Japan’s national security strategy document, which is set to be published late next month, is expected to stress the importance of Taiwan’s security, and name China as a challenge to Japanese interests in alignment with NATO’s new strategic concept, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Monday.
The document is to emphasize the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait in response to Beijing’s ratcheting up of military threats against Taipei, the newspaper said, citing officials and other sources close to Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The document would guide Japan’s national security and diplomatic policy in the next 10 years. In June, NATO revised its strategic concept for the first time this decade to call China a “systemic challenge” to the alliance’s security, interests and values.
Photo: Reuters / Kyodo news
Japan’s new strategy would formulate a stance with regard to the increasing threat that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) poses to countries in China’s periphery, the Yomiuri said.
The previous document published in 2013 said that risks to the global community had been increasing due partly to Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea. It also said Taiwan-China ties contain the potential for instability.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government and the LDP agreed that the revised strategy must reflect the sense of crisis in Japan caused by Chinese coast guard intrusions into the waters near the Senkaku Islands, the newspaper said.
Taiwan and China also lay claim to the islands, which they call the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
The LDP had previously asked that the new document label China as a “severe threat” to Japanese interests, but the language would likely be dialed down due to opposition from other members of the ruling coalition, it said.
Additionally, Tokyo felt a need to acknowledge NATO’s strategic concept and US President Joe Biden’s National Security Strategy unveiled last month that identified China as “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge,” it said.
The Kishida government and a majority of LDP members believe that labeling China as a challenge is reasonable in light of Japan’s desire to deter Beijing through an alliance with the US, while at the same time seeking a constructive and stable relationship with it, the newspaper said.
In related news, 74 percent of Japanese oppose or generally oppose deploying the Japan Self-Defense Forces to defend Taiwan alongside the US military, a poll showed.
The survey showed that 22 percent of respondents support or generally support deploying the Japanese military to counter Chinese aggression against Taiwan in alliance with the US.
Seventy-six percent of respondents said they are highly concerned about the risk of Japan being attacked by a foreign power, greatly exceeding the share of respondents who felt little to no concern, the poll showed.
About 79 percent of respondents reported somewhat or greatly feeling a sense of crisis over the potential of an emergency occurring in Taiwan, it said.
The survey, conducted by the Japan Press Research Institute, was published on Nov. 13 by Jiji Press.
It was conducted from Aug. 26 to Sept, 12 and collected 2,993 responses from Japanese over 18.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated