There is at present no cooperation between the armed forces of Taiwan and Japan. However, as the threat to Taiwan from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) increases by the day, existing communication and exchange mechanisms between Taiwan, Japan and the US could be leveraged to bring about a trilateral de facto military alliance between the three nations.
Japanese organizational theorist Kenichi Ohmae, in a Jan. 26 article published in the Japanese-language news magazine News Post Seven,wrote that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is exhibiting the behavior of an unalloyed fascist dictator.
Referencing the near-daily incursions into Taiwan’s sovereign airspace by Chinese military aircraft, Ohmae called on the Japanese government to scrap its policy of appeasement toward China.
If Japan continues down the path of appeasement, it would lead to Beijing annexing Taiwan, and Tokyo would find it impossible not to be dragged into the conflict, Ohmae wrote.
Additionally, The Japan News on Jan. 17 published an editorial titled “China’s militarism toward Taiwan thinly-veiled provocation of new US administration.”
The editorial praised the pledge of the administration of US President Joe Biden to uphold Taiwan’s security, and said that Japan cannot stand by and watch China’s military harassment of Taiwan with folded hands.
The editorial also said that Japan and other US allies would have to work more closely together and strengthen their relationships with Taiwan.
Tokyo has responded to the expansion of Chinese military power, which far exceeds the strength required to fight a war against Taiwan.
In addition to strengthening the US-Japan alliance to more adequately defend against the China threat, Tokyo is also trying to persuade Washington to provide more assistance to Taipei so that Taiwan is better able to defend itself.
In other words, Japan has understood Taiwan’s geostrategic importance within East Asia. Tokyo is also cognizant of Taiwan’s important role in the first island chain, acting as a bulwark against the expansion of China’s military power within the region.
While Taiwan does not occupy a formal place within the US-Japan alliance, all of Taiwan’s military preparations are of strategic importance to Washington and Tokyo.
The military’s long-range early-warning radar system on Leshan (樂山) in Hsinchu County or its long-range area control defensive missile system are examples.
The Leshan radar station shares a common strategic purpose with Japan’s long-range early-warning radar stations — to uphold peace in East Asia and assist in the defense of the Asia-Pacific region.
China’s behavior toward Taiwan is not just a regional security problem, it is also an existential threat to Japan.
As such, Taiwan’s national security apparatus should explore ways to adapt and expand Taiwan-US military cooperation and US-Japan military alliance frameworks into a Taiwan-Japan-US military exchange and intelligence sharing tripartite strategic relationship.
It might also be possible to elevate the relationship to a tripartite military alliance.
The situation in the Taiwan Strait is becoming more tense by the day. At the same time, Taiwan’s strategic value has never been more highly recognized. This opens the door to a deep and lasting strategic partnership between Taiwan, Japan and the US.
Yao Chung-yuan is a professor and former deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s strategic planning department.
Translated by Edward Jones
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