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China-Japan relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Beijing ‘firmly opposes’ Japanese lawmakers’ trips to Taiwan as tensions spike

Visits to the island by parliamentary members ‘seriously violate’ political foundations underpinning bilateral relations, Beijing says

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Japanese lawmaker Koichi Hagiuda (left) meets Taiwanese leader William Lai in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Handout
Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
Beijing has lodged a protest with Tokyo over a series of visits to Taiwan by high-ranking officials from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) amid a sharp downturn in bilateral relations.
Koichi Hagiuda, an LDP lawmaker and the party’s executive acting secretary general, is on a three-day trip to Taiwan that will end on Tuesday. Hagiuda on Monday held a meeting with William Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s leader.

In total, about 30 Japanese lawmakers plan to visit the island between the end of this year and early next year, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

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Three LDP lawmakers – Keisuke Suzuki, a former Japanese justice minister, Akihisa Nagashima, once a special adviser to former prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, and Junichi Kanda, a former vice-minister of justice – are visiting Taiwan from Monday to Thursday.

In addition, a five-person Japanese delegation led by LDP member Hirofumi Takinami is visiting Taiwan during the same period.

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing had lodged a protest over the Japanese lawmakers’ trips.

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