Taiwan and Japan should seek to normalize official ties in the face of a rising China, whose communist dictatorship poses a great threat to security in the Asia-Pacific region, former president Lee Teng-hui (
Speaking at "The Future of the Asia Pacific" forum held by the Taiwan Advocates think tank, of which Lee is chairman, the former president said both Japan and Taiwan are on the frontlines of problems accompanying the rise of China, ranging from traditional security threats to non-traditional issues such as environmental devastation, competition for energy resources and outbreaks of disease.
Lee likened communist China and its dictatorship to "cancer cells" that helped to spread problems across borders, including cases such as the outbreak of SARS two years ago.
He said that although the US was the largest stabilizing force in Asia, the region faces other challenges that fall outside of the US' focus. Japan could take the lead in stamping out problems -- ranging from environmental protection to disease prevention, he said.
Lee said Taiwan is the best partner for Japan to cooperate with in doing this because of "similarities in values."
However, Lee said, exchanges between Japan and Taiwan are active only on the private level, with government-to-government contact remaining insufficient.
"Japan and Taiwan should normalize their relations in order to deal with the problems Asia faces. The Japanese government should honestly recognize the very existence of Taiwan and develop normal government-to-government relations. This is the key step toward Asia's future," Lee said.
Addressing an audience of Japanese and Taiwanese academics in the keynote speech of the two-day conference, Lee spoke for two hours in his native Japanese. The former president was born when Taiwan was still a colony of Japan, and was later educated in Japan and the US.
He said Taiwan's absence from strategic talks by the US-Japan security alliance contradicts the alliance's goal of covering the so-called "unstable arc" from the Middle East to Northeast Asia.
Commenting on the alliance's declaration in February that peace in the Taiwan Strait would be considered a "common strategic objective," Lee said "it is very unreasonable that Taiwan is excluded from talks concerning the security surrounding Taiwan."
Taiwan had been left out because "the US and Japan don't want to irritate Beijing," he said, adding that Taiwan's exclusion would be a dangerous threat to the alliance.
"Taiwan is the biggest flashpoint in the security arc from Asia to the Middle East. If the security of Taiwan weakens, it will significantly dent the security strength of the alliance and will be a deadly blow to the security of Japan," Lee said.
He added that since the "common strategic objective" of the alliance was to react to a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan, there was no need for the US and Japan to bow to Chinese pressure.
While calling the Japanese government to develop normal official relations with Taiwan, Lee said the Japanese government's claim that "Taiwan is part of China" is unacceptable and is an ethical stain on Japan.
Lee was referring to Japan's Ministry of Justice's categorizing Taiwanese nationality under China, and its education ministry's approval of school text books that designate Taiwan as being part of Chinese territory.
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