The international community must “wake up” to the worsening situation in the Taiwan Strait, former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso said yesterday in Taipei, as he reiterated the importance of peace and stability and called for concrete action to safeguard it, such as stepping up defense capabilities.
The world is gradually tilting toward a period of emergency, as global security, information and cognitive warfare, and economic security challenges are becoming more substantial, Aso said in a speech at the Ketagalan Forum.
The forum, an annual event focused on security in the Indo-
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Pacific region, was also attended by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
“The fact that these issues can be discussed in Taipei already shows the importance of the role that Taiwan plays,” said Aso, vice president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Aso said that while he was serving as foreign minister in former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s administration, the Japanese government “attached great importance to our relations with Taiwan.”
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
“Taiwan is an extremely important partner and friend, which shares universal values, such as freedom, democracy, basic human rights and the rule of law” with Japan, he said.
The two sides have formed close economic relations and people-to-people ties, he added.
Abe in 2016 proposed a free and open Indo-Pacific vision as Japan’s foreign policy, and it has been widely recognized by the international community, Aso said.
In March, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a new plan to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region during a trip to India, which “clearly expresses support for freedom and respect for diversity, inclusiveness and openness,” Aso said.
The importance of cross-strait peace and stability has been repeatedly stressed at an international level, such as in the Japan-US Joint Leaders’ Statement issued in April 2021 and the G7 summit communiques published in June 2021 and in May, he said.
G7 leaders, who gathered in Hiroshima, Japan, in May, also said that concerns and worries should be expressed to China clearly and directly in the hopes of establishing a constructive and stable relationship with Beijing, Aso said.
He added that Japan “will make use of all opportunities” to continue to stress the importance of regional peace and stability.
“The most important thing for us is that there should be no war in our region, including the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Enhancing deterrence is therefore crucial, including by improving self-defense capabilities, having the will to defend oneself and conveying these two to the opponent, he said.
Aso called on like-minded countries, such as Taiwan, Japan and the US, to “wake up now,” saying it is time to focus on full deterrence.
Japan is “making dramatic political changes” to bolster its defense capabilities, such as by approving the “three security documents” at the end of last year, acquiring long-range missiles and increasing its defense budget, he said.
The updated National Security Strategy underlines for the first time the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Aso said.
Through these practical actions, Japan can contribute to security and stability in the region and prevent war, he said.
As for Taiwan, “the people of Taiwan should have a determined will” to defend their sovereignty, as well as to maintain the nation’s prosperity, he said.
Countries around the world should also come together to improve economic resilience and economic security by countering malicious business practices, he said.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is a platform that can help with that effort, he said.
Japan has always supported Taiwan joining the partnership, he said.
He called on international society to support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, as “Taiwan can play a very important role and share [its] experiences with the world,” as it has shown in its successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tsai said that she does not take the support of Taiwan’s security partners for granted.
“While we don’t seek military confrontation and hope for a peaceful, stable and beneficial coexistence with our neighbors, Taiwan is always ready to defend its democracy and way of life,” the president said.
Later yesterday, Aso attended a luncheon hosted by Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and met Tsai at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Friends stick with each other in good times and bad, he said during the meeting with Tsai, adding that he hoped trust and relations between Japan and Taiwan would continue to deepen.
Additional reporting by AFP
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS