Japanese Senator Shi Ping visited Taiwan to advocate the US-Japan-Taiwan Iron Triangle Alliance and went south to Kaohsiung Hongmao Port Security Hall to mourn Shinzo Abe.

Japanese Senator Ishihara (middle) went south to Kaohsiung Hongmao Port Security Hall to lay flowers to pay tribute to the bronze statue of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Provided by Bao Bao Tang)

Japanese Senator Shi Ping recently came to Taiwan to attend the Indo-Pacific Strategic Think Tank Forum. At the "Taiwan-Japan Diplomacy and Defense Forum", he supported the restoration of formal diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Japan and proposed that the United States, Japan and Taiwan form a strategic "iron triangle alliance." After concluding a tight political and economic schedule in Taipei, Shi Ping went south to the Hongmao Port Security Hall in Kaohsiung today (11th) and personally laid flowers to pay tribute to the bronze statue of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Faced with the increasingly severe geopolitical challenges in the Indo-Pacific, Japanese Senator Ishihara bluntly broke with diplomatic conventions at a forum on the 9th. He made it clear that he fully agreed that Taiwan and Japan should fully resume formal diplomatic relations.

Shi Ping pointed out that Taiwan and Japan share a common destiny in defense and economy. Only by establishing a true "alliance" and further joining forces with the United States to build a "triangular alliance of the United States, Japan, and Taiwan" can an indestructible strategic defense line be essentially formed. As soon as this statement came out, it immediately aroused great concern in Taiwan and Japan's political circles and international diplomatic circles.

Today (11), he made a special trip to the Hongmaogang Security Hall in Fengshan, Kaohsiung to lay flowers to pay tribute to the bronze statue of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that will be completed in 2022. The chairman of the security hall, Zhang Jixiong, led the temple team to receive him in person. Shi Ping looked solemn in front of the bronze statue and personally presented flowers in memory of this close friend of Taiwan who shouted, "What happened to Taiwan means what happened to Japan."

Chairman Chang Ji-hsiung said that former Prime Minister Abe’s contribution to Taiwan-Japan relations is irreplaceable. Senator Ishida immediately went south to commemorate his remarks on the establishment of diplomatic relations. This not only fulfilled Abe’s legacy, but also deepened the connection between Taiwan and Japan’s people and politics as a community with a shared future.

Japanese Senator Ishihira and his entourage were personally received by the temple team led by Security Hall Chairman Zhang Jixiong (first from left). (Provided by Bao Bao Tang)