Sun, Jul 31, 2022 page1

• Brute force gaining traction in Pacific, Japan official warns

  • Reuters, WASHINGTON
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  Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed alarm about China’s behavior in the Indo-Pacific region during a visit to Washington on Friday, saying the “logic of brute force” was gaining more traction over the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific.

  In a speech at a Washington think tank, Hayashi referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said such moves should never be allowed elsewhere.

  He said it was essential that it go down as “clear failure,” or other countries would attempt to change the status quo by force.

  

  The U.S. and Japan flags fly together outside the White House in Washington April 27, 2015.

  Photo: Reuters

  Referring to Chinese and Russian joint bomber flights near Japan in May, Hayashi said stronger military coordination between China and Russia was emerging as a security concern.

  “We are currently standing at a historical crossroads, one fraught with a sense of crisis,” he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We are facing a watershed moment.”

  “Even in this region, the logic of brute force is gaining more traction over the rule of law, and the strategic balance in the region is increasingly a challenge for Japan and the US,” he said, referring to the Indo-Pacific region.

  

  Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Koichi Hagiuda speaks as Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo listen during a joint news conference at the US-Japan Economic Policy Consultative Committee (EPCC) meeting at the State Department in Washington on Friday.

  Photo: AFP

  Hayashi said “ongoing unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East and South China seas” were of growing concern and referenced mounting China-Taiwan tension by saying that stability across Taiwan Strait was of “extreme importance.”

  Hayashi said it was essential to maintain a “high-level, candid dialogue” with Beijing, and that cooperation was important in other concerns such as climate change and North Korea.

  Hayashi said there was an urgent need to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance, and said the Japanese government planned to substantially increase defense budgets and fundamentally bolster defense capabilities within five years.

  Hayashi said it was necessary to keep “counterstrike capabilities” on the table.

  He also said it was crucial that the credibility of US deterrence be strengthened — a reference to the US nuclear weapons umbrella that protects allies including Japan — while calling on China, which he said was “rapidly building up its nuclear force in an opaque manner,” to take part in efforts to reduce nuclear risk.

  Hayashi attended a launch of a new high-level economic dialogue on Friday aimed at pushing back against China and countering the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

  The US and Japan agreed to establish a new joint research center for next-generation semiconductors during the so-called economic “two-plus-two” ministerial meeting in Washington, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Koichi Hagiuda said.

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Hayashi and Hagiuda also discussed energy and food security, the officials said at a news conference.

  “As the world’s first and third-largest economies, it is critical that we work together to defend the rules-based economic order, one in which all countries can participate, compete and prosper,” Blinken told the opening session.

  Hagiuda also said that “Japan will quickly move to action” on next generation semiconductor research, and that Washington and Tokyo had agreed to launch a “new R&D organization” to establish a secure source of the vital components.

  The research hub would be open for other “like minded” countries to participate in, he said.

  Blinken was also asked about the telephone call between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Thursday.

  “This is part of our effort to make sure that we maintain and deepen lines of communication with China to responsibly manage the many differences that we have and to work together wherever it is that our interests align,” Blinken said.

  Regarding Taiwan, Biden “underscored that our policy has not changed. The United States strongly opposes any unilateral efforts to change the status quo or to undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

  In response to media query on whether Japan is making any security plans for a potential Taiwan crisis, Hayashi referred to the Joint Declaration regarding Taiwan made at a summit between Japan and the US in May

  “The basic approach to Taiwan has not been changed,” Hayashi said. “Taiwan Strait peace and prosperity is important. [It] remains the same.”

  Additional reporting by staff writer
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