A delegation from the Youth Division of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will visit Taiwan for five days next week, during which they will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (???) and pay their respects at the grave of late President Lee Teng-hui (???), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced on Wednesday.
The 11-person delegation, to be led by LDP Youth Division head, Masanobu Ogura, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives for Tokyo's 23rd district, will also meet with other senior government officials, including Vice President Lai Ching-te (???), Premier Tseng-chang (???), Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (???) and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (???), during their stay from May 3-7, MOFA said in a press release.
The delegation is also scheduled to visit Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu cities and pay their respects at Lee's grave at a New Taipei military cemetery, it added.
Lee, Taiwan's first popularly elected president, passed away at the age of 97 in July 2020. He was considered to be a pro-Japan politician due to his Japanese education and is a highly respected figure in Japan.
According to MOFA, Ogura was appointed Youth Division head in September 2021 and has been friendly toward Taiwan.
The division, which consists of young Diet members, has long been an important Taiwan-Japan platform and sends delegations to Taiwan annually to exchange views on issues of mutual interest.
Many of its previous heads went on to serve in high positions in the Japanese government, according to MOFA, the long list includes incumbent and former Japanese prime ministers, Fumio Kishida and Shinzo Abe.
Other members of the delegation include Diet members, Norikazu Suzuki, Hayato Suzuki, Susumu Yamaguchi and Daisuke Nishino, and other executives of the Youth Division, it added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel