•Publication Date：09/11/2013
•Source： Taiwan Today
ROC President Ma Ying-jeou praised robust Taiwan-Japan relations across a spectrum of areas Sept. 10, expressing hope of taking trade exchanges to a new level.
“Although the two sides do not have formal diplomatic ties, substantial relations are equally good,” Ma said while receiving a Liberal Democratic Party Youth Division delegation headed by Japanese lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi, son of the Asian nation’s former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.
The 97-member delegation, traveling Taiwan Sept. 9-12, will visit the ROC Legislature to exchange opinions on bilateral political, economics, foreign affairs and security issues with lawmakers. It will also tour the NPM in Taipei; 921 Earthquake Museum in Taichung City; and Yoichi Hatta Memorial Park in Tainan City.
“Since taking office in May 2008, I have viewed bilateral relations as a special partnership,” Ma said. “The two sides have close contact in culture, tourism, trade and youth exchanges.”
Such achievements, the president said, include initiating a reciprocal working holiday program, signing a Taipei-Tokyo open skies agreement and investment protection and promotion arrangement, launching scheduled flights between Taipei Songshan and Tokyo Haneda airports, and opening a Taiwan representative office in Sapporo.
Ma said the number of visits between Taiwan and Japan has increased from 2.5 million in 2008 to over 2.99 million in 2012, while 1.36 million visits were made by ROC nationals between January and July, up 51.8 percent year on year.
“We hope to see more tourists from Japan visiting Taiwan going forward,” he added.
On the cultural front, the president said the Diet passed a law in March 2011 protecting foreign-owned collections on loan in Japan from seizure by a third country, enabling treasured works of art from Taiwan’s National Palace Museum to be displayed at Tokyo and Fukuoka museums in June and October 2014.
“This is the first time NPM collections will be exhibited in Asia,” Ma said, adding that treasures from Tokyo National Museum will be displayed in 2017 at the NPM Southern Branch in Chiayi County.
In addition, Taipei and Tokyo concluded a fisheries agreement April 10, resolving 40 years of disputes between the two countries, further transforming the East China Sea into a region of peace and cooperation, Ma said.
“The pact, recognized by neighboring countries and the international community, serves as an important model for peaceful resolution of international disputes.”
Looking to the future, Ma said he wants Taiwan to take its place at the regional integration table and follow Japan into trade blocs such as Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
