“A Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency” is deeply rooted in the Japanese mind, Japan Innovation Party leader Nobuyuki Baba said yesterday, calling on the two sides to conduct higher-level security cooperation.
A 14-member cross-party parliamentary delegation led by Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday concluded a “fruitful” trip attending the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians’ Union General Assembly in Tokyo, the Legislative Yuan said in a news release.
The delegation interacted with parliamentarians from various countries on the sidelines to help expand Taiwan’s international space, it said.
Photo: CNA
With the bonds of brotherhood between them, Taiwan and Japan should further bolster security cooperation, parliamentary exchanges and people-to-people ties, Baba said when he met with the delegation on Wednesday.
His party would encourage Japanese to visit Taiwan, which could help deepen friendship and cooperation and create prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Chiang thanked the Japan Innovation Party for continuing to back Taiwan in the Japanese Diet and Japanese Representative Yuichiro Wada of the party for voicing support for Taiwan during the general assembly.
Later on the same day, the Taiwanese delegation met with senior members of the Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’ Consultative Council, including Japanese Representative Keiji Furuya and former Japanese president of the House of Councilors Akiko Santo, the legislature said, adding that the high-level welcome demonstrated that the council attaches great importance to relations with Taiwan.
Cooperation between the two countries has become more frequent and more important, Furuya said, adding that he looks forward to closer exchanges between the Diet and its Taiwanese counterpart.
Friendly relations between Taipei and Tokyo are supported by cross-party legislators, so they would not be affected by there not being a party with a majority in the new legislature sworn in last month, Chiang said.
The new legislature choosing Japan for its first overseas visit demonstrates that the ruling and opposition parties alike greatly value relations with Japan, he added.
Japanese Representative Takako Suzuki, the new director of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division, said that she had realized the important role the division played in exchanges between Japan and Taiwan, adding that the two sides could overcome any challenge with their solid ties.
Japanese Representative Kenta Izumi, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, expressed congratulations and admiration for the high level of democratic literacy demonstrated by the people of Taiwan during the presidential and legislative elections in January.
As the leader of the biggest opposition party in Japan, Izumi said that he hoped the party could win more seats in the next election and attend the general assembly next year in Taiwan, which was awarded the right to host the annual event on Tuesday.
Marshall Islands Parliament Vice Speaker Issac Zackhras said that the Pacific island country would continue supporting Taiwan, adding that the exchanges with the Taiwanese delegation during the general assembly would help deepen the bilateral ties.
During the session on Tuesday, Japan, Palau, the Marshall Islands and Guam all expressed their gratitude to Taiwan for its assistance with climate change issues — which was the theme of this year’s assembly — and expressed hopes to continue deepening exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS