By Lee I-chia /
Staff reporter
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed a delegation of more than 70 members of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Youth Division, led by Japanese Representatives Yasutaka Nakasone, for a four-day visit to Taiwan.
The group, headed by Nakasone in his capacity as division director, includes Representatives Shoujiro Hiranuma and Ryusho Kato, House of Councillors member Masayuki Kamiya and other division members, the ministry said.
During their stay, which runs through Wednesday, the delegation is scheduled to meet with senior officials, including President William Lai (賴清德), Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安).
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
They are also expected to meet with members of the Third Wednesday Association-Young Entrepreneur Group and other political and business leaders.
The LDP Youth Division has long played a central role in advancing the party’s exchanges with Taiwan, routinely dispatching delegations to engage with different sectors, the ministry said.
Past directors of the division have included senior political figures such as former Japanese prime ministers Fumio Kishida, Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso.
Nakasone is the grandson of former Japanese prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.
When a delegation met with Lai in August last year, Lai had said that the friendship between the LDP and Taiwan goes back more than half a century, and the LDP Youth Division has played a key role in the relationship.
Lai also said that the strength of Taiwan-Japan friendship is most evident in difficult times, adding that both have a shared destiny — situated on the first island chain and together facing the challenge of rising authoritarianism.
He expressed hope that the two sides can further deepen cooperation and build an even closer partnership.
The LDP Youth Division has sent delegations to Taiwan annually over the past few years, meeting with Lai in May and August last year, and with former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in April last year, August 2023 and May 2022.
The delegation’s visit to Taiwan shows that Japan highly values the close ties and friendship between Japan and Taiwan, MOFA said.
Thee trip would strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, expand substantive collaborative relationships across various fields and foster deeper exchanges and understanding between young leaders of both sides, the ministry added.
AloJapan.com