Yoshihide Suga
author Jia Bumiao (special commentator)
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party has signs of transfer to the Taiwan window. The Taiwan authorities and the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan recently held the so-called "Exchange of Opinions on Foreign and Defense Policy (also known as 2+2 dialogue)" for the first time. The two sides focused on the impact of the rise of mainland China on regional security. The Japanese representative mentioned that Japan and Taiwan The region is also located near the East China Sea and faces mainland China. It is a community with a shared future. Japan's parliament will be re-elected in October. Yoshihide Suga's cabinet cannot effectively fight the epidemic and polls are sluggish, but "anti-China" polls are rising. This meeting can be said to be playing the "Taiwan card" to shift the focus of the epidemic and boost public support. Spend.
The first meeting was held via video conference on August 27. The Democratic Progressive Party was represented by "legislator" Luo Zhizheng and Cai Adaptation; The Liberal Democratic Party representatives attended were Chairman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senator Masahisa Sato, and the Liberal Democratic Party National Defense Ministry Chairman, Representative Taku Otsuka.
Masahisa Sato said during the meeting that Japan believes that it should strengthen exchanges with the Taiwan authorities. This exchange is the first time between the two sides and they look forward to continued exchanges in the future. Otsuka Takunori pointed out that the Liberal Democratic Party’s Defense Ministry meeting recently put forward suggestions for strengthening policies, and the Japanese government also took them seriously and increased relevant funding, hoping to provide deterrence and avoid regional instability.
On issues of diplomatic security and safety, Japan has always been accustomed to dealing with Taiwan through track 2 dialogue in the think tank model. Even though the Democratic Progressive Party once proposed a track 1.5 dialogue, Japan responded conservatively. However, in February this year, the Liberal Democratic Party The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a new "Taiwan Policy Discussion Project Group", and Japan's past conservative attitude towards Taiwan has begun to become more positive.
For the first 2+2 dialogue in the history of "Taiwan-Japan relations", the two sides spent two months planning and discussing the content, format, and participants of the meeting. The two sides initially focused on foreign affairs and defense issues, and later included economic issues. Therefore, the dialogue also touched on TSMC setting up factories in Japan, semiconductor cooperation, and Japan's assistance to Taiwan in joining the "Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership" (CPTPP). content.
Regarding this dialogue, most outsiders focused their observations on the content of the dialogue, but ignored that the dialogue window for Japan has been changed from the Youth Bureau of the Liberal Democratic Party to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, which means that it plays the role of the dialogue window for "Taiwan-Japan relations" The Youth Bureau has quietly stepped down from its phased tasks and will be taken over by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Defense.
Masahisa Sato and Taku Otsuka are Mesozoic politicians from the Liberal Democratic Party. Although the leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party did not express their support in this dialogue, there was no opposition. The outside world interpreted it as a tacit approval.
From the perspective of the timing of the parliamentary election, the Japanese Parliament will be re-elected in October. However, in the April by-election for three parliamentary seats, the Liberal Democratic Party lost all. Japanese newspapers used headlines to criticize the Liberal Democratic Party, which will lose 70 seats from the current 276 seats. seats.
The reason why Yoshihide Suga fell into the trough in the polls was mainly because he was helpless in dealing with the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, and despite the opposition of the Japanese people, he forcibly held the Tokyo Olympics and turned a blind eye to the increase in the number of confirmed cases.
In contrast, the Suga cabinet's attitude towards Taiwan or Taiwan Strait issues has received high support. In April, Yoshihide Suga mentioned the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in the joint statement of the US-Japan summit. According to the results of the " Nihon Keizai Shimbun " opinion poll, 74% of the people expressed affirmation of this, and only 13% opposed it, of which , 80% of Liberal Democratic Party supporters expressed approval, showing that the deepening of "Taiwan-Japan relations" has a very strong public opinion basis.
