Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has appointed as defense minister a politician who has worked to build ties with Taiwan, yesterday’s new Cabinet lineup showed.
The choice spotlights a stronger line on defense as Kishida battles sagging ratings with his term as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) set to end next year.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the role of minister of defense went to Minoru Kihara, a pro-Taiwan politician who has visited the nation and belongs to a Japan-Taiwan inter-parliamentary group.
Photo: Reuters
Kihara would oversee the bolstering of Japan’s military as part of a plan to double defense spending by 2027. He would have to solve the question of how to fund that buildup amid rising tensions in the region over China’s military expansion and maritime disputes.
Takashi Kawakami, a security expert and professor at Takushoku University in Tokyo, said the choice of Kihara as defense minister “isn’t an anti-China move, but it does indicate a closeness with Taiwan.”
“I do think this sends a message that Japan is seeking stability in Taiwan alongside the United States,” he said.
However, one political commentator said that such ministerial roles had diminished in importance in favor of dialogue with China at the highest levels.
“Around the world, summit diplomacy has become the mainstream,” said Shigenobu Tamura, who previously worked for the LDP. “Even if the foreign and defense minister posts change, there won’t be any change or impact on Japan’s diplomatic policy.”
The Cabinet shuffle comes as Kishida, who assumed office two years ago, has seen his popularity dip in recent months after a string of scandals, including data mishaps linked to government ID cards and the arrest of a vice minister under suspicion of bribery.
In related news, Japan has appointed a serving government official to act as its de facto defense attache in Taiwan, four sources said, elevating security ties in a move likely to anger China.
Japan handles bilateral relations through the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei, which is chiefly staffed by reassigned foreign and trade ministry officials. The defense attache role has until now been held by a retired Japan Self Defense Force officer to avoid antagonizing China.
He has been joined by an official dispatched by the Japanese Ministry of Defense to enhance information gathering and communicate with Taiwan’s military, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
It is also “symbolic” of Japan’s support for Taiwan, said one of the people who know about the appointment. “Taiwan had been asking for an active duty defense official to fill the post.”
Highlighting Tokyo’s nervousness about Beijing’s reaction, the move was halted last year after a Japanese media report about the plan, the sources said.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that it would only pursue “non-governmental” ties with Taiwan.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment when asked about the new defense attache, but said it “would continue to deepen cooperation with similar-minded partners such as Japan.”
See Japanese on Page 5
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS