Tokyo, 05 May, /AJMEDIA/
Two groups of Japanese lawmakers on Thursday reaffirmed Tokyo’s support for Taiwan attending the World Health Organization’s decision-making body as an observer during separate meetings with the island’s leader Tsai Ing-wen.
A delegation of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Norikazu Suzuki, chief of the party’s youth division, and a cross-party group headed by former House of Councillors President Akiko Santo held talks with Tsai on the same day.
Tsai told the LDP delegation she sought Japan’s backing for Taiwan’s presence in international institutions so that the self-ruled democratic island and Tokyo “can work together to further contribute to global security, freedom, and prosperity,” according to her office.
Suzuki, a House of Representatives member, said Japan fully supports granting Taiwan observer status for the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO, as the island has “valuable experience and knowledge from the COVID-19 pandemic that could be shared with other countries.”
An annual WHA meeting will convene later this month in Geneva. Taiwan is excluded from most international organizations due to opposition from China, which regards the island as one of its provinces and not a country.
Santo, who led the group of female lawmakers, separately told Tsai that they strongly support Taiwan participating in international organizations so that the island can “contribute to the world as an upright and positive force.”
In 2021, Japan’s upper house, then headed by Santo, adopted a resolution calling for Taiwan’s participation in a WHA meeting as an observer.
The LDP youth division chief also said the Japanese government “wholeheartedly” welcomes Taiwan’s accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-member free trade agreement, although there are still difficult negotiations ahead.
Members of the trade pact, including Japan and Australia, agreed on Britain joining in March. Both China and Taiwan filed bids to join the TPP in 2021, but Beijing opposes the island’s accession to the agreement.
A decision is yet to be made on whether to start negotiations on Taiwan’s entry, according to the island’s Central News Agency.
China and Taiwan have been separately governed since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Beijing opposes official contact between the island and other countries.
