Japan is concerned by the sorties of Chinese People’s Liberation Army planes near Taiwan, Japanese House Representative Norikazu Suzuki told a press conference in Taipei on Friday.
Suzuki, a member of the delegation from the Youth Division of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party that arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for a five-day visit, said the scale of China’s recent military sorties into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) was unprecedented.
“We are treating this matter as our own and have become alarmed,” said Suzuki, who is acting head of the youth division, though he did not specify exactly who “we” referred to.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND), 223 Chinese military planes have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ this year as of March 10.
The ministry has been publishing information about such flights since Sept. 17, 2020, amid a rising number of sorties in Taiwan’s ADIZ by Chinese military aircraft. The largest number of these flights in a single day was 56 recorded on Oct. 4, 2021, MND data showed.
ADIZ is an area declared by a country to allow it to identify, locate, and control approaching foreign aircraft, but it is not considered territorial airspace.
At the press conference, Suzuki did not respond directly to media questions about how Taiwan and Japan could cooperate on defense and security issues, saying only the delegation would bring the main points from its discussions with Taiwanese officials back to Japan in the hope of paving the way for strengthened cooperation between the two sides.
He also said the visit by the delegation sent a message that Japan opposes any acts of unilaterally changing the status quo by force.
Taiwan is an important neighbor and partner for Japan and the two sides should show solidarity with one another, Suzuki went on, especially at a time when the world has seen a shake-up with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Taiwan’s CPTPP bid
In addition to political issues, the lawmaker also said Taiwan and Japan ought to enhance their economic engagement, adding that the youth division would offer support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Taiwan applied in September 2021 to join the Tokyo-led trade pact. However, any potential member of the CPTPP requires the unanimous support of all 11 current members to be approved.
Suzuki was speaking on behalf of the delegation as Masanobu Ogura, head of the Youth Division and the delegation, was forced to cancel all planned public appearances after a member of the delegation, Daisuke Nishino, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the 11 delegates had been divided into two groups and only those in the same group as Nishino, including Ogura, had to cancel their appearances.
In addition to meeting with top government officials such as President Tsai Ing-wen (???) and Vice President Lai Ching-te (???) on Thursday, the delegation also met with Eric Chu (???), chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang, as well as Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (???) on the same day.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel