The city of Kobe has historically had close ties with the island of Taiwan, as it did with the founding of the Republic of China through its association with Sun Yat-sen, but the relationship was deepened even further recently with the adoption of the Kobe Declaration last Friday.
The Kobe Declaration was prepared by the committee hosting the 7th Japan-Taiwan Exchange Summit in Kobe and adopted by a unanimous vote of more than 500 participants attending the annual gathering.
This year’s summit, despite the lingering effects of the various COVID-19 pandemic-induced limitations, was the largest ever, showing just how strong support for Taiwan is in Japan. Among the 510 participants were 365 representatives from 70 prefecture, city, town and village assemblies across the country, from Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, to Hokkaido’s capital, Sapporo.