Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation of Japanese officials on Tuesday (Dec. 23), with both nations pledging to strengthen bilateral cooperation toward a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Hagiuda Koichi, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives and Executive Acting Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led the Japanese delegation.
President Lai thanked Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae for continuous support for Taiwan, and showing concern over peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, according to a statement from the Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan).
“Since taking office, Prime Minister Takaichi has continuously expressed support for the friendship between Taiwan and Japan and demonstrated concern over peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait at the United States-Japan leaders’ summit, the Japan-ASEAN summit, the APEC annual meetings, and various public venues. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I want to convey our gratitude,” Lai said.
“All democratic nations must join forces in order to avoid being picked off one by one, and to defend our cherished values of democracy and freedom, as well as promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Lai’s comments came after Takaichi said in Parliament on Nov. 8 that Japan could invoke military action to protect its interests should China attack Taiwan.
China considers Taiwan as its own territory although the Taiwanese people have democratically elected their own government.
Tensions between China and Japan escalated since Takaichi’s remarks and Beijing has since imposed punitive measures against Japan including Chinese aircraft locking radar on Japanese aircraft, cancelling music events by Japanese pop stars in China, banning imports of Japanese seafood, and warning its citizens not to visit Japan.
Lai expressed that Taiwan and Japan can cooperate in other areas.
“I hope that Taiwan and Japan can continue expanding cooperation in such areas as national strategy, regional cooperation, economic security, high-tech industries, and enhancing societal resilience, and that we can work together to realize the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
Hagiuda said that “Taiwan and Japan are important partners and friends sharing universal values and enjoying close economic ties and people-to-people exchanges.”
He stated that Taiwan lifted restrictions on imports of Japanese food products and resumed ordinary import regulations in November, which helped toward rebuilding and revitalizing the disaster-stricken area of Fukushima.
Taiwan and Japan can “create win-win situations in emerging fields such as AI and information and communications technology”, said Hagiuda. He noted that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, built the first fab in Kumamoto which began mass production in December last year, and the construction of a second fab in October.
Hagiuda also shared the results of the latest surveys which revealed “Japan was the favorite country of the Taiwanese people,” and “nearly 80 per cent of Japanese people feel a sense of closeness toward Taiwan”.
He said the foundation of the deep friendship between the two nations was established through mutual offer of aid during the COVID-19 pandemic and frequent people-to-people exchanges after the pandemic.
