The lack of a mechanism to facilitate direct security dialogue between Taiwan, Japan and the US is a major concern, the president of a Taiwanese think tank said on Sunday at the conclusion of a two-day tabletop war games event held in Japan.
The event was the first unofficial collaborative effort of its kind between the three countries since the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies first organized the exercise in August 2021.
The simulation focused on an attack and blockade of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and on the battlefield management and collaborative defense mechanisms that would be put in place should a conflict break out in the Taiwan Strait.
After participating in this year’s event, Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) of the Taipei-based Prospect Foundation told the Central News Agency that a security mechanism for communications between Taiwan and Japan was currently “almost nonexistent.”
Citing Saturday’s tabletop war games as an example, Lai said events such as simulated humanitarian evacuation efforts were carried out in more of an ad hoc manner, which resulted in many problems and difficulties.
He highlighted President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) call in 2019 that direct high-level security talks between Taiwan and Japan were crucial.
Through the tabletop simulation, Lai said he also learned how the Japanese government took many different matters into consideration when making decisions, which is contrary to the perception among some Taiwanese officials that Taipei would simply follow the US’ directions.
During the simulation, the Taiwan side was led by Lai, with Taiwanese observers including Institute for National Defense and Security Research chairman Huoh Shoou-yeh (霍守業), deputy CEO Lee Ting-sheng (李廷盛) and Defense Strategy and Resources Division director Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲).
Asked about establishing a security dialogue mechanism between Taiwan, Japan and the US, Japanese Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Kihara Minoru told a news conference that Japan and the US have an alliance, the biggest problem is the lack of a formal relationship between Japan and Taiwan.
Minoru, who acted as Japanese defense minister during the two-day tabletop war games, said various exchanges had still been carried out through the Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council, although at an unofficial capacity due to the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
It is important for Japan, the US and Taiwan to formulate a security dialogue mechanism, he said, adding that everyone involved would seek an appropriate time to address the issue.
The US side was represented by Kevin Maher, the former head of the Office of Japan Affairs at the US Department of State, who acted as the country’s president during the war game simulation.
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