Japan would welcome Taiwan’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Youth Division director Norikazu Suzuki said at a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.
The Youth Division has cooperated and promoted exchanges with Taiwan for more than 50 years, and will continue to uphold this tradition and bolster bilateral ties, said Suzuki, who arrived on Sunday as the leader of a 65-member LDP delegation.
As former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso, who was also a Youth Division director, said during his trip to Taiwan earlier this month, Japan and Taiwan will face various challenges side by side, Suzuki said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is an important partner which, like Japan, values democracy and human rights, he said, adding that the two sides have formed close economic and people-to-people ties.
The importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was reaffirmed at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May, as it is closely linked to the interests of Japan and the world, he said.
The mainstream public opinion in Japan is that a unilateral change of the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait is absolutely unacceptable, he said, adding that it is important to convey this message to the international community.
Regarding Taiwan’s application to join the CPTPP, the Youth Division will do its best to assist Taiwan in joining the bloc, he said.
Heading to Palau with a few delegation members and several Taiwanese legislators today, Suzuki said that he hoped that Japan and Taiwan could cooperate to facilitate peaceful and stable development in the Indo-Pacific region.
Welcoming the delegation to Taiwan, Tsai said she had told Suzuki when he visited Taiwan in May that Taiwan and Japan should work together to promote the participation of young people in politics.
Tsai thanked Tokyo for speaking up for Taiwan at international events and supporting its global participation.
The two countries are “good friends who support each other and important partners in fields such as trade, tourism and technology,” she said.
To tackle current global challenges such as climate change and disinformation, Taiwan and Japan can cooperate and share experience, she said, adding that she hoped to see young people participate in the process.
Taiwan has been learning from Japan to promote regional revitalization and assist young people in returning to their hometowns to work, Tsai said.
The president added that she hoped to see more interactions and discussions between young Taiwanese and Japanese on key issues.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
RSS