TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan and Japan should deepen their security cooperation and build reliable and resilient democratic supply chains, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) told former Japan Ambassador to China Tarumi Hideo on Wednesday.
Tarumi was visiting Taiwan at the head of a delegation from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, per CNA. Last year, the college launched a working group researching Taiwan and US-China relations.
Lai and Tarumi previously spoke at the Presidential Office in May 2024. At Wednesday’s meeting, the president specifically mentioned AI, new energy, and drones as areas where the two countries could intensify cooperation.
He also mentioned how recent opinion polls showed that 70% of the public in both countries said bilateral relations were developing positively. The survey results could be attributed to Tarumi’s efforts to promote ties with Taiwan while he served as a senior official at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Lai said.
The president also expressed the hope that Taiwan and Japan could speed up talks to sign a Free Trade Agreement or an Economic Partnership Agreement to give cooperation an even stronger boost.
AloJapan.com