Although Taiwan and Japan are facing the same military threat — the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — there is no formal military exchange between the two countries.
To break through diplomatic restrictions and cooperate militarily, it is necessary for the Japanese government to pass a law or motion in the Japanese National Diet to resolve this key strategic issue. Otherwise, the two sides cannot exchange the most basic air defense information with each other.
Japan’s Sankei Shimbun in February 2019 reported that Taiwanese officials had contacted the Japanese government through the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association to propose the establishment of a reciprocal mechanism for the live exchange of information on Chinese air force sorties.
However, then-Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s administration effectively rejected the proposal by declining to respond, saying only that there are no formal diplomatic relations between Taipei and Tokyo.
The newspaper article said that it was the first time Taipei had issued a proposal to Tokyo for formal defense cooperation.
Fortunately, with a change of Japanese prime ministers and various Cabinet reshuffles in the past few years, an opportunity has arisen on the sensitive issue of whether Taiwan and Japan should establish military cooperation.
On Dec. 23 last year, 127 Japanese city, township and village-level leaders launched the Japan-Taiwan Co-prosperity Leader Alliance in Tokyo. With the military threat from China continuing to grow, the alliance calls for a Japanese version of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, and urges the Japanese government to use legislation to bolster Taiwan-Japan security so that the two sides can engage in dialogue on security issues.
The initiative suggests that many people in Japan generally agree on an “anti-China, pro-Taiwan” stance.
Faced with China’s military having long ago exceeded the scope of a containable “Taiwan Strait war,” Tokyo has in the past few years been working to improve the US-Japan security alliance, while the Japanese Self-Defense Forces have also enhanced their electronic warfare deployment in Okinawa to prepare for a Beijing-launched war against Taiwan.
In other words, Tokyo has always been aware of the great importance of Taiwan’s strategic position in East Asia. Were China to take Taiwan by force, left without Taiwan’s critical role in the “first island chain” that has been holding back China’s military expansion, Japan would find it almost impossible to prevent Beijing from breaching its national security.
On Jan. 7, US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers held the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee (2+2) Meeting.
Apart from reiterating the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the two countries pledged to cooperate to deter China from sabotaging regional stability, and to respond to such provocation if necessary.
Although Taipei has no military cooperation with Tokyo, there is a pressing need for closer interaction between the two nations based on their shared democratic values.
If a Japanese version of the Taiwan Relations Act could be recognized and supported by the Japanese government, and be passed by the National Diet, it would be significant not just in terms of Taiwan-Japan military cooperation, but also strategically, through its creation of a greater US-Japan-Taiwan security alliance.
Yao Chung-yuan is a professor and former deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s strategic planning department.
Translated by Eddy Chang
It is almost three years since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a friendship with “no limits” — weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since then, they have retreated from such rhetorical enthusiasm. The “no limits” language was quickly dumped, probably at Beijing’s behest. When Putin visited China in May last year, he said that he and his counterpart were “as close as brothers.” Xi more coolly called the Russian president “a good friend and a good neighbor.” China has conspicuously not reciprocated Putin’s description of it as an ally. Yet the partnership
The ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (孫子) said “know yourself and know your enemy and you will win a hundred battles.” Applied in our times, Taiwanese should know themselves and know the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so that Taiwan will win a hundred battles and hopefully, deter the CCP. Taiwanese receive information daily about the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) threat from the Ministry of National Defense and news sources. One area that needs better understanding is which forces would the People’s Republic of China (PRC) use to impose martial law and what would be the consequences for living under PRC
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that he expects this year to be a year of “peace.” However, this is ironic given the actions of some KMT legislators and politicians. To push forward several amendments, they went against the principles of legislation such as substantive deliberation, and even tried to remove obstacles with violence during the third readings of the bills. Chu says that the KMT represents the public interest, accusing President William Lai (賴清德) and the Democratic Progressive Party of fighting against the opposition. After pushing through the amendments, the KMT caucus demanded that Legislative Speaker
Although former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo — known for being the most pro-Taiwan official to hold the post — is not in the second administration of US president-elect Donald Trump, he has maintained close ties with the former president and involved himself in think tank activities, giving him firsthand knowledge of the US’ national strategy. On Monday, Pompeo visited Taiwan for the fourth time, attending a Formosa Republican Association’s forum titled “Towards Permanent World Peace: The Shared Mission of the US and Taiwan.” At the event, he reaffirmed his belief in Taiwan’s democracy, liberty, human rights and independence, highlighting a
RSS