Japan’s largest party, the LDP, is considering holding a 2+2 security dialogue with its counterparts in the Taiwan Democratic People’s Party. Japan’s growing “romance” with Taiwan, which had been for decades their “booty” after their victory in the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95, could be based on more than mere “security considerations.”
While Japan has reformed since the MacArthur days, there is still enough nostalgia alive to make Taiwan a long-lost “partner.” Now, with the United States backing them up in the “Indo-Pacific strategy,” some elements in the Japanese elite probably think that this is the time to set things straight and reassert their influence in the region. Treading on what China feels is its “core interest” in giving support to the independence crowd on the island could, however, carry a heavy penalty for a country whose very existence is dependent on trade, since plunder was no longer an option after the Second World War. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has already reacted strongly to the Japanese moves. Replying to a question on the proposed meeting on August 19, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said, “The Taiwan question concerns the political foundation of China-Japan relations. On the Taiwan question, the Japanese side bears historical crimes and responsibilities to the Chinese people. We seriously urge Japan to review the relevant matter, avoid interfering in China’s domestic affairs in any form, and refrain from sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” forces in any form.”
