Taiwan Photo: Unsplash

Tokyo is stepping up its plot to collude with the separatist authority on the island of Taiwan in an attempt to form an anti-mainland clique under the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy with its latest move of sending a delegation from the Youth Division of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the island on Tuesday.

The division, regarded as an important platform for exchanges between Taiwan island and Japan and also a talent pool for party leaders, sent the delegation led by the division's head Masanobu Ogura, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, to Taiwan region for a five-day visit, the division's first Taiwan trip since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Taiwan media reported.

Many of the division's previous directors went on to serve as high-ranking Japanese government officials such as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Taiwan regional foreign affairs authority said. 

The delegation is scheduled to meet with Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, the delegation launched a high-profile event by paying their respects at the grave of "Godfather of Taiwan secessionism" Lee Teng-hui, also the former leader of the island. Lee died at 98 on July 30, 2020. In August 2015, Lee came under fire for referring to Japan as the motherland, according to media reports.

The event sparked antipathy from some locals on the island. A netizen from the island mocked "Japanese devils worshipped another devil!" Some netizens said "the ghost of Lee" should be brought back to Japan.

The core of this visit is how to collude against the Chinese mainland, and in order to achieve this goal, the visit is expected to cover the following topics, Liu Jiangyong, vice dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

First, to strengthen security cooperation with Taiwan region, and even to draw Taiwan into the so-called free and open Indo-Pacific strategy, Liu believes. For example, chip manufacturing as part of the industrial chain is the leading industry in the island, which is hot property for Japan and the US, according to Liu.

Second, to pave the way for potential visits by former Japanese prime minister Abe and other pro-Taiwan senior politicians, Liu said, citing a previous verbal invitation by Tsai during a virtual meeting with Abe in late March.

In addition, the visit is likely to discuss forming institutionalized exchanges between Japan and Taiwan region, Liu predicted.

In fact, all the topics are aimed at dragging Taiwan island into the anti-mainland clique and reaching a consensus that the status quo must not be changed by force, the Beijing-based expert pointed out.

Some netizens on the island questioned this Japanese visit. "What is Japan going to sell this time?" "Does Japan still think it has sold too little Fukushima nuclear-contaminated food [to Taiwan island]?" read typical comments.