President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of May 14 with Yoshihiro Murai, Governor of Japan's Miyagi Prefecture. In addition to updating Governor Murai on the wide range of interaction between Taiwan and Japan, the president also explained the ROC's policy position and actions regarding import restrictions on Japanese food products, an issue of great public concern.
In remarks, the president first expressed his interest in the state of reconstruction following the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. He said that Japan and Taiwan share many geographic similarities, with both facing the threat of a variety of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes. Taiwan experienced a strong earthquake on September 21, 1999 and devastating mudslides and flooding in 2009 from Typhoon Morakot. The Japanese government and people on both occasions extended a helping hand to Taiwan, and this is something that the people of Taiwan remember to this day, he said. Following the March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan, the ROC government immediately organized search and rescue teams to help disaster areas and assist in the rescue effort, while at the same time the public made generous donations. This highlighted the deep friendship between the people of the two countries. Four years after that quake, Taiwan is still quite concerned about the state of post-disaster reconstruction and in particular the situation in Miyagi Prefecture, which was heavily damaged. The president hopes that the public and private sectors in Japan will continue to coordinate their efforts so that the disaster areas will soon prosper again.
Commenting on ROC-Japan relations, the president pointed out that the ROC and Japan have long had close bonds. After he took office in 2008 he immediately designated the relationship between the two countries as a "special partnership." Over the past seven years, the two sides have seen concrete progress on the economic, trade, cultural, and tourism fronts, and have already signed 25 agreements including the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement and a youth working holiday agreement. All of this has been conducive to expanding the breadth and depth of bilateral interaction, the president said.
The president mentioned that flights were inaugurated between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport in 2010, and the route has become extremely popular. In November 2011, the two countries completed revisions to their bilateral aviation agreement, which has led to a sharp increase in the number of tourists travelling in both directions. In 2014, there were a total of about 4.6 million discrete visits by nationals between the two countries; ROC nationals made over 2.97 million visits to Japan, making Taiwan their largest source of tourists. Meanwhile, Japanese made 1.63 million visits to Taiwan, which set a new high. This highlights the close interaction between the people of the two countries, the president stated.
With regard to youth exchanges, the president remarked that the ROC and Japan signed a youth working holiday agreement in 2009, which has proven so popular that the number of slots available was unable to meet demand. Consequently, in October last year the two sides simultaneously increased the number of slots in the program to 5,000 from 2,000. As for cultural exchanges, last year Taiwan's National Palace Museum exhibited works from its collection in Tokyo and Kyushu, with the exhibitions drawing a total of some 660,000 visits. Currently, the Tokyo National Museum is planning to hold an exhibition of treasures from its collection at the National Palace Museum Southern Branch next year. These frequent exchanges not only promote understanding between the people of the two countries, but also enhance mutual friendship, the president said.
The president also commented that Japan is Taiwan's third-largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth-largest. Bilateral trade last year hit US$61.6 billion. In recent years, Taiwan and Japan have used a "building block" approach to continue to promote the signing of a range of economic and trade agreements. For instance, the two sides signed the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement in 2011, which further expanded the breadth and depth of the bilateral trade, economic and investment relationship. More recently, Taiwan and Japan have been engaged in negotiations on a double taxation avoidance agreement with the hope of creating a better investment environment for companies from both nations. The president expressed hope that the two sides will sign an economic cooperation agreement as soon as possible, thereby further enhancing the bilateral relationship in that area.
The president then addressed the closely watched topic of restrictions on food imports from Japan. He stated that restrictions on the import of Japanese food products will be enforced beginning on May 15. Besides a ban on imports of food products from five Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, foods from other areas must be accompanied by a certificate of origin. Also, seven types of products produced in eight areas, including Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, must carry radiation inspection certificates when applications are filed for import to Taiwan.
The president furthermore said that Taiwan is Japan's third largest destination for agricultural exports, with Taiwan's imports of Japanese agricultural products coming to nearly US$1 billion each year, accounting for about 13% of Japan's agricultural exports last year. This proves that the public here is very fond of Japanese agricultural products, he stated. In March of this year, however, food products that were previously banned from entering Taiwan were imported under false labeling. Consequently, the public became uneasy about the possibility that falsely labeled foods from Japan had entered Taiwan's markets, thus leading to doubts here about the origins of Japanese food products. In order to boost consumer confidence, starting on May 15 Taiwan will add an extra step in the import process, requiring that food items from 42 prefectures carry certain certificates. The president is confident that this will not only ensure the health of the public here, but also will help restore public confidence in imported Japanese food products. At the same time, this will better protect the interests of top quality food manufacturers in Japan, he said.
The president stated that to date Taiwan has yet to find any Japanese imported food products that have radiation levels exceeding statutory levels, which proves that there are no safety concerns in their consumption. The problem now is not with the safety of the foods themselves, but rather with the accuracy of their labeling. "This is a legal issue, not a scientific one," the president said. The president hopes that related agencies from Taiwan and Japan will thoroughly investigate the false labelling to get to the bottom of the situation. They should also draft measures to prevent similar types of illegal action in the future in order to eliminate concerns among the public here about the safety of Japanese food imports, the president said.