President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of December 20 with a delegation of women parliamentarians from Japan. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a cordial welcome to the delegation and expressed his support for the interaction they are having with the women members of Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, who occupy about one-third of that body's seats.
The president remarked that after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March of this year triggered a tsunami and nuclear accident, the government and people of Taiwan actively provided assistance to Japan, with donations reaching a total of NT$6.6 billion. President Ma stated that while this amount may be just a drop in the bucket in comparison to the overall reconstruction costs, the donations represented the genuine concern of the people of Taiwan for their northern neighbor, as well as their hope that the disaster areas could be rebuilt in the shortest time possible.
President Ma also mentioned that relations between Taiwan and Japan have improved considerably since he took office in May 2008. He pointed to achievements such as the signing of a working holiday agreement between the two countries, Taiwan's opening of a representative office in Sapporo, the introduction of direct flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and the signing of the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement. These achievements mark important milestones in the development of relations between Taiwan and Japan over the past 40 years, he said, adding that bilateral ties are now at the best they have ever been in this period. President Ma particularly pointed out that the Japanese parliament (the Diet) recently passed the Law Concerning Promotion of Exhibitions of Art Objects from Overseas. This paves the way for Taiwan's National Palace Museum to hold an exhibition of items from its collection in Japan, which will mark an important step forward in cultural interaction between Taiwan and Japan.
The president also noted that last year foreigners made 5.56 million visits to Taiwan, and the five millionth visitor to Taiwan was a Japanese lady. This year, Taiwan expects to welcome the six millionth visitor on December 29. In addition, Japanese have already made 1.1 million visits to Taiwan this year, setting a new record, he remarked. He added that the six millionth visitor could also potentially be from Japan.
President Ma stated that since Taiwan and mainland China signed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement last year, trade and economic relations between Taiwan and Japan have become even closer, with a greater number of Taiwanese and Japanese companies expanding their investments and working jointly to develop the mainland Chinese market. He furthermore said that the two countries recently signed an open skies agreement, which allows for more flights between more cities in the two countries. This is a revolutionary step forward in the history of aviation between the two sides.
The delegation included Members of the House of Councillors Akiko Santo and Aiko Shimajiri and Member of the House of Representatives Kayoko Isogai. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Interchange Association (Japan), Taipei Office Chief Representative Tadashi Imai and Association of East Asian Relations Secretary-General Huang Ming-lung (黃明朗) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu (劉志攻).