Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te on Tuesday called for unity with Japan in preventing mainland China from "making wrong decisions" to maintain regional peace and stability, as he met with former Japanese defense chief Shigeru Ishiba.
In his talks with Ishiba, who is deemed by the Japanese public as a leading candidate to become the country's next prime minister, Lai said Taipei will "stand shoulder to shoulder with the democratic camp to exert the power of deterrence."
Ishiba, who is on a three-day visit to Taiwan through Wednesday as the co-head of a six-member Japanese lawmakers' delegation, agreed that deterrence is key to maintaining regional peace and stability without referring to mainland China, which views the self-ruled island as its own and aims to bring it into its fold.
The former secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party touched on Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and stressed that efforts should be made to prevent similar situations in Northeast Asia.
"There is a debate in Japan that what is happening in Ukraine today might be a problem that Northeast Asia faces tomorrow," Ishiba said. "We have to rack our brains" to prevent that scenario from happening, he added.
Turning to economic issues, Lai asked Japan to continue supporting Taiwan's bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact and strengthen economic and trade exchanges with the island so that Taipei will not overly rely on the mainland Chinese market.
Ishiba called for cooperation between Japan and Taiwan to achieve economic development in the region and ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone to live in.
China, which has threatened to use force to realize unification with Taiwan, has condemned Lai as a separatist and increased military pressure on the island since his inauguration in May.
Ishiba told reporters Lai had told him that Taiwan will not seek independence and aims for maintaining status quo of the cross-strait relations.
The cross-party Japanese lawmakers' delegation includes former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara.
Also on Tuesday, a four-member U.S. congressional delegation led by Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat representing the state of Washington, separately met with Lai and reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan to maintain the cross-strait status quo.
Strickland noted there are adversaries around the world that want to destabilize democracy by using disinformation and swaying elections. "We are going to stand together and together we know that we can continue to promote freedom and democracy with the U.S., with Taiwan, and around the world," she said.
The U.S. delegation, which is on a five-day visit to Taiwan through Thursday, also includes other Democrats Julia Brownley of California, Jill Tokuda of Hawaii and Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
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