Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s rise to power marks the beginning of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) era. How will this affect Taiwan-Japan relations?
After President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took power on May 20 last year, the relationship between Taiwan and Japan was soon on the verge of breakdown.
The problem began with concerns in the Japanese media over Ma’s anti-Japan and pro-China attitude, and continued with the sinking of a Taiwanese trawler off the Diaoyutai islets in June, which ignited strong public sentiment in Taiwan, bringing bilateral relations to their lowest point since Taiwan severed formal diplomatic ties with Japan in 1972.
Now, more than a year later, it is Japan’s turn to undergo a transfer of power, planting new variables in the evolving Taiwan-Japan relationship.
The DPJ is still building relations with Taiwan, but it lacks ruling experience. Even so, it is not difficult to identify three basic directions in the party’s Taiwan policy.
CENTER-LEFT
Following years of consolidation, the DPJ has drawn closer to center-left neoliberalism, both ideologically and from a policy perspective.
With the main direction of its foreign policy leaning toward Asia and distancing itself from the US, the party is stressing the deepening of relations with China.
It is to be expected, therefore, that the premise for the DPJ government’s relationship with Taiwan will be not harming relations with China.
On the other hand, experience suggests that the DPJ will not distance itself from Taiwan. The party’s platform specifically mentions the promotion of economic and cultural exchanges between Japan and Taiwan.
In addition, Hatoyama is well known for his pro-Taiwan stance. Both he and Minister of Finance Hirohisa Fujii are members of the Japan-Republic of China (ROC) Diet Members’ Consultative Council, or Nikkakon, and maintain a good relationship with Taiwan. The DPJ has also established the Japan-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Consultation Association Council.
Taiwan clearly enjoys much more exposure as an independent nation in the US — also not a diplomatic ally — than in Japan. The government of Boston, Massachusetts, for example, allows Republic of China flag-raising ceremonies in the city plaza.
PROMISE
This would be impossible in Japan. Since the Liberal Democratic Party era, Japan has sternly abided by its promise to China to act cautiously on Taiwan matters. This has to do with Japan’s history of conflict with China and the fact that Taiwan was administered as a Japanese colony before World War II.
However, because it lacks historical baggage, and because it stresses reform of decision-making organs, the DPJ is likely to develop a substantive practical relationship with Taipei.
Another major characteristic of the transforming Taiwan-Japan relationship lies in change in government personnel on both sides.
The second transfer of power in Taiwan and the DPJ’s rise to power could alter the nature of the two countries’ relationship, which used to be guided by Japan-based, pro-independence Taiwanese and anti-China, right-wing Japanese politicians.
It is worthwhile observing how this change will impact on bilateral relations.
John Lim is a Fulbright scholar at the Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies at Harvard University.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and