Japanese ruling party executive Koichi Hagiuda arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a three-day stay.
Hagiuda, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Policy Research Council, hopes to hold talks with Taiwanese officials, including President Tsai Ing-wen, during the visit, which is aimed at helping strengthen the Japan-Taiwan cooperation further amid growing military pressure from China.
On Monday, Hagiuda met in Taipei with officials of Japanese firms operating in Taiwan for talks on measures to promote sales of Japanese fishery products.
China imposed a blanket import ban on fishery products from Japan immediately after Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings started in late August to release treated water containing tritium, a radioactive substance, from its meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the ocean.
Also on Monday, Hagiuda visited the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s unicameral parliament, and attended a dinner hosted by You Si-kun, president of the parliament.
Hagiuda was set to to attend a ceremony on Tuesday to commemorate the 1911 Chinese Revolution.
He is known for having been the closest aide to the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had deep relations with Taiwan.
During the ongoing visit, Hagiuda is also planning to offer flowers at a statue of Abe erected in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung and give a lecture at a university in the city.