Japan will find a like-minded ally in Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te, who hopes to build even stronger ties with Tokyo as both look warily at China’s designs on the self-ruled island.
Lai described his win in Saturday’s election as a “victory for the community of democracies,” and signaled that his administration would look to deepen cooperation with Japan by meeting with Tokyo’s de facto ambassador and a Japanese lawmaker just a day after the poll in Taipei.
Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association chief Mitsuo Ohashi held talks with Lai and his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's former top envoy to the United States, at the headquarters of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, with the president-elect noting that the neighbors are both “concerned about regional peace and stability,” the DPP said.