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US, Japan keeping one step ahead of China

Almost 10 years after the "US-Japan Joint Declaration on Security" was issued in 1996, a meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of these two countries was held in Washington on Feb. 19.

The latest ministerial talks between Japan and the US took the initiative to respond to Beijing's "anti-secession law" by announcing the most significant change to the two countries' security alliance in a decade: Japan joined the Bush administration in identifying security in the Taiwan strait as a "common strategic objective."

The Japanese government even brought its ambiguous "emergency defense plan in its surrounding area" to an end.

Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima pointed out in a press conference after the meeting that the US-Japan joint declaration on security will include not only Japan, but also the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan and the northern Pacific Ocean.

Takashima then emphasized that the declaration was jointly drafted by the US and Japan without any pressure from a third party.

From Takashima's statement, the US and Japan have reached a "tacit" consensus on cross-strait issues.

The significance of the US-Japan security alliance lies not only in its reaction to Beijing's "anti-secession law," but more importantly, it directly rebuked Beijing for its threats to use force against Taiwan and indirectly rejected China's one-sided claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.

If these assumptions were false, why would China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs react by publicly announcing that it opposes interference by the US and Japan in China's internal affairs?

China regards the Taiwan issue as a domestic affair, and the US and Japan, on the other hand, regard cross-strait security as a joint security concern. The problem cannot be expressed more clearly.

This is a complete embodiment of the internationalization of cross-strait security. Before Beijing has even implemented its "anti-secession law," the US and Japan have taken one step further by using this joint declaration to counterbalance it. Therefore, the Beijing government should really give its cross-strait policies a thorough review.

The people of Taiwan welcome the joint declaration on security, and China's anger tells more than half the story. Interestingly, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that the declaration holds both advantages and disadvantages for Taiwan.

The advantages are too obvious to mention, but what are the disadvantages?

Ma did not give details, but according to some lawmakers of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) quoted in the local Chinese-language media, Ma is concerned that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and pro-independence groups might harbor a false belief that Taiwan has won Japan's protection. Therefore, we can deduce that Ma believes that the cross-strait issue should be resolved by China and Taiwan, without the intervention of a third party.

Why do Ma and the opposition parties advocate that Taiwan should not be supported by the international community?

Why would Japan's protection of Taiwan be "advantageous" to the DPP and pro-independence groups? The reason is that the DPP has managed to stay in power, while the KMT-PFP alliance has failed to regain power.

Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti
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