Nearly 60 percent of Japanese agreed with the idea of their country offering logistical support to the US if the US had to assist Taiwan militarily in a showdown with China, according to the results of a Japanese poll released yesterday.
In the survey conducted by the Japanese Asahi Shimbun daily on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, 57 percent of the 3,000 respondents said Japan’s self-defense forces should provide transportation and other logistical support to the US military if war were to break out in the Taiwan Strait.
Only 30 percent of respondents opposed the idea.
In a parallel poll conducted in the US by Harris Interactive for the newspaper from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, for the same question, 65 percent of the 1,009 respondents said Japanese self-defense forces should assist the US logistically, while 23 percent said there was no such need.
MILITARY THREAT
The Asahi survey in Japan also found that an increasing number of Japanese feel that China’s military poses a threat to their country. About 32 percent of respondents felt that way in this year’s poll, up from 13 percent in 2005 and 8 percent in 2001.
North Korea was perceived as Japan’s biggest military threat, with almost half (49 percent) of the respondents citing it as such.
About 72 percent of the Japanese respondents felt Japan should strengthen cooperation with the US, and 61 percent of the Americans felt their country should do the same with Japan, according to the surveys.
The polls also found that 51 percent of the Japanese respondents and 55 percent of the Americans surveyed thought their countries should beef up cooperation with China.
On which country is more -important to the Japanese — China or the US — more than two-thirds (68 percent) of Japanese said the US, compared with a mere 15 percent who pointed to China.
However, when Americans were asked which country was more important to them, half of the US respondents named China and only 33 percent said Japan.
As many as 78 percent of Japanese respondents said the -Japan-US security treaty should be maintained and 68 percent of the Americans agreed.
With China boosting its military capability, 48 percent of those surveyed in Japan said their country should increase its military presence in its southwestern islands to respond to the threat, while 36 percent opposed the suggestion.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military