Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has expressed growing concern over China’s increasingly fierce military activities surrounding Taiwan, and emphasized that the country’s security is closely related to the latter’s stability.
“Stabilizing the situation around Taiwan is vital to Japan’s security and the stability of the international community,” said the Ministry of National Defense in the English abstract of the 2021 Japan National Defense White Paper issued on July 13.
“Therefore, it is necessary for us to pay close attention to the situation with an unprecedented sense of crisis,” it added.
This is the first time that the Ministry of National Defense has issued such a statement on Taiwan in a national defense white paper, which is in sharp contrast with previous versions that have generally been vague on the issue.
The Ministry of National Defense also pointed out that the military balance between China and Taiwan is increasingly beneficial to China. Beijing regards Taiwan as a rogue province and has vowed to reunify it with the mainland, if necessary by force.
The statement reflects the speeches of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Biden on April 16 that emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the earlier speeches of Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, in which he suggested that Japan can invade Exercise their right of “collective self-defense” when it happens. The Minister of Defense Kiwanuf also made similar remarks, linking the security situation in Taiwan with the security situation in Japan.
Another area of concern raised in the white paper is the continued presence of the Chinese Coast Guard in the contiguous area around the disputed Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Islands. The Ministry of Defense claims that the document is an “inherent part of the Japanese territory” and was newly formulated in February. The “China Maritime Police Law” believes that it is inconsistent with international law in some respects.
The Ministry of National Defense stated: “The root causes of inconsistency include the ambiguity of the geographical area to which the CCG law applies and how to implement weapons use rules,” adding that the CCG law must not infringe the legitimate interests of regional stakeholders, including Japan.
Xiao Wu
