First up this morning was a brief, but interesting, article in the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 entitled "Taiwan emergency 'Japan security concern'":
"A military crisis in the Taiwan Strait 台湾海峡 would present a matter of concern for Japan's own security, a senior official of the Defense Ministry 防衛省 told a Liberal Democratic Party 自由民主党 panel Thursday. Asked about a possible government response in the event of an emergency in the strait, Nobushige Takamizawa, director general of the ministry's Defense Policy Bureau 防衛政策局, said, 'It's a serious matter for our country, so before we decide to consider it as a crisis in areas surrounding [Japan], we, of course, would like to strengthen surveillance by the Self-Defense Forces 自衛隊. It's not [merely] a matter of the Japan-U.S. security cooperation, but also a matter of Japan's national security,' he told the ruling party's Research Commission on Security."
While this would seem obvious given both the close proximity of Taiwan to Japan (Yonaguni 与那国島, the westernmost island in the Ryūkyū Islands 南西諸島 chain, is only 78 miles/125 kilometers from the east coast of Taiwan), and the fact that the Taiwan Strait lies near one of Japan's vital economic sea lanes, it's rare for officials like Takamizawa in such high positions to make public remarks on the subject. As the article notes:
"The (Japanese) government has been ambiguous about the definition of a crisis in areas surrounding Japan, saying the definition is not bound by geographic factors. The stance is apparently out of consideration for China, which is concerned about possible containment moves aimed at it by Japan, the United States or other countries at the time of a contingency in the Taiwan Strait."
The story points out that Takamizawa's comments are likely to provoke controversy, though so far none has been reported.
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