Hsieh lauds Taiwan-Japan 'cycle of kindness' during tenure

Tokyo, Aug. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's top representative to Japan, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who left his post on Wednesday after eight years of service in Japan, believes his promotion of a "cycle of kindness" between the two countries has been his major accomplishment in office.

Hsieh, who assumed the post in June 2016 soon after former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) became president, was scheduled to return to Taiwan on Wednesday after being tapped as an advisor to President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

Speaking to CNA during a recent interview prior to his departure, the 78-year-old former premier said he pledged to promote a "cycle of kindness" between Taiwan and Japan as he took up the post, and now, eight years later, he considered his promise fulfilled.

"I've been doing my best to put the 'cycle of kindness' concept into practice and spread it to every corner of Japan," Hsieh said.

One of the best examples of the "cycle of kindness" was Japan's decision to donate to Taiwan more than 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines when Taiwan and the world were struggling to contain the pandemic.

The donation was made as a response to Taiwan's generosity in donating about US$260 million in relief and reconstruction aid to Japan in the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the most offered by any country.

Hsieh was the one of the key figures responsible for pushing Tokyo on vaccine donations when Taiwan needed them most.

A photo of him on June 4, 2021, bowing 90 degrees in pouring rain to send off a plane carrying the first shipment of 1.24 million vaccine doses to Taiwan is widely remembered in both Taiwan and Japan.

When China announced it would ban imports of pineapples grown in Taiwan, it was also Japan that decided to buy more Taiwanese pineapples to help make up some of the shortfall, he said.

Hsieh believed that these goodwill gestures between Taiwan and Japan could serve as a model for the world.

"To achieve peace around the globe, we need this cycle of kindness to be spread worldwide," he said.

The cycle of kindness has also extended from the central governments of the two sides to local governments and the two countries' parliaments, according to Hsieh.

Currently 356 local governments from Japan and Taiwan have established sisterhood relationships.

His representative office has also regularly arranged local government-level council meetings, including a Taiwan-Japan Summit organized by the Tainan City Council from July 29 to 30 that was attended by 433 representatives from Japan, he said.

With this reciprocity in helping each other out and the development of a strong bond between the two peoples, a growing number of Japanese have positive impressions of Taiwan.

According to a survey released by Taiwan's representative office in Japan on Dec. 18, 2023, 76.6 percent of the survey's Japanese respondents said they felt close to Taiwan and considered it the Asian area they were most familiar with.

The favorable impression of Taiwan among Japanese citizens has continued to rise since 2016, as indicated by the annual survey conducted by his office, Hsieh said.

At the governmental level, Hsieh thanked late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for their staunch support of Taiwan in the international arena.

During Abe and Suga's tenures, they repeatedly affirmed the importance of maintaining cross-strait peace and warned China not to use force to resolve the Taiwan issue, according to Hsieh.

"It is because of their insistence that the idea of cross-strait peace has been spreading around the world, which is very important for Taiwan," he said.

On the economic front, the envoy said Taiwanese contract chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) officially opened an advanced wafer fab in Japan's Kumamoto in February.

The project will not only help address Japan's supply chain problems but also gave Taiwan an additional stronghold in the world, he added.

Hsieh's successor has yet to be named, but local media reports have said Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), a former Examination Yuan vice president will be filling the vacancy.