Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) A 16-member delegation of young politicians from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) visited the headquarters of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Friday.
The delegation, composed of 14 prefectural council members andtwo LPD staff members, exchanged opinions and views on a variety of topics with KMT political figures at a seminar held at the KMT headquarters.
The delegation was led by LDP Youth Division central standing committee chairman Baba Seishi, who also serves as councilman of Kumamoto Prefecture, in Kyushu. The visiting council members, most of whom work in youth and women's issues, came from Tokyo and seven prefectures.
"The LDP and the KMT have been enjoying a close relationship over the years. And both parties share the same idea that the younger generation is the driving force behind political reform, " said Chen Shu-jung, KMT's Director of the Youth Division.
"The LDP's landslide victory in the last parliament election proved that the Japanese people approved of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform plan and youth movement, " Chen said in the opening remarks of the seminar, which focused on the political organization
of youth and women's groups.
KMT established the Kuomintang Youth League, which is also known as the "Young KMT, " last November in an attempt to cultivate new talent in the youth movement and a generational transition within the party.
Seishi said the LDP also has been trying to move in a similar direction with setting up seminars countrywide, having more student representatives and encouraging young people to participate in politics.
Regarding political organization, youth and women, the electoral system, social welfare and declining birthrates were among topics discussed in the 90-minute seminar.
The visiting Japanese council members came from Tokyo and the prefectures of Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Ibaraki, Chiba, Hyogo, Tochigi and Hiroshima. More than 25 KMT members attended the seminar.