Former PM Abe Says Japan, U.S. Could Not Stand By If China Attacked Taiwan
FILE PHOTO: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan August 15, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato Japan and the United States could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan, and Beijing needs to understand this, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday. Tensions over Chinese-claimed Taiwan have risen as President Xi Jinping seeks to assert his country’s sovereignty claims against the democratically ruled island. Taiwan’s government says it wants peace, but will defend itself if needed. Speaking virtually to a forum organised by Taiwanese think tank the Institute for National Policy Research, Abe noted the Senkaku islands – which China calls the Diaoyu Islands – Sakishima islands and Yonaguni island are a mere 100 km (62 miles) or so away from Taiwan. An armed invasion of Taiwan would be a grave danger to Japan, he added. “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-U.S. alliance. People in Beijing,