Taiwan congratulates Ishiba on winning Japan's LDP leadership

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has congratulated former Japanese defense minister Shigeru Ishiba on winning a key party election Friday that positioned him to become Japan's new prime minister.

In a press release issued Friday afternoon, MOFA congratulated Japanese Diet member Ishiba on winning the presidential election of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after he topped Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi in a run-off.

By securing the LDP presidency, the 67-year-old is poised to become Japan's prime minister on Oct. 1, succeeding Fumio Kishida, who has served in that role for the past three years.

Ishiba served as defense minister from September 2007 to August 2008. Prior to Friday's election, he had previously run unsuccessfully for LDP president four times.

Kishida decided not to run for re-election as LDP president in August after the party became embroiled in major political scandals.

In its statement, MOFA expressed the hope that the LDP will continue to deepen cooperation with Taiwan under Ishiba's leadership and further enhance bilateral ties and jointly contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

According to MOFA, the Japanese ruling party has long maintained close relations with Taiwan, and many of its Diet members, including Ishiba, have staunchly supported exchanges and collaborations between Taiwan and Japan in various fields.

Ishiba led a cross-party delegation to Taiwan in August to discuss security issues with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and several top Taiwanese officials, MOFA said.

Both Lai, who concurrently serves as chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and his counterpart from the main opposition Kuomintang Eric Chu (朱立倫) also offered their congratulations to Ishiba in separate statements.