Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) leaves for a seven-day trip to Japan this morning and said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) hoped to strengthen relations with Japan, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) press release said yesterday.
“President Ma hopes Japan understands that the improvement of cross-strait relations is not contradictory to the country’s effort to promote Taiwan-Japan relations,” the press release said.
“The KMT would also like to see the promotion of relations between Japan and China, so that Taiwan, Japan and China can create a win-win-win situation,” the statement said.
As the ruling party, the KMT takes relations with Tokyo very seriously, Wu was cited as saying. He promised to use the trip to exchange opinions with Japanese officials, clarify any misunderstandings and build mutual trust, the press release said.
Wu said that the KMT government had handled a dispute with Japan over the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai islands (釣魚台) earlier this year with peaceful measures and that Taiwan would continue to develop its relations with Tokyo.
In June a Taiwanese fishing boat collided with a Japanese patrol boat near the Diaoyutais. Japan detained the fishermen for questioning.
Ma did not, however, assert Taiwanese sovereignty over the islands until some days after the incident.
Because of his long-standing position on the islands, Ma has been accused by some Japanese media outlets of being unfriendly to Japan. Before winning the presidential election in March, Ma went to Japan last year on a trip that was seen as aimed at changing that image.
Wu will lead a delegation, including KMT Deputy Secretary-General Steve Chan (詹啟賢) and several KMT legislators to visit Tokyo and Osaka, and will return to Taiwan on Saturday.
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