Three members of Japan’s new cabinet have close ties to Taiwan and have met with Taiwanese legislator Frank Kuo’s delegation. Kuo and other members of the legislature visited Japan from August 4 to 10, meeting with various Japanese officials. It was Taiwan’s first parliamentary delegation to Japan in two years.
On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet amid falling approval ratings. Of the 18 new cabinet ministers, three met with Kuo’s delegation while they were in Japan. That includes Yasukaza Hamada, a former defense minister who has been reappointed to that position. Hamada was also part of a Japanese parliamentary mission that visited Taiwan in July.
Another minister with strong ties to Taiwan is the new Health Minister Sanae Takaichi. Takaichi said last year the United States and Japan must work together to form an alliance of countries prepared to respond to a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. She also said Japan must deepen its ties with Taiwan, and that Taiwan cannot be allowed to become a second Hong Kong.