as possible,” he said. “But we are not aware that any Taiwanese boarded the Chinese bus.”
The Chinese consulate in Osaka reported on Wednesday that 1,044 Chinese tourists have been evacuated from Japan, a count that included 32 Taiwanese.
Jebi, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in a quarter century, disabled one of the country’s major airports and killed at least 11 people. Six hundred flights were canceled due to the storm, along with numerous ferries and trains.
The Kansai International Airport is scheduled to partially reopen on Friday after suffering extensive damage from the storm, including the loss of the island airport’s only bridge to the mainland when an unmoored tanker slammed into it.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen extended condolences to Japan and the families of the dead on Wednesday. “Japanese friends, let’s get through it together,” she said on Twitter.
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