Su leads large Taiwan legislative delegation to Japan

2016/08/03

Legislative Yuan President Su Jia-chyuan is leading a large delegation of Republic of China (Taiwan) legislators to Japan on a four-day visit as part of the lawmaking body’s efforts to further improve Taiwan-Japan ties.

“I plan on personally congratulating the speaker and newly elected members of the upper house of the Diet,” Su said. “This gesture will help enhance bilateral relations and solve problems.”

Comprising 23 members from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition Kuomintang, New Power Party and People First Party, the group is attending an Aug. 2 luncheon in Tokyo hosted by Mitsuo Ohashi, head of Interchange Association, Japan.

During the event, Su and his deputy Tsai Chi-chang will present a donation on behalf of the delegation for those affected by the series of earthquakes that struck Kumamoto on the southern Japan island of Kyushu in April.

Later in the day, the group is meeting with Hiroyuki Hosoda, acting secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party; Yukio Edano, secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Party; and touring Tokyo National Museum.

On Aug. 3, the delegation will call on Nobuo Kishi, the younger brother of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and head of a young parliamentarian group dedicated to promoting Taiwan-Japan cultural and economic exchanges. It will also meet with a number of Japanese parliamentarians, inspect Tokyo Skytree and take part in a dinner banquet organized by the Taiwan-Japan parliamentary friendship group.

The legislators are particularly interested in learning more about Tokyo Skytree’s quake-resistant design features. Taipei 101 and Tokyo Skytree, the tallest structures in Taiwan and Japan, respectively, entered into a twinning agreement spanning such areas as marketing and promotion in May 2013.

Upon arriving Aug.1, the group visited a Taiwan expatriate community in Yokohama before attending an evening reception in Tokyo hosted by Frank Hsieh, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan.

The delegation is scheduled to return Aug. 4 to Taiwan.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=246680&ctNode=2194&mp=9)