TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Opposition figures are demanding that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) release receipts from his recent trip to Tokyo to substantiate his claim that he paid for the visit out of pocket.
Cho traveled to Tokyo on Saturday to attend a World Baseball Classic game between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. He said Sunday that he personally covered the cost of the trip. Cabinet Spokesperson Li Hui-chih (李慧芝) confirmed Monday that Cho also paid for all related expenses, including his security detail, per Tai Sounds.
Members of the DPP lauded the trip as a diplomatic milestone. DPP Legislative Caucus Secretary-General Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said that regardless of whether Cho visited Japan in a personal or official capacity, the presence of a sitting Taiwanese premier in Japan represented a landmark moment in bilateral relations, per CNA.
Since Japan severed official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1972, no sitting Taiwanese premier has visited Japan before Cho, per RTI.
Opposition politicians, however, have called for full disclosure of the trip’s details. Critics questioned Cho’s claim that the visit was privately funded, arguing that a premier’s travel inevitably involves security and logistical arrangements that make a purely personal trip unlikely.
Former KMT vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) praised Cho for visiting Japan but expressed skepticism about the funding claim, per Storm Media. Jaw urged the Cabinet to recognize the trip as official and provide a full accounting of the expenses to allow legislative oversight.
Jaw also noted that Cho’s publicly disclosed assets total about NT$9 million (US$280,000). He said the figure could lead some members of the public to question whether the premier could personally finance the trip.
The TPP also raised concerns, noting that Cho departed from Songshan Air Base Command, a military airport, per NOWNews. The party further pointed out that while Cho and Li described the trip as private, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) had previously referred to it as an official visit and suggested that Cho met with Japanese officials, per Mirror Media.
When asked about the trip, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru said Taiwan had characterized the visit as private and that the Japanese government was not in a position to comment, per UDN. He added that there had been no contact with Japanese officials.
Citing Kihara’s remarks, potential KMT Taipei City Council candidate Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) called on the government to disclose all expenses related to the trip, per UDN. She also questioned the characterization of the visit as a diplomatic breakthrough, noting that former premier Lien Chan (連戰) once met Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong during a private vacation in Singapore.
