TAIPEI (Kyodo) — Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen and the president-elect, Lai Ching-te, affirmed stronger friendship and cooperation between the island and Japan as they met a Japanese ruling party delegation in Taipei on Tuesday, according to the Presidential Office.
The 11-member group of the Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division led by Takako Suzuki, 38, a House of Representatives lawmaker, is on a five-day trip to Taiwan through Friday. Tsai said the joint effort of each generation is required for regional peace and stability, as well as mutual friendship.
Lai, the incumbent vice president, told the delegation that he expects to boost bilateral cooperation, promote economic development and further deepen people-to-people relations between Taipei and Tokyo after his inauguration on May 20.
Suzuki highlighted the depth of friendship demonstrated by the mutual assistance provided by both sides in response to deadly earthquakes earlier this year — one that hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan in January and another that affected the Hualien County in eastern Taiwan in April.
On Sunday, the LDP delegation visited former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui’s grave. The island’s first popularly elected leader, who died in 2020, was known for his affinity for Japan.
The LDP Youth Division plays a key role in interactions between Taiwan and Japan, according to the island’s Foreign Ministry. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso, belonged to the division.
Tags: Taiwan leaders affirm friendship Japan ruling party lawmakers
