Vice President William Lai’s (賴清德) lightning visit to Japan to offer his condolences following the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe had the Japanese media lauding the gesture by the person they called “Taiwan’s pro-Japan second-in-command.”
Given the special circumstances of the visit, Lai was accorded far better treatment than was given to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who made a stopover in Japan on his way to the US in 1985.
The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is clearly unafraid of angering Beijing; that it extended a welcoming hand to Taiwan’s vice president speaks volumes.
Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) commands a majority in parliament and would not face another election for three years. With Abe’s passing, Kishida no longer has a powerful challenger to his authority.
Naturally, stimulating the economy would be a priority, and in this he cannot afford to disregard the Chinese market. Sept. 29 will mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Japan’s diplomatic relations with China, which would be a good opportunity for the two countries to improve relations.
UNFAVORABLE VIEW
That said, according to a poll released this month, 87 percent of Japanese view China unfavorably, and the LDP’s resounding victory on July 10 shows that Japanese want the Kishida administration to continue Abe’s policy of being pro-US and friendly toward Taiwan, while opposing China.
Under the watchful eye of a Japanese public deeply suspicious of China and friendly toward Taiwan, Kishida is going to have play a balancing act between rapprochement with Beijing and nurturing friendly relations with Taipei.
By allowing Lai’s visit he assuaged the concerns of conservatives, but also left a way open to break the ice with Beijing, with less background noise complicating matters.
The nature of Lai’s visit makes it difficult for Beijing to protest in any reasonable way, as offering condolences in such circumstances is only humane. In addition, China has found itself isolated, and this opportunity to explore ways to improve relations with Japan in the immediate “post-Abe” era should not be passed up for a trivial matter such as bemoaning Lai’s visit.
However, with the passing of Lee and Abe, people have lost two major advocates of maintaining friendly Taiwan-Japan relations.
Kishida might well want to step out of Abe’s shadow. Personnel choices, from appointing the pro-China Yoshimasa Hayashi, regarded as a political rival of Abe, as his minister of foreign affairs, to the sudden departure of former administrative vice defense minister Kazuhisa Shimada, a figure close to Abe, have signaled that change is in the air.
Since he served as Tainan mayor, Lai has been the most prolific Taiwanese politician in terms of cultivating ties with Japan, sowing seeds of friendship wherever he went. He knows the country well, and is well-known among Japanese politicians.
For the Kishida administration to welcome Lai and allow him to attend Abe’s funeral in the capacity of a close friend is a positive sign for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her vice president.
It sends a clear signal that, even if Kishida is willing to improve ties with China, he also intends to continue Abe’s approach of being pro-US and friendly toward Taiwan.
Wang Hui-sheng is chief director of the Kisei Ladies’ and Children’s Hospital in Japan.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
RSS