Asia-Pacific

Research Center Honoring Late PM Shinzo Abe Launched in Taiwan University

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te delivers a speech at the commemorative ceremony for the research center named after the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Taipei on Sunday.

By Masatsugu Sonoda / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

14:09 JST, September 22, 2025

TAIPEI — National Chengchi University in Taiwan launched a research center named after the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on its campus and held a commemorative ceremony in Taipei on Sunday. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and Akie Abe, the late prime minister’s widow, unveiled the center’s signboard.

The Abe Shinzo Research Center aims to promote academic exchange between Japan and Taiwan, as well as cultivate individuals well-versed in Japanese affairs, by studying policies such as Abe’s “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision.

“We hope this center will not only foster talent and research, but also become a crucial foundation for future cooperation between Taiwan and Japan,” Lai said at the ceremony. “I feel how much my husband was loved and trusted by the people of Taiwan,” said Akie. “I wish to nurture the friendship between Japan and Taiwan.”

The center will house the library commemorating Shinzo Abe, where materials related to Abe will be collected and studied. In April next year, the university will launch the seminar, which will invite Taiwanese researchers and Japanese experts to lecture politicians, entrepreneurs and media professionals.