President Ma Ying-jeou met with Japanese House of Representatives member Hirosato Nakatsugawa at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of August 19. Mr. Nakatsugawa is leading a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians to Taiwan. The president extended a cordial welcome to the group on their visit here on behalf of the government and people of the ROC.
President Ma remarked that Mr. Nakatsugawa has visited Taiwan 10 times since 2001, while some of the members of the delegation are on their first trip here. The president said he hopes that close interaction between the two sides will help create greater wellbeing for the people of the two countries.
The president noted that the ROC Legislative Yuan on August 18 passed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and related legislation, which will help to normalize cross-strait trade and economic relations. The pact will prevent Taiwan's economy from being marginalized, and also it will speed the pace of globalization of Taiwan's economy, he said.
President Ma stressed that the signing of the ECFA carries extremely important significance for Taiwan and Japan. The two countries have engaged in trade and economic cooperation for over 60 years and Japan is one of Taiwan's main trading partners, the president said. Consequently, while there is room for discussion on how to expand economic and trade ties, the two sides now have an opportune moment to further institutionalize their cooperation.
President Ma noted that his government last year designated 2009 as "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan." Taiwan has established a new representative office in Hokkaido to provide services to Taiwan tourists visiting the area. In addition, direct charter flights between Taiwan's Songshan Airport and Japan's Haneda Airport will commence two months from now, providing greater convenience for businessmen traveling between the two countries. Furthermore, he said, Japan's parliament is currently working to enact legislation that would provide protection of artwork displayed in Japan. The passage of this legislation would enable Taiwan's National Palace Museum to stage an exhibition of pieces from its collection in Japan, he said.
The delegation also included parliamentarians Seizo Wakaizumi, Akira Ishii, Yasuhiko Wakai, Kazuo Takamatsu, Kenichiro Fukushima, Koichiro Watanabe, Tairo Hirayama, and Koichi Mukoyama. The delegation was escorted to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Chief Representative of the Japan Interchange Association Taipei Office Tadashi Imai and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.