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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Japan to become player in cross-strait affairs: experts
/ Staff writer, with CNA
New security bills adopted last month by Japan to allow the country’s military to play a greater role overseas is expected to change the existing strategic situation in the Taiwan Strait, because Tokyo could become a player in cross-strait issues, according to Taiwanese experts.
The new guidelines for US-Japan defense cooperation and Japan’s passage of two new security bills last month are set to bring changes to the strategic situation across the Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region, the Taiwan Thinktank’s Lai I-chung （賴怡忠） said.
Lai said he saw the new legislation and defense guidelines as positive to the balance of military power in the Strait and in the region.
They enable Japan to be a player in cross-strait issues, which currently involve only Taiwan, China and the US, he said last week at a news conference on Japan’s new security bills and Taiwan’s security held by Taiwan Brain Trust, a local think tank.
This could create new opportunities for cooperation between Taiwan and the US-Japan alliance, Lai added.
Academia Sinica Institute of European and American Studies research fellow Lin Cheng-yi （林正義） said that as the gap in power between China and the US is narrowing, there is room for Japan to play a bigger role in regional security.
Due to its proximity, Japan can play a role in Taiwan’s security, Lin said, adding that Taiwan should think about how to beef up its national defense while improving cross-strait relations.
National Sun Yat-sen University Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies associate professor Kuo Yu-jen （郭育仁） said the new security bills will allow Japan to adopt a more flexible strategy in response to changes to the “status quo” in the Strait.
China would have to take Japan’s involvement into consideration if it develops a strategy to use force against Taiwan, Kuo said, adding that this could add uncertainties to Beijing’s strategic planning.
The recent developments in the Asia-Pacific region are conducive to increasing the importance of Taiwan, he said.
However, Japan’s efforts to bolster its national defense to involve affairs regarding the disputed South China Sea could undermine Taiwan’s strategic importance and marginalize Taiwan’s role in the East China Sea and South China Sea disputes, he added.
On Sept. 19, Japan’s upper house enacted the two security laws. The passage of the bills means that Japanese troops will be allowed to fight abroad for the first time in 70 years since the end of World War II.
One of the bills amends 10 existing security-related laws to lift various Japan Self-Defense Forces restrictions, including a long-standing ban on collective self-defense.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
