President Tsai meets former Prime Minister Aso Taro of Japan
On the afternoon of August 8, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation led by Aso Taro, former prime minister of Japan, current member of the Japanese House of Representatives, and vice-president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP). In remarks, President Tsai stressed that Japan is an important international partner of Taiwan and that it has continued to support Taiwan's international participation in various ways. The president thanked former Prime Minister Aso for publicly praising Taiwan for our success in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizing that the World Health Organization (WHO) should not bar Taiwan from participation. The president expressed hope that Taiwan and Japan, by means of public and private sector cooperation, can together create more resilient and secure supply chains, and also that Japan will continue to support Taiwan's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) so that we can contribute to regional economic prosperity together.
A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:
I welcome you to Taiwan. Just this morning, we all attended the Ketagalan Forum, where participants discussed the challenges facing the world. I am very pleased that I can receive you all here at the Presidential Office to continue our exchange of views. Former Prime Minister Aso, I want to thank you for your speech this morning, which provided us with much encouragement and many ideas.
Former Prime Minister Aso and Diet member Suzuki Keisuke are both frequent visitors to Taiwan, and Diet member Nakanishi Kenji has also had the opportunity to visit. I want to thank all our distinguished guests for their attention to and support for Taiwan.
Over the past few years, Taiwan and Japan have supported each other through the challenges of the pandemic. With the efforts of both the public and private sectors, our partnership across many different fields has continued to deepen. Last year, for example, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Japan amounted to US$88.2 billion, an all-time high. As the pandemic subsided, two-way travel between Taiwan and Japan in 2023 amounted to 1.67 million arrivals as of this May, and I feel confident that travel between our two countries will soon reach new heights.
Japan is an important international partner of Taiwan, and it has continued to support Taiwan's international participation in various ways. I must note with deep gratitude that former Prime Minister Aso, while speaking in Japan's House of Councillors in 2020, publicly praised Taiwan for our success in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasized that the WHO should not bar Taiwan from participation. In addition, former Prime Minister Aso, via recorded video, addressed last year's Yushan Forum, where I also spoke. In his address, beside expressing support for Taiwan, he called on the international community to work together for regional stability.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the government of Japan for its many shows of support for peace in the Taiwan Strait. The G7 Hiroshima Leaders' Communiqué of this May, for example, reaffirmed that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community.
The restructuring of global supply chains and adjustments to industrial investment arrangements are important tasks to which countries around world have turned their attention. We hope that Taiwan and Japan, by means of public and private sector cooperation, can together create more resilient and secure supply chains. We also hope that Japan will continue to support Taiwan's accession to the CPTPP so that we can contribute to regional economic prosperity together.
In closing, I want to thank former Prime Minister Aso once again for leading this delegation. Each of the distinguished guests here is an important friend of Taiwan. I am certain that each of you will become more familiar with the development of Taiwanese society as a result of this trip, and that you will discover more opportunities for bilateral cooperation. Let us continue striving together for even deeper and broader cooperation.
Former Prime Minister Aso then delivered remarks, first expressing his thanks for the opportunity to visit Taiwan and participate in the Ketagalan Forum. He pointed out that the Youth Division of Japan's current ruling party the LDP has worked with counterparts in Taiwan to hold youth exchanges between the two countries. He added that the late former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, current Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, and he himself have, at various points in time, acted as director of the Youth Division, and in that role they visited and were introduced to Taiwan by the Taiwanese people. He expressed his belief that it is thanks to this longstanding tradition established by the Youth Division that Taiwan and Japan enjoy such a good relationship – one that has endured to this day.
Former Prime Minister Aso mentioned that in last year's Japan International Manga Award organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, two Taiwanese artists were awarded two of the top medals. He further observed that the Taiwanese manga Yong-Jiu Grocery Store can be seen in bookstores in Japan, while One Piece is a popular Japanese manga in Taiwan. On the topic of that long-running Japanese manga, he pointed to Luffy, the protagonist of One Piece, as an example, saying that for 20 years he has never once betrayed a friend, nor has he ever sat back and let a friend suffer. He pointed to such good interpersonal relations as the reason Luffy was recognized as captain of his ship and crew. Former Prime Minister Aso said that he hopes the relationship between Taiwan and Japan will similarly endure and grow.
Former Prime Minister Aso expressed his belief that true friends give each other a helping hand in hard times and share in each other's happiness in good times. His last visit to Taiwan, he said, was 12 years ago, and on today's visit he voiced his sincere hope to help foster warmer, deeper relations of trust between Taiwan and Japan.
Also in attendance was Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Izumi Hiroyasu.