Taiwan premier scores home run for diplomacy with rare visit to Japan

Analysts see trip as Tokyo testing the boundaries of unofficial ties

- Yip Wai Yee Taiwan Correspondent

Donning a cap with the words "Team Taiwan", Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai high-fived cheering baseball fans as he walked past them at Japan's Tokyo Dome on March 7. PHOTO: LIAOJUNWEI/33/THREADS

Taipei had a lot more to cheer about at the World Baseball Classic than the island's crushing 14-0 win over the Czech Republic on March 7 - the game at the Tokyo Dome has been hailed as a home run for Taiwanese diplomacy.

That is because a special guest was spotted in the stands: Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai, making the first public visit to Japan by a sitting premier from the self-governed island since Taipei and Tokyo cut diplomatic ties in 1972.

Donning a cap with the words "Team Taiwan", Mr Cho flanked by Taiwan's Sports Minister Lee Yang and its de facto ambassador to Japan, Mr Lee Yi-yang high-fived cheering fans as he walked past them.

Mr Cho has framed the visit, which drew Beijing's ire, as a private trip taken at his personal expense to support the Taiwanese team, with "no other objective" or scheduled political meetings.

Analysts, however, said the visit marked a diplomatic breakthrough for Taiwan, and suggested a calculated effort by Tokyo to test the boundaries of its unofficial relationship with Taipei.

This comes as relations between Japan and China are at their lowest point in years, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last November that Japan's armed forces could theoretically be deployed in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.