To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Takafumi Yamasaki / The Yomiuri Shimbun Liberal Democratic Party executive Koichi Hagiuda offers flowers at the statue of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Tuesday.
By Takafumi Yamasaki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
15:28 JST, October 11, 2023
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Liberal Democratic Party executive Koichi Hagiuda offered flowers on Tuesday at the statue of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung.
Hagiuda, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council, visited Taiwan for the second time since assuming his post.
His visit to Taiwan is intended to highlight commitment to strengthening Japan-Taiwan relations, which the former prime minister stressed the importance of. Abe was fatally shot in July last year while giving a stump speech in Nara.
Hagiuda was scheduled to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday.
Hagiuda, who plays a central role in the Abe faction, aims to carry on Abe’s policies. By visiting Taiwan, Hagiuda hopes to familiarize more people with Abe, who stressed that “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency.”
The bronze statue was erected after Abe’s death by a group of volunteers in Taiwan who sought to honor his achievements.
“The Abe faction has placed the greatest importance on diplomacy with Taiwan,” Hagiuda told reporters after offering the flowers. “I want to make sure that we carry on [Abe’s] determination.”
