Japan delegation visits Taiwan as part of 'Indo-Pacific strategy'
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Japan made an official visit to Taiwan as part of its bid to better ties with Taipei and to establish a new balance of power in the region.
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The city of Taipei, Taiwan, 2018 (REUTERS)
Tokyo is upping its bids to establish ties with the Taiwan authorities and form an anti-mainland coalition under the so-called Info-Pacific strategy in Japan's latest move of sending a delegation from the Youth Division of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party to the island on Tuesday.
The division is seen as a pivotal platform for exchanges between Taiwan and Japan, and it sent the delegation led by the division's head, Masanobu Ogura, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, to Taiwan for a visit that will last several days.
Many of the division's previous chairmen went on to serve as high-ranking officials in Tokyo, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Taiwan's regional foreign affairs authority said.
The delegation initiated Wednesday a high-profile event by paying their respects at the grave of the "Godfather of Taiwan secessionism", Lee Teng-hui, the island's former leader. He had come under fire in 2015 for referring to Japan as the motherland.
The event sparked a lot of anger from locals on the island, as it collided with their beliefs and the sentiment they have for Japan.
The visit revolves around colluding against Beijing, Liu Jiangyong, vice dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
According to Liu, talks between Taipei and Tokyo are expected to cover the means of strengthening security cooperation between Japan and the island, and even to "draw Taiwan into the so-called free and open Indo-Pacific strategy."
Another topic, Liu said, is paving the way for potential visits by former Japanese PM Abe and other high-ranking, pro-Taiwan politicians. He also predicted that the visit will discuss forming institutionalized exchanges between Japan and Taiwan.
The diplomacy experts concluded by telling the Chinese outlet that all the topics are aimed at swaying Taiwan into the "anti-mainland clique" and reaching a consensus that the current state of affairs just not be changed by force.
The visit and event come days after the Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin that Washington should stop underestimating China's resolve and ability to protect its national interests.
Wei added that if the Taiwan issue was resolved in an unacceptable manner, it would have a devastating effect on China-US relations.
