Japan to Join U.S. Policy on Taiwan
Growth of China Seen Behind Shift
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 18, 2005; Page A01
TOKYO, Feb. 17 — The United States and Japan will declare Saturday for the first time in a joint agreement that Taiwan is a mutual security concern, according to a draft of the document. Analysts called the move a demonstration of Japan’s willingness to confront the rapidly growing might of China.
The United States has long focused attention on the Chinese government’s threat to use military force against Taiwan if the island, which China views as a renegade province, moves toward independence. Until now, Japan has been content to let the United States bear the brunt of Beijing’s displeasure.
But in the most significant alteration since 1996 to the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance, which remains the cornerstone of U.S. interests in East Asia, Japan will join the Bush administration in identifying security in the Taiwan Strait as a “common strategic objective.” Set for release after the “two-plus-two” meeting between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and their Japanese counterparts in Washington on Saturday, the revisions will also call for Japan to take a greater role in conjunction with U.S. forces both in Asia and beyond, according to a draft copy obtained by The Washington Post.
Although it is likely to anger China, the move is being welcomed by Taiwan, which, despite having been occupied by Japan from 1895 to 1945, maintains an empathy for the Japanese that is rare in Asia. Elderly Taiwanese, for instance, still show delight in Japanese language and culture. Last month, Taiwan inaugurated its $3 billion, Japanese-built bullet train, which can reach speeds of almost 200 miles per hour. And in December, Japan angered China by granting a tourist visa to former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui, who was educated in Japan and had an emotional reunion here with a former professor.
“This is the first time that Japan has made its stance clear; in the past, Japan has been very indirect on the Taiwan issue,” said Koh Se-kai, Taiwan’s special representative to Japan, which since 1972 has had formal relations with China but not with Taiwan. “We’re relieved that Japan has become more assertive.”
Japan’s constitution, drafted by the United States at the end of World War II, prohibits the country from going to war. But there is strong pressure to revise the constitution so that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces can act as a real military.
Along with the threat of North Korea, which declared itself a nuclear-armed nation last week, the rise of China has become the primary concern fueling Japan’s shift away from nearly six decades of pacifism.
Japan has generally been inclined to sidestep conflict with China. But in recent years, China has dramatically modernized its military while expanding its sphere of influence in Asia on the strength of its booming economy. The effort to extend its reach has included exploring for natural gas near Japanese-claimed waters only 110 miles north of Taiwan and countering Japan’s claims to exclusive economic zones in the Pacific.
In response, Japan has also shifted course in the past year, moving to defend its territorial claims in the East China Sea. Last November, Japan dispatched aircraft on a two-day hunt for a Han-class Chinese submarine which briefly intruded into Japan’s far southern waters in what many here saw as a test of Japanese resolve in the event of Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
“It would be wrong for us to send a signal to China that the United States and Japan will watch and tolerate China’s military invasion of Taiwan,” said Shinzo Abe, the acting secretary general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party who is widely considered a likely successor to Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister. “If the situation surrounding Japan threatens our security, Japan can provide U.S. forces with support.”
Such talk reflects what diplomats and scholars call the defining drama of East Asia for the 21st century — the competition for economic and political dominance in the region between Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, and China, the world’s most populous nation and a fast-developing economic and military power.
“I think the biggest challenge to Japan is going to be how it arranges its relationship with China,” the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Howard H. Baker Jr., said on Wednesday. “But how they do that is going to say a lot about stability in this region for years to come. . . . Japan is a superpower; China is on its way to being a superpower. They are both rich, they both have a history and tradition in this region, and they don’t much like each other, I think.” :p
Analysts note that both China and Japan have substantial reasons for restraint. Last year, China surpassed the United States as Japan’s number one trading partner, while massive investments by Japanese companies in search of cheaper labor and larger markets have become a driving factor behind China’s blistering 9.5-percent annual growth rate.
But if their economic relations are hot, politically the two nations are cool. The Chinese complain about Koizumi’s visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine commemorating fallen warriors — including World War II war criminals. The two governments have also battled over the route of a trans-Siberian pipeline for Russian oil and territorial rights in an East China Sea island chain known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese.
The Chinese government granted rights two years ago for domestic and foreign oil companies to explore and drill an area only three miles from Japanese-claimed territory — a region rich in natural gas and oil. This month, Japan pushed back, boosting its claims to the area by officially taking over ownership of a 15-foot lighthouse built on the island chain by Japanese nationalist activists in 1978.
“It is time Japan began protecting what is ours,” said Makoto Yamazaki, director of the Japan Youth Association, which built the lighthouse and freely handed it over to the government this month. “If our sovereignty is being threatened, we have a right to defend ourselves.”
But the idea of Japanese military cooperation with the United States in the sea lanes north of Taiwan has particularly rankled Chinese diplomatic and military planners because it goes to the heart of their Taiwan strategy.
On the one hand, diplomats and other specialists say, the Chinese military has embarked on a buildup of short-range missiles, naval vessels and electronics-aided aircraft to enable it to threaten the island militarily if President Chen Shui-bian should take what China considers an unacceptably decisive step toward independence. On the other hand, they added, China has set out to improve and extend its maritime and airborne might in the sea lanes north of Taiwan, with the goal of forcing the United States to think twice about military intervention. Within the next five years, according to U.S. estimates, the Chinese navy is expected to have more than 20 modern attack submarines, including half a dozen nuclear-powered vessels.
Japanese officials said that the official position advocating a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue has not changed. They said the constitution limits the level of assistance that Japan could offer in the event of a U.S. confrontation with China over Taiwan. But the joint statement on Saturday could help lay the groundwork for the Japanese to extend as much cooperation as they legally can, including logistical support such as transportation and medical rescue operations behind the lines of combat, officials said.
“We consider China a friendly country, but it is also unpredictable,” a senior Japanese government official said. “If it takes aggressive action, Japan cannot just stand by and watch.”
Correspondent Edward Cody in Beijing and special correspondents Sachiko Sakamaki and Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.
By: Indian1973 - 24th February 2005 at 08:26
The Economist mag:
Feb 23rd 2005
From The Economist Global Agenda
America is angry that the European Union plans to lift an embargo on sales of weaponry to China, which in turn is angry that Japan and America have identified Taiwan as a joint security concern
DESPITE all the fence-mending that has taken place during George Bush’s tour of Europe, some transatlantic disagreements could not be prevented from spilling into the open. The most awkwardly visible of these is the European Union’s planned lifting of its embargo on arms sales to China, which the United States opposes. On Tuesday February 22nd, Mr Bush said that: “There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China which would change the balance of relations between China and Taiwan.” If the EU went ahead with the lifting of the ban, he added, it would have to “sell it” to America’s Congress, which, he suggested, might retaliate with restrictions on technology transfers to Europe.
The EU will lift its Chinese arms embargo, introduced after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, later this year. This, the Union hopes, will open the door not only to profitable weapons sales but to closer trade relations in general with an emerging economic superpower. In an effort to assuage American concerns, the Europeans say they will limit the transfer of advanced technology by strengthening their “code of conduct” for arms sales; and that they will inform the Americans of any arms sales that would have been prohibited under the embargo. This week, France’s President Jacques Chirac said the embargo would be lifted under conditions that Europe and the United States “define together”.
That looks like wishful thinking. American opposition to lifting the ban runs deep. The Bush administration fears that it might enable the Chinese to develop the kind of sophisticated military systems used in Iraq by America and its closest allies. It also worries that these could be passed from China to rogue states or groups. Earlier this month, Congress voted overwhelmingly to condemn the EU’s planned lifting of the embargo. Some American politicians point out that the Chinese human-rights abuses that led to the embargo, such as the detention of dissidents, remain a serious worry. Others focus on regional security. Writing in the Wall Street Journal this week, Henry Hyde, chairman of the House of Representatives’ international-relations committee, said: “EU security policy toward China is on a collision course with America’s extensive security interests in Asia.”
At the centre of those interests lies Taiwan. Since the mid-1990s, China has been engaged in a rapid military build-up on the coast facing the island, which Beijing views as a rebellious province. This has increased tensions with America, which is legally committed (under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979) to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Although the Americans have recently appeared to play down this obligation, military confrontation with nuclear-armed China over Taiwan is all too possible. Some worry that all it would take is a miscalculation or misunderstanding.
In 1995 and 1996 China staged large-scale military manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait, including firing unarmed missiles close to Taiwan’s two main ports. China has fired no more missiles since, but has positioned large numbers of truck-mounted short-range ballistic missiles along the coast. It has also increased deployments of longer-range missiles that could target American bases in Japan or on the Pacific island of Guam, about 1,500 miles from Taiwan. And it is working to develop land-attack cruise missiles, which could be fired across the 100-mile strait and penetrate even the most sophisticated anti-missile defences that Taiwan is acquiring from America.
Under Bill Clinton, America stepped up contacts with the Taiwanese armed forces. In 2001, after Mr Bush became president, the Republican administration further strengthened these ties. Mr Bush also offered to sell Taiwan a huge package of advanced weaponry and help it buy submarines. Reports suggest that there are now more American military programmes in progress with Taiwan than with any other American ally.
Though Taiwan has run its own affairs for more than half a century, China continually threatens to retake it by force if it ever formally declares independence. Taiwan has enjoyed de facto independence since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces retreated to the island after being defeated on the mainland by Mao Zedong’s Communists. Nowadays, most western countries do not formally recognise Taiwan as an independent country, though in practice they deal with it as if it were.
A more assertive neighbour
Unlike America, Japan has stepped gingerly around the issue of Taiwan in recent years, which is why Beijing reacted so angrily to the new joint security arrangement between Japan and America that was announced on February 19th. The two called on China to be more open about its military affairs and, for the first time, Japan said it viewed Taiwan as a shared security concern with the United States—in the past they have preferred to waffle on about dealing with problems “in areas surrounding Japan”. China barked back that the statement violated its sovereignty. The kerfuffle has strained Beijing’s ties with Tokyo and Washington at a time when the three are supposed to be working together (along with South Korea and Russia) to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Japan’s increased assertiveness is all the more unsettling for China because of Japan’s plans to reform its pacifist constitution and modernise the role of the Self-Defence Force (its de facto military). A relaxation of the constitution would make it easier in principle for Japan to participate in overseas military actions (it has already sent non-combat troops to Iraq). This could remove an obstacle to Japanese forces helping America protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attempt to invade the island.
China’s relations with Japan and America could deteriorate further in March when, at its next annual plenary meeting, China’s National People’s Congress (the legislature) may enact an anti-secession law. This would give China, at least from its own perspective, a stronger legal basis for invading Taiwan. However, the Chinese might balk at implementing such provocative legislation, as they may not wish to jeopardise recent progress in deepening economic integration with Taiwan—such as the historic agreement on direct cross-Strait flights. Reclaiming Taiwan by a process of slow economic assimilation is just as much a part of China’s long-term strategy as is military aggression.
By: US Agent - 24th February 2005 at 06:32
I wouldent take the Japanese seriously since they always blow hot air whenever there is some threat but we never see any action. But I wouldent say the same for the chinese considering Korean war and Vietnam…
You realize the Japan’s post-WWII constitution forbids them from engaging in military conflicts outside of their homeland correct?
With that said, I forsee Japan amending their current constitution in the not too distant future. The threat from North Korea and the rising military power of China will most certainly force them to do so from a geopolitical standpoint.
JMHO
By: hallo84 - 23rd February 2005 at 00:55
and did all this come up before or after his remarks about japanese occupation?
Sadly this came before his remarks about japanese occupation, around the time of his first election. The Taiwanese always joked that they voted an Japanese for their first president and the irony was that he was voted into office twice!
lol.
well i never said LDH was the sole cause, but his remarks did seriouse hurt to his party, which helped, or at the very least sped up the downfal of the KMD.
as for the La Fayettes, well LDH got off scot free because he used the oldest trick in the book – get everyone involved, that way everyone has a vested interest in keeping the truth from coming out and covering up as much as possible. :rolleyes:
but thats more to do with ‘skill’ rather then his personal popularity.
Well he had his ass on the line at the time.
He seriously ditched KMD because he wanted the Green party to win and incidentally none of the green party including CSB had anything to do with the La Fayette. It would be disaterous for the Mr. Song to win cause the guy would fry LDH for sure… :diablo:
But because of LDHs’ actions CSB did not follow or his lack of intent to follow up on LDHs’ involvement. Call it dirty politics if you will.
And currently LDH have pulled his supporters from KMD and formed a new party that strongly sucks up to CSB hmmm…. i wonder why…???
I wouldent take the Japanese seriously since they always blow hot air whenever there is some threat but we never see any action. But I wouldent say the same for the chinese considering Korean war and Vietnam…
No one cared about the Senkaku Islands or Dial Yu Dao before they found oil deposits and that included the Japanese.
By: plawolf - 20th February 2005 at 12:19
I don’t agree… taiwan’s former ‘president’ was Japanese.
At least his suspected father was… being in occupation during the birth of the taiwan’s former ‘president’ raised some questions as to his biological father. We have reason to believe that his mother who was an prostitute during the japanese occupation concieved of him with some japanese soldier. His studies in Japan also might have led to his Japanese influences.
and did all this come up before or after his remarks about japanese occupation?
KMD’s downfall was due to cruption but the irony was that the La fayette case was based on the taiwan’s former ‘president’ but no one dared to charge him and that includes the present president who needed his political support. sounds weird doesn’t it!
well i never said LDH was the sole cause, but his remarks did seriouse hurt to his party, which helped, or at the very least sped up the downfal of the KMD.
as for the La Fayettes, well LDH got off scot free because he used the oldest trick in the book – get everyone involved, that way everyone has a vested interest in keeping the truth from coming out and covering up as much as possible. :rolleyes:
but thats more to do with ‘skill’ rather then his personal popularity.
By: crobato - 20th February 2005 at 11:52
Yeah whatever. I think this is a rather significant move and it comes just days after the Japanese declaration about the Senkaku Islands. Looks like Japan has thought about its natural interests and decided to act. And I think this receives far to little media attention (in Europe). Now it is only a question of time until the Japanese 1% limit falls and the question of the Japanese nuclear bomb comes up. Japan is not a country of empty talking heads; real-world action will follow.
Oh sure. It’s actions are also hypocritical when said islands are claimed by Taiwan. In fact, Taiwan claims that the islands were ceded to the ROC government after WWII.
And I’m sure South Korea is watching this too, since they have a big dispute with the Japanese over Takeshima/Tokdo islands.
As for a nuclear bomb, its also untested bull (e.g. same with Iran and N. Korea) until you can truly test it.
By: Indian1973 - 20th February 2005 at 10:23
it looks like Unkil is also willing to co-opt japan into missile defence work to dampen the
threat from north korea. first international sales of PAC-3 to netherlands and japan. I
am sure JMSDF would like the TBMD version of SM2 on their Kongou ships as well…
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/article_002101.shtml
I am a supporter of both South Korea and Japan going nuclear as it will take
the wind out of sails of north korea and ….. . Unkil is not a reliable protector
for long term, they have to look out for themselves in the end.
By: FugitiveVisions - 20th February 2005 at 10:23
Well, I’d still like to see what the Japanese would actually “do” if the Chinese does indeed take actions against Taiwan. Besides sending a couple of surveillance ships into the area and beefing up its air defense…i dont see much actions coming from the Japanese.
By: Distiller - 20th February 2005 at 09:27
Yeah whatever. I think this is a rather significant move and it comes just days after the Japanese declaration about the Senkaku Islands. Looks like Japan has thought about its natural interests and decided to act. And I think this receives far to little media attention (in Europe). Now it is only a question of time until the Japanese 1% limit falls and the question of the Japanese nuclear bomb comes up. Japan is not a country of empty talking heads; real-world action will follow.
By: hallo84 - 20th February 2005 at 01:35
what utter BS! :rolleyes: taiwan’s former ‘president’ was driven from office because of his infamous claims about japanese occupation being ‘good’ for taiwan, and that has played a great part in the downfall of the once all-powerful KMD party.
I don’t agree… taiwan’s former ‘president’ was Japanese.
At least his suspected father was… being in occupation during the birth of the taiwan’s former ‘president’ raised some questions as to his biological father. We have reason to believe that his mother who was an prostitute during the japanese occupation concieved of him with some japanese soldier. His studies in Japan also might have led to his Japanese influences. KMD’s downfall was due to cruption but the irony was that the La fayette case was based on the taiwan’s former ‘president’ but no one dared to charge him and that includes the present president who needed his political support. sounds weird doesn’t it!
By: Showtime 100 - 19th February 2005 at 21:02
The only country victim of Japanese Invasion and showing sympathy and respect to Japanese invader is Philippine who even erect a statue of kamikaze pilot to commerate them!!! Other than that,I don’t see any asia countries delight at Japnese Invasion.
By: plawolf - 19th February 2005 at 18:58
lol, id like to see where this reporter gets some of his information. :rolleyes:
“Taiwan, which, despite having been occupied by Japan from 1895 to 1945, maintains an empathy for the Japanese that is rare in Asia. Elderly Taiwanese, for instance, still show delight in Japanese language and culture. “
what utter BS! :rolleyes: taiwan’s former ‘president’ was driven from office because of his infamous claims about japanese occupation being ‘good’ for taiwan, and that has played a great part in the downfall of the once all-powerful KMD party; the NGO movement for the reclaiming of the diaoyu islands is actually far more vocal in taiwan and HK compared to the mainland, and just a couple days ago, taiwan has criticised the japanese government’s take over of the above mentioned lighthouse, and stated that the diaoyu islands belong to the people on both sides of the (taiwan) strait. all in all, appearing to be ‘chummy’ with the japanese is political suicide for any politition in taiwan, and except for the few people born in japan, extremely few people on taiwan hold a better opinion of the japanese then anyone else in east asia.
japan’s move is geopolitical, plain and simple. there is no ‘helping a friendly neighbour’ spin to it as the auther seems to try to project, to gloss over such a blatent land grab and japan’s increasing assertiveness in world affairs.
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February 19, 2005 at 9:07 am