• The security environment surrounding Japan and Taiwan "is changing certainly, from peacetime to emergency," said the former Japanese prime minister

TAIPEI: Taro Aso, vice president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, voiced a sense of crisis over China’s growing military pressure, as he delivered a speech in Taipei on Tuesday.

The security environment surrounding Japan and Taiwan “is changing certainly, from peacetime to emergency,” said Aso, a former Japanese prime minister.

He also stressed the importance of showing a “readiness to fight” in order to deter a possible contingency in the Taiwan Strait.

“Having defense capabilities is not enough,” said Aso. “Deterrence comes from conveying to the other side a clear intention to use them to defend Taiwan and stabilize the Taiwan Strait if necessary.”

Aso also underscored the importance of Japan-US-Taiwan cooperation.

“It is especially important for Japan, which is a close neighbor of Taiwan, to take the lead in sending a message (of willingness to fight) to the international community, including China,” he said. “Japan’s resolute attitude has not changed since before the launch of the (Prime Minister Fumio) Kishida administration.”

Next January, Taiwan will hold an election to choose the successor to President Tsai Ing-wen. Aso said that he hopes the next president “will also be prepared to protect the status quo” and “will fight together with us, who share the same values.”

Referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Aso said, “We cannot rule out the possibility that a similar serious situation will occur in East Asia in the near future.”

“Real action to strengthen Japan’s defense will lead to a solid deterrent against war,” he noted, indicating that the Japanese government will improve defense capabilities based on its three key security-related documents revised late last year.

On economic ties between Japan and Taiwan, Aso said that cooperation in semiconductor production is “extremely important from the perspective of economic security.”

He also welcomed Taiwan’s application to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.

JIJI Press