Taipei: President Lai Ching-te on Wednesday night congratulated Sanae Takaichi on her reappointment as Japan's prime minister. "I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her successful reelection, and thank her for repeatedly emphasizing the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and expressing support for Taiwan at major international occasions," Lai wrote in Chinese and Japanese in a post on X. According to Focus Taiwan, Japan's House of Representatives formally reappointed Takaichi as prime minister on Wednesday after her Liberal Democratic Party secured a two-thirds majority in the snap lower house election on Feb. 8. President Lai expressed his anticipation for Taiwan and Japan to continue deepening their partnership and collaborating towards the realization of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific."