President Ma Ying-jeou met with Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, at the Presidential Office on the morning of September 22. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), extended a warm welcome and appreciation to Mr. Sasakawa on his visit to Taiwan.
The president commented that 10 years ago after the September 21, 1999 earthquake Mr. Sasakawa generously donated 300 million yen to Taiwan to help in relief and reconstruction work, a gesture that deeply touched the people of Taiwan. Mr. Sasakawa is now visiting Taiwan again to participate in activities commemorating the 10th anniversary of the earthquake. His visit here symbolizes the deep strength of people-to-people friendship between the two nations, the president said.
President Ma also noted that Japan donated NT$10 million of cash and NT$100 million of rescue and relief goods after Taiwan experienced severe flooding and mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot on August 8. This assistance is helping in the reconstruction process. The president said that Taiwan's society has once again been made aware that compassion and warmth know no boundaries. President Ma noted that The Nippon Foundation is a public service organization that not only has long supported Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, but also has made an enormous contribution in preventing leprosy in Japan. The president said he also admires the foundation for sparing no effort in assisting Taiwan in carrying out leprosy prevention work.
The president said that after he was inaugurated last year, he specially designated the relationship between Taiwan and Japan as a "special partnership." He said he has actively promoted the development of bilateral relations, and many concrete achievements have been seen over the past year-plus period. President Ma pointed to the conclusion of bilateral fishing negotiations early this year, as well as the institution of a working holiday agreement between the two countries enabling youth from each nation to spend time in the other. In addition, four direct flights will be inaugurated next year between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which will be extremely beneficial in promoting tourism and commercial dealings between Taiwan and Japan, he said. President Ma furthermore said Japan recently has begun allowing the Taiwan public to write "Taiwan" as their nationality on immigration forms. Also, the ROC (Taiwan) intends to establish a new representative office in Sapporo and set up a cultural center in Tokyo in the future. President Ma said he is pleased by all of these developments, which signify that mutual trust has been established at the highest levels of government. He said he hopes that the two sides will maintain close interaction and further bolster their relationship.