Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) met with a member of Japan’s upper house of parliament Hirofumi Takinami at the Executive Yuan on Friday. Takinami is a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Cheng thanked Takinami for his support of Taiwan, and his contributions to the passage of a 2021 resolution supporting Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Assembly (WHA).
Cheng also says that Taiwan has applied to join the regional trade deal known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), expressing his hope that substantive negotiations could begin as soon as possible. Taiwan’s application to join the deal came just days after China’s own application to join in September 2021.
Takinami gave remarks expressing his thanks and deep friendship with Taiwan, which he has visited numerous times. He says on this trip he plans to visit Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to learn more about Taiwan’s economic and technological development.