Vice president meets with Taiwan-based Japanese during Hualien trip

Hualien, June 9 (CNA) Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Sunday made her first pubic trip to Hualien County after taking office on May 20, and met with a group of Japanese residents in Taiwan on a two-day trip to the area, to show their support for the county's tourism industry which has been hit hard by recent earthquakes.

During the meeting with the tour group at the Pine Garden, a former Japanese military office in Hualien City during the Japanese colonial rule, Hsiao lauded the deep friendship between Taiwan and Japan.

She said that when an earthquake occurs in Japan, Taiwan is always one of the the first to show concern, and similarly, when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Hualien on Taiwan's east coast on April 3, the Japanese government and people immediately made donations and are now taking concrete action to visit Hualien to help with post-disaster tourism recovery.

The trip was organized by Japanese nationals living in Taiwan including Kazuyuki Katayama, Japan's representative to Taiwan.

The group consisted of approximately 40 Japanese and Taiwanese, according to Katayama.

After the meeting Sunday, Hsiao told the media that following the April 3 earthquake and the aftershocks, the government immediately activated rescue operations and recovery efforts.

In the next phase, many issues including the business slowdown faced by local operators in the affected area will have to be tackled, Hsiao noted, saying that the government has been working hard to help revive local businesses in Hualien.

Many countries are also concerned about Taiwan and support Hualien, she added.

Hsiao said she personally plans to invite representatives from diplomatic missions and overseas offices in Taiwan to visit Hualien and will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to plan relevant events to help with the revitalization of local businesses.

She also expressed gratitude to Katayama for taking the lead in inviting the group to visit Hualien, saying that she hoped the photos of the beautiful scenes that they took will help attract more Japanese residents in Taiwan to travel to the county.

The daily number of visits to the Pine Garden has dropped from 300 to 30 after the April 3 earthquake, according to the garden management.

From 2010, Hsiao spent a decade in Hualien, including eight years from 2012-2020 representing the area as a legislator.