Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai has come under fire over what he said was a private visit to Japan to support the island’s team at the World Baseball Classic last week – a trip that drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing.
Cho travelled to Tokyo on March 7, watching Taiwan defeat the Czech Republic 14-0 at the Tokyo Dome in the tournament’s Pool C round. He returned to Taipei the same day.
It was the first visit to Japan by a sitting Taiwanese premier since Tokyo ended official ties with Taipei in 1972 and switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
Taiwan’s cabinet said in a statement that the visit was a “private itinerary paid for personally” by Cho.
It said Cho had taken a charter flight to Tokyo solely to support the team and had no other engagements while he was in Japan.
Cho repeated that explanation at an event in Taipei the following day, saying the trip was paid for out of his own pocket and it “had no other purpose”.
