Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) attended the World Baseball Classic (WBC) game between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in Tokyo yesterday — the first time an incumbent Taiwanese premier has visited Japan since Taipei and Tokyo severed diplomatic ties in 1972.
The timing of the visit is sensitive, as Japan-China relations have hit rock bottom following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November last year regarding a “Taiwan contingency.”
Cho was spotted at the Tokyo Dome with Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), Minister of Sports Lee Yang (李洋) and CPBL commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌).
Photo: CNA
Many Taiwanese spectators noticed Cho and stood up to shake his hand.
Cho left the venue early, shortly after the top of the seventh inning, when the score had already widened significantly.
Sources said Cho arrived in Japan earlier yesterday, where an agreement was made with Japanese officials not to publicly disclose the details of his one-day whirlwind visit.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said he learned of the premier’s visit during his meeting with Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party executive secretary-general Koichi Hagiuda on Tuesday.
At the meeting, Hagiuda mentioned that Cho was about to visit Japan, Kuo said, adding that he was surprised.
Hagiuda reportedly told Kuo that the visit was “a secret.”
The Japanese side’s point of contact was members of its National Diet, while the Taiwanese point of contact was likely Taiwan-Japan Relations Association chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), a former representative to Japan, he added.
Kuo described the visit as a breakthrough in “baseball diplomacy,” as it was the first time a sitting premier from Taiwan has visited Japan.
Kuo cited Cho as saying that there were no other meetings scheduled during his stay, as the trip was made purely to watch the game.
Taiwan yesterday trounced the Czech Republic 14-0, ending the game early after seven innings under the mercy rule.
The win provided a much-needed morale boost for Taiwan, after losing to Australia and Japan.
As for today’s game against South Korea at 11am, Cho would be at the lobby of Taipei Main Station to cheer for Team Taiwan alongside the public, sources said.
Since Taiwan-Japan diplomatic ties were severed, the two nations have maintained “unofficial relations” and have been cautious about high-level visits.
In July 2022, then-vice president William Lai (賴清德) traveled to Tokyo to offer condolences after the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The visit was seen as a significant breakthrough in Taiwan-Japan diplomacy.
In June 2023, then-vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) visited Japan for four days, meeting with high-ranking Japanese political figures, including then-Liberal Democratic Party vice president Taro Aso.
At the time, several Japanese media outlets referred to Cheng as “one of the highest-ranking Taiwanese government officials to visit Japan since the 1972 severance of diplomatic ties.”
Additional reporting by CNA
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
RSS