U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga leave the scene after a joint press conference at the White House (April 16, 2021)
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held a summit in Washington on Friday (April 16), and Suga said at a joint press conference after the meeting that he and Biden “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait during their talks.”
At a press conference after the White House meeting between President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on June 16, the media asked Suga whether the two sides discussed peace and stability in Taiwan and human rights in Xinjiang, and whether he explained to President Biden why Japan is the only G-7 country that has not imposed sanctions on China. Suga said the two sides discussed the situation in Taiwan and human rights in Xinjiang, but he did not provide details.
Suga was the first head of state in appearance to be hosted at the White House since Biden took office. The U.S. and Japan have made peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait one of the key regional issues of concern to each other at the recent 2+2 defense and foreign ministers’ meeting, as China has recently been asserting itself in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the East China Sea, so the parties are also watching to see if Kan’s trip to Washington will also include the Taiwan Strait in the U.S.-Japan joint statement.
At a joint press conference after the summit, a reporter from the Sankei Shimbun asked whether the Japanese and Chinese leaders discussed the issue of deterring changes in the Taiwan Strait, given that China policy was one of the key issues in the talks.
Kan replied that the two men had talked about Taiwan, but that he was not at liberty to disclose details because of the diplomatic discussions between the two countries, but that the U.S. and Japan had “reaffirmed their original common understanding of the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” during the talks.
Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a briefing to the media before the summit that because the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is exerting enormous pressure on Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, he is fairly certain that the two heads of state will talk about security issues in the Taiwan Strait and the entire first island chain, but the joint statement may not include Taiwan, and he would not read too much into it. Because it has been a long time since the previous U.S.-Japanese joint statement in 1969 covered security in the Taiwan Strait, he would be surprised if Taiwan was included in the statement again.
Green, who was the senior director of Asian affairs in the Bush administration, said Kan has recently spoken publicly about the importance of security in the Taiwan Strait to Japan, and the U.S.-Japan 2+2 talks have confirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, “The Japanese side may feel that after Kan’s statement and the 2+2 talks, which put a lot of emphasis on the Taiwan Strait, perhaps they will be relatively quiet in the summit. “
But Green said he thinks behind the scenes U.S. and Japanese diplomats and military personnel will be more attentive than ever to security challenges in the Taiwan Strait, “and Washington and Tokyo will have more trust in Tsai and Taipei than ever before.”
Heino Klinck, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asian affairs, said how to address China’s security challenges to the region was an important focus of his work at the Defense Department, and that U.S.-Japan-Taiwan security cooperation is tied to China’s behavior, which continues to escalate in its aggressive behavior toward the U.S., Japan and Taiwan, whether in the South China Sea, East China Sea or Taiwan Strait.
Speaking at a seminar on U.S.-Japan-Taiwan relations at the Center for Global Taiwan Studies on Thursday, Kolinko noted that Japan’s position on Taiwan in the security arena is gradually changing, very gradually and increasingly publicly from private talk, in connection with China’s increasing pressure not only on Taiwan but also on Japan, whose increased PLA activity in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan has caused Japan to become more aggressive in the South China Sea. public and elected representatives increasingly frustrated and concerned about China’s aggressive behavior in their neighborhood.
Kolinko said Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi has historical ties to Taiwan and is more supportive of Taiwan, perhaps leading to a greater willingness to discuss military scenarios with Taiwan and the United States that could affect all parties.
“I think what’s fundamentally happening is that there is a growing appreciation in Japan, both among the political elite and among a growing number of Japanese, that defending Taiwan is tantamount to defending Japan.”
Colinco said one only has to look at the islands to the southwest of Japan to see that “if mainland China took control of Taiwan, it would be a direct threat to Japanese territory,” and he suggested that there should be increased trilateral dialogue between Washington and Tokyo and Taipei, whether openly or not; and that there should also be increased communication between the current military personnel of the three parties, whether “low profile or no profile” (low profile or no profile), he believes that Japan should also consider the same as the United States and Taiwan to establish maritime police cooperation, joint cooperation in response to natural disasters and humanitarian relief services, which should not be provocative to China.
Dean Cheng, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Asian Studies, also said that China is strengthening its ability to prevent U.S. military involvement in the Taiwan Strait conflict, and while this poses a threat to the United States, it also poses a threat to Japan, whether or not Japan participates in the defense of Taiwan, “because ultimately if China succeeds in capturing Taiwan, that will be a direct threat to Japan’s sea lanes. a direct threat.”
Japan relies on these corridors to import food and oil, he said, and while some believe they can still be bypassed if they are blocked, the global impact of a ship grounding in the Suez Canal in Egypt has been seen recently, so whether the corridors are open or not has a ripple effect on the regional and downstream economies.
Gerrit van der Weese, adjunct lecturer in East Asian affairs at George Washington University, told VOA before the Biden-Kan meeting that the United States and Japan share concerns about stability in the Taiwan Strait, and that Kan has indicated that he will raise the issue of the Taiwan Strait in his meetings with Biden, while the United States has repeatedly expressed concern over China’s aggressive behavior toward Uighurs, Tibetans, Hong Kong people and Taiwan over the past two months. Hong Kong people and Taiwan, and that was the main statement from the U.S. side in the high-level U.S.-China talks in Alaska, which Secretary of State Blinken mentioned at the beginning of the talks.
Wedgley said it would be very significant if Taiwan were included in the joint statement because Japan has business interests in China, where many large companies have factories, and China could indeed put pressure on those companies, but on the other hand, Taiwan’s geographic location is strategically important because of its proximity to the islands to the southwest of Japan, and the fact that Japanese goods supplies, especially oil, must pass through the area around Taiwan. Taiwan is strategically located on routes that are of great importance to Japan.
In addition, Japan has historical ties with Taiwan, many Japanese still have warm feelings about Taiwan in their hearts, and Japan has close trade ties with Taiwan, so Taiwan is important to Japan in strategic, political, economic and historical terms.
Recent Comments