United States and Japan issue joint security statement regarding Taiwan, signals Tokyo policy shift

Story dated 21 February 2005

That Japan mentioned Taiwan by name in a public statement represents a huge policy shift for Japan who has studiously avoided making such statements in the past. "The shift in the Japanese stance on Saturday was fairly subtle. The Japanese government has previously called unilaterally for peace in the Taiwan Strait, and has offered logistical but not military support to the United States in case of a conflict between Taiwan and mainland China. But Japan has been much more cautious about including any reference to Taiwan in bilateral security statements with the United States. Japanese officials were reluctant to call attention to the language in the statement on Saturday. Nonetheless, it represented a departure from the most recent previous military cooperation statement between the United States and Japan in 1997, which simply called for the two countries to work together in the "area surrounding Japan."" Now, I wonder if Japan's new stance could have anything to do with the recent military incursions by China's military into Japanese territory? Well, in any case, this is very good for Taiwan, whom China has threatened to annex by force. It's also good for us since US law would require us to defend Taiwan should the PRC attempt a conquest.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 10:00 AM

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