Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founder and Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday departed for Japan, where he said he wants to gain a better understanding of the country.
Japan is Taiwan’s most important partner in Asia, and the two sides have maintained close trade and economic ties and interactions, said Ko, who is also the TPP’s presidential candidate.
As Japan is an essential ally of the US, Ko said that he needed to understand Taiwan’s neighbor better, so his itinerary in Japan would be similar to that of his recent trip to the US.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
He would visit the parliament, administrative agencies and think tanks, as well as meet with Taiwanese expatriates and students in Japan, Ko said.
Ko was yesterday to visit a Mazu temple in Tokyo and attend an evening party with Taiwanese expatriates, where he was to deliver a speech.
Ko would today give a speech at Waseda University, visit lawmakers of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party Keiji Furuya and Minoru Kihara, and have dinner with Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi.
He would also meet other Japanese lawmakers and visit Japanese think tanks in the diplomatic and defense areas, including the Japan Institute of International Affairs, before returning to Taiwan on Thursday.
Ko, 63, spent three weeks in the US from April 8 to 28, and was formally nominated as his party’s presidential candidate on May 17.
During his trip to the US, he visited New York, Boston, Washington and Houston.
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