Japanese support would go a long way toward helping Taiwan join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday in an appeal to the incoming administration in Tokyo.
Former Japanese minister of foreign affairs Fumio Kishida, 64, won the leadership election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) early on Wednesday in the second round of voting, which positioned him to take over the reins of the country from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga early next month.
At an online news conference, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Chou Shyue-yow (周學佑) extended his congratulations to Kishida.
Photo: AFP
The outcome has raised hopes that Kishida would support Taiwan’s bid to join the CPTPP, given his vocal support for Taiwan during the campaign.
Taiwan and Japan both hold strategic positions in the Indo-Pacific region, Chou said.
As one of the most influential economies in the CPTPP, Japan could play an important role in helping Taiwan join the trade pact, he said, adding that Taipei looks forward to working with the new administration on deepening mutually beneficial ties through regional trade arrangements.
As for Taiwan’s continued ban on imports of food products from five Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 nuclear power plant disaster, Chou reiterated the ministry’s position that it would respect the decision of food safety experts.
The ministry would continue to seek bilateral dialogue on the issue under the premise of ensuring food safety, and in accordance with international norms and data, he added.
In related news, Yuki Tatsumi, a Japanese academic at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington, on Wednesday said that Kishida is unlikely to soften his country’s foreign policy toward Beijing.
While Kishida has long been on the dovish side of the LDP with regard to China policy, he was at the forefront of a more hardline stance on a number of issues during his campaign for the party’s presidency, Tatsumi said during a Webinar titled “Warming Japan-Taiwan Ties: Implications for East Asia,” hosted by the Jamestown Foundation in Washington.
For example, Kishida has proposed appointing a special adviser to Japan’s prime minister on human rights issues in China, she said.
The hawkish stance is a major shift in Tokyo’s policy toward Beijing, and it signals consensus on the importance of Taiwan and the role Japan would play in the event of conflict across the Taiwan Strait, she said.
Japan’s cross-strait policy has changed amid concern over the Chinese military’s increasingly aggressive actions in the seas and air near Taiwan and Japan, and in the South China Sea, she said.
Against that backdrop, Japanese politicians, especially those in the LDP, have revised their stance toward Taipei and are considering further improvement of bilateral relations, she said.
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