President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of June 13 with Japan Interchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi. The president briefed Mr. Ohashi on recent advances in relations between Taiwan and Japan, and expressed hope that the two sides can make more reciprocal visits to enhance bilateral ties and cooperation.
In remarks, President Ma first stated that since a visit by Chairman Ohashi to Taiwan late last year, there has been steady progress in bilateral relations. For instance, the president said, visits between the two nations last year exceeded 3.76 million, a new high, including over 2.34 million visits to Japan by ROC nationals and some 1.42 million visits to Taiwan by Japanese travelers. This year, the total number of visits is expected to exceed 4 million, he noted. The president attributed the increase primarily to the signing of an open skies agreement between the two sides. In addition, last year Taiwan and Japan signed the Taiwan-Japan Arrangement for Mutual Cooperation on Electronic Commerce and the Taiwan-Japan Memorandum of Understanding for the Mutual Co-operation in the Field of Financial Supervision, he said, adding that these initiatives will have a deep and lasting impact on bilateral relations.
President Ma stated that April 10 of this year marked the one-year anniversary of the signing of a fisheries agreement between the two countries. Since the signing of the pact, the two sides have had only one dispute in the waters around the Diaoyutai Islets, which is an enormous improvement compared with the 17 disputes in the year prior to the signing of the agreement, he said.
As for cultural ties, President Ma noted, important artworks from Taiwan's National Palace Museum (NPM), including the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped Stone, will be put on display starting in June first in Tokyo and then in Kyushu. This marks the first time that items from the NPM will be displayed in Japan and that the Jadeite Cabbage and Meat-shaped Stone will be displayed in a foreign country, he said. Moreover, the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) will hold an exhibition of precious items and works of art from its collection in 2016 at the NPM Southern Branch, he stated. These art exhibitions carry important meaning in cultural interaction between the ROC and Japan, the president remarked.
In discussing economic and trade relations between Taiwan and Japan, President Ma mentioned that Japan is a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and has also decided to participate in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The president noted that Taiwan deeply desires to join both the TPP and the RCEP, and called on Japan to provide support and assistance to Taiwan in this regard. Taiwan's membership in these trade blocs, he said, would increase the benefits and inclusiveness of economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.
President Ma further mentioned that Taiwan and Japan have also cooperated a lot in the area of disaster preparedness and rescue. In addition, legislators from Japan made a total of 119 visits to Taiwan last year, and the number of Japanese high school students coming to Taiwan to study and travel last year reached over 14,000, while the number of students from Taiwanese high schools and vocational institutes visiting Japan for study and tours came to over 7,000. The president said that the increasingly young age of the people making visits to the other nation is a good sign, for it is an indicator of very close ties.
Accompanying Chairman Ohashi was Japan's Interchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Sumio Tarui.