A survey conducted by Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun and South Korea’s Hankook Ilbo showed that 73 percent of respondents believe China might take military action against Taiwan.
The survey, which was released on Thursday, also asked about the relationship between Japan and South Korea, with 31 percent of respondents in Japan saying the relationship would improve, up from 14 percent last year, while 53 percent of respondents in South Korea thought the same, up from 29 percent last year.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s People Power Party has said it wants to mend the South Korea-Japan relationship.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Although the percentage of respondents who expect the relationship to improve rose, 61 percent of respondents in Japan said it would remain the same, the survey showed.
Asked about some of the issues that have caused diplomatic stress between the two nations, 58 percent of respondents in Japan and 81 percent of those in South Korea said that there was no need for their side to make concessions, the survey showed.
Sixty percent in Japan and 59 percent in South Korea said that their own countries might be attacked in the near future, the survey showed.
To counter potential Chinese or Russian aggression, 67 percent of respondents in Japan and 77 percent in South Korea said that their nations “should work with the US,” it showed.
The survey was conducted by telephone interviews from May 20 to 24, collecting 1,000 valid responses in each country from among people aged 18 or older.
In other news, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said in an interview published on Wednesday with online magazine The Diplomat said that Taiwan, the US and Japan should work together to prepare “for an emergency.”
“The Chinese Communist Party’s position on unifying Taiwan has not changed at all,” Morimoto said, adding that the party sees unification as a “historical mission,” but has not decided when and how to carry it out.
China’s main considerations include possible intervention by the US and other countries, he said.
Although Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is often compared to the cross-Taiwan Strait situation, Taiwan is “completely different from Ukraine,” as 33 countries have offered military assistance to the eastern European nation, but it is unlikely that Taiwan would have such support if it were invaded by China, he said.
If a cross-strait war were to end quickly, sanctions on China might only have a limited effect, he said.
If a cross-strait war breaks out, US forces deployed in Japan and South Korea are not enough to fight the Chinese military, while “Japan is not yet fully prepared” considering its defense capabilities, he said.
Taiwan, Japan and the US should discuss how they could cooperate in an emergency, he added.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
Hong Kong’s Andy Lau (劉德華) on Wednesday announced that he would perform in Taiwan for the first time since 2013, with four shows at the Taipei Arena from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3. The concerts are part of Lau’s upcoming “Today... is the Day” tour, which began in Shanghai yesterday. He is also to perform in Singapore and Malaysia as part of the tour. In a news release, Lau said it felt good to be able to rehearse his dancing and singing for the tour, even though he had to don a face mask. “Holding these concerts has been something I have
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash