News about Japan

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Japan lawmakers seek security talks with Taiwan and U.S.

Japanese lawmakers look to arrange face-to-face strategic dialogue with their American and Taiwanese counterparts, seeking to bring the incoming administration of Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te into discussions of cross-strait tensions.

The Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’ Consultative Council met Monday, about a week after Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections, to discuss how to work with the island’s next government, which will remain in the hands of the Democratic Progressive Party.

“I strongly believe that we can deepen cooperation and exchanges across different areas,” Lai said in a message sent for the meeting.

Lai, who is now current President Tsai Ing-wen’s vice president, is expected to maintain her administration’s diplomatic focus on ties with the U.S. Given this, Keiji Furuya, who leads the multiparty group, hopes to set up an in-person meeting of the three-way strategic dialogue, which has been held twice virtually since its 2021 launch.

“One option is to hold it in Taiwan in conjunction with the presidential inauguration ceremony in May,” Furuya told Nikkei.

Neither Japan nor the U.S. maintains formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In Japan, lawmakers have played a central role in promoting exchanges with senior Taiwanese officials. The consultative council serves as Japan’s liaison for the three-way strategic dialogue.

The first meeting, in July 2021, was attended by the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty, now a U.S. senator; and You Si-kun, president of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. Participants discussed measures to deter China’s maritime expansion and military pressure against Taiwan.

The next dialogue, in November 2022, discussed how to deal with a specific Taiwan contingency scenario: Beijing’s military downing a civilian plane by accusing it of entering a no-fly zone.

The plan was to hold the next meeting in person, but schedule coordination has been delayed due to the uncertainty over Taiwan’s presidential election.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to unify mainland China with Taiwan. Given Lai’s past expressions of support for Taiwanese independence, some observers expect Beijing to ratchet up its military and economic pressure on Taipei.

Xi called unification a “historical inevitability” in a New Year’s address. The pressure from Beijing has continued in 2024, with China launching a satellite that flew over southern Taiwan.

The next three-way dialogue will touch on the heightened tensions. Topics could include evacuation plans for Japanese nationals in the event of a crisis.

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