Tokyo: Japan believes that increasing tensions around Taiwan need their attention “with a sense of crisis” because China intensified military activities in the area and the United States stepped in supporting its own island.
Japanese concerns about Taiwan, competition that grew in Beijing with the United States and the Chinese technology that was increasingly assertive in the region was added to the annual defense ministry paper adopted on Tuesday by the Cabinet Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
“Stabilizing the Taiwanese situation is important for national security and the stability of the Japanese international community,” said the newspaper.
“We need to pay attention to more crisis than before.” When China flexed her muscles in the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan had become a regional flash point, such as Japan, the United States and other democracy developing a closer bond with its own ruled island as the rebel area united if necessary.
“When China quickly increases its military power, changes in military power balance between the United States and China may affect the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region,” the report said.
“It is necessary to pay attention to military trends that are greater than the two countries in areas such as the South China Sea and Taiwan.” China has continued to expand its military capabilities for the past 20 years, with a defense expenditure of 16 times or greater than Taiwan, with their gaps growing every year, the paper said.
The China military budget of $ 181.6 billion is four times the Japanese, according to defense paper.
China has also increased Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation, leaving it with more than a dozen formal diplomatic allies.
Taiwan still operates a network of trade offices that act as de facto embassies, including in the United States, Japan and most other major countries.
Japan is increasingly worried about Taiwan’s security implications amid increasing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The United States, the most important Japanese allied, has increased military support for Taiwan, including sending warships to the Taiwan Strait and sales of arms.
The increasing ability of China’s military and lack of clarity for its defense expenditure “has become a problem with great concerns about the region including Japan and the international community,” the newspaper said.
It also criticizes China for “endless efforts to unilaterally change the status quo” from a Japanese-controlled Chinese archipelage called Senkaku, who also claimed and called Diaoyu, and called it “violation of international law.” Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the Chinese ships remained outside the Japanese territorial waters around Senkaku for 150 consecutive days Monday, described it “a very serious situation.” China also claims almost all the South China Sea, has built a military base on artificial islands in disputed areas and routinely objections to any action by the US military in the region.
The United States has no claim itself on the waters but has deployed warships and aircraft for decades to patrol and promote freedom of navigation and holes in busy waterways.