Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

On the afternoon of July 19, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation led by Mrs. Abe Akie, wife of the late former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo of Japan. In remarks, President Tsai recalled former Prime Minister Abe's genuine friendship and support for Taiwan. The president said that we believe everything former Prime Minister Abe did for Taiwan-Japan relations can now be continued through the efforts of Mrs. Abe as well as those of the public and private sectors in Taiwan and Japan, helping us achieve even greater things through our collaboration. She also expressed hope that Taiwan and Japan will work together to ensure our bilateral relationship continues to advance.

A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:

I want to welcome Mrs. Abe to Taiwan. When I spoke with former Prime Minister Abe in March last year via video, he said that he hoped to visit Taiwan soon. By making this visit, Mrs. Abe, you are continuing the tradition of friendship between Taiwan and Japan, and you have fulfilled former Prime Minister Abe's wish to pay his respects to late former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). This is a very touching moment for us.

You said that former Prime Minister Abe "was always thinking about what he could do for Taiwan," and we could feel his genuine friendship. We were deeply saddened by his passing. Last year, a comment wall outside the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association was set up and written on by members of the public to commemorate former Prime Minister Abe. In just one day, it had been filled with messages of remembrance. The statue of your late husband that you visited yesterday was also paid for with donations from the general public. Everyone wants to commemorate Mr. Abe who will always be revered as a good friend of Taiwan.

Former Prime Minister Abe expressed his support for Taiwan through concrete action. We all remember how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked so hard to facilitate the Japanese government's donation of 4.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan. His position that "if Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem," showed just how much he cared about Taiwan.

Thanks to the efforts of former Prime Minister Abe and many other friends from Japan, exchanges between Taiwan and Japan have grown ever closer. We have proven that partners sharing the values of freedom and democracy can establish a virtuous cycle of mutual support and can contribute to global democracy and prosperity. We believe that everything former Prime Minister Abe did for Taiwan-Japan relations can now be continued through the efforts of Mrs. Abe as well as those of the public and private sectors in Taiwan and Japan. This will help us achieve even greater things through our collaboration.

This past January, for example, the first group of students awarded scholarships by the Friends of Abe Shinzo Association in Taiwan arrived in Taiwan to take up studies here. The association will continue to provide many such scholarships each year so that more young Japanese people can come to Taiwan to study and engage with our people.

I want to take this opportunity to thank former Prime Minister Abe once again for his contributions to the Taiwan-Japan relationship. I also want to thank Mrs. Abe and all our other distinguished guests for your support, which has deepened the friendship between Taiwan and Japan. Let us work together to ensure that our bilateral relationship continues to advance.

Mrs. Abe then delivered remarks in which she thanked President Tsai for taking time to meet with her. She noted that former Prime Minister Abe had expressed a desire to visit Taiwan and had in fact started making plans to do so, so she felt sure that he was with her delegation in spirit.

Mrs. Abe stated that when she went that morning to lay a wreath at the grave of the late former President Lee, whom former Prime Minister Abe had held in great esteem, she felt that the two leaders were no doubt off somewhere in the distance observing developments in Taiwan-Japan relations and hoping that future generations were making stronger efforts to ensure regional peace and stability.

After the former Prime Minister's passing, noted Mrs. Abe, President Tsai and many others from throughout Taiwanese society visited the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association to express their condolences, a gesture for which Mrs. Abe felt very grateful. She also thanked Taiwan for the generous assistance and donations that it provided after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011.

Mrs. Abe mentioned that in addition to arranging for the donation of COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, former Prime Minister Abe promoted the sale of Taiwanese pineapples in Japan when trade obstructions disrupted the export of this product. During this visit, Mrs. Abe said that she got a deep sense of the Taiwan-Japan friendship, which is epitomized by the saying "a friend in need is a friend indeed." She expressed her belief that the strong mutual trust established between President Tsai and former Prime Minister Abe was a primary factor behind the development of such a staunch friendship between our countries.

Mrs. Abe thanked the Friends of Abe Shinzo Association in Taiwan as well as people from throughout Taiwanese society for the many ways they have assisted her and her delegation. She stated that during this visit she has met with Japanese students studying in Taiwan on scholarships awarded by the Friends of Abe Shinzo Association in Taiwan, and added that she hopes young people from Taiwan and Japan will continue to establish deeper relationships. She said that, in line with the wishes of former Prime Minister Abe, she would do everything in her power to further enhance the Taiwan-Japan relationship.

The delegation also included Japanese House of Councillors Members Yamatani Eriko and Kitamura Tsuneo, and was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Izumi Hiroyasu.