The widow of late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Taiwan next week and is expected to meet with Tsai Ing-wen, the island's leader, and Vice President Lai Ching-te, local media and supporters of the slain former prime minister said Monday.
Akie Abe will make a four-day trip from Monday, according to local media reports, as her husband, who was fatally shot on July 8, 2022, while giving an election campaign speech in western Japan, had been known for his friendly stance toward Taiwan.
Vice President Lai, a major candidate in the Taiwan presidential election next January, attended a private funeral for Abe held at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo in July last year.
Tsai tweeted in Japanese on the first anniversary of his passing on Saturday that Shinzo Abe was a Japanese leader whom Taiwanese people felt "most friendly" towards, and expressed her appreciation for his support of the island and promotion of bilateral exchanges.
Akie Abe will also visit a bronze statue of her husband erected last year in Kaohsiung, a photo exhibition of him in Tainan and the grave of former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, according to the local reports and the foundation set up by Lee.