Quake Assistance for Taiwanese Students Becomes Diplomatic Issue

[Mulboyne]

The government has provided financial assistance of around 125,000 yen to overseas students affected by the earthquake and tsunami as part of the overall compensation package. However, one Taiwanese undergraduate student at Sakushin Gakuin University complained on Facebook that she was alone at her institution in not receiving the payment. The university is alleged to have said "Taiwan is not a country" although a spokesman later denied this, saying the explanation was that Taiwan has not has no diplomatic relations with Japan. Apparently, this status means she is not entitled to the government money. The Taiwanese press is outraged their students should be treated this way when Taiwan has provided a good deal of assistance and support for Japan. As it turns out, a private group should have stepped in to provided a payment especially for Taiwanese students, a smaller 48,000 yen, but it is unclear whether the girl on Facebook received this money. The arrangement mirrors the one where the Foreign Ministry took out ads in overseas newspapers to thank countries for their help while it was left to a private organization to do so in Taiwan. Asked why this sum is only around a third of the official payment, the group cited budget constraints.

Source (Japanese)

[FranciscoDeXavier]

As far as I know taiwan was the major contributor to japan

[IparryU]

This reminds me of the whole fiasco where the US of A would not cover the medical bills related to the 911 incident for "illegal residents" who helped out...

complete BS and I would be very cautious to help out any country in a cry of plea if I was expecting money or some type of compensation...