A delegation of Japan Innovation Party lawmakers began a visit to Taiwan on Monday and is scheduled to meet President 
Lai Ching-te and call on government departments and the legislature. The 13-member group, in Taiwan through Sept. 9, is the first large delegation to Taiwan the party has organised since it formed a ruling coalition with Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, CNA reported, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Who is in the delegation? The group travels as the Taiwan delegation of the Japan Innovation Party-Republic of China (Taiwan) Friendship Study Group and is led by Nobuyuki Baba, a House of Representatives member who chairs the study group. Its members include party co-leader Fumitake Fujita and fellow lower house members Koichiro Ichimura and Toru Azuma, the ministry said in a statement carried by CNA. Upper house members including Kaori Takagi, Takumi Shibata, Naeko Ishii, Daisuke Katayama and Kenta Aoshima are also on the trip.
What is on the itinerary? Besides the meeting with Lai, the lawmakers are to call on Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, the Legislative Yuan, the National Security Council and the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, among others, the ministry said. They are to exchange views on issues including Taiwan-Japan relations and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
What did the foreign ministry say? Lin welcomed the delegation and hopes to further deepen Taiwan-Japan friendship, exchanges and cooperation across fields, and to jointly maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific, CNA reported. The ministry described the party as a long-standing friend of Taiwan, citing its donation of 30 million yen toward reconstruction after the 2024 earthquake in Hualien. The ministry said the trip, as the party's first large delegation to Taiwan since it formed a ruling coalition with the LDP, shows the high importance the party places on deepening Taiwan-Japan ties. Lin also hopes the two sides will build on their existing mutual trust to keep enhancing substantive cooperation across fields, the ministry said.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
