President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of August 11 met at the Presidential Office with Parliamentarian Junzo Yamamoto and other parliamentarians representing Japan at the 40th General Assembly of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians' Union (APPU). The president expressed his appreciation to the delegation for making the special trip to Taiwan and also for their concern about the damage caused to Taiwan by Typhoon Morakot.
President Ma furthermore commented that Taiwan and Japan completed a 16th round of negotiations on fishing rights in February of this year to the satisfaction of both sides. On June 1, he said, a youth working holiday agreement went into effect, enabling young people from either country between the ages of 18 and 30 to spend up to a year in the other on a working holiday. This program, he said, will be of great benefit in fostering interaction between youth of both nations and will also promote tourism. Meanwhile, the president said that Taiwan plans to establish its sixth representative office in Japan in Sapporo, Hokkaido in order to provide better services to the nearly 280,000 Taiwan tourists that visit that region each year, he said. The president also noted that the nationality listed on the alien residence certificates of people from Taiwan residing in Japan now states "Taiwan," rather than "Taiwan, China" as in the past. This provides an enormous convenience to the many people from Taiwan residing in Japan and also marks the result of many years of work seeking this change. President Ma said he is pleased about this development. Meanwhile, four round-trip charter flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport will commence next year, making travel more convenient for businessmen and tourists, and thereby promoting the development of trade and investment between the two countries, he said. The government also intends to establish a cultural center in Tokyo to help strengthen cultural interaction between the two countries, he said. Lastly, the president said he understands that the Japanese side is presently drafting related laws that will pave the way for relics and artistic works belonging to the National Palace Museum in Taipei to be displayed in Japan. This marks an extremely significant breakthrough in artistic interaction between the two sides, he said.
President Ma remarked that a number of measures have been completed over the past year aimed at improving relations between Taiwan and Japan. The initiatives have been implemented fairly quickly, he said, adding that he would like to reiterate his gratitude for the efforts and contributions made by the visitors in this regard.
Parliamentarian Yamamoto expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him and thanked the president for personally attending the APPU general assembly. Parliamentarian Yamamoto said prior to coming to Taiwan, he had an opportunity to meet with the head of Japan's APPU delegation, Prime Minister Taro Aso. The prime minister asked him to pass his regards to President Ma on his behalf, and also to express the condolences of the Japanese government on the disaster caused by Typhoon Morakot. At the same time that the Japanese APPU delegation was meeting with President Ma, the Japanese government issued a statement expressing its sorrow for the heavy casualties in Taiwan caused by Typhoon Morakot.
Parliamentarian Yamamoto furthermore said that the Japanese government has decided, out of humanitarian concern, to have the Japan Interchange Association donate 10 million yen to Taiwan via the Association of East Asian Relations, to assist in the post-disaster reconstruction effort in Taiwan. In addition, Japan will continue to pay close attention to the reconstruction effort here and provide necessary assistance if needed, he said.
Parliamentarian Yamamoto also said the members of the Japanese delegation to the APPU have all enjoyed Taiwan very much and will do their utmost to promote the development of Taiwan-Japan relations, so as to foster even broader interaction among the private sectors of each country in the future.