President Ma Ying-jeou met with a youth delegation from Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on the afternoon of July 22 at the Presidential Office. This marked the 38th visit to Taiwan by members of the Tokyo LDP Youth Department and the LDP Youth Division. The president extended a warm welcome to the delegation on behalf of the government and people of the ROC.
The president remarked that ties between Taiwan and Japan in recent years have grown in both depth and breadth. First, in June of last year, a youth working holiday agreement went into effect, providing an opportunity for interaction between youth of the two nations. Second, the president noted that direct flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport are expected to begin in October of this year. Furthermore, the ROC is currently planning on staging an exhibition in Tokyo of national treasures from the National Palace Museum. The president commented that Japan's legislature, the Diet, is presently formulating legislation that would protect those national treasures from being seized by any third nation. He said he hopes that Japan in the future will also exhibit national treasures and works of art in Taiwan, thereby further promoting cultural and artistic exchanges between the two sides.
President Ma noted that Japan is Taiwan's second largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth largest trading partner. Consequently, quite a few Japanese companies have investments in Taiwan. He pointed out that Taiwan and mainland China recently signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, and said he hopes that Taiwan and Japan will be able to sign a similar economic cooperation accord dealing with investment and trade. This would establish even more stable economic order and encourage further investment and trade, he said.
President Ma congratulated the Liberal Democratic Party for its victory in the recent House of Councillors election. The president stated that since his inauguration, he has met with 64 delegations from Japan. This delegation marks the 12th he has met with this year, which demonstrates that relations between Taiwan and Japan have become closer over the past two years. He said that Kenichi Yoshizumi, who is heading up this delegation, is a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly's LDP Japan-Taiwan Friendship Caucus. The president said that this organization maintains close contact with the Taipei City Council. In addition, consultants Koichi Hagiuda and Yohei Matsumoto during their tenure as members of the House of Representatives were members of the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council. The president said they have all spared no effort in promoting bilateral relations, and he expressed his deepest appreciation in this regard.
The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Ching-shan Hou to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Lee Chia-chin.