Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of January 20 with Japan Interchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Tadashi Imai and colleagues from Mr. Imai's office. The president reiterated his appreciation for the high regard expressed by Japan with respect to the successful election of the 13th-term president of the ROC.

President Ma first thanked the guests for making a visit to the Presidential Office to personally extend their congratulations. He remarked that he has received congratulatory messages from many countries, and those messages have also pointed to the peaceful, free, and open environment in which the election was held. The president said he deeply appreciates Japan's praise for the democracy that has taken root here. President Ma commented that over the past three-plus years, Taiwan has singled out the relationship between Taiwan and Japan as a special partnership, and this has yielded enormous benefits. In the future, the ROC will continue to promote a cooperative relationship with Japan, and will seek to push the relationship to an even higher level. President Ma said he is confident that this approach will help create even closer bilateral ties.

Chief Representative Imai remarked that the success of the recent election and the peaceful environment in which it was held demonstrated the increasing maturity of democracy in Taiwan. The election has won widespread praise, he said, adding that Japan also highly regards the outstanding performance exhibited by Taiwan in the holding of the polls. Chief Representative Imai also reiterated his gratitude to President Ma and the people of Taiwan for their friendship and encouragement after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 last year. He said that the people of Japan remain keenly aware of the generosity of Taiwan.

The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen (沈斯淳) 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 Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen (胡為真).