Minister Lin (right) exchanges views with Mr. Takinami (left) and other delegation members
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung on December 22 met with a delegation from the Japanese House of Councillors’ Taiwan friendship group (TY Group) led by Councillor Hirofumi Takinami. They exchanged views on such issues as promoting Taiwan-Japan cooperation in third countries, disaster prevention, and economic and trade cooperation.
In his remarks, Minister Lin began by welcoming Mr. Takinami and thanking him for once again leading members of the friendship group to Taiwan. Noting that Taiwan and Japan were both situated at key positions along the first island chain and faced pressure from China, Minister Lin said that the two countries maintained not only close security ties but also a staunch economic and trade partnership. He remarked that Taiwan and Japan shared complementary industrial frameworks and said that he hoped they would collaborate to jointly support national development in third countries. In addition, he observed that Taiwan and Japan both faced challenges posed by natural disasters and said that the two countries could deepen collaboration in disaster prevention so as to improve societal resilience.
Moving on to discuss Taiwan’s involvement in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Minister Lin pointed out that Taiwan had met the standards required for accession to the agreement. He said that he hoped Japan would continue to demonstrate leadership and assist in initiating Taiwan’s accession negotiations as soon as possible so as to jointly create regional prosperity.
During his remarks, Mr. Takinami shared his experience of serving as the head of the household registration issues task force at the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council, explaining that he had encouraged Japan’s Ministry of Justice to amend regulations to allow Taiwan to be listed as an option on Japanese household registration documents. He added that he was pleased to see growing support for Taiwan throughout the House of Councillors. Members of the delegation also exchanged views with Minister Lin on sports, cycling, and local exchanges between Taiwan and Japan.
The TY Group is one of several Taiwan-friendly bodies in the House of Councillors. It sends regular annual delegations to Taiwan and works to advance its members’ understanding of the latest political and economic developments in Taiwan.
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