On Thursday, Premier Cho Jung-tai received a delegation led by Eto Seishiro, former member of Japan's House of Representatives and current chairman of the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association. The premier thanked Chairman Eto for taking concrete actions to demonstrate his strong support of Taiwan's participation in international affairs, saying that Taiwan will continue strengthening its self-defense capabilities while collaborating with Japan and other like-minded countries to safeguard the freedom and openness of the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.
Premier Cho expressed his hope that Taiwan and Japan can further strengthen a reliable democratic supply chain to avoid economic coercion from authoritarian countries, while also enhancing disaster prevention cooperation to build safer and more resilient societies.
In his remarks, Chairman Eto said that Japan and Taiwan share universal values such as equality, freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Both sides also enjoy friendly and frequent people-to-people exchanges, with close economic, trade and industrial ties. For example, in 2023, Taiwan was Japan's third-largest export market—with Japanese exports to Taiwan exceeding ￥6 trillion (US$39.7 billion)—as well as the third-largest export market for Japan's agricultural specialty products.
Chairman Eto further emphasized that Taiwan's safety is Japan's safety, and Japan's safety is Taiwan's safety. He anticipates that both sides will continue working together in this direction, and added that the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association will do its utmost to further deepen the mutual friendship and contribute in various aspects moving forward.