On the morning of May 2 at the Presidential Office Building, President Ma Ying-jeou bestowed the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Atsushi Hatakenaka, former chairman of the Japan Interchange Association, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to relations between Taiwan and Japan. Mrs. Hatakenaka, Japan Interchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Sumio Tarui and Mrs. Tarui, as well as Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添), National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih (石定), and former Taiwan Representative to Japan John C.T. Feng (馮寄台) were among those on hand to witness the ceremony.
In remarks, Mr. Hatakenaka said he was extremely honored to receive this decoration from President Ma. He mentioned that President Ma, after taking office, immediately instituted clear policies that placed importance on the relationship between Taiwan and Japan, and a wide range of people in Taiwan have also put forth a big effort. As a result, ties between Taiwan and Japan have gotten closer, and trust has grown, he said. President Ma's policies, he noted, have also facilitated the resolution of various pending disputes. For instance, Mr. Hatakenaka pointed to the recently signed bilateral fisheries agreement as a historic breakthrough that has established an unprecedented level of friendship and trust even though Taiwan and Japan do not maintain formal diplomatic relations. Mr. Hatakenaka stated that after the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the people of Taiwan made generous donations to the rescue and relief effort. He expressed deep appreciation for this gesture and stressed that the people of Japan will never forget the assistance provided to them by the people of Taiwan.
In follow-up discussions, President Ma stated that after he took office five years ago he hoped to elevate the relationship between the ROC and Japan to a new level, and toward that end he designated the relationship between Taiwan and Japan a "special partnership." This approach has yielded important results, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to augment the scope and intensity of industrial collaboration between Taiwan and Japan, the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, the Memorandum on the Exchange of Financial Information Related to Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, the Patent Prosecution Highway Memorandum of Understanding, the realization of direct flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and the launch of a Taiwan-Japan Friendship Initiative supporting the recovery of Japan after the 2011 earthquake and the promotion of tourism. The president commented that the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement and an open skies agreement have done much to enhance the bilateral relationship. In addition, as a result of the signing of the Patent Prosecution Highway Memorandum of Understanding, the amount of time needed to process patent applications has been reduced from over 40 months to just 2.5 months, which has far exceeded the expectations of the business communities in each nation, the president noted.
President Ma remarked that Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida, in a message marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Japan Interchange Association, said that the close economic relationship between Taiwan and Japan, and the frequent dealings between people on both sides, make Taiwan an important partner of Japan. The president noted he wholeheartedly agrees with this statement.
President Ma also mentioned that in last August he unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative. He said that former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda the following month asked then Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba to state that Japan would be pleased to resolve unsettled disputes between Taiwan and Japan in the peaceful manner proposed in the Initiative. Although Taiwan and Japan have different views with respect to sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islets, the president commented, both sides are interested in peacefully addressing controversies, especially the dispute over fishing operations in the area. He said that the assistance of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe facilitated the inking of the fisheries agreement on April 10 this year. The president remarked that these developments show that the previous and current governments of Japan have been supportive of his initiative, which he said he is particularly pleased about.
President Ma further commented on the various cooperative ties between Taiwan and Japan. He stressed that cooperation on the economic and trade front is particularly exciting, and that investment and technology cooperation will continue. In the area of cultural ties, the president noted, Taiwan's National Palace Museum intends to hold an exhibition of selected works from its collection in Tokyo and Fukuoka from June to November 2014. This not only represents the first interaction of this sort in 40 years, but also is the first instance of this type since World War II, he said. President Ma commented that the National Palace Museum in the past has displayed selected works in four cities in the United States and three nations in Europe. However, this will be the first exhibit of works from its collection in an Asian nation, making this particularly significant, he stated. The president also noted that Japan's Tokyo National Museum intends to reciprocate by holding an exhibition of works from its collection in 2017 at the National Palace Museum Southern Branch. The president said he is confident that increasingly frequent cultural interaction between the two sides is sure to enhance friendship between the people of both nations.
The president also stated that Taiwan registered 7.31 million tourist arrivals last year, and 1.43 million of these arrivals—or 20%—came from Japan. This number represented an all-time high, up by about 10% from the 1.29 million tourist arrivals from Japan in the previous year. Meanwhile, ROC nationals made 1.56 million visits to Japan last year, an increase of about 37% from the previous year, he said.
President Ma stressed that as a result of the open skies agreement between the two countries, airports in Taiwan's Taichung City and Tainan City have direct links to airports in Japan's Shizuoka and Kanazawa, so passengers no longer need to travel via major metropolitan airports. In addition, the president said, students from Kanazawa Senior High School in Ishikawa Prefecture also frequently visit the Yoichi Hatta Memorial Park in Tainan City. This park has become a favorite graduation trip destination for seniors from the school, he noted.
Lastly, President Ma thanked Mr. Hatakenaka once again for his distinguished contributions to relations between Taiwan and Japan. The president expressed hope that Mr. Hatakenaka will visit Taiwan often and encourage even more Japanese to do likewise.