By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) delegation left for Japan yesterday for a five-day visit to exchange information on post--disaster rebuilding, nuclear energy and political party collaborations.
Led by spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), the 10-member delegation is scheduled to visit northeastern Japan, which was hit by a deadly tsunami in March last year, and Tokyo, before returning to Taipei on Thursday.
An important part of the trip, according to the DPP, will be visiting the northeastern city of Sendai to see how the rebuilding program was carried out after the tsunami, which killed thousands of people.
The delegation is also scheduled to meet with Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies director Tetsu Iida, and Tokyo-based Taiwanese writer Liu Li-erh (劉黎兒), a strong anti-nuclear power advocate, among others, and discuss energy-related issues, such as the development of sustainable energy.
“The itinerary shows that the DPP has stayed true to its longstanding position of aiming for a ‘nuclear-free homeland’ and developing sustainable and alternative energy,” Lin said.
The delegation, which include DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) and officials from the party’s policy research committee, would also meet Diet members, local councilors and party officials from both the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
The DPP said it would exchange experience on elections, campaign operations and current political development with Japanese counterparts.