WEBVTT - China left a pop star to play an empty stadium

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<v Speaker 1>From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, December four, twenty twenty five. The superstar of

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<v Speaker 1>Japanese pop a Yumi Hamasaki, is the latest victim of

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<v Speaker 1>a geopolitical dispute that's flaring big time. It's China versus Japan,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's all about China's number one issue, the future

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<v Speaker 1>of Taiwan. Now Australia is under pressure to choose a side.

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<v Speaker 1>That's today's story.

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<v Speaker 2>Bye bye, bye, bye bye.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a Yumi Hamasaki, a forty seven year old superstar.

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<v Speaker 1>She's Japan's best selling singer. Her nickname is the Empress

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<v Speaker 1>of Hamasaki, who's Kylie Minogue level famous throughout the region.

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<v Speaker 1>Was gearing up for a big show in Shanghai when

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly Chinese authorities said fans weren't allowed to attend, so.

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<v Speaker 3>She's due to play, and then the day before her

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<v Speaker 3>fourteen thousand fans who sold out at the whole venue

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<v Speaker 3>before they turned up, the concert was abruptly canceled, or

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<v Speaker 3>at least canceled to the public.

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<v Speaker 1>Will Glasgow is The Australian's North Asia correspondent.

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<v Speaker 3>Now that Chinese officials have claimed force majeur. They don't

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<v Speaker 3>explicitly say what has happened, but of course the reason

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<v Speaker 3>Chinese officials, trying to make a point, have canceled this

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<v Speaker 3>because they think it's inappropriate for a Japanese pop star

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<v Speaker 3>to be entertaining Chinese audiences during this moment of unhappiness.

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<v Speaker 2>Recently, the concert of Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki in

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<v Speaker 2>Shanghai was unexpectedly canceled. As a result, she performed the

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<v Speaker 2>entire show in front of an empty audience.

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<v Speaker 4>The fans basically just went to continue to support Aymihamazaki,

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<v Speaker 4>who have decided to continue the performance in the empty stadium.

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<v Speaker 1>The Chinese Communist Party is absolutely furious with Japan's new

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<v Speaker 1>Prime minister, Sanai Takaichi.

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<v Speaker 4>Japanese Prime Minister Sanai Takeichi has drawn criticism from China

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<v Speaker 4>this week after suggesting Japan could respond with force to

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<v Speaker 4>a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the CCP's red line. It already regards Japan with

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<v Speaker 1>suspicion and hostility and takes every opportunity to mention that

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<v Speaker 1>time Japan teamed up with Adolf Hitler and tried to

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<v Speaker 1>take over the world since World War Two. Japan's not

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<v Speaker 1>engaged in any armed conflicts, but Takaichi's very deliberate use

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<v Speaker 1>of words indicated if China attacks Taiwan, Japan's back in

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<v Speaker 1>the game, it would be justified in taking military action

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<v Speaker 1>as an act of self defense. In response, the Chinese

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<v Speaker 1>Communist Party is taking revenge by using its complete control

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<v Speaker 1>of Chinese society and the economy severely curtailing Chinese citizens'

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<v Speaker 1>access to Japanese exports, including pop music.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, one of the lines the Chinese government has

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<v Speaker 3>maintained throughout this is that the Chinese public so angry

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<v Speaker 3>themselves about what the Japanese Prime minister said that they

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<v Speaker 3>themselves are going to boycott Japanese products. The Chinese Communist

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<v Speaker 3>Party acts as if it's the sort of natural backlash

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<v Speaker 3>amongst the Chinese people. And look, it is the case

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<v Speaker 3>that there are some angry nationalists, some angry Chinese nationalists,

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<v Speaker 3>but it's also the case that there's loads of people

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<v Speaker 3>in China who continue to like the Japanese pop stars

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<v Speaker 3>I liked before, They still like sushi, would like to

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<v Speaker 3>travel to Japan if their government wouldn't block them, So

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<v Speaker 3>that canceled concert is a really striking example of the

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<v Speaker 3>Chinese Communist Party making decisions for its own people to

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<v Speaker 3>boycott things. We saw this in Australia in a massive

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<v Speaker 3>way back in twenty twenty when the Chinese ambassadors said

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<v Speaker 3>it'd interview that was threatening the economic coercion that was

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<v Speaker 3>going to come, and he said maybe the Chinese people

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<v Speaker 3>wouldn't want to buy Australian beef or drink Australian wine. Well,

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<v Speaker 3>the truth was the Chinese people never got to say

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<v Speaker 3>in that the Beijing put a huge political, politically motivated

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<v Speaker 3>tariff on Australian wine into China, so it was just

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<v Speaker 3>priced out of the market. And it's the same kind

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<v Speaker 3>of idea Beijing claiming that it's the public that's boycott

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<v Speaker 3>these products, where it's actually it's the government making these decisions.

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<v Speaker 1>What is Japan's position on China and on Taiwan.

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<v Speaker 3>Japan's got a really complicated and long history with Taiwan,

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<v Speaker 3>and it's very well remembered in China. Taiwan was a

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<v Speaker 3>Japanese colony. It was the model Japanese colonies. So Taiwan

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<v Speaker 3>or Tokyo ruled Taiwan from eighteen ninety five to the

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<v Speaker 3>end of World War Two nineteen forty five, so fifty

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<v Speaker 3>year period, and there was some horrendous colonies Japan had

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<v Speaker 3>around Asia, particularly South Korea or what's now to South Korea,

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<v Speaker 3>was just ravaged by the Japanese treated appallingly, and within

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<v Speaker 3>China itself, particularly in the northeast and what the Japanese

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<v Speaker 3>called Manchuria. So the memory on the mainland of Japan

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<v Speaker 3>and Imperial Japan is of this Nightmaris force, whereas in

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<v Speaker 3>Taiwan it's much more complicated. Taiwan was set up as again,

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<v Speaker 3>as I said, a model colony for Japan, and the

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<v Speaker 3>Japanese wanted to use it to show they were an

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<v Speaker 3>equal of any Western power. They weren't to be colonized.

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<v Speaker 3>They were like the British and German and other European

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<v Speaker 3>colonial powers, and they wanted to show in Taiwan what

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<v Speaker 3>they could do. So they left a big legacy of

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<v Speaker 3>urban infrastructure. They sort of paid the roads, and you know,

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<v Speaker 3>it sounds a bit like the Monty Python sketch. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>they've got the Romans did for them, right, But it's

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<v Speaker 3>actually is remembered in Taiwan that people, you know, literacy

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<v Speaker 3>rates skyrocketed under the Japanese. Sewage systems were installed, roads

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<v Speaker 3>were installed, all this kind of thing. Up until the

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<v Speaker 3>end of World War Two, China's ruled by the Nationalists

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<v Speaker 3>the cormntane. Now, when the Civil war breaks out after

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<v Speaker 3>the end of World War Two in nineteen forty five,

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<v Speaker 3>at that point, Taiwan goes from being a Japanese colony

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<v Speaker 3>to being ruled by the Republic of China. But within

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<v Speaker 3>four years the Communists win the civil war. The Nationalist

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<v Speaker 3>army retreats across the strait to Taiwan, and so for them,

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<v Speaker 3>initially Taiwan is a base where Jiang Kai Chek is

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<v Speaker 3>going to use to reclaim the mainland. For the people

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<v Speaker 3>in Taiwan, their experience was World War II ended and

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<v Speaker 3>they thought, ah, finally we're free of the Japanese, were

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<v Speaker 3>free of our colonial overlord. We can be independent. But

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<v Speaker 3>then in arrives this new force. And originally they were

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<v Speaker 3>welcomed the Nationalists in nineteen forty five, but it wasn't

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<v Speaker 3>long before the Nationalist army was imposing itself free violently

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<v Speaker 3>on the Taiwanese. In came millions, literally millions of kmt

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<v Speaker 3>Cormantang soldiers into Taiwan and then they dominated and ruled

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<v Speaker 3>the society in a very authoritarian way right until the

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<v Speaker 3>late nineteen eighties. So it's really complicated history, but it

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<v Speaker 3>means that for people in Taiwan, even how Japan's seen,

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<v Speaker 3>how the Communist Party is seen, depends so much on

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<v Speaker 3>were you in Taiwan when the nationalist forces came in

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<v Speaker 3>nineteen forty five and then searched in nineteen forty nine,

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<v Speaker 3>or were you one of those who came from the

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<v Speaker 3>mainland and from the Chinese Communist Party perspective, Taiwan is

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<v Speaker 3>this base where their enemies fled, and it's this unfinished

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<v Speaker 3>piece from the Civil War. So there's so much complicated

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<v Speaker 3>history and some very raw emotions still about all this stuff.

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<v Speaker 3>Like Australia and almost every other country, Taiwan has unofficial

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<v Speaker 3>relations with Tokyo. Japan doesn't officially recognize it as an

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<v Speaker 3>independent state. It recognizes Beijing. But there's real, I mean

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<v Speaker 3>they call it people to people links, but in the

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<v Speaker 3>Japanese Taiwan case, it's way more than that. There's I

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<v Speaker 3>mean society to society, political party to political party. Partly

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<v Speaker 3>because the Japanese ruled the place for fifty years.

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<v Speaker 1>Coming up, how Donald Trump fits in and what Australia

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<v Speaker 1>is supposed to be doing. The Australians published an opinion

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<v Speaker 1>piece by the former Japanese Ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami,

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<v Speaker 1>in which he's very directly accusing Australia of not doing

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<v Speaker 1>enough to support Japan as it tries to assert itself

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<v Speaker 1>against China, particularly over this issue of Taiwan. This is

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<v Speaker 1>all very delicate, and the Chinese regard any kind of

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<v Speaker 1>mention of Taiwan as deeply provocative. What's Japan's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>endgame here? And how could Australia possibly assist without making

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<v Speaker 1>things kind of even more hot?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, I mean it's a very interesting contribution from

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<v Speaker 3>the former ambassador, and he's right that when he was

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<v Speaker 3>the Japan's ambassador to Australia, I mean, he was really

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<v Speaker 3>unusually vocal in his support for the Morrison government then

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<v Speaker 3>and for Australia as it was being coerced by China.

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<v Speaker 3>So he's saying, I mean, you could say, not unreasonably

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<v Speaker 3>Japan stood up for Australia. Where are you now, Beijing?

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<v Speaker 3>When it gets in these moods when it's being you know,

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<v Speaker 3>waging a campaign of vengeance, you get involved or support

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<v Speaker 3>in some ways that you're peril. Right, you can invite

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<v Speaker 3>that same they sort of extend these economic coercion campaigns

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<v Speaker 3>to others. I mean, I think, what's not helping Australia

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<v Speaker 3>or any other country? And this is the Americans, right,

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<v Speaker 3>Donald Trump, the American President, you know, one of the

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<v Speaker 3>few figures in the international system who's got the power

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<v Speaker 3>behind him to speak clearly to China on this kind

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<v Speaker 3>of thing. He said nothing publicly to support Japan or

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<v Speaker 3>even indicate any kind of support in this dispute. Far

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<v Speaker 3>from it, He's actually spoke decision paying now. Then he

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<v Speaker 3>spoke to Prime Minister Ta Keshi. In his conversation with

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<v Speaker 3>she on the readout after it, he didn't mention at

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<v Speaker 3>all any conversation about Japan or Taiwan. The Chinese then

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<v Speaker 3>released that Taiwan wasn't just in the phone call, it

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<v Speaker 3>was a dominant part of it. Took up almost half

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<v Speaker 3>of their conversation, according to the Chinese. And then after

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<v Speaker 3>the call with the Japanese Prime minister, the Japanese Prime

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<v Speaker 3>Minister came out and said she'd had that call and

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<v Speaker 3>gave a bit of an account of what they spoke about.

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<v Speaker 3>But Trump said almost nothing about it. What is clear

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<v Speaker 3>is there's no statement from the American president so far

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<v Speaker 3>to give the Japanese Prime minister public support. And that's

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<v Speaker 3>the world that you know. The Albanese government and all

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<v Speaker 3>love American allies have to operate with them.

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<v Speaker 1>Will Glasgow is The Australian's North Asia correspondent. You can

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<v Speaker 1>read all his reporting anytime at the Australian dot com

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<v Speaker 1>dot au