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Forum addresses Taiwan-Japan ties

Experts from Taiwan and Japan proposed ways to enhance cooperation in the face of the rise of China, which they said was a bigger threat than North Korea to the Asia-Pacific region, at a forum on Taiwan-Japan relations yesterday in Taipei.

"North Korea's test-firing of missiles into the Sea of Japan put the region's development under a great shadow. Taiwan, like Japan, is also under a missile threat," said Chang King-yuh (張京育), chairman of the Foundation on International and Cross-Strait Studies.

Chang said that whether China could participate in creating regional peace as a responsible stakeholder was of concern to the world.

"In this regard, the theme of this year's Taiwan-Japan Forum is the role of China and its influence on Asia," he said.

Given that China is at a crossroad, Taiwan and Japan, which share the universal values of democracy, freedom and human rights, should play the role of a "maritime pilot" and guide China into a "democratic harbor" and an "open society," he said.

The US and Japan have been strengthening cooperation in maintaining regional stability in recent years, and the cross-strait issue was incorporated into their strategic objectives during their annual "two plus two" talks last February.

Morimoto Satoshi, a professor in the Faculty of International Development at Takushoku University, said in his presentation that cooperation mechanisms such as the East Asia Community (EAC) would not be sufficient to ensure regional peace.

EAC is a Japan-sponsored plan which is to be built under ASEAN Plus Three -- the three being Japan, China and South Korea.

"We can only resort to enhancing our alliances and building up our own national defense capability to cope with the potential threat [from China]," Satoshi said.

Alexander Huang (黃介正), director of the Graduate Institute of American Studies at Tamkang University, suggested three points to be addressed jointly by Taiwan and Japan: the establishment of a missile defense system, enhancing regional anti-submarine capabilities and ensuring maritime security for transporting energy supplies.

Huang also responded to Satoshi's call to establish an alliance between Taiwan and Japan.

"Given that the US and Taiwan have the annual Monterey Talks, and Japan and the US have annual two plus two talks, Taiwan and Japan should have set up regular talks," he said.

Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), an associate professor of political science at Soochow University, said the main factor that would destroy the balance of the region would be China taking Taiwan, which he said would impact on the US' and Japan's strategy in the region.

Aside from this, given that Taiwan would likely be marginalized in the international economic arena, it should be a priority for Japan to think of how to help Taiwan in this regard, Lo said.

In his speech to the forum, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that Taiwan-Japan relations should not be established based on Japan-China relations -- which have been worsening -- and should not be used as a bargaining chip for Japan and China to improve their relations.

"Cooperation between Taiwan and Japan should start with how to protect our people's lives and our nations' interests, as well as intensifying bilateral economic integration," Su said.
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