Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Relations between Taiwan and Japan will remain the same and undergo few changes under new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a Japanese academic predicted Friday in Taipei.
Political stability, the main reason behind Koizumi's successful economic reforms, is probably what Taiwan is lacking right now, opined Makoto Sakurai, director of the Center for International Finance at Japan's MSK Research Institute.
Abe, who won the premiership in a landslide election Sept. 26 and took over the helm from Junichiro Koizumi, is expected to maintain the same friendly and stable relationship with Taiwan as Koizumi had, Sakurai said in a speech focusing on the impact on Taiwan of Japan's new government.
"Abe has been long-known for his pro-Taiwan beliefs, just like his late grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, Japan's prime minister from 1957 to 1960. And he played critical and helpful roles in former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui's two visits to Japan," said Sakurai.
Taiwan will probably be put in an uncomfortable position some time in the future though, as Abe seeks to improve Japan's relations with China and South Korea, he added.
"There is no need for Taiwan to worry, because Japan is very concerned with stability in the Taiwan Strait and has made a clear and definite commitment to the U.S.-Japan security treaty on the issue," he said.
Sakurai also offered his observations on Taiwanese politics and economics, saying that stability is Taiwan's priority at this moment if it wants to maintain sustainable economic growth.
Japan also experienced a highly unstable period of ten different prime ministers in ten years, just like what Taiwan is experiencing right now, he said. Koizumi's five-year term couldn't come at a better time, as Japan's economy started to recover after 2001 under Koizumi's massive reform initiatives.
"I think that stability is what Taiwan needs right now. A stable environment in Taiwan is also what Japan and U.S. like to see, " Sakurai said.