Tue, Jul 24, 2001 page3

• Taiwan and Japan `silent allies'

  SECURITY Scholars examined the kind of military cooperation the two nations are likely to engage in and said there was little chance of establishing formal ties

  • By Monique Chu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Concrete military cooperation between Taiwan and Japan is possible although the cooperation would have to be "silent" and unofficial, given the lack of formal ties between the two countries, scholars from Japan and Taiwan said yesterday.

  There is little likelihood "that the Japan Maritime Self Defense forces and the ROC Navy will be able to cooperate with each other in any formal way," Naoyuki Agawa, professor from Keio University, Japan, argued in his paper, Japan's Role in a Changing East Asia.

  Given the geographical proximity between the two areas in which the Japanese and Taiwanese navies operate, they can provide "adequate deterrence against China and other types of threats for both," Agawa argued.

  "Together, we keep the sea lanes open and safe around our respective islands ... we are perhaps silent allies across the sea," continued the paper, delivered at a seminar yesterday morning titled "Taiwan and Japan in the Changing Asia-Pacific Region."

  In an interview published in the Washington Times recently, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) called for the joint development of missile defenses between Taiwan, the US and Japan. However, scholars said it was unlikely that Chen's proposal would be formally implemented.

  "Under the current circumstances and framework, I don't think there will ever be a formal tie," Agawa said.

  Agawa said his idea of a "silent alliance" between Taipei and Tokyo was like the US-Japan defense cooperation of the 1980s, which was based on a clear and unspoken understanding between the two sides.

  "Our silent alliance was with NATO at that time, with Russia in the middle. We didn't have any particular arrangement with the NATO countries. But we were deterring the Soviet Union from the east, and the NATO countries were deterring the Soviet Union from the west," Agawa said.

  "In that sense, maybe we can begin to talk about deterrence against China with everybody playing certain roles, including India, Taiwan and Japan," Agawa added.

  The idea of a "silent alliance" in military terms prompted further discussion at the seminar, with some mapping out measures as to how the objective could be realized.

  Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), a political analyst at National Chengchi University, said both sides should start with "joint rescue operations that involve coast guards, with military interests in mind" if joint maritime military operations to keep sea lanes open remained too sensitive.

  Other proposals by Wu included the dispatch of high-level service officers from both sides to observe each other's military exercises, regular exchanges between Taiwan's National Defense University and its Japanese counterpart, and direct communications at all levels between the two countries' militaries.

  Agawa said that although Japan's military had been in contact with Taiwan's, this was done in a "silent" manner.

  Hidenori Ijiri, a professor from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, said "the second track" was perhaps the best option for cooperation between the two sides.

  "Second track diplomacy" involves diplomatic efforts made unofficially by opinion leaders, academics and activist citizens.

  Wu also urged a change of tack within the Japanese foreign ministry when dealing with Taiwan issues.

  Wu said Taiwan had experienced "a lot of frustration" when dealing with Japan's foreign ministry, because the ministry gave prior concern to reactions from Beijing in almost all Taiwan-related issues.

  "The most important thing for Japan in treating Taiwan as a silent ally will be to think of Taiwan as a real ally, and that will require efforts on the part of Japan's foreign ministry officials to develop a new mindset," Wu said.
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