Tsai meets with former Japan PM Taro Aso

2023/08/10

President Tsai Ing-wen received former Japan Prime Minister Taro Aso, currently vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, August 8, the same day that he and his delegation attended the 2023 Ketagalan Forum: Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue.
 
Tsai said that Taiwan and Japan will continue to contribute to regional prosperity by building resilient and secure supply chains through the collaboration of public and private sectors. Over the past few years, the two sides collaborated in handling the pandemic and deepened partnership in various fields, evidenced by record high bilateral 2022 trade values of over US$88 billion.
 
Tsai referenced Aso’s 2020 praise of Taiwan’s pandemic control, his criticism of WHO rejection of Taiwan’s participation and the Japanese government’s support for cross-strait stability at this year’s G7 Summit as proof of the strong relationship.
 
The president also anticipated founding member Japan’s backing for Taiwan’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

In response, Aso expressed appreciation for attending the forum and his role in the countries’ relationship, after a twelve-year interval between this and his last visit, the Presidential Office said.

Aso also said that the two sides have a long-standing bond and that he and late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe used to be the heads of the LDP’s Youth Division, which has a long history of exchange with Taiwan.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)