(Bloomberg) — Japanese ruling party officials told their Taiwan counterparts they were seeking deeper ties at the first security talks between the two groups, at which China’s growing military presence was a major theme.
Masaharu Sato, chair of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s foreign affairs committee told officials from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party in an online meeting Friday it was becoming more important for the two sides to build up their defense ties in the face of Chinese pressure on Taiwan. Sato said China has unilaterally changed the status quo in the region, affecting not only the security of the Taiwan Strait but also Japan.
The talks come as some Japanese cabinet members and prominent voices in the LDP have stepped up support for Taiwan amid concerns over China’s clampdown in Hong Kong. Taiwan has become an increasingly important topic for the U.S. and its allies like Japan, many of whom are concerned about China’s growing assertiveness around an island whose semiconductor industry has become a linchpin of the global supply chain.
In July, lawmakers from the U.S., Taiwan and Japan held trilateral online talks, which were dismissed by China’s foreign ministry as “negative and wrong in both form and content.” Friday’s meeting has already sparked criticism from Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory and previously warned that agreement on the status of the island sat at the “political foundation” of China’s ties with Japan.
“China firmly opposes all forms of official interactions between Taiwan and countries having diplomatic ties with China,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Wednesday, adding that Japan should “avoid interfering in China’s domestic affairs.”
Hong Kong’s Fate Spurs Japan to Speak Up About Defending Taiwan
U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga affirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait during Suga’s visit to the White House in April — the first mention of the island in such a joint statement since both countries switched formal relations from Taipei to Beijing in the 1970s.
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