In Taiwan and Japan, a change of generation in politics has become a major trend. The two countries, which are democratic and geographically close, have in common that a new generation is challenging politics dominated by elderly politicians. However, due to differences in their historical backdrop, their political qualifications contrast markedly with each other.

Taiwan's Press Bureau Chief Lin Jialong just finished his visit to Japan. He met more than 10 congressmen, who included Shinzo Abe, a congressman from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who is regarded as a major candidate to be a future prime minister, and Seiji Maehara, a legislator from the Democratic Party of Japan, who assumes the role of defense minister in the shadow cabinet set up by his party.

Lin also called on Ichita Yamamoto, also a congressman from the LDP, who stepped into the shoes of his father who was a politician until he died. Yamamoto is now regarded as having surpassed his father in politics. The press bureau chief also met Yokohama City Mayor Hiroshi Nakada, who has been implementing major reforms in city politics and who is now under a nationwide spotlight.

They are rising stars that represent a new generation in politics. Some of them are politicians who were born into families which produce a succession of politicians over time. However they adapt to new styles of politics while throwing away old ones. The other is people who have no political heritage but become self-made congressmen.

For instance, Shinzo Abe's grandfather was Shinsuke Kishi, a prime minister in 1950s, and Shintaro Abe, a foreign minister in the 80s, was his father. He is prepared to become the successor of the head of the LDP. On the other hand, Maehara graduated from the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management to become a politician who represents the new generation of the Democratic Party. With him having risen to the top, young politicians of the party have formed a major force which can challenge the LDP.

The characteristics of young politicians are the following: they think in terms of the national interest, while attaching importance to democratic values and having international perspective. Many of them have studied abroad and have experience of having been at famous U.S. research institutes. Also, Kenichi Mizuno, who is now a political aide to the Foreign Ministry, used to be assistant to an American congressman who later became vice president of the United States.

They are young and businesslike. They are elected in single-seat constituencies through obtaining popular support. Thus, their political style is markedly different from those of old politicians.

The new generation of politicians understands the U.S. and European political and economic situations and to a certain degree their strategy as well. Their thinking pattern does not put Asia at the center of their international perspective. They cannot be categorized as being pro-China., pro-America, right wing or left wing. They support the democratization of Taiwan. However, at the same time, they insist the development of Tokyo's relationship with Beijing. Furthermore, they try to break away from strong U.S. control while emphasizing Japan's independent line within the framework of the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

Compared with the situation in Japan, it is clear that the new generation of Taiwanese politicians lacks skills to a great extent. Many student activists committed to the democratization of Taiwan entered politics when they were very young. Therefore, they do not have enough foreign language training and they are not familiar with international politics. They also cannot establish an effective network of connections internationally. In terms of exchanges between Japanese and Taiwanese congressmen, the new generations still have not established deeply-based relationships.

The most important point is that there are only a few young Taiwanese politicians who know Japan very well. The more one understands the current political situation between Taiwan and Japan, the more one's concern about their insufficient experience in international affairs increases.

The future of the relationship between Taiwan and Japan could face a predicament due to a lack of talented human resources. I am afraid that this problem cannot be solved in the short term. .