In the first such trip in almost three decades, Taiwanese Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan visited Japan this week to meet Japanese lawmakers, as the two sides step up high-level exchanges amid tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Cheng is Taiwan’s first sitting vice premier to visit Japan in 29 years, according to Taiwanese media. He met with Toshimitsu Motegi, the secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Wednesday.
Welcoming Cheng appears to signal Tokyo’s hopes for a deeper partnership with Taipei, with which it broke formal diplomatic ties in 1972 when it normalized relations with China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control.
During Wednesday’s talks, Cheng said Taiwan and Japan had a very close economic and trade relationship, and faced shared geopolitical challenges. He also mentioned a chip plant being built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture.
Taiwan, Japan and the U.S. are building a semiconductor ecosystem that could help develop more advanced technology, he said.
Motegi said Taiwan was an “extremely important partner and friend to Japan with shared values like freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
“I hope that the relationship between Japan and Taiwan continues to develop further,” he said.
Cheng met Monday with LDP Vice President Taro Aso and lawmaker Keisuke Suzuki, who leads an LDP project team on Taiwan policy.
In a Facebook post, Cheng said they held in-depth discussions of economic exchanges, trade, industrial cooperation and other efforts to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
Taiwanese officials have approached Aso about a possible visit to the island in August. LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda made the trip in December, making him the first member of the party’s leadership to do so in 19 years.
Additionally, a group of Japanese and Taiwanese lawmakers plan to meet in Okinawa’s Yonaguni Island on July 4. Taiwan aims to eventually set up regular ferry services between Yilan County and Yonaguni, the westernmost island of Japan that lies just 111 kilometers from Taiwan’s coast.
Japanese opposition lawmakers have also announced plans to visit Taiwan in July.