By Lin Tsuei-yi, Chung Li-hua and Chen Cheng-yu / Staff Reporters in Tokyo and Taipei
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) attended the World Baseball Classic (WBC) game between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in Tokyo yesterday — the first time an incumbent Taiwanese premier has visited Japan since Taipei and Tokyo severed diplomatic ties in 1972.
The timing of the visit is sensitive, as Japan-China relations have hit rock bottom following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November last year regarding a “Taiwan contingency.”
Cho was spotted at the Tokyo Dome with Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), Minister of Sports Lee Yang (李洋) and CPBL commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌).
Photo: CNA
Many Taiwanese spectators noticed Cho and stood up to shake his hand.
Cho left the venue early, shortly after the top of the seventh inning, when the score had already widened significantly.
Sources said Cho arrived in Japan earlier yesterday, where an agreement was made with Japanese officials not to publicly disclose the details of his one-day whirlwind visit.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said he learned of the premier’s visit during his meeting with Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party executive secretary-general Koichi Hagiuda on Tuesday.
At the meeting, Hagiuda mentioned that Cho was about to visit Japan, Kuo said, adding that he was surprised.
Hagiuda reportedly told Kuo that the visit was “a secret.”
The Japanese side’s point of contact was members of its National Diet, while the Taiwanese point of contact was likely Taiwan-Japan Relations Association chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), a former representative to Japan, he added.
Kuo described the visit as a breakthrough in “baseball diplomacy,” as it was the first time a sitting premier from Taiwan has visited Japan.
Kuo cited Cho as saying that there were no other meetings scheduled during his stay, as the trip was made purely to watch the game.
Taiwan yesterday trounced the Czech Republic 14-0, ending the game early after seven innings under the mercy rule.
The win provided a much-needed morale boost for Taiwan, after losing to Australia and Japan.
As for today’s game against South Korea at 11am, Cho would be at the lobby of Taipei Main Station to cheer for Team Taiwan alongside the public, sources said.
Since Taiwan-Japan diplomatic ties were severed, the two nations have maintained “unofficial relations” and have been cautious about high-level visits.
In July 2022, then-vice president William Lai (賴清德) traveled to Tokyo to offer condolences after the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The visit was seen as a significant breakthrough in Taiwan-Japan diplomacy.
In June 2023, then-vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) visited Japan for four days, meeting with high-ranking Japanese political figures, including then-Liberal Democratic Party vice president Taro Aso.
At the time, several Japanese media outlets referred to Cheng as “one of the highest-ranking Taiwanese government officials to visit Japan since the 1972 severance of diplomatic ties.”
Additional reporting by CNA
AloJapan.com