Taro Aso, vice president of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and former prime minister, led a delegation to visit Taiwan for three days on Monday (August 7). 24 sorties of mainland army planes operated around the Taiwan Strait, 12 of which crossed the center line of the strait.
The 82-year-old Taro Aso is the No. 2 figure in Japan's ruling party. He is also the highest-level cadre of the Liberal Democratic Party who visited Taiwan 51 years after Japan broke off diplomatic relations with the ROC government in 1972. Japanese and Taiwanese media generally regard this as a breakthrough in Taiwan-Japan diplomacy.
Taro Aso served as Japan's deputy prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister. He attended the celebration of the "100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China" as prime minister before 2011, but he was not the vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party at that time.
Taro Aso led two members of Congress, Suzuki Shinsuke and Nakanishi Kenji, to Taipei Songshan Airport at noon on Monday. In the afternoon, they went to the Wuzhishan Cemetery in New Taipei to mourn the late former President Lee Teng-hui, showing the deep relationship between the Liberal Democratic Party and Lee Teng-hui; The former Legislative President Wang Jinping and the current Legislative President You Xikun of the Democratic Progressive Party met.
Taro Aso will attend the annual Ketagalan Forum "Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue" on Tuesday morning and deliver a keynote speech, with Taiwan Foreign Minister Wu Zhaoxie as the speaker.
According to the news that the media has gradually obtained, Lai Qingde, the vice president of Taiwan and the presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, will host Taro Aso and the visiting delegation at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday. Taro Aso will also meet with Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan in the afternoon.
In addition to the leader of the ruling party, Taro Aso will also go to the Taipei City Hall on Tuesday evening to meet with Taipei Mayor Jiang Wanan, who is a member of the Kuomintang. This is the only local chief he met during this trip.
It is reported that Terry Gou, founder of the Hon Hai Group, who is planning to run for president after returning to Taiwan from a visit to the United States on Tuesday, is also arranging to meet with Taro Aso. Earlier in Japan, Taro Aso received two visiting presidential candidates from the opposition party: Ke Wenzhe, chairman of the People's Party, and Hou Youyi, mayor of New Taipei City, the Kuomintang.
The high-level interaction between Taiwan and Japan obviously touches Beijing's sensitive nerves. According to an announcement from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, from 6:00 a.m. on Sunday to 6:00 a.m. on Monday, mainland China dispatched 24 sorties of military aircraft and seven sub-warships to operate around the Taiwan Strait. Combat patrol.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Professor Lin Xiancan, a professor of the East Asian Department of Taiwan Normal University, pointed out that Taro Aso was the first politician to advocate that once something happened in Taiwan, he could consider using a new security law, allowing the Self-Defense Forces to send troops overseas and exercise the right of collective self-defense . With the increasingly tense situation in the Taiwan Strait, his visit to Taiwan is of great significance.
He said that Taro Aso is the largest support force of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the party, and the factions led by both of them originated from the "Hongchihui", so his remarks and ideas will be largely reflected in Fumio Kishida's policies.
Lin Xiancan said that recently, some think tanks pointed out that in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Japan still needs to obtain the approval of the National Assembly before sending troops, which may delay the decision to assist in the defense of Taiwan. He believes that if Taro Aso can play a leading role in the Diet, it will help speed up Japan's decision-making in times of emergency.
In addition, Lin Xiancan also pointed out that Beijing has been carrying out large-scale and regular military exercises in the past year by opposing the visits of politicians to Taiwan and the US arms sales to Taiwan. "In fact, the PLA is familiarizing itself with the battlefield through military exercises. The Taiwanese must take this seriously and not take it lightly. Otherwise, when Beijing decides that the time is right, 'Wolf is coming' may come true."
