Taiwan, Japan sign agreement on aviation safety+

TAIPEI, May 5 (Kyodo) - Taiwan and Japan signed an aviation safety agreement Monday that will facilitate joint investigations into aviation accidents and the exchange of related technical knowledge, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said.

Chen Hung-chi, director of the ministry's Association of East Asia Relations, which manages Taiwan's ties with Japan, and Tadashi Ikeda, Japan's top representative in Taiwan, signed the pact Monday afternoon in Taipei, a ministry press release said.

"The main purpose of the agreement is to strengthen bilateral ties, information exchange and aviation safety," said Peter Tsai, director of the ministry's Committee on Japanese Affairs.

The agreement follows an increase in flights between Taiwan and Japan, which exchange millions of tourists yearly.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways began directly operating routes between Taiwan and Japan last month.

JAL and ANA phased out their respective subsidiaries in Taiwan, Japan Asia Airways and Air Nippon Co., and now operate routes between Taiwan and Japan directly in a move that is expected to boost passenger traffic.

Incidents involving China Airlines, Taiwan's main carrier, in Japan have also underscored the need for cooperation on aviation safety.

In August last year, a China Airlines passenger jet burst into flames on the tarmac of Okinawa Province's main civilian airport amid a frantic evacuation.

Nobody was injured in the fire and explosion, which split and gutted the jet's fuselage.

A joint investigation by Japan and Taiwan revealed that a lose bolt caused a fuel leak that led to the fire.

A spokesperson for Japan's Interchange Association, the country's de facto mission in Taiwan in the absence of official ties, could not be reached for comment on the agreement Monday.