Prominent experts attending a Taiwan National Security Institute symposium in Taipei yesterday reacted positively to legislation pushed through by the ruling coalition in the Japanese parliament overnight on Friday authorizing overseas combat missions for that nation’s military.
Institute president Lo Fu-chen (羅福全) said the new Japanese legislation, though meeting with protests at home, has secured the support of various countries, including the US, Australia, 28 members of the EU, the 10 ASEAN members and Mongolia, indicating that they hope Tokyo’s enactment of collective defense rights would help maintain security and peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
Lo, who is a former representative to Japan, said that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave a speech at a seminar held by the institute in 2011 in which he stated that Taiwan and Japan are partners with shared values, and on July 29 Abe reiterated in the Diet that Taiwan is a crucial partner of Japan with shared values.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The bill for collective defense is “necessary to curb China’s expansionism,” Lo said.
Former representative to Japan Koh Se-kai (許世楷) said that if Taiwan does not wish to see unification with China, the new legislation could be seen as “advantageous to Taiwan’s position [in Japanese foreign policy].”
“Since most Taiwanese are against the idea of unification, [the legislation] is good news,” Koh said. “It shows that the US-Japan alliance would be stronger, and if Taiwan is to fight a forcible Chinese annexation, the nation would be able to stand with the US and Japan behind it.”
Japan Institute for National Fundamentals president Yoshiko Sakurai, who is considered to be a leading supporter of the legislation, said their passage means that Japan, which since World War II has been unilaterally under the protection of the US military, has realized that “Japan should start to act to take up the responsibilities that it should have borne.”
Sakurai told the symposium that aggressive Chinese moves in the South and East China seas, despite protests from various nations — including Japan and the US — have been facilitated by the passiveness of the administration of US President Barack Obama, which is disinclined to continue playing the role of the world’s policeman.
“It is natural for any nation, in the face of China’s threat — while continuing the effort to maintain talks — to develop its military power as a preventive measure [against possible military conflict],” Sakurai said.
“There is vociferous and swelling protest in Japan against the legislation for fear of being caught up in wars. Despite the existence of opposition, the Abe administration’s decision will actually make little change, as the approved use of collective defense rights has been extremely limited to specific circumstances,” she said.
Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director William Stanton, who is now director of National Tsing Hua University’s Center for Asia Policy, said it was “a good thing for Japan to do.”
“The US spends an enormous amount of money to keep troops in [South] Korea, Japan and Europe,” he said.
“So I’d like to see our allies and partners putting their own money and effort into security, particularly now regional security is at a sensitive time,” he said.
“So I not only thought it’s a good thing, but I also thought it’s a timely effort on the part of Japan because of the increasing instability that I see in East Asia brought about by the territorial ambitions of China,” he said.
“Japan is worried about that; they expect the US to come to their aid, and we’ve said we would,” Stanton said.
“Shouldn’t there be a mutual expectation that in some way if we need some assistance they would come to ours?” he said.
“It’s like any alliance relationship; it cannot only be in one way,” he said.
“I realized that a lot of people in Japan are uncomfortable with it, but a lot of Americans are also uncomfortable that we spend so much keeping our troops overseas. So I just think it was probably inevitable that it would happen anyway,” he added.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that the comprehensive effect of the legislation requires further analysis, adding that the DPP would continue to keep an eye on developments.
In her speech to the symposium, Tsai said that Taiwan would play a constructive role in maintaining stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific region through its economic power and democracy, which would not be damaged or forced to retreat under the watch of Taiwanese.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old