A Japanese lawmaker who leads the populist Sanseito party has voiced support for the concept “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency,” and called for preventing a conflict in the Taiwan Strait and stepping up Taiwan-Japan security collaborations.
During an interview published yesterday by the Central News Agency, Japanese House of Councillors member Sohei Kamiya, who is also the founder and secretary-general of Sanseito, said he agreed with the phrase “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency,” coined in 2021 by the late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
“I absolutely agree ... any conflict involving Taiwan will result in the severance of maritime travel routes, which is a life-or-death issue for Japan. We should dedicate efforts to prevent conflict, instead of inciting it,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Commenting on the lack of high-level dialogue between Taipei and Tokyo and formal diplomatic relations, Kamiya said that Sanseito hoped to increase Taiwan-Japan interaction through the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council, which he and all Sanseito members were a part of.
The party would continue to promote civilian and local collaborations between Taiwan and Japan, he said, urging more Japanese lawmakers to participate.
The party hopes to organize a delegation to Taiwan including all 18 members who currently hold seats in the upper house, he said.
Sanseito issued a formal protest with the Nagasaki City Council when it initially failed to invite Taiwan to attend the ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the city’s atomic bombing, calling it an “act of unfairness,” Kamiya said.
The party, which was founded on YouTube, has faced criticism for calling for limiting immigration and foreign capital, and its opposition to globalism and “radical” gender policies.
Kamiya said that the party was a target of criticism from traditional media, but on social media it has been received positively.
The party is focused on achieving a balance of observing national interests and maintaining international harmony, he said, adding that it is not anti-globalism, but opposes capitalist monopolies that are a result of globalism.
In a report on the July 30 Japanese House of Concillors election, the Chinese-language, state-run Global Times portrayed Sanseito as aiming to turn Japan into a military and political powerhouse.
Kamiya said that Tokyo should be alert to how China is infiltrating Japan, citing the increased number of Chinese who have received Japanese citizenship and have become active in politics.
The party, was founded in 2020 with a focus on an anti-vaccine and anti-masking policies, won its first seat in the upper house in 2022. In last month’s elections, Sanseito ran on a “Japanese First” campaign, winning 14 seats.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
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
RSS