Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai has come under fire over what he said was a private visit to Japan to support the island’s team at the World Baseball Classic last week – a trip that drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing.
Cho travelled to Tokyo on March 7, watching Taiwan defeat the Czech Republic 14-0 at the Tokyo Dome in the tournament’s Pool C round. He returned to Taipei the same day.
It was the first visit to Japan by a sitting Taiwanese premier since Tokyo ended official ties with Taipei in 1972 and switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
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Taiwan’s cabinet said in a statement that the visit was a “private itinerary paid for personally” by Cho.
It said Cho had taken a charter flight to Tokyo solely to support the team and had no other engagements while he was in Japan.
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Cho repeated that explanation at an event in Taipei the following day, saying the trip was paid for out of his own pocket and it “had no other purpose”.
