The frienship between Taiwan and Japan should be deepened, Masanobu Ogura, who is leading a Japanese delegation in Taipei, told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and members of a Japanese Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division delegation via teleconference.
Ogura, who heads the division and is a lawmaker in the Japanese House of Representatives, said he regretted not meeting Tsai and Lai in person, due to one of the delegation’s members, Daisuke Nishino, being diagnosed with COVID-19, but thanked Tsai for meeting with acting delegation head Norikazu Suzuki and other members.
Ogura said Tsai’s strong leadership has been recognized globally over the past six years, and he acknowledged how Taiwan has grown politically, economically and in national defense as a result.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
“When Taiwan’s security is threatened, it affects the security of Japan and the Japan-US alliance,” he said, adding that frequent incursions of Chinese aircraft into Taiwanese air defense identification zone is of concern to Japan.
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe hopes that lawmakers in Taiwan, Japan and the US would “do something concrete,” Ogura said, adding that lawmakers from the three countries met to discuss the issue in July last year.
“I hope that I can be of assistance in these matters,” Ogura said, adding that he would like to contribute toward furthering and deepening Japan-Taiwan relations, especially as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration has demonstrated great friendliness towards Taiwan.
Junior Chamber International Japan branch head Tsuchi Nakashima said his organization has welcomed more than 75 sister organizations during the past six decades.
Most of the branch members and its sister organizations love Taiwan with a passion, Nakashima said, adding that he hopes many more people around the world come to view Taiwan in the same way.
Youth Division international deputy director Susumu Yamaguchi said he hopes to hold a dialogue with Taiwan over issues of power and energy.
Nishino thanked president Tsai for asking about his health and reassured her that he was fine, adding that he was asked to thank the president and the Taiwanese people on behalf of Kumamoto Prefecture Governor Ikuo Kabashima for Taiwan’s donations after a major earthquake in the area in 2016.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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