William Lai Returning from Mourning for Shinzo Abe 赴日悼念安倍晉三 賴清德12號晚低調返台

Vice President William Lai flew to Japan on July 11 to offer his condolences in the wake of former prime minister Shinzo Abe's murder last week. He returned to Taiwan on the evening of July 12. Although the trip was deemed a personal schedule of Lai's, the Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office was quite indignant and urged Japan to abide by the One-China policy. Taiwanese Representative in Japan Frank Hsieh revealed that the Japan National Congress will form a delegation to visit Taiwan at the end of the month, representing that the Congress' support of Taiwan will not disappear with Abe's passing.

Reporter:“Did the Vice President meet any important officials?”

Slightly nodding without speaking, Vice President William Lai returned to Taiwan on the evening of July 12 from his trip to mourn for former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. Although the said trip was deemed by both Taiwan and Japan as a private itinerary, Taiwan's current Vice President visiting Japan has incurred the wrath of China, where China's Taiwan Affairs Office said that the DPP government's use of condolences as cover for seeking Taiwan independence is futile, hoping the Japanese government can abide by the One-China policy and appropriately handle relevant Taiwan affairs.

Fan Shih-ping, East Asian Studies Professor, National Taiwan Normal University: “Even though the Vice President went in his personal capacity, he is in fact President Tsai Ing-wen's special envoy.”

Kuo Yu-jen, CEO, Institute for National Policy Research: “We can see that China is very cautious concerning Taiwan-Japan relations after Abe's tragic passing. It would appear that China is very clear on the obvious change in Japan's internal political situation.”

Scholars analyzed that the Kishida Administration's issuance of a visa to William Lai this time also meant to signal that its attitude towards Taiwan will not change and to not be concerned with China's reactions. In addition, Taiwan's Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh posted on Facebook that a total of seven Japanese cross-party congress members from the group "Thinking on Protecting Japan's Security" will visit Taiwan at the end of the month, representing that the Japanese Congress' support of Taiwan will not disappear due to former Prime Minister Abe's passing.

Joanne Ou, Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actively arranging the names of delegation members, objectives of the visit and relevant itineraries, etc.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Taiwan and Japan have long maintained close exchanges over the years. With the slowdown of the epidemic and relaxation of border controls, mutual visitations are deemed quite normal and thus it welcomes all sectors in Japan to visit Taiwan and deepen actual mutual relations in all areas. 

 

微微點頭致意，沒有發言，副總統賴清德12日參加完日本前首相安倍晉三家祭之後，晚間低調返台。雖然這次台日都定調為私人行程，但是台灣現任副總統訪日，已引起中國不滿，國台辦表示，民進黨當局藉弔唁之名行謀獨之實是徒勞的，希望日本政府恪守一中原則，妥善處理涉台問題。

台師大東亞系教授范世平說：「副總統雖然是以私人的身分，但是實際上他就是蔡英文總統的特使。」

國策院執行長郭育仁則表示：「看得出來中國其實對現在開始，安倍不幸事件之後的中日關係，是非常非常小心的，那可見中國也了解日本國內政情，有非常明顯的變化。」

學者分析，這次岸田政府發給賴清德簽證，也有意顯示不再擔心中國反應，對台關係也會強化不變。另外，駐日代表謝長廷則在臉書表示，日本國會跨黨派團體「思考日本安全保障之會」一共7位國會議員，將在月底訪問台灣，代表日本國會對台灣的支持，並不會因為安倍前首相的逝世而消失。

外交部發言人歐江安說：「不論是成員的名單，訪台的旨趣，相關的行程等事宜，外交部我們都在安排當中。」

外交部表示，台日雙方長年以來始終維持緊密互訪交流，在疫情趨緩，邊境管制逐漸放寬之際，展開互訪均屬正常，歡迎日本各界組團來台訪問，深化雙邊在各領域的實質友好關係。