President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of September 7 with a delegation led by Japanese House of Representatives Member Kazunori Tanaka, who is also the honorary chairman of the Kanagawa Prefecture Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association. In addition to thanking Japan for its assistance and support for Taiwan following the Formosa Fun Coast water park powder explosion in northern Taiwan, the president also briefed the visitors on interaction and achievements involving the ROC and Japan in the areas of economics, culture, and tourism.
In remarks, the president stated that a powder explosion occurred at the Formosa Fun Coast waterpark on June 27 of this year, following which many sectors in Japan expressed their condolences. In addition to medical resources and support provided by the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Japan-based Association of Medical Doctors of Asia and the Japan Medical Association also jointly recommended six experts in critical care and burn treatment to provide advisory services to Taiwan hospitals treating the victims. To date, 12 people who were injured in the incident have unfortunately passed away, while 174 others are still hospitalized. Another 313 people who were injured have been discharged. The president hopes that the medical treatment and support from various sectors will enable more of the injured to be released from the hospital.
President Ma stated that the Kanagawa Prefecture Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association was established in 1966, and in its 49 years of existence has been devoted to promoting friendly relations between the ROC and Japan. The association previously commissioned scholars to examine historical documents associated with ROC founding father Dr. Sun Yat-sen's stay in Yokohama. The association also established a memorial in the Kanazawa district of the city to commemorate the place where Dr. Sun came ashore. The association also erected an inscribed stone plaque honoring former ROC President Chiang Kai-shek inside the Iseyama Kotai-jingu Shrine in Yokohama. Besides regularly holding commemorative events or activities where speeches are delivered, the association each year also forms a delegation to visit the ROC. It also participates in the Double Tenth National Day celebrations held by an ROC overseas compatriot association in Yokohama. These achievements and activities all reflect the association's efforts at promoting friendly relations between the two countries, the president said.
Discussing the economic relationship between Taiwan and Japan, the president said that after he took office in 2008 he immediately designated bilateral ties as a "special partnership," and the ROC government has made every effort to promote bilateral cooperation and interaction in a wide variety of areas. On the economic and trade front, Japan is Taiwan's third largest trading partner, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth largest, with bilateral trade last year reaching US$61.6 billion.
President Ma also mentioned that recent years have seen many important advances in bilateral interaction. Over the past 60 years the two sides have signed 58 agreements, with 25 of those agreements having been signed in the past seven years alone, including an open skies agreement, a youth working holiday agreement, the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, and a fisheries agreement. The youth working holiday agreement has been especially popular among young people, with youth from the ROC enthusiastically participating since the program was introduced in June 2009, and with more applicants than the positions available. As a result, bilateral negotiations were held to address the situation, and on October 27 of last year the number of slots in the program was increased to 5,000 each year, 2.5 times the original 2,000. The open skies agreement has not only boosted the number of flights between Taiwan and Tokyo's two airports but also paved the way for an increase in flights to other airports. "This has enhanced the breadth and depth of tourism between the two sides," the president said.
On the cultural front, the president stated that last year Taiwan's National Palace Museum held an exhibit in Tokyo and Fukuoka of works from its collection, attracting a total of 660,000 visits. In October of next year the Tokyo National Museum and Kyushu National Museum will hold an exhibition of 160 works of art from the Japanese imperial court at the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, an exhibit that many people, the president said, are looking forward to. The Takarazuka Revue, which two years ago held performances in Taiwan and was warmly received, performed here again last month and was extremely popular.
President Ma pointed out that last year, bilateral tourism between Taiwan and Japan accounted for 4.6 million discrete visits, which was a new high. In the first six months of this year, the number of visits already reached 2.58 million, so this year the total may exceed five million. This, the president said, attests to the close relationship between the two sides. In addition, the president hopes that bilateral interaction will continue to become even more frequent, thereby deepening the bilateral friendship.