Taiwan welcomes Nagasaki invite to atomic bomb memorial: MOFA

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) Taiwan's government on Sunday said it was looking forward to attending an upcoming memorial in Japan to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a day after the Japanese city said it had retracted its previous decision on not inviting Taiwan to the event.

The case has been dealt with by Taiwan's representative office in Fukuoka with the Nagasaki City government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement to CNA.

The MOFA will decide who to send to the Aug. 9 event once it receives the invitation, MOFA said.

MOFA's response was made after Japanese media reported on Saturday that Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki had told Taiwan that the "attendance is accepted." He did not disclose when the response was conveyed, nor how Taipei responded.

The latest announcement came as a major about-face. Suzuki had originally said on May 16 that Taiwan would again not be invited to this year's event on Aug. 9, as the invitation is only extended to countries with diplomatic relations with Japan, as it has done in the past.

Japan does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China.

Amid criticism, Suzuki later said in early June that his government was considering how to facilitate Taiwan's desire to attend the Aug. 9 ceremony.

On May 20 when asked about Nagasaki's earlier announcement, MOFA spokesman Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) said that the decision to not invite Taiwan was "regrettable."

"Despite this, as a peace-loving and responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded partners to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region," he said.

In 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, respectively, to stop the Japanese imperial army's continuing aggression, atrocities and occupation in Asia.

The two bombings killed hundreds of thousands of people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.

Six days later, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies on Aug. 15, ending World War II.

Meanwhile, Hiroshima has already invited Taiwan to attend its Aug. 6 memorial. MOFA has also confirmed receiving the official invite from Hiroshima and is deciding who to send to the memorial.

If Taiwan attends, it would mark the first time it attends both Japanese cities' anniversary memorial events of the atomic bombing.