July 3, 2024
No. 226
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung held a luncheon on July 3 for a delegation from the Japanese House of Councillors’ Taiwan friendship group composed of Councilors Hirofumi Takinami, who is concurrently a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries; Yumi Yoshikawa; Kimi Onoda; Masato Shimizu; Kazuhiro Kobayashi; and Hiroyuki Kada.
In his remarks, Minister Lin stressed that nearly 80 percent of Taiwanese and Japanese have a favorable opinion of each other and that the two countries are, respectively, the most favored nation of the other. He praised former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Republic of China (Taiwan) President Lee Teng-hui for their outstanding contributions to developing relations between Taiwan and Japan. He also underscored how Prime Minister Abe’s formulation of a free and open Indo-Pacific continued to have a far-reaching influence on the international community. Minister Lin then pointed out that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s investment in production facilities in Japan had further strengthened bilateral economic and economic security cooperation. He thanked all sectors in Japan for welcoming Taiwan’s inclusion in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This year, Canada, serving as CPTPP chair, introduced new guidelines based on the Auckland Principles, encouraging member countries to launch informal discussions with Taiwan. Minister Lin expressed hope that Japan would soon launch such informal bilateral consultations with Taiwan to assist Taiwan’s early inclusion in the mechanism.
Head of the delegation Hirofumi Takinami thanked Minister Lin for taking the time to host the luncheon. He explained that the delegation was composed of promising younger members of the Liberal Democratic Party and that the name of the group referred to friendship with Taiwan. The group was founded to promote better relations between Taiwan and Japan. He went on to say that a CPTPP research task force had been set up by the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council to support Taiwan’s preparations to join the CPTPP. Bilateral ties, he said, made Taiwan and Japan as close as family, with both sides recognizing that their fates are intertwined. The group, he concluded, would continue to press for the development of Japan-Taiwan relations and a closer friendship.
The luncheon was also attended by Institute for National Defense and Security Research CEO Chen Ming-chi and Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Kazayuki Katayama. In a pleasant atmosphere, participants discussed the international situation, China’s military maneuvers, and economic and industrial cooperation between Taiwan and Japan. (E)