President Ma Ying-jeou met with Waseda University President Dr. Katsuhiko Shirai at the Presidential Office on the morning of March 23, and extended a warm welcome to Dr. Shirai on his visit to Taiwan.
President Ma said that Waseda University and Taiwan have ties that date far back, with many students from Taiwan having attended the university over the years. In addition, six years ago Waseda set up a Taiwan Research Institute, which maintains close contact with many scholars involved in research on Taiwan, and a significant amount of insightful studies have been produced.
The president furthermore said that he has strived to promote relations between Taiwan and Japan since he took office. This year, he said, has been designated "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan" in reflection of the special partnership and close ties between the two despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations. He noted that Japan is Taiwan's third largest trading partner. Last year, over 2.5 million visits were made by people of the two countries to the other, and over 250 flights ply routes between Taiwan and Japan each week. President Ma said that significant progress has been made in relations between the two nations, and specifically cited Japan's recognition of drivers licenses issued here, as well as its decision to provide visa-free courtesies to Taiwan tourists. In February of this year, a conference on fishing issues was held at which both sides reached a number of agreements. President Ma commented that in the future, efforts will continue to be made to establish a representative office in Sapporo and to sign a working holiday agreement that would provide an avenue for more young people from Taiwan to visit Japan. These initiatives will further promote relations between Taiwan and Japan, he said.
Dr. Shirai expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He added that he believes room exists for further interaction between the two sides in the field of education. He said that at present Waseda University and National Taiwan University have a dual degree cooperation project, and he hopes that in the future Waseda will cooperate with even more universities here. In addition, he pointed out that Waseda University last year established an exchange center in Taipei to foster student exchange programs and technical cooperation. Dr. Shirai said that Taiwan and Japan companies have a long history of engaging in technical cooperation. However, the number of instances in which state-of-the-art technology has been transferred to the corporate sector is too small. Therefore he hopes that the exchange center established by the university in Taipei will help to promote a greater level of technology exchange and transfers.