A number of recent developments have highlighted the Japanese government's efforts to play a greater role in regional security, and Taiwan should do everything it can to support these moves.
On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reshuffled his Cabinet, while Washington and Tokyo on Saturday reached an agreement over realigning US forces stationed in Japan, as well as expanding cooperation between the US military and the Japan Self Defense Force.
As Japan continues its steady march towards becoming a "normal" member of the global com-munity, Taiwan has everything to gain from maintain-ing a robust and balanced relationship with Tokyo.
Critics are wont to describe Japan's efforts to take more responsibility for regional security as a "resurgence" of militarism, but the truth is that the days when Tokyo could survive by buying its way out of security commitments are long gone.
Koizumi's reasonable efforts to revise Japan's Constitution -- which has never been amended since its ratification in 1947 -- do not signal a return to the nationalistic militarism that consumed Japan after the country's first foray into democracy ended 75 years ago this month, when then-prime minister Hamaguchi Osachi was mortally wounded by a right-wing assassin.
What they do signal is the growing awareness in Japan that security and stability require proactive policies, and an understanding that the region's liberal democracies -- Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US -- have a natural confluence of interests.
And although Chinese ultra-nationalists and their "Greater China" lackeys rant about Japan's history of military aggression in World War II, these critics would do well to remember that it is China that has fought in four international conflicts since 1945 -- against South Korea and the UN, India, the Soviet Union and Vietnam -- and is now the world's most rapidly modernizing military power.
The facts simply do not indicate a resurgence of Japanese imperialism. But they do indicate a healthy skepticism about the intentions of the authoritarian regimes in Beijing and Pyongyang.
Japan, for all of its faults, is a liberal democracy with a government that is responsible to the people. Media outlets like to describe prominent Koizumi Cabinet officials -- such as newly appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe -- as hawks, but again, the facts simply do not support such a description.
For instance, Abe is best known for his outspoken criticism of the bloodthirsty North Korean regime -- which is not simply the provenance of hawks. He is also known for demanding an accounting of the num-erous Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang's agents, as well as for his staunch support of the 45-year-old US-Japan security alliance.
It is hardly odd for a Japanese politician to be wary of North Korea. The Japanese shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi was famously alleged to describe the Korean Peninsula as "a dagger pointing at the heart of Japan," and given the bellicosity and open hostility of the North Korean regime, it is little wonder that most modern Japanese still feel this way.
In any other country, criticizing hostile regimes would be considered common sense, not hawkish, but the unforgiving and myopic nature of Chinese and Korean nationalism refuses to countenance a Japan that is anything other than accommodating.
What the region needs is not a spineless Japan, but an alliance of democracies that have real clout to ensure that regional conflicts remain the responsibility of diplomats, not generals.
Therefore, while the US and Japan continue to search for the means to keep their security relationship healthy, responsible governments in the region should support these efforts.
And the only question for Taiwan is: "How can we help?"
On Sept. 3 in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) rolled out a parade of new weapons in PLA service that threaten Taiwan — some of that Taiwan is addressing with added and new military investments and some of which it cannot, having to rely on the initiative of allies like the United States. The CCP’s goal of replacing US leadership on the global stage was advanced by the military parade, but also by China hosting in Tianjin an August 31-Sept. 1 summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which since 2001 has specialized
In an article published by the Harvard Kennedy School, renowned historian of modern China Rana Mitter used a structured question-and-answer format to deepen the understanding of the relationship between Taiwan and China. Mitter highlights the differences between the repressive and authoritarian People’s Republic of China and the vibrant democracy that exists in Taiwan, saying that Taiwan and China “have had an interconnected relationship that has been both close and contentious at times.” However, his description of the history — before and after 1945 — contains significant flaws. First, he writes that “Taiwan was always broadly regarded by the imperial dynasties of
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will stop at nothing to weaken Taiwan’s sovereignty, going as far as to create complete falsehoods. That the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has never ruled Taiwan is an objective fact. To refute this, Beijing has tried to assert “jurisdiction” over Taiwan, pointing to its military exercises around the nation as “proof.” That is an outright lie: If the PRC had jurisdiction over Taiwan, it could simply have issued decrees. Instead, it needs to perform a show of force around the nation to demonstrate its fantasy. Its actions prove the exact opposite of its assertions. A
A large part of the discourse about Taiwan as a sovereign, independent nation has centered on conventions of international law and international agreements between outside powers — such as between the US, UK, Russia, the Republic of China (ROC) and Japan at the end of World War II, and between the US and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since recognition of the PRC as the sole representative of China at the UN. Internationally, the narrative on the PRC and Taiwan has changed considerably since the days of the first term of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic
RSS