US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi this week before his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) later signaled Washington’s priority focus on East Asian security, a Taiwanese defense analyst told an event in Tokyo on Sunday, adding that the Trump-Takaichi meeting could also deepen Washington’s security commitments along the first island chain.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s Defense Strategy and Resource Research Institute, made the comment at an event hosted by the Taiwanese Association in Japan.
Taiwan should pay attention to whether Trump makes additional commitments to enhance the security of US allies in the first island chain during his meeting with Takaichi, Su said.
Taiwan should demonstrate the seriousness with which the nation takes the collective security of the Indo-Pacific region, as well as its own self-defense, instead of passively benefiting from US security arrangements, he said.
News that Japan is interested in collaborating with the US in Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense and missile production proposals is a positive development with strategic implications for Taiwan, he said.
Japan is confronting the increased threat from North Korean ballistic missiles, and its interest in intelligence and technology cooperation with the US would improve regional missile defense, Su said.
US-Japan collaboration in missile defense would indirectly benefit Taiwan, as the US has some of the most sophisticated advanced radar warning systems in the world that could share intelligence with regional allies, he said.
A joint US-Japan Patriot missile production scheme would help minimize costs and the delays associated with US arms deliveries to Taiwan, he said.
The US is capable of producing 600 Patriot missiles a year, but plans to boost that number to 2,000 a year, Su said.
If Germany and Japan open additional assembly lines, the production volume could meet global demand for inceptors, he said.
Takaichi’s efforts to link Japan’s national security with peace in the Taiwan Strait, boost Japan’s air defense capabilities and play a larger role in the regional security framework are evidence of a keen geostrategic insight, Su said.
Her move to meet with Trump before he meets with Xi also emphasizes Japan’s importance to the Indo-Pacific region, he said.
Takaichi has flexibility in implementing her policy to counter China’s ambitions, forgoing high-profile declarations in favor of demonstrating Japan’s resilience with pragmatic and meaningful action, he said.
Su disagreed with views of other commentators that the conflict in Iran would weaken the US in the Indo-Pacific region, saying that Trump likely seeks to deal with the Middle East before shifting resources to focus on East Asia.
US deployment of air defense systems and Marines from South Korea and Japan to the Middle East, and requests for the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean navies to help secure the Hormuz Strait are indicative of a well-thought-out strategy on Trump’s part, he said.
Countering China’s rise in the Indo-Pacific region remains Washington’s most important strategic objective, he said.
Trump’s request that China escort ships in the Hormuz Strait presses it to share responsibility for global security, Su added.
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