The major Taiwanese newspaper China Times recently reported that Taiwanese President-Elect Tsai Ing-wen expressed her hope that she would be able to start a negotiation of the Taiwan-Japan Free Trade Agreement (FTA). She commented that Taiwan is determined to get this task done. Tsai made this comment when meeting with Mikio Sasaki, Council Chairman of the Interchange Association Japan (IAJ), which acts as the non-official Japanese Embassy in Taiwan. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has long maintained a close and interactive relationship with Japan. Tsai suggested that Japan can actively participate in her “Five Major Innovation Industries Initiative,” which includes green energy, precision machinery, biotechnology, Internet of Things (IoT) and the defense industry. She also said that Japan can work jointly with Taiwan to develop the Indian and Southeast Asian markets. Mikio Sasaki expressed his agreement on strengthening the relationship between Japan and Taiwan. He thought that Taiwan and Japan are highly complementary in industrial development.
Source: China Times, March 8, 2016
http://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20160308006494-260407