A cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers met President 
Lai Ching-te on Tuesday and set out plans to push for Japanese versions of a Taiwan Travel Act and a Taiwan Relations Act. Lai and the group, the Diet Members' Association for Peace and Stability in the Taiwan Strait, both called for closer Taiwan-Japan cooperation, the Taipei Times reported, citing the Presidential Office. The seven-member delegation, led by Haruo Kitamura, went on to the Legislative Yuan on Thursday.
What did the president tell the delegation? Lai said China was raising tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea and the South China Sea through military action, gray-zone incursions and transnational repression, and that democracies including Taiwan and Japan could safeguard democracy, peace and prosperity only by uniting and strengthening their defences, CNA reported. He said Taiwan's defence budget stood at 3% of GDP this year, would exceed 3% next year and was set to reach 5% by 2030. He also named semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, drones and robotics among areas where he hoped the two sides would work more closely.
What are the lawmakers proposing? Kitamura said the group would take concrete action, including pushing for the two laws, promoting exchanges between senior officials of both governments and advancing defence cooperation, CNA reported. Recalling that Taiwan sent a rescue team and raised 25 billion yen in donations after the Great East Japan Earthquake, he said Japan would also do its utmost if Taiwan faced danger. While each lawmaker's power might be limited, he said, he would rally like-minded colleagues and lobby the Japanese government to build firm ties with Taiwan, as former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe had hoped.
What happened at the Legislative Yuan? Democratic Progressive Party legislators Wang Ting-yu, Chen Pei-yu and Lin Shu-fen hosted the talks, which focused on realising Abe's vision of a "free and open Indo-Pacific," the Liberty Times reported. Kitamura, a member of Japan's upper house, said there that the group would seek to submit the drafts to the Diet session convening in autumn. Chen, the party caucus's deputy secretary-general, said she hoped cultural, tourism and educational exchanges could lead to more exchanges on legislation and shared strategic positions, CNA reported. Wang said he hoped Taiwan-Japan friendship could rest on updates to each side's laws, whether through revisions to Japanese security legislation or the proposed Taiwan bills.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
