LDP Lawmakers Continue to Visit Taiwan amid Tensions with China

Tokyo, Dec. 21 (Jiji Press)--Lawmakers of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party continue to visit Taiwan despite the current tensions between Japan and China over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's parliamentary remarks on a Taiwan contingency.

Meanwhile, it seems unlikely that a suprapartisan group of Japanese lawmakers for Japan-China friendship will be able to send a delegation to China by the end of this year, as it has sought.

LDP Executive Acting Secretary-General Koichi Hagiuda is scheduled to visit Taiwan for three days through Tuesday. He is coordinating to meet with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

Hagiuda previously visited the self-governing island in 2022 and 2023, when he was head of the LDP's Policy Research Council. At the time, he was treated as a "successor" of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was friendly to Taiwan.

Earlier this month, Taiwan's foreign ministry announced upcoming visits by former Japanese Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki and Akihisa Nagashima, who was a special adviser to former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]