Last month, a Japanese coastguard vessel hit and sank a Taiwanese ship near the uninhabited but disputed Diaoyutai islands, which Japan calls Senkaku. The incident was the latest in a long row of clashes over the past decades, as Japan, Taiwan and China all claim the islands as their own.

Japan later released the captain of the Taiwanese vessel and apologized, but Taiwanese representative to Japan Koh Se-kai (許世楷) resigned as ruling Kuomintang lawmakers accused him of treason. Koh was a veteran Taiwan Independence activist appointed by the previous administration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Ma has now decided to leave the Diaoyutai incident behind and strengthen relations with Tokyo by appointing one of his own closest confidants to succeed Koh, the China Times reported yesterday.

Yang is a long-term adviser to Ma, a consultant to the National Security Council (國家安全會議), and speaks fluent Japanese. He is married to a Japanese woman, the report said. According to the China Times, President Ma is telling the Japanese he is sending one of his own, one of his most trusted advisers who can communicate directly with the president.

The appointment could turn around the impression Japanese academics hold of Ma as a pro-Chinese and anti-Japanese politician, the paper said.