According to Kyodo News and other Japanese media, it was learned on the 20th that during the meeting between Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and U.S. Defense Secretary Austin on the 16th, the two sides expressed their mutual concern about the possibility of untoward developments in the Taiwan Strait due to increased tensions between the U.S. and China, and said that Japan and the U.S. would work closely together in the event of a Taiwan incident.
The Japanese and U.S. governments held a meeting of the Consultative Committee on Security (2+2) in Tokyo on March 16, attended by foreign and defense cabinet members. Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshichika Mogi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi attended the 2+2 meeting. A joint document was released after the meeting.
The U.S.-Japan “2+2” meeting expressed concern about the situation in the Taiwan Strait and emphasized in a joint statement “the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Toshimichi Mogi noted, “We also confirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” Nobuo Kishi also mentioned the same point.
During the meeting between the two defense chiefs, the two sides are said to have shared concerns about the possibility of an emergency in the Taiwan Strait amid rising tensions between China and the United States, and said that Japan and the United States would work closely together to respond in the event of an incident in the Taiwan Strait.
Kyodo News noted: Japan, which has adopted the hope that the mainland and Taiwan to resolve cross-strait relations peacefully through dialogue, is unusual to explicitly raise the issue of Taiwan as an issue.
The specific response of Japan and the U.S. to the Taiwan issue is a future issue. The increase in China’s overwhelming military power in the Taiwan Strait has created a sense of crisis in Japan and the United States.
Recently, the annual report “East Asia Strategic Overview 2021,” which was compiled by the Defense Research Institute, a think tank of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, on last year’s review of Japan’s security environment, was revealed. The report analyzes China’s deployment of land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles in coastal areas, saying that it has “effectively enhanced” its “anti-access/area denial (A2/AD)” capability to prevent U.S. aircraft carriers from approaching the Western Pacific.
The report also mentions Hong Kong and Taiwan, which China has positioned as its “core interests” that cannot be compromised, stating that it “enforces the Hong Kong National Security Law, which outlaws anti-government activities, and strengthens military pressure on Taiwan.
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