Nipponica

The participants of this year's "Taiwan-Japan Exchange Summit," including more than 100 from the Taiwan side, adopted the "Tainan Declaration," calling for deeper cooperation between the two democracies to "ensure the safety of the Indo-Pacific region as well as freedom and peace in the world."

The declaration also expressed support for Taiwan's bid to join international entities such as the World Health Organization. Amid China's pressure, the island is generally barred from many institutions, particularly the United Nations and its specialized agencies.

The government will introduce a new preclearance system from next January, starting with tourists from Taiwan, NHK reported. Visitors will be able to complete most of their immigration screening before departure to help shorten the time taken for entry procedures on arrival, according to the report.

There are not much details on how this will function, but I doubt it will mean that Japanese immigration officers will be deployed to foreign airports like the US version of this program. I assume it will just be a more rigorous check of paperwork and perhaps receiving your passport visa sticker before boarding. Perhaps using automated immigration gates in foreign airports?

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te plans to appoint Lee Yi-yang, former vice president of the Examination Yuan, as the next de facto ambassador to Japan, a source has said.

Lee, 69, worked as a news reporter and a Taipei City Council member before becoming secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party and minister of the interior under Chen's administration.

Taiwan Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu on Wednesday called for stronger relations between the island and Japan during his meeting with a group of Japanese parliamentarians in Taipei, emphasizing that lawmakers on both sides have the "responsibility" to maintain exchanges.