President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of December 22 at the Presidential Office met with a delegation from the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development (JPC-SED). The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), expressed a cordial welcome and appreciation to JPC Chairman Jiro Ushio for leading a delegation from his organization on a visit here.
The president noted that the JPC-SED is an important finance and economic institution in Japan. The organization is an extremely prestigious one among Japan's industrial community, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Ushio. Since the JPC-SED was founded in 1955, it has provided advice and suggestions to Japan's industrial sector, aiming to maximize productivity, he said. The accomplishments of the organization are quite impressive, the president said.
President Ma said that over the past 60 years Taiwan and Japan have maintained extremely close relations. Many Taiwan factories have entered into cooperation with Japanese counterparts, thereby developing a competitive edge. At present, Japan is still one of Taiwan's top three trading partners. Bilateral trade volume is enormous and the people of each nation make frequent visits to the other, he said. President Ma pointed out that last year, the total number of visits by people from each nation to the other exceeded 2.5 million, which proves the extremely close ties between the two countries. This, he said, constitutes a "special partnership," adding that while Taiwan and Japan do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, they do have close substantive ties. The president said he desires to see the relationship continue to develop and is pleased to see an organization like the JPC-SED send a delegation to Taiwan. Relations between Taiwan and Japan are not limited to governmental or parliamentary ties. Rather, ties between the private sector and business communities are especially important, he said.
Chairman Ushio thanked President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He also mentioned that the JPC-SED long time ago has established close avenues for contact with Taiwan's China Productivity Center. He said he welcomes the role of continuing to promote substantive relations between Taiwan and Japan in the days ahead. Chairman Ushio also said he is pleased to see the efforts made by President Ma since taking office to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, adding that he believes this development will help relations between Taiwan and Japan to further improve. Chairman Ushio said he hopes to see strengthened cooperation between Taiwan and Japan amid the challenges facing the two due to the global recession and the financial crisis.
President Ma responded by saying that the ROC (Taiwan) government's efforts in promoting normalized cross-strait relations is to pursue a middle approach. This is not only beneficial to Taiwan and Mainland China, but also is in the interest of Japan and other Asian countries. In the future, he said, the government will further strengthen cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. He said that interaction will enable the younger generation of both countries to develop a deep friendship.
The JPC-SED delegation, which was led by Chairman Ushio, was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Economics Minister Yen-Shiang Shih to meet President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Advisor Dr. Philip Y. M. Yang.