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▼ Taiwan’s Premier Makes Rare Visit To Japan For WBC
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Taiwan’s premier visited Japan on Saturday for the island’s World Baseball Classic victory over the Czech Republic, a move expected to stoke China’s ire as Sino-Japanese ties remain in a deep freeze.
The visit by Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai was the first known planned trip to Japan by a sitting premier from the democratic island since the two sides severed diplomatic ties in 1972, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
In 2004, a flight with then-Taiwanese Premier Yu Shyi-kun on board was forced to divert to Okinawa Prefecture’s Naha Airport, where he stayed for five hours before departing.
Cho attended the game at Tokyo Dome with the island’s de facto representative to Japan, Lee Yi-yang, and Sports Minister Lee Yang, CNA said, adding that the trip had been conducted in a personal capacity.
CNA quoted Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Kuo Kuo-wen as saying that Cho had returned to Taiwan after the game, calling the visit “a kind of baseball diplomacy.” Kuo said the visit had been facilitated by Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Koichi Hagiuda and former representative to Japan Frank Hsieh.
The premier’s unprecedented visit could add fuel to the ongoing dispute between China and Japan, which began following Takaichi’s remarks in parliament on Nov. 7 that the Self-Defense Forces could be deployed under the right to collective self-defense in “worst-case” scenarios, such as a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan, which the prime minister said would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan.
The visit by Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai was the first known planned trip to Japan by a sitting premier from the democratic island since the two sides severed diplomatic ties in 1972, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
In 2004, a flight with then-Taiwanese Premier Yu Shyi-kun on board was forced to divert to Okinawa Prefecture’s Naha Airport, where he stayed for five hours before departing.
Cho attended the game at Tokyo Dome with the island’s de facto representative to Japan, Lee Yi-yang, and Sports Minister Lee Yang, CNA said, adding that the trip had been conducted in a personal capacity.
CNA quoted Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Kuo Kuo-wen as saying that Cho had returned to Taiwan after the game, calling the visit “a kind of baseball diplomacy.” Kuo said the visit had been facilitated by Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Koichi Hagiuda and former representative to Japan Frank Hsieh.
The premier’s unprecedented visit could add fuel to the ongoing dispute between China and Japan, which began following Takaichi’s remarks in parliament on Nov. 7 that the Self-Defense Forces could be deployed under the right to collective self-defense in “worst-case” scenarios, such as a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan, which the prime minister said would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan.
- 8/3 20:36
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