- Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party may hold online security dialogue as early as this month, says Japanese media
- Beijing is concerned about growing Taiwan-Japan contact, and has repeatedly warned other governments, especially the US, against violating its one-China policy
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A member of the Taiwanese guard of honour raises the Taiwan flag during a daily ceremony at Liberty Square in Taipei. Photo: SOPA Images via ZUMA /dpa |
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is planning to hold its first-ever security dialogue with its Taiwanese counterpart, in a move welcomed by the foreign ministry in Taipei but expected to rile Beijing amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
The planned talks with Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party – regarded as the ruling party version of the “2+2” security dialogue normally convened between governments – will be held online as early as this month, according to The Japan Times.
The planned dialogue was initiated by the LDP, with the director of its foreign affairs division, Masahisa Sato, and National Defence Division director Taku Otsuka expected to take part. Both Sato and Otsuka have held deputy and vice-minister roles in the past.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed the plan, saying it was pleased to see active exchanges and interaction between Taiwanese political parties and lawmakers and their like-minded counterparts from around the world.
“But to maintain the government’s neutrality, we choose not to comment on the agenda and content of the exchanges or special activities held by political parties,” a ministry spokeswoman said.
DPP spokesman Hsieh Pei-fen said they had been actively promoting party-level diplomacy through frequent dialogue.
“This has not stopped even during the Covid-19 pandemic and we will continue to push for more cooperation and dialogue,” Hsieh said.
The planned LDP-DPP dialogue is expected to anger Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has vowed to take back the self-ruled island, by force if necessary.
Zhang Jifeng, a Japanese studies expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, warned of retaliation from Beijing.
He said the LDP’s move was driven by both pressure from the Joe Biden administration, whose strategy is to turn US allies against China, and the needs of domestic politics – especially in view of the upcoming parliamentary election and the party’s internal elections – in which a hardline China policy could win votes.
“I think this would have a very serious impact on the China-Japan relationship, and Beijing might retaliate,” said Zhang, noting that the Taiwan issue is a red line for Beijing.
“Using inter-party exchanges instead of inter-government activities doesn’t achieve [the policy of] ‘following the US while not angering China’. Fence-riding tactics can no longer work at this point.”
Beijing has been concerned about growing contact between Taiwan and Japan, and has repeatedly warned other countries, especially the US, not to violate its one-China principle or do anything that could “misguide the pro-independence forces in Taiwan”.
In March, the US-Japan “2+2” security meeting enraged Beijing after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin from the American side and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi on the Japanese side issued a joint statement that mentioned the need to maintain “peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
Another joint statement – issued a month later by US President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga after their summit in Washington – which also underscored the “importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” riled Beijing further.
In an interview with the Financial Times earlier this month, Kishi called on the world to pay more attention to Taiwan’s national security amid increasingly aggressive military threats from mainland China.
He also said the key to preventing Beijing from using military force against Taipei was wide-ranging international pressure.
Beijing has stepped up pressure on Taipei since Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning DPP, was elected president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle. It has staged numerous war games close to the island and sent warplanes into its air defence identification zone to intimidate Taipei.
On Tuesday, it even sent 11 warplanes to Taiwan’s air defence zone minutes before the island’s military was about to start a flight-level drill in the same area.
Professor Ho Szu-shen, director of the Centre for Japan and East Asian Studies at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City, said having the ruling parties of Japan and Taiwan hold a security dialogue could reduce the political sensitivity around it.
“Talks like this between the governments of Japan and Taiwan would be too sensitive because of the one-China policy,” Ho said, adding that though such dialogue would allow the two sides to exchange views, talks between political parties are in reality not equal to talks between governments.
He said although Japan had in recent months hinted it would help defend the island from Chinese attack if called on by the US or if the conflict affected outlying islands under Japanese control, so far the Japanese government had given no indication of intending to breach the one-China policy.
“Before the US takes any action or announces a change of policy from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity in dealing with cross-strait issues, it is unlikely Japan will step out to breach the one-China policy,” he said.
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