A Japanese organization in Taipei held an alumni event on Sunday with former Taiwanese students who studied in Japan on Japanese scholarships. The organization pledges to further promote friendship between Japan and Taiwan.
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association planned the event as it marked the 50th anniversary of its founding last year. About 200 people, including former students who studied in Japan, gathered in a Taipei hotel.
Hattori Takashi is the association's vice chief. He says Japan and Taiwan have built up trust and friendship through heart-to-heart interaction.
He calls on the participants to continue to work to further deepen Japan-Taiwan relations.
Rai Hau-min gave a speech. He studied in Japan starting in 1966 and later became Chief Justice and President of Taiwan's Judicial Yuan.
30 students who are set to go and study in Japan this year were introduced to the participants.
Japan and Taiwan broke off diplomatic relations when Japan and China normalized relations in 1972. But the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association continued to provide scholarships to Taiwanese students.
More than 3,100 Taiwanese people have studied in Japan on Japanese scholarships, including those who studied on government scholarships when Japan and Taiwan had diplomatic ties.
A Taiwanese student who will study at the University of Tokyo from next month says she wants to study how Japan is tackling the problem of labor shortages in agriculture.