“A Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency” is deeply rooted in the Japanese mind, Japan Innovation Party leader Nobuyuki Baba said yesterday, calling on the two sides to conduct higher-level security cooperation.
A 14-member cross-party parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday concluded a “fruitful” trip attending the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union General Assembly in Tokyo, the Legislative Yuan said in a news release.
The delegation interacted with parliamentarians from various countries on the sidelines to help expand Taiwan’s international space, it said.
Photo: CNA
With the bonds of brotherhood between them, Taiwan and Japan should further bolster security cooperation, parliamentary exchanges and people-to-people ties, Baba said when he met with the delegation on Wednesday.
His party would encourage Japanese to visit Taiwan, which could help deepen friendship and cooperation and create prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Chiang thanked the Japan Innovation Party for continuing to back Taiwan in the Japanese Diet and Japanese Representative Yuichiro Wada of the party for voicing support for Taiwan during the general assembly.
Later on the same day, the Taiwanese delegation met with senior members of the Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’ Consultative Council, including Japanese Representative Keiji Furuya and former Japanese president of the House of Councilors Akiko Santo, the legislature said, adding that the high-level welcome demonstrated that the council attaches great importance to relations with Taiwan.
Cooperation between the two countries has become more frequent and more important, Furuya said, adding that he looks forward to closer exchanges between the Diet and its Taiwanese counterpart.
Friendly relations between Taipei and Tokyo are supported by cross-party legislators, so they would not be affected by there not being a party with a majority in the new legislature sworn in last month, Chiang said.
The new legislature choosing Japan for its first overseas visit demonstrates that the ruling and opposition parties alike greatly value relations with Japan, he added.
Japanese Representative Takako Suzuki, the new director of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division, said that she had realized the important role the division played in exchanges between Japan and Taiwan, adding that the two sides could overcome any challenge with their solid ties.
Japanese Representative Kenta Izumi, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, expressed congratulations and admiration for the high level of democratic literacy demonstrated by the people of Taiwan during the presidential and legislative elections in January.
As the leader of the biggest opposition party in Japan, Izumi said that he hoped the party could win more seats in the next election and attend the general assembly next year in Taiwan, which was awarded the right to host the annual event on Tuesday.
Marshall Islands Parliament Vice Speaker Issac Zackhras said that the Pacific island country would continue supporting Taiwan, adding that the exchanges with the Taiwanese delegation during the general assembly would help deepen the bilateral ties.
During the session on Tuesday, Japan, Palau, the Marshall Islands and Guam all expressed their gratitude to Taiwan for its assistance with climate change issues — which was the theme of this year’s assembly — and expressed hopes to continue deepening exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan.
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