President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of November 10 with a delegation from Japan led by Iwate Prefecture Governor Takuya Tasso. The president thanked Governor Tasso for his enthusiastic promotion of friendly interaction between Taiwan and Japan over the years, and also updated the delegation on achievements in bilateral exchanges in economics and trade, culture, and tourism.
In remarks, the president stated that Taiwan and Japan share similar geographic characteristics, with both subject to the threat of typhoons and earthquakes. Taiwan was shaken by a major earthquake on September 21, 1999 and also experienced devastating mudslides and flooding caused by Typhoon Morakot in 2009. In both instances, the government and people of Japan extended generous assistance, which the people of Taiwan remember to this day. Following the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake the ROC government immediately dispatched a search and rescue team to the disaster area, and the people of Taiwan enthusiastically donated goods and funds. The president said the expressions of generosity by both sides highlight a deep mutual friendship. Four years after the Japanese earthquake the ROC is still closely following the reconstruction efforts in Japan, and especially in Iwate Prefecture, a hard-hit area where reconstruction projects are ongoing. From June 16 to June 19, Governor Tasso led a delegation of over 30 officials from the Iwate Prefectural Office and local leaders to the ROC to explain achievements in the reconstruction efforts to that point, which is gratifying.
President Ma also mentioned that Japanese from all walks of life expressed their condolences following the powder explosion that occurred at the Formosa Fun Coast waterpark in northern Taiwan on June 27 of this year. The Japanese Red Cross Society provided medical resources and support, while the relevant medical organizations also recommended six professors and physicians specializing in critical care and burn treatment to visit Taiwan to provide intensive care and advice to local hospitals treating the victims. The president expressed his gratitude for this show of friendship.
In discussing Taiwan-Japan relations, President Ma stated that upon taking office in 2008 he designated the relationship between Taiwan and Japan as a "special partnership" and that the two sides maintain close interaction in a wide range of fields. Japan is Taiwan's third largest trading partner and major source of foreign investment and technology, while Taiwan is Japan's fourth largest. Bilateral trade last year hit US$61.6 billion, and in September of 2011 the two countries signed the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, thus opening a new era in bilateral relations.
The president pointed out that there have been important advances in many areas of bilateral interaction. Over the past six decades the two countries have signed a total of 58 agreements, with 25 of them, or 43%, signed in the past seven years alone. One example, an open skies agreement, has not only boosted the number of flights between Taiwan and Tokyo's two airports, but has also paved the way for an increase in flights to other airports. This, the president commented, has made travel between Taiwan and Japan easier for people in both countries. In addition, Japan's parliament (Diet) this year sent a 26-member delegation to take part in the ROC's Double Tenth National Day celebrations, the largest such delegation in attendance, while 17 groups from throughout Japan friendly to the ROC also joined in the celebrations. Altogether, over 170 people from Japan came to Taiwan to participate in a concrete display of the "special partnership" between Taiwan and Japan, he said.
Commenting on people-to-people exchanges in tourism and culture, the president said that there were 4.6 million tourist visits between Taiwan and Japan last year, and there may be over five million this year. In the cultural sphere, Taiwan's National Palace Museum held a special exhibition featuring treasured masterpieces from its collection in Tokyo and Fukuoka last year, attracting a total of 660,000 discrete visits. In October of next year the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum in southern Taiwan's Chiayi County will also host a much-anticipated exhibition of 160 works of Japanese imperial court art from the Tokyo National Museum and Kyushu National Museum. The renowned Takarazuka Revue, which held performances in Taiwan two years ago, returned this past August to stage 14 performances of The Rose of Versailles, and was extremely popular.
President Ma then mentioned that the ROC-Japan youth working holiday agreement has been very popular. Young people in the ROC have been so enthusiastic about the program since it was instituted in June of 2009 that the number of applicants exceeded the number of positions available. As a result, bilateral negotiations were held to address the situation and the number of slots in the program was increased to 5,000 annually, 2.5 times the original 2,000.
Taiwan and Japan also have frequent interaction at the local level. Examples include Mie Prefecture and New Taipei City, which have signed a tourism cooperation agreement; Gunma Prefecture has signed friendship agreements with Taichung City, Changhua County, and Kaohsiung City; Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto City, and Kaohsiung City have signed a three-way memorandum of interaction on trade, investment, tourism, and education; and Shiga Prefecture and Tainan City have signed a memorandum of interaction on economics and industry. In addition, Iwate Prefecture's Morioka Sansa Odori Festival and the Kitakami Michinoku Geino Festival are renowned at home and abroad, and the president hopes that Iwate Prefecture will form a delegation to attend related international cultural activities in Taiwan, thus promoting cultural interaction and further enhancing bilateral friendship.