Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso arrives in Taiwan – Focus Taiwan Feedzy

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso arrived in Taiwan Monday for a three-day visit, during which he will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior Taiwanese officials.

After touching down at Taipei Songshan Airport at 11:30 a.m., Aso, who is scheduled to give a keynote address at the Ketagalan Forum security conference on Tuesday, passed a waiting throng of reporters without taking questions.

The 82-year-old served as Japan’s prime minister from 2008 to 2009, and deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2021. He has also headed the country’s foreign and finance ministries.

The senior Diet member has served as deputy head of Japan’s longtime ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2021, and his ongoing trip makes him the first active LDP deputy to visit Taiwan since the severing of diplomatic relations between Taipei and Tokyo in 1972.

Prior to Aso, the last LDP vice president to visit Taiwan was Etsusaburo Shiina in 1972, who came to inform then-President Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) of Japan’s plans to switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

In addition to speaking at the Ketagalan Forum, an annual event focused on security in the Indo-Pacific region co-organized by Taiwan’s government, Aso will also meet with Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), and former Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) during his Aug. 7-9 visit, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

MOFA added that Aso’s delegation, which also includes Japanese Diet members Keisuke Suzuki and Kenji Nakanishi, will pay a visit to former President Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) grave at a military cemetery in New Taipei.

The last time Aso visited Taiwan was in 2011, when he led a delegation to attend the country’s 100th Double Ten national day celebrations in Taipei.

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