President Ma Ying-jeou had lunch with members of the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council at noon on October 10. In addition to welcoming the delegation, headed by Council Chairman Takeo Hiranuma, to Taiwan for the ROC's 103rd Double Tenth National Day celebrations, the president also called for continued cooperation to deepen the bilateral friendship.
In remarks, President Ma first stated that the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council is the most important conduit for the ROC and Japan to promote diplomacy via the legislative bodies of both countries. The president said that under the leadership of Chairman Hiranuma, the number of council members has increased to 295, or about 40% of the 722 members of the Japanese parliament (Diet), which shows that support in Japan's parliament for friendship with the ROC is growing all the time.
President Ma stated that shortly after taking office in 2008 he designated the relationship between Taiwan and Japan as a special partnership. The government has spared no effort in promoting economic, trade, and tourism cooperation, and in encouraging interaction between youth. Achievements in this regard have been quite impressive, he said.
The president explained that the two countries have signed the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement and the Taiwan-Japan Arrangement for Mutual Cooperation on Electronic Commerce, along with other agreements. In addition, the two countries on April 10 of last year signed a fisheries agreement, which has resulted in increased catches by fishermen from both nations and reduced the number of fishing disputes between the two countries from 17 in the year prior to the signing of the agreement to just one since then, he said. The president noted that this is a perfect example of the resolution of disputes through peaceful means.
President Ma also remarked that tourism and people-to-people ties between Taiwan and Japan have grown considerably in recent years. He specifically mentioned that the number of scheduled civilian passenger flights between the two countries has risen by 133% from 189 weekly when he took office to 440, and from January to August of this year the seat occupancy rate on passenger flights between the two countries reached 80.4%.
President Ma went on to say that last year the number of visits made by nationals from the two countries to the other topped 3.76 million, a new record high. Moreover, in the first half of this year, of the total 6.26 million visits made to Japan by foreign tourists, travellers from the ROC accounted for 1.46 million. This figure was up by 32.3% from the year-ago period, and made Taiwan the largest source of tourists for Japan, he remarked. The president also commented that in the first half of this year the number of visits to Taiwan by Japanese tourists exceeded 780,000. At the current pace, the number of visits by nationals of the two countries this year could surpass four million, he stated.
President Ma then mentioned that a youth working holiday agreement between Taiwan and Japan took effect in June 2009, under which 2,000 young people from each nation can visit the other country each year on working holidays. In addition, the president stated, starting this month, the two sides have agreed to expand that number to 5,000 each year, which will promote mutual understanding among youth of the two nations.
Commenting on cultural ties, President Ma told the visitors that Taiwan's National Palace Museum held an exhibit of works from its collection this year at the Tokyo National Museum, where it attracted over 400,000 visits, and that just last week the exhibit was moved to the Kyushu National Museum. The president said that this cultural interaction constitutes a milestone in relations between the two nations.
President Ma acknowledged the important role that the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council played in promoting the passage of the Law Concerning Promotion of Exhibitions of Art Objects from Overseas in Japan's parliament, for which he expressed his deepest gratitude.
The president stated that in 2016, the Tokyo National Museum will exhibit 150 national treasures from its collection at the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, enabling the people of Taiwan to appreciate the beauty of these works of art from Japan. President Ma said he is confident that this will propel cultural ties between Taiwan and Japan to new heights.
As for trade and economic ties, President Ma stated, Japan is Taiwan's third largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth largest. Bilateral trade between the two countries last year topped JPY6.8 trillion, or about US$62.1 billion, he said. The ROC government, he remarked, at the end of 2011 initiated the Taiwan-Japan Industrial Collaboration Bridging Project, which as of this past July has already yielded a number of achievements, including 150 expanded industrial and technology cooperation projects, as well as Japanese investments in Taiwan or joint ventures between firms from the two countries. The president expressed hope that the two countries in the future can sign an economic partnership agreement or a double taxation avoidance agreement as soon as possible to deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
President Ma then discussed Taiwan's interest in participating in regional economic integration. He remarked that the Japanese government is helping to steer the direction of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The president hopes Japan can help Taiwan join the two trade blocs, strengthen bilateral cooperation, and push the relationship to new heights.
In addition to Chairman Hiranuma, the delegation also included members of Japan's House of Representatives Takao Fujii, Keiji Furuya, Shigeyuki Tomita, Yasuaki Yamaguchi, and Yasuhiro Tamaki, and members of the House of Councillors Toranosuke Katayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, and Toshiei Mizuochi.