politics

Japanese defense official, calling Taiwan red line, urges Biden to be strong

28 Comments
By Ju-min Park

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I think he will be strong.

-5 ( +12 / -17 )

Tokyo maintains a "one China" policy, delicately balancing its relationships with neighboring giant China and its longtime military ally in Washington.

It's about time that Tokyo grows a set and addresses Taiwan as a country free to make its own choices.

4 ( +15 / -11 )

The general goes crying to grandpa Biden so Japan does not need to do anything and on the other hand kisses the backside of China, saying look what the bad Americans do. Regretfully I think Biden misses the intelligence to read Japan

0 ( +13 / -13 )

It's possible that Biden will be stronger than Trump but only dialogue and/or a boycott of Chinese goods can bring about change.

The rest of the world needs to be vigilant with both China and the US.

6 ( +14 / -8 )

A top Japanese defense official on Friday urged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to "be strong" in supporting Taiwan in the face of an aggressive China, calling the island's safety a "red line."

No lecturing is needed. Action counts. The Trump Administration has sent incumbent high-ranking officials to Taiwan. Czech sent a delegates of key political figures. The Japanese government has been very reluctant to follow suit.

14 ( +16 / -2 )

Then Toshihiro Nikai should stop cozying with China.

As the Shadow Shogun, he leads the faction of pragmatists who favor stronger ties with China and Vietnam. Putting aside Vietnam as they will prove an important partner for the USA, China is what Nikai’s faction has been chasing for years. He helped the Keidanren to further their businesses into China; thus, it makes Japan becoming more reliant on China.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

It's clear the Japanese don't understand how this works. The US will fight to the last Japanese in any major conflict in East Asia.

-9 ( +5 / -14 )

KnowBetterToday  04:22 pm JST

Tokyo maintains a "one China" policy, delicately balancing its relationships with neighboring giant China and its longtime military ally in Washington.

It's about time that Tokyo grows a set and addresses Taiwan as a country free to make its own choices.

True. But Japan can't do that until the US officially drops the "one China" crap and recognizes Taiwan. China is a huge nuclear military power and Japan relies entirely on the US to counter that fact.

Just as Japan signed a Treaty with China (PRC) in 1972 after the US signed in 1971, the same will apply regarding Taiwan. Taiwan itself needs to take the lead by amending it's constituition so that it will no longer be the "Republic of China", and officially declare itself an independent nation, apply for UN membership and sign strategic alliances with the US, Quad anmd other Asian nations. This would get the ball rolling and up the stakes for China if they still want to invade Taiwan.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

Taiwan itself needs to take the lead by amending it's constituition so that it will no longer be the "Republic of China", and officially declare itself an independent nation,

Although True in Theory, as soon as this happens, surely the OTHER Sleeping Giant, that’s a very light Sleeper, will fully awaken.

What has happened this past year due to the Giant, is just a sample of things to come.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

"Taiwan is China's internal affair," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. "We firmly oppose interference in China's internal affairs by any country or anyone by any means."

What can China do in case the US and the free world all endorsed Taiwan to be an independent state?

12 ( +14 / -2 )

The massive domestic issues that the U.S. have will have to be the priorities for Biden. I do not think that Taiwan is high on the list that the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, health care and homes because of COVID-19 have for Biden to pay attention to. It has been 75 years since the end of WWII but Japan is still completely dependent on the U.S. for their Foreign and Defense Policy which is kind of like those 40 and 50 year old men who still live with and depend on their parents.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

I am sure the US wouldn't object to Texas or Hawaii regaining their independence, nor would Japan object to independence for Okinawa, so why shouldn't Taiwan be independent too?

-11 ( +3 / -14 )

joey stalinToday  08:01 pm JST

I am sure the US wouldn't object to Texas or Hawaii regaining their independence, nor would Japan object to independence for Okinawa, so why shouldn't Taiwan be independent too?

Taiwan and China's relationship is nothing like those examples.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Taiwan has a split personalty. Until they clearly decide to stand on the own as not China, the rest of the world will not take any real action. Taiwan is infiltrated by CCP Nationals.

Taiwan needs to become clearly appart from China. The rest of the world needs to recognize this country, support it, help the people there. Japan, Korea, Singapore, and other free Asian nations need to create a regional alliance with Taiwan, Free Asia commercal and security group.

Biden will talk, but I don't have much confidence he will continue the pressure on Chinese WTO and unfair trade abuses.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Big difference Joey. Big difference.

Okinawa wants to be with Japan.

Texas and Hawaii wants to be with USA.

Taiwan Does Not Want To Be With CCP China!

10 ( +11 / -1 )

"Taiwan is China's internal affair," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Only it is not. Taiwan has operated independently for decades and the CCP has never ruled it. There for, based on the facts it has nothing to do with mainland China. I agree with others posting here that the world needs to recognize Taiwan as the independent nation it has become. Amazing how China has used the worlds greed against it and managed to get most of the world to sign off on a supposed "one China" policy. If the world cancelled the "one China " policy would China cancel trade with the world? No they would not, they could not afford to. Time the world pushed back and fixed a long broken policy towards Taiwan.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The whole world stands with you, Taiwan, against Chinese aggression.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

And what is Japan doing to safeguard the safety of Taiwan if it so affects Japan?

Selling weapons that Taiwan desperately needs, like submarines, torpedoes, missiles, and tanks(Heck, Taiwan will take Japanese tanks even if no one else would)?

If Japan won't lift a finger to help out Taiwan, then don't demand the US to help Taiwan.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

@OssanJapan

But Japan can't do that until the US officially drops the "one China" crap and recognizes Taiwan.

Oh, but Japan will maintain One China policy even if the US doesn't, since dropping One China policy means severing diplomatic ties between China and Japan(ie China no longer recognizes Japan) and kicking all Japanese companies out of China.

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

When it comes to Taiwan, Japan is nothing but a spectator. A weak, obfuscating nobody. Pitiful but true.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

What can China do in case the US and the free world all endorsed Taiwan to be an independent state?

The CCP says any such declaration would result in China attacking and invading Taiwan to forcibly reunify it with the mainland. Whether or not that is an empty threat is uncertain and so far conditions have not been reached where the risk of going with the status quo was greater than the risks associated with repudiating the One-China policy and calling Taiwan an independent nation.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The CCP has the goods on the Biden families money machine with them. They own him. The Democrat party is thoroughly infiltrated by the Chinese communist party - Rep Swallwell, Sen. Feinstein, 

This sort of propaganda is so transparently wrong. The Democratic party is populated by a lot of the sons and daughters of Taiwanese and Hong Kong immigrants who have absolutely no love of the CCP. Senator Feinstein's office was infiltrated by a Chinese American looking for information on policy trends. This person never had a clearance, had no access to classified material and when the FBI notified her office she had a possible spy on board that person was immediately fired. Rep Swallwell cut ties to Fang Fang as soon as the FBI notified him they were investigating her as a spy. So he did the right thing too.

In any event support for Taiwan is across the board and bipartisan in both houses of Congress. One could make a stronger argument that Mitch McConnell is more compromised by Chinese influence than any other member of Congress. Find out the history of his wife Elaine, her father and her sister who sits on the Board of Directors of both the Bank of China and the BoD of China's state owned shipbuilding firm, from whom Elaine Chao's family buys their ships. Ms. Chao herself has gone to China to christen ships and was a classmate and personal friend with Jiang Jimen.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What did Japan do when the people of Hong Kong were being persecuted?

Nothing

In fact, Motegi made efforts to get Chinese tourists back to Japan.

Japan cannot even find the balls to restrict Chinese tourism!

What will Japan do if Taiwan is persecuted?

The same again, no doubt.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Japan is better off asking winter to not snow this year than asking Joe to be strong on anything — especially if that means going against china’s interests.

If so explain please why Mr. Biden calls Xi Jinping a thug? Just for the sake of refreshing your memory, the Pivot to the Pacific was begun during his term as VP and much of the new hardware coming on line in the USAF and US Navy first entered development around 2012 or so, about the time Xi Jinping replaced Hu Jintao as CCP General Secretary and PRC President. Once everyone understood Xi was a hard line communist true believer in the mold of Mao and quite different than Hu, US policy towards China quietly changed. You could not yet call them an "enemy" in public as corporate America would push back. But also realize that as late as 2010 the CCP Central Committee was having serious discussions about allowing private land ownership, something China has never in its history allowed, and there were experiments with competitive elections for local municipal offices in some smaller cities. All of that went out the window when Xi Jinping came to power and the US approach to China changed too. And obtw you might also that after the Obama administration spoke about Chinese espionage Xi Jinping himself basically dared the US to prove it. So in May of 2014 a Federal Grand Jury in Western Pennsylvania indicted five members of the People's Liberation Army on charges related to cyber espionage. Of the five who were indicted, Wang Dong was also named in a 2013 report by the cyber security firm Mandiant, now known as Fireeye, where they described in detail a PLA cyber espionage organization called Unit 61398. The Grand Jury indictment accuses the same unit as the organization the five indicted individuals worked for.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Desert TortoiseDec. 27  04:43 am JST

What can China do in case the US and the free world all endorsed Taiwan to be an independent state?

The CCP says any such declaration would result in China attacking and invading Taiwan to forcibly reunify it with the mainland. Whether or not that is an empty threat is uncertain and so far conditions have not been reached where the risk of going with the status quo was greater than the risks associated with repudiating the One-China policy and calling Taiwan an independent nation.

In case the US and the free world join together in resisting China's expansionism and protecting Taiwan, I believe Beijing is well aware the economic and political consequences China has to take when attacking Taiwan now are far greater than when China was a third world country.

With regard to China's threats, how many times has China warned the US that it could spark war each time the US Navy sailed past China's disputed artificial islands and nothing has happened?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

In case the US and the free world join together in resisting China's expansionism and protecting Taiwan, I believe Beijing is well aware the economic and political consequences China has to take when attacking Taiwan now are far greater than when China was a third world country.

I think the US, Australia and Japan, and maybe or maybe not Canada, would be on their own defending Taiwan from a Chinese attack. South Korea would do nothing. The European powers have practically no ability to contribute meaningfully to the defense of Taiwan. The Chinese military seems, from what I have read of their writings, to be of the opinion they would only have to nuke one or two US cities for the US to fold its cards and go home. That might be a serious miscalculation on their part. Not sure what Canada and Australia would do if the Chinese blew up one of their cities but I have heard Chinese Generals directly threaten Australia that way. I don't think Xi Jinping is much of a chess player. He's more of a true believer and hard liner who puts communist orthodoxy before other considerations.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

China is simply a bully and has chosen not to abide by known agreements that allow Taiwan to freely exist. This is the way of cowardice and immortality...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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