Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Sanae Takaichi, who is expected to be Japan’s next prime minister, has sent a letter to President William Lai (賴清德), which was delivered yesterday by a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians, one of its members said.
Hajime Sasaki, a senior official of the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council, told a news conference in Taipei that he did not see the content of the letter, but believed it was a thank you in response to Lai’s congratulatory message to Takaichi on her election as LDP leader.
Takaichi’s handwritten letter was delivered to Lai during a luncheon he hosted yesterday for the group of Japanese parliamentarians, who were in Taiwan to attend the Double Ten National Day celebrations, Sasaki said.
Photo: Kyodo via Reuters
Sasaki said that based on his understanding, Takaichi wrote the letter in her capacity as the newly elected leader of the LDP and addressed it to the chairman of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Similar letters have been sent before by LDP leaders to the heads of Taiwan’s ruling party, he said.
Sasaki is one of the 28 delegates from the parliamentary council who are on a two-day visit primarily to attend the National Day celebrations.
The council, which promotes bilateral ties between Taiwan and Japan, comprises more than 260 Japanese lawmakers from different political parties, and its members attend the Double Ten National Day celebrations practically every year.
Takaichi, a senior Diet member who served as minister of state for economic security from 2022 to last year, defeated Shinjiro Koizumi in an LDP leadership runoff on Saturday last week.
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