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Japan Lawmakers Join US in Defying China With Taiwan Visit
(Bloomberg) -- A delegation of Japanese lawmakers and a US state governor are making overlapping trips to Taiwan, pushing back against Chinese efforts to isolate the island after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month.
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The cross-party delegation from Tokyo arrived Monday for a two-day trip that will see them meet President Tsai Ing-wen. The day before, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb landed to discuss economic partnerships on the democratically governed island that China claims as its territory.
The Japanese group will also visit the grave of Lee Teng-hui, the island’s first democratically elected president and a advocate for stronger ties with Japan.
Beijing reacted to Pelosi becoming the most senior US official in 25 years to visit Taiwan with its most provocative military drills in decades. That included firing missiles over the island, some of which landed in what Japan says is its exclusive economic zone.
“China’s military provocations and other erratic behavior pose a risk to the peace and safety of not only Taiwan, but East Asia as a whole,” the head of the Japan-Taiwan parliamentary friendship association Keiji Furuya, a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said on Twitter before departing Tokyo.
Foreign officials regularly visit Taiwan to discuss cultural and economic links, despite China requiring states to renounce ties with Taipei as a condition of establishing diplomatic relations. The latest Japanese delegation arrived days after Japan’s national security adviser, Takeo Akiba, met China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, for talks to shore up relations between the two neighbors.
On Monday, Holcomb signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan’s deputy economic minister, Chen Chern-chyi, that aims to build on earlier commitments from Taiwanese companies, such as chip designer MediaTek Inc., to collaborate with Indiana.
“This agreement follows on the heels of other good deeds,” Holcomb said, referencing the CHIPS and Science Act, which will give part of a federal grant to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s American operations. “This is real momentum we’re experiencing, so we are seeking to cultivate that.”
Monday’s agreement covers areas such as advanced manufacturing, biotech and academic cooperation. Wistron Corp., one of Apple Inc.’s iPhone assemblers, signed a research partnership deal with Indiana’s Purdue University earlier in the day.
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