Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said Taiwanese fans would deliver “one sold-out show after another” for Japanese performers facing a backlash in China after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested Tokyo could intervene if Taiwan were attacked.
“Prime Minister Takaichi’s deeply moving remarks reflect the Japanese government and its people’s commitment to justice and peace despite tremendous pressure,” Cho said during a meeting with Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association chairman Shuzo Sumi in Taipei.
Takaichi’s remarks sparked a salvo of retaliatory measures by Beijing, including discouraging tourism to Japan, suspending some Japanese seafood imports, and pressuring organizers to cancel or disrupt concerts in China by Japanese performers, including singers Ayumi Hamasaki and Maki Otsuki.
Photo: CNA
Cho said the situation had prompted a shift in destinations among Taiwanese travelers, with many choosing Japan in support.
He said that the show of solidarity extended to Japanese entertainers, adding that performers targeted by China could expect a rapturous reception and sold-out shows in Taiwan.
Sumi said that at the 49th Taiwan-Japan Economic and Trade Conference on Thursday, the two sides had signed a memorandum of understanding on regional customs cooperation and a digital trade agreement, advancing bilateral cooperation.
He added that he was attending a Taiwan-Japan Third Market Business Cooperation Forum later in the day, which aimed to forge partnerships between Taiwanese and Japanese businesses to jointly tap into foreign markets.
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