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Former Japan Premier Mori Meets Taiwan’s Tsai on Mourning Trip

Former Japan Premier Mori Visits Taiwan to Mourn President Lee

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori visited Taiwan Sunday to pay his respects to the late President Lee Teng-hui and met with the island’s current leader, in a move that may irritate China.

Accompanied by a group of Japanese lawmakers from various political parties, Mori conveyed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s condolences and gratitude to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in a live-streamed meeting. The group included Abe’s younger brother, Nobuo Kishi, also a lawmaker in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Tsai thanked various Japanese politicians including Abe for voicing support for Taiwan’s bid to join the World Health Assembly, and said she hoped the two sides can work together to combat the virus, including by creating more space to collaborate on a vaccine and pharmaceuticals.

Mori and the lawmakers were set to pay their respects to Lee at a memorial hall before returning to Japan.

The visit comes on the same day that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar arrives in Taiwan. Azar will be the highest-ranking U.S. official in decades to visit the island and his trip stands to further worsen spiraling relations between the U.S. and China.

The visit from the Japanese lawmakers and Mori may also worsen Japan-China relations, which have been damaged by stepped-up Chinese challenges to Japanese control over an island chain in the East China Sea. The islands are claimed by Japan, mainland China and Taiwan, but controlled by Japan.

After Lee’s death on July 30, Abe praised him for his role in bringing democracy to Taiwan and for building ties with Japan.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.