Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of March 11 with former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu. During the meeting at the Presidential Office, the president welcomed the passage on March 10 by the Japanese House of Representatives of legislation preventing third parties from taking legal action to impound foreign cultural relics in Japan. President Ma said that the ROC government will begin actively preparing to enable the National Palace Museum to exhibit collection pieces in Japan as soon as possible.

The president said that relations between Taiwan and Japan have advanced on many fronts over the past three years. For instance, Taiwan has established a representative office in Sapporo, direct flights have commenced between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and a youth working holiday agreement has been signed. In addition, the two sides last year signed a memorandum of cooperation on strengthening interaction, which calls for expanded cooperation in 15 areas, one of which is cultural exchanges. With the passage of the legislation by the House of Representatives on March 10 preventing the impounding of foreign cultural relics, the National Palace Museum will continue its preparations to stage an exhibition in Japan. President Ma also expressed his hope that Japanese cultural relics can also be exhibited in Taiwan, thereby bringing about true cultural exchange.

In discussing tourism and bilateral economic and trade ties, President Ma noted that the volume of trade between Taiwan and Japan continues to grow. Last year, Japan was Taiwan's second largest trading partner, and Taiwan was the fourth largest for Japan. In addition, over one million Japanese visited Taiwan last year, while 1.37 million Taiwanese traveled to Japan, both of which were record highs. The president said he hopes to see strengthened industrial ties in the future, and would particularly welcome Japanese firms with outstanding technology to invest here. Both sides could work together on developing markets in mainland China, he added.

Former Prime Minister Kaifu was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen to meet President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.