Japan's diplomatic bluebook highlights the Taiwan Strait as not only important for the country’s security, but also as a cornerstone for global stability.
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00:00Japan says that peace in the Taiwan Strait is not only important for the country's security,
00:05but is also a cornerstone of global security.
00:08Those comments come from Tokyo's annual Diplomatic Blue Book, which looks at how Japan will engage
00:13with countries in the region to promote security.
00:16One section of the report touches on China's recent large-scale military drills, which
00:20Japan labels as coercive and intimidating maneuvers.
00:24The report also says Japan should work more with the U.S. to increase defense spending
00:28and to take more active measures to prevent a conflict in the region.
00:33To learn more about how Japan is viewing its security environment, I spoke to Robert Ward.
00:38He's the Director of Geoeconomics and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic
00:43Studies based in London.
00:45When we look at how Japan is talking about security around Taiwan, has that approach changed at
00:50all?
00:51For example, the G7 communique after the Hiroshima summit in 2023.
00:58They also talk about the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the
01:03importance of that for the international community.
01:06And why that's important for Japan is because Japan wants the issue to be seen as a global
01:16issue.
01:17And why that's important is because Japan wants lots of other countries also to be interested
01:22in preserving the status quo, so preserving stability in the region.
01:27So this is part of Japan's attempt to create a strategic complexity in the region for China,
01:35but also to cross-brace, if you like, its own security interests and that of the U.S. in
01:43stability.
01:44Let's say that there was a conflict around Taiwan, how would Japan be affected?
01:49If there was a contingency in Taiwan, Japan would be one of the major geopolitical losers,
01:56probably globally, obviously, apart from Taiwan.
01:59Japan sits so close to Taiwan, Yonaguni Island, the westernmost island of Japan, sits 100 kilometers
02:08or so away from Taiwan.
02:10You can see Taiwan from Japanese territory on a clear day.
02:13So really, really important for Japan, given the volatility coming from the U.S. at the
02:18moment.
02:19The task here has perhaps got a bit more difficult for Japan.
02:23So Japan's trying to increase its agency within its security treaty relationship with the U.S.
02:28to show that it's pulling its weight, to show that it's spending more money on defense
02:32and so on.
02:33So that is the core of Japan's strategic posture on Taiwan.
02:38But then it's seeking to supplement this core with trying to get other countries with
02:45Indo-Pacific interests interested in the region and interested in this issue.
02:50So it's quite ambitious.
02:51We recently saw the U.S. Secretary of State, Pete Hegseth, visit Japan, and he's really
02:57pushing for countries to spend more on their defense.
03:00How do you think relations between the United States and Japan will change under this new
03:04Trump administration?
03:05So I think one important thing to remember is Japan has always been under pressure from
03:10the U.S. to spend more on defense, whether it's President Nixon, whether it's President
03:15Carter, Reagan, and so on.
03:18This has been a steady, steady thing.
03:21And since 2022, when Japan really did produce an about turn in its defense policy, Japan has
03:30been, I think, doing quite a lot to make good on what the U.S. has been asking it to do.
03:37Not just because the U.S. wants it to spend more, by the way, but also because Japan itself
03:41recognizes that its role in preserving stability in the region has also changed.
03:47SecDef Hegseth's visit to Japan, that was also, I think, went quite well.
03:54Hegseth used some language about lethality and so on that some in Tokyo may have found a
04:01little bit bracing, but overall, I think the direction was good.
04:06Well, let's have a stop.
04:13Ok, thanks.
04:15I want to get started.
04:16I don't know if I am about to shoot, that periods are late, no question,