Regardless of the outcome of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election next month, the good relations between Taiwan and Japan would continue, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Chang Jen-joe (張仁久) said yesterday.
Five candidates have announced bids to replace Japanese Prime Minister and party chairman Shigeru Ishiba, who resigned earlier this month. The winner of the race is expected to become Japan’s next prime minister, but the final decision is to be made by the bicameral Japanese Diet.
RACE ON
Photo: Huang Chin-hsuan, Taipei
The candidates are: Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi; Japanese Representative Sanae Takaichi, a former Japanese minister of economy; Japanese Representative Takayuki Kobayashi, a former minister for economic security; Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi; and former Japanese minister of foreign affairs Toshimitsu Motegi.
Reports by some Taiwanese media that some candidates are more pro-China are “not necessarily correct,” Chang said.
Based on his more than three decades of experience as a diplomat in Japan, political figures who have been a member of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians’ Union are not necessarily pro-China, he said.
All of the candidates have expressed deep concerns for Taiwan, he said.
Chang said he believes that no matter who wins the race, the nature of Taiwan’s and Japan’s good relations would not change.
POSITIVE STEP
Taiwan’s plans to remove the restrictions on food and agricultural product imports from five Japanese prefectures, Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi, after a 60-day public comment period are great news for Japan, and it is a meaningful step for bilateral relations, he said.
The special restrictions, which began with a total ban and were gradually loosened, were imposed after a tsunami tore through the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration has conducted radiation tests on more than 263,000 batches of food imports from the area, and none has failed the inspection, leading the agency to remove the remaining restrictions.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is tomorrow to lead a delegation of cross-party legislators to Japan for a five-day visit, Chang said.
The delegation is expected to meet with members of the Japanese Diet and others, and visit the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Chang said.
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