The security of Taiwan is directly linked with that of Japan, Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi said on Thursday, as tensions around Taiwan build up and its defenses are increasingly overshadowed by China’s military might.
The comments from a Cabinet minister known for his close ties to Taipei came a week after China sent 28 warplanes near Taiwan, in the latest ratcheting up of military pressure around the nation, 110km from Japan at its nearest point.
“The peace and stability of Taiwan are directly connected to Japan, and we are closely monitoring ties between China and Taiwan, as well as Chinese military activity,” Kishi said in an interview.
Photo: Bloomberg
“As China strengthens its military, its balance with Taiwan is tipping heavily to the Chinese side,” he said, adding that the gap is widening every year.
Taiwan is crucial for Tokyo, with the Luzon Strait to the south of Japan an important shipping lane for the energy tankers that resource-poor Japan relies on to power its economy.
On April 17, Kishi visited Yonaguni, the nearest Japanese island to Taiwan, and the Fuji News Network reported him as saying days later at a ruling party seminar that if Taiwan “turns red,” the situation might change drastically, and Japan needs to be ready for that.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the comments reckless and irresponsible.
The younger brother of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Kishi was among a group of lawmakers who visited Taipei last year to convey condolences over the death of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
Taiwan has become an increasingly important topic for the US and its allies, many of whom are concerned about China’s growing assertiveness near the country, whose semiconductor industry has become a linchpin of the global supply chain.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and US President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait following their April summit, the first mention of the issue in a joint statement since 1969.
In the same statement, Japan, whose pacifist constitution leaves it heavily dependent on the US for its “nuclear umbrella,” vowed to bolster its own defense capabilities.
In other news, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi yesterday said that Japan would soon give Taiwan a second donation of 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccines would arrive by the middle of next month, Motegi told a news conference, three weeks after Japan donated 1.24 million doses to Taiwan.
The donations are a gesture of gratitude for Taiwan’s aid to Japan in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, Motegi said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei issued a statement, thanking Japan for its generosity.
Additional reporting by CNA
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS