Former Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is currently serving as vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, will visit Taiwan next week, the party announced Friday, triggering a backlash from China.
Aso, 82, will be the highest-ranking LDP member to visit Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island that Communist-led China regards as its own territory, since Tokyo switched diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing in 1972, according to the party.
"China has consistently and resolutely opposed Japanese politicians' visits to Taiwan for political benefit," a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a written response to a request for comment over the planned visit by Aso.