LDP’s Furuya says Takaichi called China’s sanctions against him ‘great honor’

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described China’s sanctions against veteran Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Keiji Furuya as “a great honor” in a private email earlier this year, Furuya said Wednesday. Speaking at a reception in Tokyo marking Taiwan’s national day, Furuya, who chairs a cross-party parliamentary group promoting ties with Taipei, said the message arrived when Beijing sanctioned him in March. Hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan — the self-governing island’s de facto embassy — the event reportedly drew 188 lawmakers from both chambers of parliament.