Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma, who is also the mayor of Taipei, is scheduled to deliver three speeches during his six-day Japan visit, which will take him to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Yokohama.
Prior to his departure from CKS International Airport, Ma said that while in Tokyo, he would meet with Japanese political and parliamentary heavyweights to exchange views on matters of mutual concern, mainly party affairs and cross-strait relations.
Ma is also expected to meet with municipal officials in each of the four cities he visits to exchange views on city infrastructure development and related topics.
He is expected to deliver three speeches during his visit.
Upon his arrival in Tokyo, Ma was warmly greeted by Tai-wanese expatriates living in Japan at Tokyo's Narita airport.
Ma said that he could get to know Japan better through the six-day visit, his first since assuming the KMT chairmanship last August.
Meanwhile, Ma said that he was not worried that he might be viewed as "pro-China" by some Japanese, claiming that Japan is more "pro-China" than Taiwan and that in these fast-changing times, no country could afford not to engage with China.
Ma denied reports that he was an "anti-Japan" activist, even though he questioned the propriety of Japan's prime minister visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including convicted World War II Japanese war criminals.
Ma also brushed off recent speculation that several business tycoons, including Wang You-tseng (
Ma said that he did not have the slightest idea about the speculation and that he was not interested in making any comment on it.
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