President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians from various parties at the Presidential Office on the morning of July 23. The president reiterated his hopes that Taiwan and Japan can forge even stronger commercial cooperation.
The president commented that Japan is Taiwan's second largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth largest trading partner. In addition, Japan is one of the largest sources of investment here. Consequently, he said he hopes that in the wake of the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and mainland China last month, Taiwan and Japan will be able to enhance cooperation in this regard, which he said he expects will further advance the bilateral relationship.
President Ma stated that over the past two years many delegations from Japan have visited Taiwan and he is extremely pleased by this. He remarked that the two countries have a long and friendly history of interaction. Furthermore, he said, the past two years have brought a new breakthrough in relations, resulting in even closer bilateral ties. For instance, the president pointed out that last year was designated "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan." Last year, Taiwan opened a new representative office in Hokkaido, and a youth working holiday agreement was signed and went into effect, while later this year, direct flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport are poised to commence. The president also mentioned that the ROC is preparing to hold an exhibition in Japan of articles from the National Palace Museum. He said that Taiwan is currently waiting for the Japan’s legislature, the Diet, to pass legislation that will protect these items while overseas. He expressed his hopes that the legislation will be passed as soon as possible, enabling the artwork from the museum to be displayed in Japan.
The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning 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.