TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) on Tuesday (July 4) traveled by ferry to the Japanese island of Yonaguni to promote bilateral tourism.

The island, Japan’s most westerly point, was 111 kilometers from Taiwan’s Yilan County. You boarded a ship in Suao on Tuesday morning, with the return journey expected to be completed within one day.

His delegation included Tourism Bureau Director General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰), Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tzu-miao (林姿妙), and 39 business people from the tourism and travel sector, the Liberty Times reported. The significance of the trip was threefold: promoting tourism, paving the way for direct ferry links, and conducting legislative diplomacy, You said.

The top lawmaker, who once also served as Yilan County commissioner, said he was starting on this journey like a child, happy and full of expectations. The first stage of Tuesday’s event ended with the ferry docking in Yonaguni after a two-hour trip.