Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday became the most senior Taiwanese official to visit Japan in five decades when he traveled to Tokyo to offer condolences after the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Tokyo broke official ties with Taipei in 1972 and established relations with Beijing.
Lai’s visit was regarded as a part of his “personal itinerary,” based on a tacit understanding between Taiwan and Japan, sources said.
Photo: screen grab from Twitter
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had no comment on Lai’s personal schedule.
Japanese TV news footage showed Lai, accompanied by Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), visiting Abe’s residence in Tokyo to offer his condolences.
Lai is scheduled to attend Abe’s funeral today, the sources said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not immediately available for comment.
Although Tokyo has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, some senior Japanese officials have become increasingly outspoken in their support for Taiwan in the past few years.
In Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) offered condolences in a visit to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA) yesterday morning.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japan, died on Friday at the age of 67 after he was shot in the back that morning while campaigning on the street in the city of Nara for the Diet’s upper house elections held on Sunday. Police arrested a 41-year-old male suspect who allegedly shot Abe with a homemade shotgun.
Tsai has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff yesterday to honor Abe, who was widely considered in Taiwan to have contributed to bilateral ties.
Tsai yesterday said she was offering condolences to Abe’s family of behalf of the government and the people of Taiwan.
She said she clearly remembers Abe’s warm smile and greetings as they spoke during an online meeting in March, adding that they had expressed the hope of meeting in person soon.
“Thank you for your contribution to the friendship between Taiwan and Japan as well as to the world’s democracy, freedom, human rights and peace,” Tsai wrote on a memorial wall set up by the JTEA.
Abe will be “the good friend of Taiwan forever,” she wrote.
Tsai was accompanied at the JTEA by Presidential Office Secretary-General David Lee (李大維) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). They were welcomed by Japanese Representative to Taiwan Mitsuo Ohashi.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) separately visited the JTEA to offer their condolences.
Su said he was grateful for Abe’s assistance in facilitating the donation of millions of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses from Japan to Taiwan last year, when Taiwan was facing a shortage of vaccines.
Abe repeatedly voiced his support for Taiwan whenever the nation faced political suppression by China, even saying the US and Japan could not idly stand by if Taiwan were attacked by China, Su said.
You said he met with Abe several times when he visited Japan, adding that the former prime minister received him in person.
Even when the Democratic Progressive Party was in opposition from 2000 to 2008, Abe still received him in his office, You said, adding that the gesture touched him.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,