Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday met with members of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Taipei to discuss diplomatic and national defense policies.
After a two-hour closed-door meeting at the DPP headquarters, DPP legislators Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) and Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) told reporters that they had a good exchange with LDP Foreign Affairs Division director Iwao Horii and LDP National Defense Division director Konosuke Kokuba.
Both sides had a “substantial conversation” and discussed the direction of further bilateral cooperation, Lo said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The meeting also touched on Taiwan potentially joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, he said, declining to provide details.
The two parties agreed that talks — such as those held virtually in August and December 2021 on topics including diplomacy, national defense and economic security — should become routine.
Calling the first face-to-face meeting of DPP and LDP representatives a “landmark,” Kokuba urged more cooperation between the countries in fields such as semiconductors and tourism.
Taiwan-Japan relations are deepening, he said, citing Japan’s latest national defense paper, which indicated that Tokyo would not accept unilateral changes by force to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait.
In its National Security Strategy approved on Dec. 16 last year, Japan designated Taiwan an “extremely important partner” and underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Strait.
Horii said he hoped the meeting would contribute to peace in the Taiwan Strait, and across East Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, while Kokuba said he hoped that the next meeting would be held in Japan.
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