TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said Friday he supported a plan by a small Japanese political party to introduce a “Taiwan Exchange Development Bill” and boost bilateral relations.

The proposal from the Happiness Realization Party centers on promoting interactions between government officials, legislators, and local politicians from both countries, per CNA. Even though the Japanese party does not have any members in the national legislature or Diet, it has elected representatives on the local level.

Tsai said he welcomed any initiative promoting meetings and visits by officials in Taiwan and Japan. The interaction will benefit trade, policy cooperation, and security strategy for the Indo-Pacific, he said.

Party leader Eshima Masatoshi attended a news conference at the Legislative Yuan Friday with Tsai and representatives of the Taiwan Society North and of the Center for National and Regional Development Studies at Kainan University, CNA reported.

Eshima told the meeting that part of the inspiration for the proposal came from Premier Cho Jung-tai’s (卓榮泰) unexpected March 7 trip to Tokyo to attend Taiwan’s  World Baseball Classic game against the Czech Republic. The bill is a starting point to strengthen exchanges and contacts between officials, he said.