Aso is expected to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice-President William Lai Ching-te, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, former legislature speaker Wang Jin-pyng and Taipei mayor Wayne Chiang Wan-an, according to the ministry.
The ministry said Aso would give a keynote speech on Tuesday at a regional security forum organised by the government-funded Prospect Foundation – an institution sanctioned by Beijing for promoting Taiwan independence.
On Monday, Aso and his delegation paid tribute to late Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui at his grave in New Taipei.
Beijing views Taiwan as its territory that must be brought back under its control, by force if necessary. It has warned countries that recognise Beijing instead of Taipei against having official contacts with the self-ruled island. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but are opposed to any unilateral change of the cross-strait status quo by force.
Aso’s visit is expected to provoke Beijing, which has long been displeased by his anti-Beijing remarks, including his comments in the past two years declaring that a Taiwan contingency was a contingency for Japan.
Beijing reacted angrily after Aso told a fundraising event for his party in July 2021 that along with the US, Japan needed to defend Taiwan if the island was invaded because “if a major problem took place in Taiwan, it would not be too much to say that it could relate to a survival-threatening situation” for Japan.
He said that such a situation was one of the conditions that needed to be met for Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defence, or coming to the aid of an ally under attack. “We need to think hard that Okinawa could be the next,” Aso said.
He made similar comments last year and earlier this year, calling for a drastic strengthening of Japan’s defences against a potential attack of Taiwan by Beijing, which he stressed could also lead to a military conflict on Japanese territory, including Okinawa.
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