Three major political parties in Japan have included Taiwan among issues in their campaign platforms ahead of next month’s upper house elections.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) are among those vying for 125 seats in the House of Councilors in the July 10 vote.
The upper house of the Japanese Diet has 284 seats, about half of which are up for re-election every three years.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The CDP, the nation’s largest opposition party, has proposed to establish an international institution for security cooperation within the ASEAN Plus Three network to ensure that there is not “a Taiwan emergency,” it said.
ASEAN Plus Three refers to the 10 ASEAN member states plus China, Japan and South Korea.
The CDP also advocates for enhancing the quality of Japan’s national defense abilities.
The JIP proposes in its campaign platform to “establish a Japanese version of the [US’s] Taiwan Relations Act” to boost ties with Taiwan, and would negotiate a free-trade agreement.
The LDP also promises to strengthen Japan’s defenses, saying that many NATO members spend 2 percent of their GDP on national defense, a target also supported by the JIP.
The LDP last year said in its campaign for the House of Representatives — or lower house — that it would bolster cooperation with Taiwan, the US, Australia, India, Europe, ASEAN and Pacific island nations to realize a “free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
The party maintains the same stance in its campaign platforms for the upcoming upper house election.
As this is the first national election since Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida assumed office last year, political observers have said that the results of the upper house elections would be viewed as an assessment of his administration.
The LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, hold 138 seats in the upper house, 69 of which are not up for election this year.
Kishida’s LDP is trying to maintain a majority of the upper house seats, which would require winning 56 seats, with Komeito contributing to the total.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
RSS