President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of March 2 with Dr. Masahiro Wakabayashi, professor at Waseda University and convener of a cross-strait relations research group at University of Tokyo's Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia. The two discussed recent progress in Taiwan-Japan relations, as well as future prospects. During the discussions, President Ma emphasized that bilateral relations are sure to continue to strengthen due to the work that will be carried out by Taiwan's new Representative to Japan Shen Ssu-Tsun (沈斯淳) and Association of East Asian Relations Chairman Liao Liou-yi (廖了以), along with efforts made by the ROC's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The president stated that the government has already selected former vice minister of foreign affairs Shen Ssu-Tsun to serve as the ROC's representative to Japan. Representative Shen served both as vice minister of foreign affairs and secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in those positions oversaw the conduct of relations with Japan. Representative Shen studied Japanese during his university years and continued his studies while he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The president expressed his confidence that Representative Shen will be an outstanding envoy for the ROC in Japan.
President Ma furthermore stated that former secretary-general of the Kuomintang Liao Liou-yi is now serving as the chairman of the Association of East Asian Relations. Chairman Liao's mother is Japanese, as was his grandmother, and therefore Mr. Liao has a strong background in and understanding of Japan. In the future, he will visit Japan at an appropriate time. President Ma said he is confident that Taiwan-Japan relations will continue to develop under the joint stewardship of Representative Shen and Chairman Liao.
The president also briefed Prof. Wakabayashi on progress in Taiwan-Japan relations over the past nearly four years. These include the designation of 2009 as "The Year to Foster the Special Partnership between Taiwan and Japan" and the signing of a working holiday agreement and the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement. President Ma also pointed out that the Japanese parliament (the Diet) last year passed the Law Concerning Promotion of Exhibitions of Art Objects from Overseas that prevents the impounding of artwork from overseas on public display in Japan. With this legal obstacle now out of the way, Taiwan's National Palace Museum is expected to hold an exhibition of articles from its collection in 2014 in Japan. Meanwhile, the people of Taiwan provided generous donations to Japan in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11 last year, and Japanese people have been coming to Taiwan ever since then to express their appreciation. President Ma cited one example, saying that recently when he appeared at an event to deliver an address, he encountered a group of Japanese tourists from Saitama Prefecture. The tourists held banners in their hands thanking Taiwan, and he joined the group for pictures. This shows the strong friendship between the two countries, he commented.
President Ma also believes that the improvement in cross-strait relations has paved the way for Taiwan to maintain stronger ties with the United States and Japan. Consequently, Taiwan is able to simultaneously maintain friendly relations with the United States, Japan, and mainland China, which are the world's three largest economic entities. This, he said, is precisely the objective of Taiwan's diplomatic policies.
With regard to external trade, President Ma stated that even though tariff reductions and elimination of non-tariff barriers have only been achieved for about 20% of goods and services since the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement took effect on September 12, 2010, the fact remains that trade creation has taken place, and Taiwan's reliance on trade with mainland China has not increased. In addition, progress has been made toward achievement of the government's goal of diversifying Taiwan's export markets. President Ma said the government will continue working to create the conditions that will enable it to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership within the next 10 years.
President Ma also mentioned that the results of the presidential election completed here in January show that the public supports the government's efforts to promote prosperity, clean and competent government, and peace in the Taiwan Strait. The new Cabinet took office on February 6 and in the future the government will continue to pursue the eight visions—"a robust economy," "a just society," "clean and competent government," "environmental sustainability," "high-quality culture and education," "well-rounded development," "cross-strait peace," and "friendly relations with the international community"—as the path to creation of a "Golden Decade for Taiwan."
Prof. Wakabayashi was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀), and Arthur S. Ding (丁樹範), Director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University, to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen (胡為真).