Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Japan's Kishida Election: "Expecting Improved Relations"

▲Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen expressed hope for the continuous enhancement of relations following the election of former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as the president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), stating, "I hope that the Japan LDP and Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) can expand ongoing exchanges and cooperation based on the foundation of friendship between the two sides."

According to Taiwanese media such as Liberty Times on the 30th, President Tsai conveyed this congratulatory message in her capacity as the chairperson of the DPP the previous day.

President Tsai also expressed optimism that Taiwan would gain more support through exchanges with friends in the international community who support Taiwan.

She conveyed gratitude for the fact that all four candidates who ran in the LDP presidential election expressed welcoming attitudes toward Taiwan's comprehensive and progressive application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

President Tsai added that the candidates demonstrated deep friendship as friendly and democratic partners between Japan and Taiwan.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a press release the previous day congratulating Kishida, the newly elected LDP president who will become Japan's new prime minister, and expressed a willingness to expand cooperation.

▲Fumio Kishida, the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs evaluated that the Japanese government has provided a total of about 3.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine in five shipments, starting with 1.24 million doses of free support in early June, describing the deep friendship of mutual trust and cooperation as reaching an unprecedented level.

It then proposed that Japan and Taiwan continue to promote friendly and substantive cooperation comprehensively to jointly contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

Shieh Chang-ting, Taiwan's representative to Japan, expressed expectations for expanded cooperation on Facebook the previous day, stating that when Prime Minister Kishida visited the Taipei Representative Office in Japan last July to pay respects for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, who passed away, he showed that he "pays attention to and values the Taiwan issue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.