On the afternoon of August 30, President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation led by Mr. Kouzo Yamamoto of Japan's House of Representatives. In addition to extending a warm welcome to Taiwan to the group on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, the president also expressed his desire to see relations between the two countries to continue to move forward.
President Ma first congratulated Representative Yamamoto's Liberal Democratic Party for its victory in the House of Councillors elections this past July, which means the Liberal Democrats have a majority in both houses of Japan's parliament (Diet). The president pointed out that these majority positions should enable the Liberal Democrats to better push their agenda.
The president mentioned that Representative Yamamoto previously served in important positions, such as the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council's deputy chairman and senior vice-minister of economy, trade and industry. Presently, he serves as the party's chief secretary of the Headquarters for Japan's Economic Revitalization, President Ma said. The president noted Representative Yamamoto's strong background in economics and stated that Representative Yamamoto is one of the important forces behind "Abenomics." He also stated that Representative Yamamoto has an MBA degree from Cornell University in the United States and served as a visiting fellow at Harvard University, which means he is quite familiar with US affairs. President Ma mentioned that in October 2009 he met with Representative Yamamoto in Taiwan and discussed their respective experiences on studying in the United States. He commented the meeting made a lasting impression on him.
President Ma pointed out that five years ago upon taking office he immediately adopted an active stance in promoting relations between Taiwan and Japan. Substantive achievements associated with these efforts include the signing of a youth working holiday agreement between the two sides, Taiwan's establishment of a representative office in Sapporo, the commencement of regularly scheduled flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and the signing of an open skies agreement, enabling the establishment of direct flights between second-tier cities in Taiwan and Japan. Furthermore, the president stated, Taiwan and Japan have signed the Patent Prosecution Highway Memorandum of Understanding, which has helped reduce the time needed to obtain patents to 2.5 months from over 40 months originally. All of these steps are effectively promoting economic and trade interaction between the two sides, he said.
President Ma further noted that on April 10 of this year the two countries signed a fisheries agreement, thus resolving a 40-year dispute. The president thanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his support for this agreement, and commented that the agreement is an example of concrete action upon the East China Sea Peace Initiative, which the president unveiled last year. He pointed out that the agreement does not impact the sovereignty claims of each side over the Diaoyutai Islets, and that the two sides have agreed to shelve the dispute and instead focus on joint conservation of fishing resources in the disputed area. This is a win-win situation for both sides, he said, adding that neighboring nations could also use this as a model in resolving disputes and that the principles in the initiative could be applied in other regions.
President Ma is pleased as well that Japan's parliament in 2011 passed the Law Concerning Promotion of Exhibitions of Art Objects from Overseas. This has removed concerns that objects from Taiwan's National Palace Museum could be impounded or face restrictions when they are exhibited in Japan, he said. The president pointed out that the legislation has paved the way for exhibitions of objects from the museum's collection to be displayed in Tokyo and Kyushu in June and October of next year, respectively.
With respect to trade and economic relations, President Ma commented, Japan is Taiwan's second largest trading partner and both sides have expressed a willingness to further enhance substantive relations in this respect. The president noted that even though the two countries will not be able to sign a free trade agreement or economic cooperation agreement in the near term, Taiwan still hopes to use a "building block" approach to create a solid foundation for a free trade agreement between the two countries at some point in the future. In addition, he said, Japan has also announced that it will negotiate to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and will be one of the nations steering the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. President Ma noted that Taiwan is also committed to economic and trade liberalization and that Taiwan will continue to create the conditions to participate in the aforementioned initiatives. This, he said, will prevent Taiwan from being excluded from the process of regional economic integration.
As for tourism, the president mentioned, last year Japan tallied a total of 1.56 million tourist arrivals from Taiwan, while the number of Japanese tourist arrivals to Taiwan was 1.43 million. Combined, this constituted nearly three million tourist visits between the two nations, which was a new high, he said. Furthermore, in the first six months of this year, Taiwanese tourist visits to Japan came to 1.1 million, up nearly 50% year-on-year, he said. On the other hand, Japanese tourist arrivals to Taiwan in the first half of this year declined 7.55% from the same period in 2012. Although the total number of tourist visits between the two nations is expected to exceed 3.2 million, the president called on the members of the delegation to use their influence to encourage even more Japanese to visit Taiwan.
President Ma emphasized that he has designated the relationship between Taiwan and Japan as a special partnership. Presently, he said, bilateral relations are at their best point since the two nations severed diplomatic ties in 1972. The president said he hopes that the visitors will continue to promote friendly ties between the two countries and work to further enhance their cooperative relationship.
In addition to Representative Yamamoto, the delegation included House of Representatives member Seiji Kihara and Sakurai & Associates President Makoto Sakurai. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Association of East Asian Relations Chairman Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Gary Song-Huann Lin (林松煥) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添) and National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General John C. C. Deng (鄧振中).