The Taipei-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research recently announced that a delegation from the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies (JFSS) think tank, led by JFSS secretary-general Reiko Nagano, had visited the institute earlier this month.
The delegation included former Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force chief of staff Kiyofumi Iwata, former Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force chief of staff Tomohisa Takei and former Japanese Air Materiel Command commander Oue Sadamasa.
The JFSS announced that next month, it would hold in Tokyo a simulation of a military conflict across the Taiwan Strait. Two simulations have been held since the first in August 2021 and only involved the US and Japan, but the upcoming one would, for the first time, involve Taiwan.
This is significant in that it would be the first unofficial war game simulation between the US, Japan and Taiwan.
A private organization focused on diplomacy and defense strategy, the JFSS also specializes in analyzing international relations and Japanese politics, economy, military and technology as national policies. Composed of retired generals from the Japanese Ministry of Defense and experts from academia, industry and the government, the JFSS has influence and is also important for Taiwan.
Even though Taiwan and Japan do not have official diplomatic relations, on Taiwan’s Reports on Foreign Visits Web site, there have been official reports of the army sending serving military personnel to the institute for exchanges. This is enough to show that the JFSS has not only played the critical role of communicator between Taiwan and Japan, but is also a branch of the Japanese government.
In 2020, the institute published Shattering China’s Ambition to encourage further collaboration between Taiwan and Japan on countering Beijing and to build a shared defense strategy against a bellicose neighbor.
Given that the unofficial war game simulation between the US, Japan and Taiwan would serve as a precursor for official war games, as well as for joint operations and military cooperation, the government should mobilize civil power to support military operations and make preparations as soon as possible.
First, Taiwan needs to establish a hotline for maritime patrols, the navy and air force. As Taiwan’s and Japan’s air defense identification zone and exclusive economic zone overlap to a large extent, both should establish hotlines to deal with emergencies and unexpected scenarios.
Second, Taiwan should emulate the US in reinforcing collaboration between military institutions. As Taiwan’s army and several US military units are now sister troops, and Taiwanese military personnel are often sent to the US for exchanges and training, Taiwan should follow the US’ footsteps and step up collaboration with Japan. As joint military exercises between the US armed forces and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces have become common, Taiwan should not lag behind in this respect.
Third, Taiwan should promote civil-military collaborations. By promoting cooperation between Taiwan’s and Japan’s civil-military organizations, such as shooting associations, defense media networks, think tanks and military associations, the two nations can develop stronger ties and solidarity.
As one of the winners of World War II and a former colony of Japan, Taiwan should let go of any residual enmity for Japan during the colonial period and focus on the imminent threat to freedom and democracy from the Chinese Communist Party.
Let us hope for a joint military exercise between Taiwan, Japan and the US to keep China at bay.
Chu-Ke Feng-yun is a university assistant professor. He blogs about military affairs.
Translated by Rita Wang
The most troubling message coming out of Washington for Taipei is not any single statement but the cumulative effect of a series of signals suggesting that US President Donald Trump is rethinking Taiwan’s strategic value while viewing the US-China relationship through the lens of a transactional great-power bargain. The danger behind Trump’s new softness toward Beijing is a potential US-China bargain that undermines Taiwan’s core interests. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) recent state visit to Washington, Trump and Xi appeared to rewrite the history of World War II. In a Sept. 25 fact sheet on Xi’s visit, the White House said,
The official English name for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) campaign is “the Taipei Current.” It comes from the Chinese term yangliu (洋流), a direct translation of which would be “ocean current,” using the last character of Shen’s name, yang (洋, “ocean”). The Chinese term is a reference to the 2018 campaign for Kaohsiung mayor that swept a hitherto marginal player within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who is now legislative speaker, whose successful campaign then was termed the “Han Wave” (韓流). Shen’s usage of the Chinese term is intentional.
Early this month, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held two large election campaign rallies in Taichung and New Taipei City on the same day. However, KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) was marginalized at the rallies. Cheng shouted herself hoarse campaigning onstage for the mayoral candidates, but neither candidate was onstage at the time. In the morning of that day, the KMT’s Taichung mayoral candidate, Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), entered the venue accompanied by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜). That afternoon, the party’s New Taipei City
China’s revised National Defense Mobilization Law took effect on Oct. 1, allowing the government to mobilize civilians and redirect resources for military purposes, and ensures a rapid transition from peacetime to wartime. It has a wide scope of “national interests” pretexts, which would likely be used against Taiwan. The amendment incorporates Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “Military-Civil Fusion” principle into law, and stipulates that once the state initiates national defense mobilization, “the people’s governments at or above the county level may expropriate and requisition civilian resources,” and “all organizations and individuals shall have the obligation to accept the lawful expropriation and
RSS