A delegation of Japan’s Happiness Realization Party members yesterday unveiled plans for a law to facilitate visits by Taiwanese officials.
The party would push for the Diet to pass a Japanese version of the US Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) to create a legal framework for Taiwanese officials to transit or visit Japan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, Happiness Realization Party secretary-general Masatoshi Enatsu said at a news conference cohosted by the Taiwan North Society and other groups in Taipei.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) encountered legal difficulties entering Japan to watch the World Baseball Classic last month because of this deficiency, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Although the party’s goal is to pass a Japanese TRA, it faces significant challenges in light of political realities, Enatsu said.
Therefore, his party is focusing its efforts on supporting the Taiwan exchange development bill designed specifically to facilitate the exchange of visits by senior central government officials, legislators and local government officials, he said.
The legislation would give Japan the mandate to allow Taiwan to freely display its flag and be represented under its own name without the fear of Chinese interference, Enatsu said.
It would also institutionalize Taiwan-Japan exchanges, empowering the two nations to counter Beijing’s coercive practices, and promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Happiness Realization Party is a conservative-leaning party with the self-described “mainstay support of the religious organization Happy Science.” It currently holds no seats in the Japanese Diet.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) thanked the Japanese delegation, saying that the success of a “Japanese TRA” would contribute greatly to bilateral cooperation in trade, policy and security matters affecting the First Island Chain.
Northern Taiwan Society president Lo Chun-hsuan (羅浚晅) said that bilateral relations have grown by leaps and bounds over the years.
Leaders from late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have separately emphasized Japan’s commitment to stand with Taiwan as partners in the alliance of democracies, he said.
While Japan reached out to Taiwan as an equal without preconditions, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has labored to force China’s political framework on Taiwan in a futile attempt to appease Beijing, Lo said.
Taiwanese should stand in solidarity to form a shield for their nation and welcome the Japanese legislators’ efforts to promote laws friendly to Taiwan, he said.
Taiwan Youth Next-Generation Exchange Foundation chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said Japan is capable of advancing its relations with Taiwan to a greater extent than the US.
He urged the Japanese government to strengthen its cooperation with Taiwan in humanitarian matters, and the security of undersea cables and telecommunications infrastructure.
Union of Taiwanese Teachers president Pan Wei-yu (潘威佑) said a legal framework governing Taiwan-Japan ties would help the two nations deepen their collaboration in the exchange of high-skilled workers, human rights and civil society.
Now is the time for Taiwan and Japan to institutionalize the bilateral relationship, he said.
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