Japan’s defense minister quoted Japan’s position as a front-line opponent of “actors who ignore the rules” on Saturday and vowed to strengthen its deterrence and strengthen its alliance with the United States.
Speak in Shangri-La Dialog In Singapore, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Japan is at the forefront of “competition” between those who advocate a rule-based order and those who try to change it by force.
“Currently, Japan is not only surrounded by actors who own or develop nuclear weapons and ignore the rules, but it is becoming more open year by year by ignoring nuclear weapons,” he said.
Mr Kishi said Russia has stepped up its military activities in the Far East Pacific, but China has continued to unilaterally attempt to change the status quo in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
The joint military activity of the two armies is “increasingly concerned,” he said, emphasizing the need to protect the stability of the Taiwan Strait, where Beijing has increased its military presence.
Mr Kishi said Japan would secure the necessary defense budget and accelerate the strengthening of defense capabilities.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP within the next five years, according to the policy roadmap released by the administration on June 7.
“We will also further strengthen the US-Japan alliance, which is the foundation of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, and strengthen its deterrence and responsiveness,” Kishi said.
Kishi also met with China’s Wei Fenghe during the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit, during which time expressed concern about China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning conducting military exercises near Japanese islands.
He urged China to use “suppression” in a one-sided attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China also calls the Diaoyu Islands.
During the meeting, Mr. Kishi reiterated that Taiwan’s security is important to Japan and the international community. The two Ministers also agreed to promote defense dialogue. Self-Defense Forces.
The intensification of China’s military activity in East Asia has heightened Tokyo’s concerns about autonomous islands. Taiwan, along with its neighbor, Japan-controlled Okinawa, has contained Beijing’s army.
Eight Chinese naval vessels, including the Liaoning aircraft carrier, passed between the islands of Japan’s South Okinawa chain on May 2. ..
In December 2021, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japan’s invasion of Taiwan by force was Japan, given that Japan’s Senkaku Islands, Sakishima Islands, and Yonaguni Island are only 100 km (62 miles) away from Taiwan. Warned that it poses a serious threat to Taiwan.
“Taiwan’s emergency is Japan’s emergency, and therefore the Japan-US alliance’s emergency,” he said, adding that Japan and Taiwan must work together to protect freedom and democracy.
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Aldgra Fredly is a Malaysia-based freelance writer featuring the Epoch Times Asia Pacific News.