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.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS