Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) made a surprise appearance on Saturday at the Tokyo Dome — accompanied by Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), Minister of Sports Lee Yang (李洋) and Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) — to watch the World Baseball Classic (WBC) match. His presence might have boosted the morale of the Taiwanese team, who went on to thrash the Czech Republic 14-0.
Cho’s appearance is the first time an incumbent Taiwanese premier has visited Japan since Taipei and Tokyo severed diplomatic ties in 1972, with the Asahi Shimbun running the story on its front page. There are at least four layers of significance revealed by Cho’s trip.
First is the continued warming of Taiwan-Japan exchanges. Visits to Japan by high-ranking Taiwanese officials have become increasingly frequent in the past few years. In 2022, then-vice president William Lai (賴清德) made a condolence visit following the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) visited the following year. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) visited in July last year, while Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) visited in September. Although these visits do not have formal diplomatic status, they represent unofficial exchanges that have been inching forward amid pressure from China.
Second is a softening attitude within the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The unit in the ministry that handles Taiwan affairs falls under the First China and Mongolia Division of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, alongside Hong Kong and Macau. Because many bureaucrats within that unit view posts in China as a key career objective, they often exercise caution in Taiwan-Japan exchanges, carefully observing China’s reactions. As regional circumstances have changed and Taiwan-Japan interactions have deepened, the attitude of these bureaucrats toward Taiwan has softened as well.
Next is strong backing from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. As Taiwan and Japan do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, Japan places certain restrictions on visits by incumbent Taiwanese officials. That Cho was able to visit Japan last weekend, under the watchful eye of China, would likely not have been possible without Takaichi’s tacit support. This small sign illustrates a broader trend — the Takaichi administration has already made changes in its Taiwan policy.
Lastly is the success of nemawashi — in which people first lay the groundwork for consensus through private, behind-the-scenes communication before any formal decision is publicly announced — diplomacy. According to informed sources, the key players behind this instance of nemawashi diplomacy were Taiwan-Japan Relations Association chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party executive secretary-general Koichi Hagiuda. In particular, Hsieh has been making frequent visits to Japan to facilitate the trip. He shares a strong rapport with Cho as the latter’s former superior. Lee acted as an intermediary, coordinating other matters behind the scenes and allowing this low-key diplomacy to be fully realized.
As Japan-China relations gradually become more fraught, Takaichi is preparing a visit to the US and US President Donald Trump is preparing for a visit to China, bureaucrats within Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs would ordinarily advise Taiwan to back down to avoid complications. Instead, Japan facilitated Cho’s visit to Japan. This could indicate that Japan is acting with growing confidence and gradually removing political barriers — the symbolic significance of which is self-evident.
The idea that Taiwan and Japan are “as close as lips and teeth” — to use the Chinese expression — was once a common political slogan. Today, as the level of exchanges continues to rise and mechanisms for cooperation take shape, Taiwan-Japan relations are being transformed into an institutionalized community of shared destiny.
Wang Hui-sheng is a founding member of the East Asian Research Institute.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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