Former Japanese ambassador to Peru Kazuyuki Katayama is said to be taking on the post of Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative next month, an appointment that demonstrates the importance Japan attaches to Taiwan, political commentator Akio Yaita said.
Katayama is to succeed Hiroyasu Izumi as Japan’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan, Jiji Press reported on Thursday, citing several people familiar with the matter.
Katayama, who joined the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983, was appointed ambassador to Peru in July 2020 and was dismissed from the post at his own request this month, it said.
Photo: Lin Tsuei-yi, Taipei Times
As Japan and Taiwan have no formal diplomatic relations, it is customary for former diplomatic officials who retire to take on the post, it said.
Peru is important to Japan, as it is home to the third-largest Japanese immigrant community in the world after Brazil and the US, Yaita wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
The appointment of a former ambassador to Peru to Taiwan shows that the Japanese government attaches great importance to Taiwan, he said.
As “an old friend,” Yaita called Katayama an “experienced diplomat” who is “gentle and clear-minded.”
Yaita said that he hoped to see greater economic cooperation between Taiwan and Japan, as Katayama is an expert on economic issues.
In addition, Yaita hoped that Katayama could use his connections to help Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which Peru is a member state.
Katayama has visited Taiwan five times in private and speaks fluent Mandarin, having studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Peking University.
Yaita also thanked Izumi for his hard work over the past four years in Taiwan, saying that he has played a major role in work that led to the relationship between Japan and Taiwan being described as “the best in history” in recent years.
In related news, the Tourism Administration is leading the largest delegation to date in a promotion of Taiwan tourism at this year’s Tourism Expo Japan in Osaka.
The delegation is comprised of 109 representatives of 68 exhibitors, including Taiwanese travel agencies, accommodation companies, airlines and local governments, the agency said in a news release yesterday.
The agency held a business meeting on Wednesday to introduce incentives to visit Taiwan, such as travel deals, tour packages and prize draws, it said.
At the Taiwan booth set up by the agency, potential tourists are able to get travel information, engage in interactive activities such as making bubble milk tea and Lunar New Year’s couplets, and watch performances by professional cheerleading squads, it said.
The agency hoped the four-day event, which lasts until tomorrow, could help raise the number of tourists visiting Taiwan to 6 million this year.
According to statistics on the agency’s Web site, nearly 5 million tourists had visited Taiwan as of last month.
Additional reporting by Lin Tsuei-yi and CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated