Japan Includes 'Taiwan Situation Stability Important' in This Year's Defense White Paper... Strengthening China Containment

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The Japanese government is reportedly set to include content related to the Taiwan situation in this year’s Defense White Paper. This appears to be an active effort to align with the Biden administration’s diplomatic strategy to strengthen checks on China.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 17th, Japan’s Ministry of Defense has reflected the increasing military pressure from China around Taiwan in the draft of the 2021 Defense White Paper, which is scheduled to be reported to the Cabinet (State Council) in July. The draft states, “The stability of the Taiwan situation is important for our country (Japan)’s security and the stability of the international community.”

This is the first time such a description related to the Taiwan issue, which China reacts sensitively to, has appeared in the Japanese Defense White Paper, where military matters are addressed.

The draft of the Defense White Paper will be finalized after the Cabinet reporting process.

Japan is openly pursuing a policy line that raises the level of confrontation with China, including agreeing to include the Taiwan issue?which China protests as internal interference?in the joint statement announced after the summit between President Biden and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held in Washington, USA, in mid-last month.

The joint statement at that time stated, “We emphasize the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues.” This is the first time Taiwan has been explicitly mentioned in a US-Japan summit joint statement since the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972.

The draft of this year’s Defense White Paper also pointed out that the military balance between China and Taiwan “is shifting in favor of China, and the gap tends to widen every year.”

A special page related to US-China relations was also prepared, introducing the defense authorities’ view that “US-China competition is becoming more apparent, and especially competition in the technology sector is likely to become even more intense in the future.”

Regarding the Senkaku Islands (Chinese name Diaoyutai Islands), over which Japan and China dispute sovereignty, the draft included criticism that Chinese Coast Guard vessels “repeatedly intrude into the territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, violating international law.”

Regarding North Korea, as in last year’s edition, it was assessed as “a serious and imminent threat to our country (Japan)’s security.”

It also pointed out that North Korea is developing ballistic missiles that fly at low altitudes with irregular trajectories, attempting to penetrate the US-Japan missile defense system.

Meanwhile, the exact content related to South Korea in this year’s Defense White Paper draft is not known, but it is expected to be at the level of last year’s content.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.