President Ma Ying-jeou met with Dr. Makoto Kobayashi, the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics, at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of February 2. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), welcomed Dr. Kobayashi on a visit to Taiwan during which he will deliver a lecture.
The president remarked that Dr. Kobayashi enjoys worldwide renown in the high energy physics community. His visit to Taiwan early in 2010 will enhance the cooperative relationship between high energy accelerator research organizations in Taiwan and Japan, he said.
President Ma stated that the Executive Yuan's National Science Council is strongly supporting Taiwan's participation in a collaborative international research project currently underway at the B Meson Factory in Japan. The outstanding environment provided there by Japan's High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) and Bell Labs is helping to foster development of Taiwan's high energy sector and train outstanding leading edge research talent who have an international perspective. The president noted that countries throughout the world are engaging in competition with regards to the development of high energy physics. In light of this, Taiwan and Japan must cooperate, with the goal of playing a meaningful role in the field of high-tech development. He said that this will be crucial to developing basic science and theoretical research. At the same time, theoretical research and scientific experiments must be brought together, thereby paving the way for new breakthroughs in international high energy physics, enabling persons in the industry to accurately judge research trends, and in a timely manner address research topics that are of concern to the international high energy physics research community.
President Ma said he feels that Taiwan and Japan should establish an even closer relationship with respect to basic scientific research. Bilateral relations should not be limited to economics, trade and investment, he said. Rather, ties should be expanded in the areas of academics and cultural exchange. In addition, the president noted that Japanese have received 15 Nobel prizes, while persons nurtured in Taiwan's academic environment have won only two. Consequently, Taiwan has quite a bit to learn from Japan in this respect, he said.
President Ma commented that the past year was designated as "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan." Last year, Taiwan established a representative office in Sapporo, Hokkaido, and it also opened a cultural center in Tokyo. Meanwhile, charter flights are scheduled to commence between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport in October of this year. In June of last year, the two countries signed a youth working holiday agreement. All of these developments demonstrate that the relationship between the two countries is becoming increasingly close. He said he hopes to see development of a broader array of cooperative avenues. The opportunity to collaborate in the field of high energy physics is especially exciting, he said.
Dr. Kobayashi expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He added that he is deeply honored to have the opportunity to come to Taiwan and participate in the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Physical Society of the ROC in Taiwan and associated meetings to hear research achievements. Dr. Kobayashi said he hopes to better understand Taiwan's research environment on this trip, adding that in the future he will look forward to strengthening cooperation and exchanges with Taiwan in the areas of basic science and high energy physics.
Dr. Kobayashi, Japan's KEK Director General Atsuto Suzuki, and Dr. Masanori Yamauchi, Deputy Director General of KEK's Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by National Taiwan University Department of Physics Professors George Wei-shu Hou, Pao-ti Chang, and Associate Professor Chen Kai-feng to meet President Ma. Also sitting in on the meeting was National Science Council Minister Lee Lou-chuang and National Security Council Advisor Lee Chia-chin.