Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday became the most senior Taiwanese official to visit Japan in five decades when he traveled to Tokyo to offer condolences after the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Tokyo broke official ties with Taipei in 1972 and established relations with Beijing.
Lai’s visit was regarded as a part of his “personal itinerary,” based on a tacit understanding between Taiwan and Japan, sources said.
Photo: screen grab from Twitter
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had no comment on Lai’s personal schedule.
Japanese TV news footage showed Lai, accompanied by Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), visiting Abe’s residence in Tokyo to offer his condolences.
Lai is scheduled to attend Abe’s funeral today, the sources said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not immediately available for comment.
Although Tokyo has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, some senior Japanese officials have become increasingly outspoken in their support for Taiwan in the past few years.
In Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) offered condolences in a visit to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA) yesterday morning.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japan, died on Friday at the age of 67 after he was shot in the back that morning while campaigning on the street in the city of Nara for the Diet’s upper house elections held on Sunday. Police arrested a 41-year-old male suspect who allegedly shot Abe with a homemade shotgun.
Tsai has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff yesterday to honor Abe, who was widely considered in Taiwan to have contributed to bilateral ties.
Tsai yesterday said she was offering condolences to Abe’s family of behalf of the government and the people of Taiwan.
She said she clearly remembers Abe’s warm smile and greetings as they spoke during an online meeting in March, adding that they had expressed the hope of meeting in person soon.
“Thank you for your contribution to the friendship between Taiwan and Japan as well as to the world’s democracy, freedom, human rights and peace,” Tsai wrote on a memorial wall set up by the JTEA.
Abe will be “the good friend of Taiwan forever,” she wrote.
Tsai was accompanied at the JTEA by Presidential Office Secretary-General David Lee (李大維) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). They were welcomed by Japanese Representative to Taiwan Mitsuo Ohashi.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) separately visited the JTEA to offer their condolences.
Su said he was grateful for Abe’s assistance in facilitating the donation of millions of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses from Japan to Taiwan last year, when Taiwan was facing a shortage of vaccines.
Abe repeatedly voiced his support for Taiwan whenever the nation faced political suppression by China, even saying the US and Japan could not idly stand by if Taiwan were attacked by China, Su said.
You said he met with Abe several times when he visited Japan, adding that the former prime minister received him in person.
Even when the Democratic Progressive Party was in opposition from 2000 to 2008, Abe still received him in his office, You said, adding that the gesture touched him.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS